5 - Gregorio Lombardelli, Invisibility, and the Representation of Saint Catherine of Siena’s Stigmata

Summary

Abstract

The promotion of Catherine of Siena's stigmata through their visual representation was strongly contested by the Franciscans supported, towards the end of the fifteenth century, by a pope from their own order, Sixtus IV. In response, Dominican apologists of the sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries made arguments supporting images of Catherine with stigmata. This chapter concentrates on the Sienese Dominican Gregorio Lombardelli whose views on the tasks of art were informed by discussions about the rationale for picturing the sacred and miraculous in the period following the Council of Trent. By placing Lombardelli's arguments within the context of post-Tridentine writings on art, this chapter contributes to scholarship on the plurality of discussions about the purposes of art during this period.

Keywords: Council of Trent, Gabriele Paleotti, Gregorio Lombardelli, saints’ attributes, art writing

The promotion of Catherine of Siena's (d. 1380) stigmata through their representation in the visual arts was strongly contested by the Franciscans who were supported, towards the end of the fifteenth century, by a pope from their own order, Sixtus IV (1471–1484). In response, and as part of an ongoing debate, Dominican apologists of the sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries made arguments designed to support images of Catherine with stigmata. This chapter concentrates on the writings of the Sienese Dominican Gregorio Lombardelli (d. circa 1613) whose views on the tasks of art were informed by discussions about the rationale for picturing the sacred and miraculous in the period following the Council of Trent (1545–1563). By placing Lombardelli's arguments about the representation of stigmata within the context of post-Tridentine writings on art, this chapter contributes to scholarship on the plurality of discussions about the purposes of art during this period.

Gregorio Lombardelli was a native of Siena who had trained as a doctor of theology and served as consultor to the Sienese Inquisition. He was also a prolific author of hagiographical literature and wrote lives of a number of Sienese holy people including the ninth-century shoemaker Blessed Sorore, reputedly the founder of the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala; Saint Galgano (d. 1180/1181); and Aldobrandesca Ponzi (d. 1309).