The Pentecost: Image and Experience in Late Sixteenth-Century Rome

Author(s): Carolyn Valone

Source: The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Winter, 1993), pp. 801-828
Published by: The Sixteenth Century Journal
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SixteenthCentury
Journal
XXIV/4 (1993)

The Pentecost: Image and Experience in Late

Sixteenth-Century Rome

CarolynValone
Trinity University

The image of the Pentecost underwent some significantchanges during the Italian
Renaissance,particularlyduring the late sixteenth century in Rome. Traditionally,
the scene had shown the descentof the Holy Spiriton the twelveApostlesand some-
times Mary,but in this period the image was expandedto include all the women and
men numberedamong the disciplesafterthe Ascension:the 120 mentioned in Acts
1:15.This enlargedversion of the Pentecost was relatedto the reform ideas and the
missionaryimperativeof the Counter-Reformation papacy of Gregory XIII Bon-
compagni (1572-1585). Gregory promoted this new image, which found its most
eloquent expressionin the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia,particularlyin Jacopo
Zucchi's apse frescoescommissionedby the Order of Santo Spirito in 1582, and in
the chapel of the MarchesaVittoria della Tolfa. Papal rhetoric, the liturgy of the
reformedMissalof PiusV,popularpreaching,and the writings of GregoryNazianzus
all contributedto the new Pentecostimageryin late CinquecentoRome.

THE CHRISTIANFEASTOFTHEPENTECOST, which has been observed with special

veneration from at least the fourth century in both the East and the West, marks
the miraculous inauguration of the Church and the preaching mission of the Apos-
tles who, through the descent of the Holy Spirit, were transformed from simple
followers ofJesus into the spiritual leaders of the new Christian community. 1 From
an ecclesiastical viewpoint, the concepts inherent in the Pentecost are potent: the
creation of an organized church, the institution of a priestly class, and the mission-
ary expansion of religion based on the word of God. All these aspects were devel-
oped by the Church of Rome through the centuries, but at no time was the
significance of the Pentecost more appreciated than in papal Rome of the late six-
teenth century. Within the context of the Counter- Reformation, these themes
were invested with new life, and even the image of the Pentecost, which had
existed with few variations for nearly one thousand years, underwent a dramatic
change to reflect new religious attitudes.
The New Testament text for the Pentecost is Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4:

While the day of the Pentecost was running its course they were all
together in one place, when suddenly there came from the sky a noise like

1The Pentecostwas originallya Hebrew feastof thanksgivingencompassingseven weeks.For the

history of the feast,see John Gunstone,The Feastof the Pentecost(London:Faith Press,1967). See also,
Angelos Philippou,"The Mystery of the Pentecost,"in The OrthodoxEthos(Oxford:Holywell Press,
1964), 70-97.

801
802 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

that of a strong driving wind, which filled the house where they were sit-
ting. And there appeared to them tongues like flames of fire, dispersed
among them and resting on each one. And they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to talk in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
power of utterance.2
Led by Peter, they went out into the city ofJerusalem and began to preach, "and at
this sound the crowd gathered, all bewildered because each one heard his own lan-
guage spoken" (Acts 2:5-6).
The auditory and missionary components of the Pentecost story are immedi-
ately evident, from the sound of the great wind to the gift of tongues that allowed
the Apostles to preach to all people and nations, thus uniting them through lan-
guage rather than dividing them, as had transpired at the Tower of Babel. This
preaching and teaching was to culminate in conversion and baptism, which allowed
the outsider to enter into the Christian community. Thus, from the earliest days of
the Church, baptism was closely connected to the Pentecost and the gifts of the
Spirit.3
No Renaissance pope was more aware of the ideas inherent in the Pentecost
than Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572-1585). Elected pope on May 13,1572, he
chose to receive the papal crown on May 20, the feast of the Pentecost, a gesture
which already announced his understanding of the new missionary imperative of
the Catholic Church.4 His first aim was to reunite Christian Europe and heal the
breach with the estranged Greek Church, but his missionary efforts would also
extend to Asia and the New World. His well-organized program to confront and
dismantle the Protestant revolt was the hoped-for outcome of the Council ofTrent.
Although his predecessors, particularly PiusV (1566-1572), had already begun the
reform process, it was Gregory who would direct the dissemination of the reforms
to every place the Catholic Church could reach.
Gregory XIII also undertook an ambitious building program and provided
strong financial support for institutions in which to train his new army of mission-
aries, whose ranks were often made up of the recently founded Jesuits. Their Ger-
man, Hungarian, and English colleges, as well as the Collegio Romano, provided
education in theology, oratory, and fortitude for these modern apostles who, like
their Early Christian counterparts, might meet painful deaths.The parallel between
the missionary efforts of the Apostolic era and the sixteenth century was further

2All biblical translations are from The New English Bible (Oxford and Cambridge: University
Presses, 1970).
3The connection between the coming of the Holy Spirit and baptism is made in Acts 1:4-8 and
Luke 3:15-22, and also by Tertullian, De Baptismo, chap. 19, see J.-P. Migne, PatrologiaeLatinae (Paris:
Garnier Fratres Successores Migne, 1879) 1:1331-34.
4Marc'Antonio Ciappi, Compendio delle heroicheet gloriose attioni et santa vita de papa GregorioXIII
(Rome: Martinelli, 1591), 4. The best modern source for Gregory XIII's papacy remains Ludwig von
Pastor, Storia dei papi, tr. Pio Cenci (Rome: Descl6e, 1955), vol. 9. For the missionary aspects of the
period, see Erwin Iserloh, Joseph Glazik, Hubert Jedin, Reformationand Counter-Reformation,tr. Anselm
Biggs and PeterW. Becker (London: Burns and Oates, 1980), 499-615.
 Pentecost:Image & Experience 803

highlighted by the intense interest in Early Christian history, sites, and texts which
was sweeping Rome during the second half of the Cinquecento, led by Philip Neri
and his newly founded congregation, the Oratorians.5 Gregory strongly supported
this return to the roots of the Catholic Church, for those roots were deeply embed-
ded in Rome, thus underlining the continuous tradition of the Church of Rome,
which was being seriously challenged by the Protestants. No text was better suited
to further this Early Christian revival and the missionary aims of the pope than the
Acts of the Apostles, with its message of conversion guided by the Holy Spirit. Gre-
gory demonstrated his awareness of this useful tool when he commissioned the
Bolognese artist Lorenzo Sabbatini to paint scenes illustrating all of Acts over the
five doors of St. Peter's and at the top of each staircase in the Vatican.6
Gregory XIII's missionary zeal also encompassed the reunification of the
Greek and Roman Churches.7 In 1573 the Congregazione dei Greci was founded,
and in 1576 the Pope instituted the Collegio Greco at Sant'Atanasio, which
opened with much fanfare on May 7, 1583. However, it was the pope's reverence
for the Eastern Church Fathers, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Basil the
Great, and especially Gregory Nazianzus, which formed the basis of his rapproche-
ment with the East, and he gave a most visible and costly demonstration of this by
commissioning the richly decorated Cappella Gregoriana in St. Peter's to house the
body of Gregory Nazianzus, which was moved there with great celebration in
June,1580.8
In this late-sixteenth-century climate of Pentecostal fervor it is not surprising
that the iconography of the Pentecost also underwent certain changes in Rome.
These changes helped express the papal rhetoric of reform and expansion not only
to the ecclesiastical hierarchy,but also to a larger popular audience. Both image and
word were used to shape the Roman faithful's experience in understanding the
ideas inherent in the Pentecost.
A brief look at the long tradition of Pentecost images will help illuminate the
nature of the iconographic changes which took place in the sixteenth century.9The
earliest extant depiction is in the Rabula Gospels, a Syrian manuscript of the sixth
century. It shows what became a common portrayal of the scene: the twelve Apos-
tles arranged in two groups of six on either side of theVirgin Mary.Above her head

5ForJesuitsand Oratorians,seeWilliamV.Bangert,A Historyof theSocietyofJesus(St.Louis:Insti-

tute of Jesuit Sources,1972);Antonio Cistellini,San FilippoNeri, I'oratorio,
e la Congregazione
oratoriana
(Brescia:Morcelliana,1989), and AlessandroZuccari,"Lapolitica culturaledell'oratorioromano nella
secondameta del cinquecento,"Storiadell'Arte41 (1981):77-112.
6Ciappi,Compendio, 6.
7SeeVittorio Peri, Chiesaromanae ritogreco:G.A. Santorie la Congregazione deigreci(Brescia:Pai-
deia, 1975), andJohn Krajcar,CardinalG. A. Santoroandthe ChristianEast (Rome: OrientaliaCristiana
Analecta,1966).
8Pastor,Storiadeipapi,9:801-6.
9For the history of the image, see StephanSeeliger,Pfingsten(Dusseldorf:Schwann, 1958); Ger-
trude Schiller,Ikonographie derchristlichen
Kunst(Kassel:GerdMohn, 1976) 4, 1:11-38; Louis Reau, Ico-
nographie deI'artchretien(Paris:Universitairesde France,1957) 2:591-96.
804 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

is the dove of the Holy Spirit, who sends the tongues of fire over the heads of the
Twelve and Mary, whose presence is generally explained as being honorific or sym-
bolic.10 In many representations of the scene only the twelve Apostles receive the
Holy Spirit, particularly in Byzantine and Ottonian examples, but in the later Mid-
dle Ages Mary again often holds the central position in both sculpted and painted
images of the Pentecost.
A change appears in the Pentecost scene in late Quattrocento Italy, as illus-
trated by Luca Signorelli's painting in Urbino (fig. 1), where, in addition to Mary,
there are three women grouped around her in the midst of the twelve Apostles.11
Although it is not possible to identify each woman with certainty, one is likely to
be Mary Magdalen, and the others may include Mary, the mother ofJames, Mary
Salome, or Joanna, a follower of Jesus. Signorelli's work was one of two banners
painted in the mid-1490s for the Fraternita dello Spirito Santo in Urbino.12 This
confraternity, dedicated to the Holy Spirit, may have requested the additional
female figures, for the change must be related to a somewhat different, more inclu-
sive, reading of the Pentecost story.
The key word in this reading would seem to be "they,"as in Acts 2:1, "et cum
conplerentur dies Pentecostes, erant omnes pariter in eodem loco."13 For nearly
one thousand years the visual tradition of the Pentecost intentionally or uninten-
tionally had reinforced the priestly aspect of the Apostles and the founding of the
Church by limiting the recipients (they) of the Holy Spirit to the Twelve and, by
association, Mary. However, a different aspect emerges if one reads the opening of
Acts 2 in conjunction with the preceding narrative in Acts 1:13-14:

Entering the city they went to the room upstairs where they were lodg-
ing: Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartho-
lomew and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and
Judas, son ofJames. All these were constantly at prayer together, and with
them a group of women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his
brothers.14
In this reading it appears that the "they" of Acts 2:1 could also include the
women.

10R&au,Iconographie2: 594, suggests Mary's presence stems from her exalted position as the mother
ofJesus and the spiritual mother of the Apostles, or from serving as the symbol of Ecclesia.
11These additional women are not completely novel for there appear to be two or three women
included in the Pentecost scene of the York Psalter c. 1170, and also in a German manuscript from
Mainz, c. 1230. See Schiller, Ikonographie,4, 1:24 and plates 2 and 43. Signorelli's work is now located
in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.
12Mario Salmi, Luca Signorelli(Novara: Istituto Geografico d'Agostini, 1953), 52.
13All Latin quotations are taken from Biblia sacraiuxta Vulgatamversionem(Stuttgart:Wiitembergis-
che Bibelanstalt, 1969).
14"Hii omnes erant perseverantes unianimiter in oratione cum mulieribus et Maria matre Iesu et
fratribus eius."
15I am grateful to Theodore Bertagni, OFM, Conv., for many lively discussions and helpful sug-
gestions on the topic of women at the Pentecost.
 Pentecost:Image& E 805

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806 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

After Signorelli, the addition of two or three women to the Pentecost scene
occurs infrequently, and is not strictly limited to a patronage ambience dominated
by special devotion to the Holy Spirit. However, it is worth noting that inVenice
in the mid-sixteenth century the Piccola Scuola di Santo Spirito commissioned a
new painting for the celebration of the Pentecost, which included several women,
and at about the same time Titian executed for the church of Santo Spirito in Isola
a large altarpiece, now in Santa Maria della Salute, showing the descent of the Holy
Spirit upon the twelve Apostles, Mary, and two women, all of whom have tongues
of fire above their heads.16
A further dramatic change in the image of the Pentecost takes place in the lat-
ter half of the sixteenth century with the addition to the scene of a large crowd of
disciples. In 1577 Gregory XIII promoted this change by commissioning from
Girolamo Muziano a large painting for the center of the ceiling of the Sala del
Concistoro in the Vatican palace (fig.2).17 Here the descent of the Holy Spirit on
the large crowd can be related to Acts 1:15 where "they" are expanded to include
the followers ofJesus after the Ascension: "It was during that time that Peter stood
up before the assembled brotherhood, about 120 in all....18
Gregory XIII's choice of this newly expanded version of the Pentecost scene
surely reflected his perception of the missionary and unifying aspects of the descent
of the Holy Spirit, and his wish to express those ideas to the cardinals who met in
the room for papal concistories. His message and the message of the Pentecost story
and Acts were the same: the glorification of the missionary expansion of the
Church through the grace of the Holy Spirit.19 Furthermore, Gregory was
unlikely to have missed the parallel between Peter's key role on Pentecost day and
his own efforts to unify and enlarge the Universal Church.
The most comprehensive depiction of the coming of the Holy Spirit to a large
crowd of women and men is to be found in the apse and choir of Santo Spirito in
Sassia,painted by Jacopo Zucchi between 1582 and 1585 (figs. 3, 4). This church,
and its adjoining hospital, had long been associated with papal patrons such as

16Peter Humfrey, "Competitive Devotions: the Venetian Scuole Piccole as Donors of Altarpieces
in the Years Around 1500," Art Bulletin 70 (September 1988): 404, and Harold Wethey, The Paintings of
Titian (London: Phaidon, 1969) 1:121-22 and plate 104. Titian, who was in Urbino c. 1540, may have
seen the Signorelli Pentecost.For other examples of Pentecost images in the sixteenth century, see Andor
Pigler, Barockthemen(Budapest: Akademiai Kiad6, 1974) 1:377-86.
17Ugo Procacci,"Una vita inedita del Muziano,"Arte Veneta7 (1954): 251.The room is now called
the Sala dei Paramenti. The enlarged crowd in the painting was remarked upon by Raffaello Borghini
in 1584: "nella stanza del concistoro e da sua mano (Muziano) nel palco l'istoria dell'avvenimento dello
Spirito Santo con un gran numero di figure." See, II Riposo, ed. Mario Rosci (Milan: Labor, 1967)
1:576. Slightly earlier, in 1568,Vasari had already depicted the Pentecost with an enlarged crowd for the
Biffoli Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence, but Borghini had found that composition badly organized and
confusing (1:189).
18"et in diebus illis exsurgens Petrus in medio fratrum dixit erat autem turba nominum simul fere
centum viginti."
19For a commentary on the missionary aspects ofActs, see TheJeromeBiblical Commentary,ed. Ray-
mond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Roland F. Murphy (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1968) 2:168-
214.
 Pentecost:Image & Expere 807

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 Pentecost:Image & Experience 809

Innocent III and Sixtus IV, as well as with the Order of Santo Spirito, which had
administered the hospital and orphanage of Santo Spirito since the Middle Ages.20
In 1538, under Paul III, the rebuilding of the old church was begun, and work on
the interior continued until the end of the century.
Zucchi's frescoes mark the confluence of the interests of Gregory XIII and the
ambitions of the Order of Santo Spirito. For both the pope and the order, the apse
must have seemed an ideal setting for expressing to the general public Gregory's
enlarged vision of the Pentecost with its message of hope, expansion, and reform.
The church, which Sixtus IV had made a parish church, was much frequented by
Romans, foreigners, and pilgrims, as well as by the members of the large Confra-
ternity of Santo Spirito. Its popularity was partly due to its important relics and fine
music; the attractions of both were discussed in detail by the writers of pilgrims'
guides to Rome, who especially noted the number of masses sung daily by the
priests from the fine choir stalls that encircled the apse (fig. 4). Gregory XIII fur-
ther promoted the popularity of the church by confirming a plenary indulgence
not only for the day of Pentecost, but for the feast's entire Octave. He also
enhanced the grand procession on Pentecost Monday when the orphans cared for
by the hospital of Santo Spirito made a pilgrimage to the SacroVoltoin St. Peter's
and received the papal blessing.21 Gregory also showed his personal interest in the
Order of Santo Spirito by appointing consecutively two of his co-nationals from
Bologna to the exalted position of commendatoreof the order: Teseo Aldovrandi
(1575-1582) and Giovanni Ruino (1582-1588).
The contract for the decoration of the apse and choir was drawn up on June
24, 1582, between the painter Jacopo Zucchi and the then commedatore,
Aldovrandi, who died shortly thereafter. Most of the work was done under Ruino,
as attested by the inscription painted in the vault: "IOANNES BAPTISTA RVINUS
PRAECEPTOR BONON MDLXXXIII" According to the contract, an elaborate pro-
gram related to the Holy Spirit was required by the Order of Santo Spirito to cover
the apse "from heaven to earth."22
The frescoes were intended to enhance the experience of the faithful who
attended Mass at Santo Spirito, and to involve them in the mystical presence of the
Holy Spirit. Although the frescoes had to be viewed through and around the great

20PietroDe Angelis,L'Arciconfraternita di SantoSpiritoin Sassia(Rome:Alterocca,1950),

ospitaliera
passim.
21SantoSpirito in Sassiais mentioned in all the earlyguide books, but see particularly,FraSanti
di Sant'Agostino,Le cosemaravigliose dell'almacittadi Roma(Venice:GirolamoFrancino,1588), 23-25;
Gregory Martin,RomaSancta(1581), ed. G. B. Parks(Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura,1969),
185-86; Camillo Fanucci,Trattato di tuttel'operepie dell"almacittadi Roma(Rome: Bastianode Frances-
chi, 1601), 20-22; Pietro Felini,Trattato
nuovodellecosemaravigliose di Roma(Rome: Franzini,1610), 52-
54; FilippoDe'Rossi, Ritrattodi Romamoderna (Rome: FrancescoMoneta, 1645), 39-42.
22Forthe apseand contract,see EdmundPillsbury,"Jacopo Zucchi in SantoSpiritoin Sassia,"
Bur-
lingtonMagazine116, no. 857 (1974): 434-44. The contract,located in the Archivio di Stato,Rome,
Arciospedaledi Santo Spirito in Sassia,busta 255, 61ff., contains the following instructionsto the
painter:"dipingeretutto il choro dal primoArcho et gradiledi dettachiesasino al choro et ultimaparte
di detto choro dove cantanoli preti da celo a Terra,"(Pillsbury, "JacopoZucchi " 443).
810 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

ciborium (now lost), which already stood over the altar,they apparently still made
a great impact on the viewer. In a guide book for pilgrims published in 1588, the
writer comments on the fine painted choir with its beautiful figures and stories
from scripture, which conform to the title of the church, and neglects to mention
the ciborium at all.23
In the lower part of the of the apse (fig. 4), Zucchi painted a large crowd of
disciples that includes women in addition to the small group around Mary (fig. 5),
awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit as in Acts 2:1. This verse also begins the
Reading (Lectio)heard at the Pentecost Mass as prescribed by the newly reformed
Missal of Pius V of 1570. In fact, the iconography of the apse consistently reflects
the Pentecost liturgy in the new Missal. Furthermore, the painted architecture that
encloses the crowd is an illusionistic extension of the real church, thus drawing the
congregation into the scene which appears to take place in a raised choir and
ambulatory.This painted space is articulated with columns whose capitals simulate
the real pilaster capitals at the beginning of the apse (fig. 6). In the center of the real
and the illusionistic apse is a burst of light (there are no tongues of fire) which pours
over the crowd and, by extension, over those assembled in the actual church (figs.
7, 4). In the midst of the light are the words "VENISANCTESPIRITVS," the opening
phrase of the medieval hymn or Sequence, made a definitive part of the Pentecost
Mass and all the Octave Masses by PiusV in his reformed Roman Missal.To the left
and right of this inscription (as seen from the nave), two charming putti perch on
painted garlands and show the congregation inscribed tablets which must be read
together: "ET REPLETISVNT OMNES SPIRITV SANCTO/ ET LOQVEBANTVRVERBVM
DEICVMFIDVCIA," from Acts 4:31 (fig. 7). These words are an amplification of the
antiphon of the Communion for Pentecost day,and they also remind the faithful of
the continuing protection of the Holy Spirit to the missionary efforts of the
Church: after Peter and John had been arrested and then freed to return safely to
their friends, they all prayed together, and when they had finished, the house trem-
bled "and all were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with
boldness."
The vault of the apse and choir (fig. 8) also contains images directly related to
PiusV's recently reformed liturgy of the Pentecost and to Gregory XIII's missionary
goals. In the center of the vault is depicted God the Father in a circular frame, and
below him is the Risen Christ sending the dove of the Holy Spirit to those gath-
ered below. These figures illustrate Jesus' promise in John 14:26, "your Advocate,

23Santi di Sant'Agostino, Le Cose... di Roma, 24. The ciborium, which was removed from the apse
in the seventeenth century, was a large freestanding tabernacle of classical design topped by a dome,
which was supported by four marble columns or piers. For information on this lost work I am much
indebted to Eunice Howe, who is currently preparing a publication on the church of Santo Spirito. In
the seventeenth century the ciborium was depicted in an engraving published by Pier Saulnier, De capite
Sacri Ordinis Sancti Spiritus dissertatio(Lyons:Wm. Bartier, 1647). The unknown artist may or may not
have been accurate in his rendition of the ciborium, but he was not very exact with regard to the apse
frescoes behind it. For example, he shows two registers of figures below the frieze, rather than one, and
omits most of the barrel vault decoration above, except for the tondo with God the Father. See fig. 4.
 Pentecst:
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the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything."
This text is part of the Gospel for Pentecost day and also a powerful argument for
the infallibility of the Church's teaching. Both word and image were directed to the
audience in the church.24 The missionary import of the Holy Spirit is also
expressed in the scenes at each side of the transverse arch of the vault closest to the
nave (fig. 8).The two paintings show the active mission of Peter and Paul on occa-
sions when their preaching and baptizing brought about the descent of the Holy
Spirit on all the listeners, as told in Acts 10:45 and Acts 19:6, each a part of the lit-
urgy performed during the Pentecost Octave andVigil.
Finally, the scene at the apex of the arch, depicting angels playing musical
instruments and distributing flowers, suggests a further appeal to the experience of
the church-goer on Pentecost day.The instruments may refer to those used to sim-
ulate the sound of the great wind (Acts 2:2) during the Mass, and the flowers may
recall the practice of dropping rose petals on the congregation in remembrance of
the descent of the tongues of fire.25 All the images in the apse and choir may be
further related to the viewer's experience when we note that the contract stipulated
that the frescoes were to be completed for Pentecost Sunday in 1583.26
Thus, the entire apse and choir of Santo Spirito in Sassia accomplished four
important things. It invited the participation of the church-goer in the Pentecostal
mystery, visually reinforced the recently reformed liturgy of the Feast itself, empha-
sized the missionary aims of Gregory XIII's papacy, and doubtlessly provided a rich
source for illustrating sermons that encouraged the faithful to see the relevance of
the struggle of the Early Church to that of the modern Church against the heretics,
a struggle which they could be confident of winning, owing to the continuing
intervention of the Holy Spirit. These aspects were reinforced by a subsequent
work commissioned by the Order of Santo Spirito from Zucchi. In 1588 the new
commendatore, Antonio Meliore, made a contract with the artist for a large canvas
painting to cover the wall over the main door of the church. It was to show the
Holy Church, symbolized by a woman, surrounded by four women representing
the four parts of the world that had received baptism by means of the preaching of
the twelve Apostles inspired by the Holy Spirit.27 Thus, the missionary goals of
Gregory XIII continued to be promoted during the papacy of SixtusV.

24Thefigureof the Risen Christwould havebeen directlyover the dome of the ciborium.There
is a long traditionof placingor showing ciboria over holy tombs,particularlyChrist'stomb. If that tra-
dition is being invokedhere,it would tie the paintingsand the ciborium togetherin a meaningfulway
for the viewer.
25A. H. K. Kellner, L'anno ecclesiastico,
tr.,A. Mercati (Rome: Desclee. 1906), 109.
"JacopoZucchi,"443, "da cominciarea prossimomese di luglio et da finirsiallapen-
26Pillsbury,
tecoste proximada venire."
816 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

The patrons of the frescoes, the Order of Santo Spirito, particularly wished to
express the idea that the Holy Spirit came to the whole body of the Church
because they specified in the contract that the number of figures in the scene was
to be 120,28 the number of disciples addressed by Peter in Acts 1:15. However, in
spite of the contract's demands, Zucchi did not paint 120 figures in the apse, and
in 1642 Baglione described the work as depicting the mother of Christ with the 72
disciples ofJesus.29Was this reduction of figures simply due to lack of time or space
from the artist's point of view, or does it reflect a specific concern of Christian
scholarship in the late sixteenth century when the numbers of 120 versus seventy-
two had a significance which was meaningful even to the Roman public? It may
have been both, and we must look at the ambience of Philip Neri and his friends
at the OratorioSecolareto unravel the possible reasons for this change.
The Oratorians, who were well known at Santo Spirito for their charitable
work in the hospital there, introduced an almost charismatic mode of worship to
Rome, using the primitive church as their model. They were immensely influen-
tial, particularly through their Public Oratory-popular preaching presented every
afternoon, first at their original church of San Girolamo della Carita, and later at
their "new church," the Chiesa Nuova of Santa Maria inVallicella. They spoke pri-
marily on church history, scripture, and the lives of the saints, using the familiar
tools of the humanists, rhetoric and history, not, however, to reveal sources of clas-
sical antiquity, but rather those of the Early Church. This movement was given its
most concrete form in the monumental church history, the Annales Ecclesiastici,
written by Cesar Baronius at Neri's insistence. The first volume of the Annales
(which covered the first one hundred years of the Christian era, and thus Acts) was
not actually published until 1588, although Baronius probably had finished it nine
years earlier, and he had delivered weekly lessons on the Acts of the Apostles for

27Pillsbury,"JacopoZucchi,"437, 444. The new contract,dated October 16, 1588, included the
following instructions:"nelqualquadrosaraet debbiaesserenel mezzo una figurad'unaDonna figurata
per la Chiesa Santa,la quale haveraquatt'altreDonne intorna,figurateper le quattroparti del mondo
venute al Battesmoper mezzo dellapredicationedello SpiritoSantodallidodeciApostoli."SixtusV also
promoted the expandedPentecostimage in the Saladegli Apostoli in the LateranPalace.FerrauFen-
zoni, in one of the majorscenes in the room, depicted apostlesand disciples,includingwomen, receiv-
ing the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Day. See AlessandroZuccari, I pittoridi SistoV (Rome:
FratelliPalombi,1992), 130-32.
28Pillsbury,"JacopoZucchi, 444, "Lastoriadabassograndeper il giro nichia sara di longhezza a
canne cinque,dove va la mad[onn]aco[n] li Apostoli et altrisantifino al numero di cento vinte figure,
co[n] prospettiveet altr'hornamento." The contract also says that Zucchi is to follow the design and
instructionsof"R[everend]oFrateIngnatio"in all the paintings.Pillsburyidentifiesthis personasEgna-
zio Danti, Perugianchurchmanwho was both artistand scientist,and a favoriteof GregoryXIII. If this
is correct,it furtherstrengthensmy argumentthat the frescoeswere meant to expresspapalpolicy.See
Pillsbury,"JacopoZucchi,"434, 437, 443. It is also noteworthy that the spandrelsoutside the apse arch
containthe figuresof David and Isaiahwho carryOldTestamenttexts affirminghope in the Holy Spirit
from Ps. 103:30 and Isa.44:3. See fig. 3.
29GiovanniBaglione,Le vitede'pittori,scultori,et architetti di Gregorio
dalpontificato XIII del 1572 in
fino a' tempidi PapaUrbanoOttavonel 1642, ed.V.Mariani(Rome: Calzone, 1935), 46, "per coro v'e la
madredel Redentore effigiatacon li settantadue discepolidi Gesi."
 Pentecost:Image & Experience 817

over a year at the well-attended Public Oratory beginning in May 1580.30 Thus,
the apse frescoes of Santo Spirito in Sassia existed in a popular, as well as a papal,
context.
We may penetrate further into this more popular understanding of Acts by
looking at the digest or Compendioof the first volume of the Annales made by one
of the most sought after preachers of the late Cinquecento, Fra Francesco Paniga-
rola (1548-1594).31 Famous for his knowledge of both Roman and Early Christian
history, as well as the works of the Church Fathers, this Franciscan priest was appre-
ciated not only at the papal court but also by the Roman populace, particularly for
his sermons delivered to enormous crowds at St. Peter's during the reigns of Gre-
gory XIII and Sixtus V. In the rather chatty introduction, "To the Reader," of the
Compendio,Panigarola writes that he originally made his digest in Italian from the
Latin of the Annales for himself and the people of his bishopric, but encouraged by
his patrons and by his dear friend Baronius, he realized it could be useful to many,
and thus decided in 1590 to have it printed. He apologizes for the length of the
digest (it runs to over one hundred pages), but he nonetheless adds a section of
Annotations on history and doctrine which is twice the length of the Compendio
itself.
Panigarola devotes two pages to the Pentecost in the text of the Compendio.
The Apostles, he writes, following Christ's command, had returned to Jerusalem
after the Ascension to await the coming of the Holy Spirit, "thus for ten entire days,
with theVirgin Mary, with other women and other disciples, numbering 120 in all,
they remained together in prayer... and soon after,the Holy Spirit descended from
Heaven in tongues of fire; it fell on each one of them, and they were filled with the
Spirit."32Thus, the official Church position, expressed by both Panigarola and Bar-
onius, stated beyond question that the crowd who received the Holy Spirit on Pen-
tecost day consisted of both women and men to the number of 120.
Panigarola enlarges on the text in his historical Annotations and addresses the
difficult problem of just how the gift of tongues worked. "Some say that to each
Apostle or disciple one language was given, thus, to the 120 who were together in
that house, 120 languages were given." Then he continues, "Others hold that the
Apostles spoke only in their own language, but that by divine miracle, each listener

30CyriacPullapilly,CesarBaronius(SouthBend:Notre Dame Press,1975), 34-49.

31FrancescoPanigarola,II Compendio degliAnnaliEcclesiasticidelpadreCesareBaronio(Rome: heredi
Gigliotto,1590). Panigarola's life and works are discussedby FrancescoBongratiaat the end of F Pani-
garola,Espositione e misticadellaCanticadi Salomone(Milan:G. B. Bidelli, 1621), 204-327. Born
letterale
in Milan,Panigarolabegan preachingin the early 1570s in Pisa and Florence,and was sent to Parisand
Lyonsby PiusV who appreciatedhis oratoricalgifts. He returnedto Rome under GregoryXIII, and
was attachedto the churchof SantaMariain Aracoeli.SixtusV made him bishop ofAsti in 1587. Many
of his Roman sermonswere printedin more than one edition, and his fame lastedwell into the seven-
teenth century.
32Panigarola, Compendio, 28-29, "cosi per dieci giorni interi con MariaVergine,con altredonne,
e altriDiscepuli,fino al numerodi cento venti,perseverandounitamentein oratione ... e poco apresso,
discesada Cielo lo SpiritoSantoin lingue di fuoco;sopraciascunodi loro cade:e tutti ne restanopieni."
All translationsfrom Panigarolain the text aremine.
818 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

seemed to hear his language," but this he rejects on the authority of Gregory
Nazianzus' sermon De Pentecoste,in which the Church Father points out that in
this manner the miracle would have been in the listeners and not in the Apostles.
"Finally,"he writes, "the same Gregory, as well as John Chrysostom and the best
authorities, believe that to each Apostle was given the grace to speak in as many
languages as there are in the world, but just how many there are is not very clear."
On this thorny issue Panigarola sides with St. Augustine who, in The City of God,
book 16, chapter 8, argued that there are only seventy-two nations and languages
in the world. If there are more, muses Panigarola, they are mixtures or variations of
the seventy-two.33 This kind of Christian humanist hairsplitting is the stuff of
which late sixteenth-century sermons were made. Panigarola was not saying any-
thing new in his Annotations; rather,in the time-honored tradition of teachers and
preachers, he was simply reworking and developing well-worn truths.
Although the Compendioappeared five years after the completion of the deco-
ration of the apse of Santo Spirito in Sassia, the same arguments may well have
formed the basis for the change from 120 to 72 disciples in the fresco.This change
would have provided a more manageable number of figures for the painter and a
ready-made topic for a sermon about the number of nations which could be
reached by the great missionary efforts of the Church under Gregory XIII.
Because the gift of tongues came to all present at the Pentecost, it would be
easy to assume that the entire group had the right to preach. However, such was
not the case, as Panigarola indicates in one of his Lenten sermons on the Holy
Spirit delivered in St. Peter's in 1588. The essence of his argument is that on the
Pentecost the Apostles, disciples, "donne e huomini," all who were gathered
together in that place, received the Holy Spirit, but the twelve Apostles, having
already received certain gifts of the Spirit earlier,were filled with a superabundance
of grace and wisdom which allowed them alone to go out into Jerusalem to preach
through the gift of tongues. This same plentitude of grace also gave them the right
to administer the sacraments and forgive sins. Before the Pentecost they already had
the authority to do these things, but the Pentecost Spirit gave them the strength to
do them.34 Thus, the priestly functions were preserved, although it was the gener-
ous and continuous gifts of the Holy Spirit to the entire body of the Church that
Panigarola and the late sixteenth century papacy chose to emphasize for their
Roman audience.35
One member of that audience who apparently was receptive to the message
was the Marchesa Vittoria della Tolfa (fig. 9), who, in the same church of Santo

33Panigarola,Compendio, 208-9.
34F.Panigarola,Predichequadragesimale del rev.monsig.Panigarolavescovod'Asti dell'Ordinedi S.
deMinoriOss.,fattada lui in Romal'anno1588 e recitate
Francesco in S. Pietro(Venice:G.. B. Ciotti, 1605),
165v-171. Typicalphrasesare:"perchegia era dato,ma all'oracon piu copia,"or "che non venisse la
plenitudinefin che non era ascesala plenitudine,e pero asceso,che fu Christo,viene lo Spirito Santo
con tantacopia,"(170-170v).
350n the importance of preachingduring this period, see FrederickJ. McGinness,"Preaching
Idealsand Practicein Counter-Reformation Rome," SixteenthCenturyJournal11, no. 2 (1980): 108-
27.
 Pentecost:Image & Experience 819

Spirito in Sassia, dedicated a chapel to the descent of the Holy Spirit (fig. 10). In
her will of 1578 she named the hospital of Santo Spirito as one of her major heirs,
and left one thousand scudi for the chapel to be built and decorated within two
years of her death, or the money would be withdrawn.36 The Order of Santo
Spirito obviously did not wish to lose such a bequest: between the time of her
death, August-September 1586, and August 1588, her chapel (first on the right)
was built, perhaps by Ottavio Mascarino, and decorated by Jacopo Zucchi.37
According to the two commemorative inscriptions in the chapel, one honoring her
and the other the two commendatori,Aldovrandiand Ruino, the chapel was brought
to completion under the new commendatore,AntonioMeliori, in 1588.38
The Marchesa della Tolfa's piety and patronage made her a considerable per-
sonage in Rome, especially during the reign of Gregory XIII, who was well-
acquainted with her. She was the niece of Pope Paul IV (who had promoted the
young Boncompagni), and she took advantage of that powerful connection all her
life. When her husband, Camillo Pardo Orsini, died in 1553, she managed to set
aside his will and his wishes to establish a chapel at St. John Lateran, preferring to
endow a chapel in the church of her choice, Santa Maria in Aracoeli. There she lit-
erally appropriated half of the large DellaValle Chapel for her own chapel dedicated
to the Ascension.39 She also commissioned chapels in San Giacomo degli Incurabili
and Santa Maria in Traspontina, and was the original founder of the Jesuit Collegio
Romano in 1560.40 The Marchesa had many powerful friends in Rome, including
Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santori,41 one of the new breed of reformed cardinals,
friend of Baronius and the Oratorians, and Gregory XIII's choice for organizing
and implementing his hoped-for reunion with the Greek Church.42 Although
there are no further documents to indicate her specific wishes for the chapel at
Santo Spirito beyond its dedication to the Pentecost, I suggest that her formidable
personality and her involvement with her other architectural commissions indicate

36A copy of the will and its eight codicils was made by the notaryPompeoValorion September
3,1586 (shortlyafterher death).See Archiviodi Stato,Rome,Arciospedaledi Santo Spirito,busta1138,
insert 162 (not numbered).
37JackWasserman,OttavioMascarino(Rome: LibreriaInternazionaleModernissima,1966), 192-
94, and Pillsbury,"Jacopo Zucchi,"442-43.
38Vincenzo Forcella,Iscrizionidellechiesedi Roma (Rome: Bencini, 1875) 6:400. For a seven-
teenth-centurydescriptionof her chapel,see BibliotecaApostolicaVaticana, Lat.7941, 238v.
39Fora discussionof her chapel,see JohannaHeidemann,The Cinquecento ChapelDecorationsin
SantaMariainAracoeliin Rome(Amsterdam:Academische Pers,1982), 111-25.
40Forher role at the Collegio Romano, see CarolynValone, "Pietyand Patronage:Womenand the
EarlyJesuits,"in CreativeWomenin Medievaland EarlyModernItaly,ed. E. Ann Matter,John Coakley
(Philadelphia:Universityof PennsylvaniaPress,1994). See also,ErnestoRinaldi, Lafondazionedel Col-
legioRomano(Arezzo:CooperativaTipografia,1914), passim.
41For Santori's friendship with the Marchesa,who left property to him in her will, see
G. Cugnoli,"Autobiografiadi Monsignor G.Antonio SantoriCardinaledi Santaseverina,"Archivio della
R. Societaromanadi storiae patria13 (1890):173.
42Inaddition to Peri, Chiesaromana,and Krajcar,CardinalSantoro, see Anna Beldon,"Uniatismo,
apostolatoe colonialismoreligioso nel eta di GregorioXIII:la chiesadi Sant'Atanasiodi rito greco in
Roma,"Antichita Viva22, nos. 5-6 (1983):49-57.
820 Sixteenth Centy Journal XXIV / 4 (1993)

Photo used by permission:Giandean

_ -A. .

Fig. 10.TolfaChapel,Santo Spiritoin Sassia.Photo used by

permission:BibliotecaHertziana,Rome
 Pentecost:Image & Experience 821

that she was unlikely to turn her money over to the order in a docile manner with-
out instructions. As a major benefactress of the hospital, she had ample opportunity
to make her wishes known.
In many ways the themes of the Marchesa della Tolfa's chapel are similar to
those of the great apse that had been recently completed by Zucchi. But the ico-
nography of her chapel is even more precisely "Gregorian:" it is based on the ser-
mon On Pentecostof Gregory Nazianzus,4 in whose honor Gregory XIII had built
the sumptuous new Cappella Gregoriana in St. Peter's.The writings of this fourth-
century Church Father on the Holy Spirit and the Trinity had been instrumental
in molding the Church's position on these difficult abstractions, and his theology
was greatly appreciated by Gregory XIII. If we ask how much popular knowledge
of this Eastern Church Father was available to the Marchesa and the general public
in Rome in the 1580s the answer is: a great deal. On Saturday,June 11, 1580, Gre-
gory XIII had sponsored a spectacular festival to mark the translation of the body
of Gregory Nazianzus from its modest home in the convent of Santa Maria in
Campo Marzio to the pope's new chapel in St. Peter's. Not only were indulgences
granted, debtors liberated, and all business stopped, but the price of bread was
reduced for the day, ensuring that everyone in Rome was enthusiastic about the
great celebration.44
Undoubtedly the Marchesa della Tolfa was aware of the festive occasion. To
begin with, the procession to St. Peter's, which included more than five thousand
dignitaries, clerics, and confraternity members, passed close to her palace in Piazza
Navona, near Palazzo Madama. Furthermore, it was her close friend, Cardinal San-
tori, the Protector of the Greek Congregation, who consecrated the new altar of
the Cappella Gregoriana for Gregory XIII's first Mass there on Sunday,June 12.
Also, it is highly probable that she was present at St. Peter's the previous week
when, on June 5, Fra Francesco Panigarola, at the pope's command, delivered a ser-
mon on Gregory Nazianzus in Italian to a great crowd in preparation for the trans-
lation of the saint's body.45 She must have known Panigarola personally for he was
attached to the Franciscan church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli where the Marchesa
was in the process of establishing her chapel. Thus, she had ample opportunity to

43J.-P.Migne, Patrologiae Graecae(Paris:Migne, 1858),36:,427-52. All quotationsin my text are

takenfrom the Englishtranslation,On Pentecost (Oration41), inA SelectLibrary
of NiceneandPost-Nicene
Fathers,2d ser., tr. CharlesG. Browne,JamesE. Swallow (GrandRapids:Eerdmans,1978) 7:378-85.
Numerous Greekand Latineditionsof the worksof GregoryNazianzuswere publishedin the sixteenth
century,includingthe LatintranslationofJacobusBillius (Paris,1569),which was reprintedmanytimes,
including a 1583 edition dedicatedto GregoryXIII. See GregoryNazianzus,OperaOmnia,ed. Bene-
dictinesof St. Maur (Paris:Desaint, 1778) l:iii-iv. See also,C. Moreschiniand G. Minestrina,eds., Gre-
gorioNazianzenoTeologo e Scrittore
(Bologna:Centro EditorialeDehoniano, 1992).
44Pastor,Storiadeipapi,803-5.The processionis depictedin frescoesin the loggia of GregoryXIII
in theVaticanpalace.
45For Panigarola'ssermon, see Biblioteca ApostolicaVaticana,Fondo Boncompagni-Ludovisi,
D.13, or Lat.6159. Panigarolaalso quoted On Pentecost in the Annotationson the Pentecostin his Com-
pendio.His sermon doubtlesslymade use of Baronius'definitiveLifeof GregoryNazianzuswritten for
the pope to markthe dedicationof the CappellaGregoriana.See ActaSanctorum, ed. BollandistFathers
(Antwerp:J.Meursium,1680), May 2:, 373-428.
822 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

know of Gregory Nazianzus and his writings on the Pentecost, and reason to
believe that many of the visitors to her chapel would also be familiar with the saint.
The Pentecost sermon of Gregory Nazianzus summarizes the basic concepts
of the feast, which are also reflected in the Marchesa's chapel. Chief among them
is Gregory's defense of the Spirit's eternal and essential part in the Trinity, which is
depicted by the images of the God the Father and the Risen Christ in the curved
vault, with the dove of the Holy Spirit in the altarpiece below (figs. 10, 11).
Gregory's text also suggests some images that are not commonly found in Pen-
tecost scenes, but are present in Zucchi's altarpiece (fig. 11). For example, while
emphasizing the importance of the mystical number seven, Gregory speaks of the
seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isa. 11:12), and these are represented symbolically in
the altarpiece by the seven angels below the dove.46 About the tongues of fire he
writes, "And he came in the form of Tongues because of his close relation to the
Word... and the tongues were cloven because of the diversity of Gifts" (chap. 12).
In Zucchi's painting (fig. 12) there is a cloven three-part flame above each figure's
head, quite unlike the usual single flame of many Pentecost scenes (fig. 1). The
"diversity of Gifts" is also emphasized by the large crowd of women and men, who
verify the gift of the Holy Spirit to the whole body of the Church, an idea com-
mensurate with Gregory XIII's own rhetoric. All are transformed by the Spirit,
Gregory Nazianzus writes, shepherds, fishermen, publicans, Saul become Paul
(chap. 14). This last reference may help explain the prominence of St. Paul in the
lower right-hand corner of the altarpiece, since he was not present on Pentecost
day, and is not usually shown in Pentecost scenes. Gregory also emphasizes the
location of the upper room: "And it took place in an Upper Chamber... because
those who should receive it [the Spirit] were to ascend and be raised above the
earth" (chap. 12). The center of Zucchi's altarpiece is devoted to the meaning of
Gregory's words, for we see the empty steps, which lead us upwards to Mary, the
dove, Christ, and God the Father (figs. 10, 11).The steps are not unique, but Zuc-
chi's compositional emphasis on them is uncommon.
To the right of the altarpiece is one of Zucchi's most handsome figures, the
prophet Joel (fig. 13), standing in an illusionistic niche with the inscription above
him: "SVPER SERVOSMEOSEFFVN/DAMSPIRITVMMEVM,"a paraphrase of Joel
2:28. Gregory Nazianzus quotes this passage in his sermon; it is the basis of Peter's
speech to the polyglot crowd on Pentecost day (Acts 2:14-21) when he tells them
that this day is the fulfillment of God's generous promise, spoken by the prophet
Joel, "I will pour out upon everyone a portion of my spirit; and your sons and
daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams."This all-embracing gift of the Spirit accords well with the mission-
ary aims of Gregory XIII's papacy and the message of the expanded Pentecost
image.

46Zucchimay have borrowedthis depiction of the seven gifts fromVasari'saltarpieceof 1568 in

SantaCroce, Florence.See MarciaHall, Renovation
and Counter-Reformation:VasariandDuke Cosimoin
SantaMariaNovellaandSantaCroce(Oxford:ClarendonPress,1979), 136-40.
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824 SixteenthCenturyJoual XXIV / 4 (1993)

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826 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

The pendant figure to Joel is John the Baptist (fig. 14), whose gesture re-
directs the viewer's eye upwards again to the essential theological truth of the Pen-
tecost: the Trinity (fig. 10). As Gregory Nazianzus proclaims, "The Holy Spirit,
then, always existed, and exists, and always will exist.... He was everlastingly
ranged with and numbered with the Father and the Son" (chap. 9). This emphasis
on the impenetrable mystery of the Trinity, was as timely in sixteenth-century
Rome as it had been in the years of the Early Church. The inscription over the
Baptist, "HICEST QVI BAPTIZAT/INSPIRITVSANCTO,"John 1:33), reinforces the
Trinitarian idea not only in the Pentecost, but also in the sacrament closely associ-
ated with it, Baptism. John the Baptist had testified to seeing the Spirit "coming
down from heaven like a dove" upon Jesus, and to his own God-inspired revelation
that "this is he who is to baptize in the Holy Spirit" John 1:32-34).47
Finally, the conclusion of Gregory Nazianzus' sermon On Pentecostis suitable
not only to the celebration of the feast itself, but also to its commemoration in the
Marchesa's chapel:"But the Festival is never to be put an end to; but kept now with
our bodies; but a little later on altogether spiritually there, where we shall see the
reasons of these things more purely and clearly,in the Word Himself, and God, and
our Lord Jesus Christ" (chap. 18). The Marchesa della Tolfa doubtless had a good
deal of theological advice on the Pentecost images for her chapel, but her own
familiarity with Gregory Nazianzus, provided by her friend Cardinal Santori and
the sermons of Panigarola, and her experience of the more general religious cli-
mate in the Rome of Gregory XIII were surely sufficient to insure her participa-
tion in the process.
Perhaps the last Roman depiction of the Pentecost to express the aims associ-
ated with Gregory XIII's papacy was painted during the reign of Clement VIII
Aldobrandini in his family's chapel in Santa Maria in Via.48 In the vault of the
chapel (third on the right),Jacopo Zucchi, in 1594-1595, painted what was prob-
ably his last work, a light-filled descent of the Holy Spirit on a large ecstatic gath-
ering of women and men (fig. 15). It may be more than a coincidence that this
chapel originally had been conceded to Pietro Aldobrandini the Elder in 1576 by
Gregory XIII.
As the religious climate of papal Rome changed at the end of the sixteenth
century from one of optimism about Christian reunification to a more realistic
confrontation with the Protestant revolt, the Pentecost image returned either to its
earliest form of the twelve Apostles and Mary, or to a much reduced crowd of dis-
ciples, with two or three women around Mary.49 But in the years directly after the
Council ofTrent, and especially during the reign of Gregory XIII, the depiction of

47Asin the apse,the spandrelson the outside of the chapelarchcontain Old Testamentprophets,
in this case Haggai,who holds his text telling of God'spromiseto send his spirit over Israel(Hag.2:6),
and Isaiah,not previouslyidentified,but recognizablefrom the inscriptionhe holds:"Gen[erationem]
fromActs 8:33, which is a developmentof Isa.53:8. See fig. 10.
illius quis enarrabit,"
48Forthe documents on the chapel,see LuisaMortari,"Considerazionie precisazionisulla cap-
pellaAldobrandiniin SantaMariain Via,"in Miscellanea di Bonsanti,Fahy,Francisci,
Gardner,Mortari,Ses-
tieri,Volpe,Zeri(Bergamo:EmblemaEditrice,1973), 76-82.
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828 Sixteenth CenturyJournal XXIV / 4 (1993)

the Pentecost had been briefly transformed in order to express to the Roman faith-
ful a message, found also in Early Christian and Patristic traditions, of hope in the
missionary and unifying powers of the Holy Spirit.

49Among the "reduced" Pentecost scenes in Rome painted after the papacy of Gregory XIII are
Niccolo Circignani's vault of the first chapel on the left in the Gesui, c. 1585-1587; Giovanni Battista
Ricci's fresco for Cardinal Pinelli in the nave of Santa Maria Maggiore, c. 1591-1592; Ricci's vault in
the third chapel on the right in San Marcello, c. 1600, and Guido Reni's ceiling for the Sala delle Dame
in theVatican, c. 1608, for PaulV.