Leseprobe

48 mentioned in the guides in the period after the Council of Trent is the one bearing the image of Santa Maria del Popolo organized by Pope Gregory XIII during the pest of 1578. 12 In contrast, Pope Alexander VII apparently did not want to rely on the power of images and processions, which from an epidemiological perspective were already perceived as prob- lematic. The pope was in Castel Gandolfo when he heard of the threat to the city in May 1656. Instead of staying in the protection of his country home, he set out for Rome to personally supervise the necessary preparations and measures. 13 As the sovereign of the city and State of the Church, he acted in complete cognizance of his responsibilities: he vehemently enforced health measures that were exceedingly modern, supported by a most effective staff from the Congregazione di Sanità (Health Congregation) that had been immediately reconvened for the purpose. This congregation was established by Pope Urban VIII during the plague of 1630. 14 At that time, during the most violent outbreak of the plague, especially in northern Italy, Rome had even managed to come away completely unscathed as a result of the precautions taken so promptly. Alexander VII placed the leadership of the Congregazione di Sanità (which also included in its ranks his brother, Mario Chigi) into the hands of Cardinal Giulio Sacchetti, prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Sacchetti had helped Alexander – while the latter Fig. 33 Giovanni di Paolo, Plague Procession of Saint Gregory to the Castel Sant’Angelo , c. 1465 – 1470, oil on poplar wood, Musée du Louvre, Paris Fig. 34  Melchiorre Cafà and Ercole Ferrata, Altar of the Madonna del Portico , 1667, Santa Maria in Campitelli, Rome