Casa Santa, Loreto, Italy
Fig. 77. Sibyls and Prophets, Giovanni Battista della Porta, Casa Santa, Loreto, Italy (1537-80).
The marble exterior of the Casa Santa (Holy House) in Loreto, Italy was designed and erected by Antonio da Sangallo in 1537. The niches contain ten sibyls and prophets, carved by Giovanni della Porta.
This marble screen is called a revestimento. It covers an antique building, which theologians believe to be the house where Mary received the Annunciation. According to legend, the house was miraculously transported by angels from Jerusalem to Loreto, Italy in 1294.
The Casa Santa is located inside the Basilica of Loreto, where it serves as a backdrop for liturgical services. The papacy affirmed the authenticity of the Casa Santa by building the revestimento around the antique house. Even today, Loreto is an important pilgrimage site.
Many reproductions exist in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
Mexican Renaissance Style
Fig. 79. Erythraean Sibyl, Casa del Dean, Puebla, Mexico (c. 1580).
The frescoes in the Casa del Dean in Puebla, Mexico were probably painted by a team of indigenous artists shortly after the Casa was built in 1580. At this time, Don Tomas de la Plaza was Dean of the Cathedral in Puebla de los Angeles, Mexico. He was a Christian humanist, who was probably familiar with literary sources about sibyls that were popular in humanist circles. While the European influence is evident, the artists also incorporated Precolumbian motifs. The blending of European and Indian elements in these paintings is called the Mexican Renaissance style. Although the European influence dominates the murals, the Indo-Christian technique blends naturally with the European aesthetic.
The main subject of the murals are nine sibyls and an allegorical figure who represents Synagogue (Old Law). There is a Spanish tradition of using Synagogue and the sibyls. These narrative paintings include the names and ages of the sibyls. For example, the text above the Erythraean Sibyl (left) states that her name is Sibilla Erithrea, her age is 20, and she is a prophetess. She carries a standard with a lily on it, which is a symbol of the Annunciation and the virginity of the Madonna. (The sibyls were perpetual virgins like the Madonna.) There is a medallion with a picture of the Annunciation (top left), but the Erythraean Sibyl is better known as the prophetess of the Last Judgment. The "sibyl" is mentioned in an ancient song for the Requiem. This Gregorian chant is called the Dies Irae (Wrath of God).
After the Erythraean Sibyl died, "her sayings would be heard blowing in the wind and her face would appear in the moon," according to the Greek biographer, Plutarch. [5]
The sibyls in these paintings are unusual because they are riding on horseback, and there is no known precedent for sibyls on horseback. The native artists (tlacuilos) in Mexico studied European woodcuts, engravings and paintings at the art schools, where they were trained to be professional artists. It appears that the artists at the Casa del Dean invented something new by combining sibyls and horses. All of the horses have two legs up, as if there were moving in a procession or mystery play. They have human expressions and appear to be highly intelligent and well-trained. Perhaps they have converted to Christianity, like St. Jerome's lion and the artists who painted these murals. This is a perfect example of Spanish Colonial art in the New World.
END OF PART II