DescriptionMedal commemorating the canonization of Pedro de Alcántara and Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi Women of the Book.jpg |
English: Bronze medal commemorating the canonization of two mystics, Pedro de Alcántara (1499-1562), a Spanish Franciscan and spiritual director to Teresa of Avila, and Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi (1566-1607), a Florentine Carmelite and one of only five women canonized in the 17th century performed in Saint Peter's Basilica. The medal was issued on 29 June, the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul and is 34 mm diameter. Obverse, it shows the bust of Giulio Rospigliosi, Pope Clement IX (1667-1669), bearded, in profile to left, wearing cassock, cap, and stole. Around, CLEM. IX. PONT. MAX. A. III. On the reverse, designed by Bernini and pictured here, are the two Saints, Peter of Alcantara, left, and Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, right, kneel upon a cloud facing one another, the Holy Spirit above centre. Around, ADDITVM ECCLESIAE MVNIMEN ET DECVS; below, on scrolls, S. PETRVS DE ALCANTARA – S. M. MAGDALENA DE PAZZIS. It is the only known occasion that Gianlorenzo Bernini was entrusted by Clement IX with design of a papal medal. The play of opposites of the design – male and female, active and passive – lends a characteristically baroque tension to the seemingly simple composition. The medal is kept with a quarto book, Carlo Giannini's Descrizione Delle Cirimonie Celebrate nella Basilica di S. Pietro nella Canonizazione di S. Pietro d'Alcantara e di S. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, Fatta li 28 del Mese d'Aprile dell’Anno 1669.Rome ; Florence : Nella stamperia di S[ua] A[ltezza] S[erenissima], 1669, which gives an account of the canonization rites (on 28 April 1669) of the ecstatic mystics. It describes the preliminary ceremonies held in the Vatican complex, the procession to the Basilica, the décor, standards, and iconography employed on that day, and the names of those in attendance, including the notorious celebrity Queen Christina of Sweden. Credit: Women of the Book Collection, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University. Medal and book held at the John Work Garrett Library, Johns Hopkins University. |