Cardinal’s Miraculous Healing and Recognition of the Miracle by the Pope
PLACE/DATE
Portugal, ca. 1520
MATERIALS
Oil on wood
DIMENSIONS
128 x 119 cm
INV
PIN.53
In this painting, alluding to the cure of the cardinal, witnessed by the representation of a sign of the cross by St. Roch on the forehead of the sick man, it is worth noting the set of props and everyday objects that are part of the composition, especially the Afro-Portuguese ivory spoon resting on what seems to be the early figuration of a blue and white porcelain cup, with pomegranate berries (a medieval remedy against the plague).
This work was part of the main altarpiece of the old shrine of São Roque, which is one of the earliest attempts at a visual narrative of the life of St. Roch. The arrangement of this and three other surviving panels respects its original organisation, reading from left to right and from bottom to top, with the scenes arranged according to the chronology of events, but reserving the upper part of the altarpiece for the most edifying episodes in the life of the saint: 1. Nativity and adolescence of St. Roch (Inv. Pin. 52); 2. Miraculous cure of the Cardinal; 3. Sojourn in Piacenza and retreat in the forest (Inv. Pin. 55); 4. Imprisonment and beatific death of St. Roch (Inv. Pin. 56).
