La Mostra    Scala Santa

The transfer of the Acheropita of SS. Salvatore from the Sancta Sanctorum to the Lateran Archbasilica during the Extraordinary Holy year of 1933

During the Extraordinary Holy Year of 1933, the relic of the Holy Cross and the acheropite image of the Saviour were put on display in the Basilica of St John Lateran for a triduum to prepare for the Feast of the Ascension, and then carried in triumph to the Chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum at the end of the celebrations.

Felici (papal photogr.), Il trasporto dell'Acheropita del SS. Salvatore dal "Sancta Sanctorum" all'Arcibasilica Lateranense, in: L'osservatore romano, a. LXXIII, n. 121, 22-23 May 1933

The celebrations of the Ascension in the Lateran during the Extraordinary Holy year of 1933 and the procession of the Acheropita

Dalla cattedrale di Roma sua santità benedice una moltitudine immensa di fedeli. La "Cappella papale" all'Arcibasilica lateranense. La solennissima processione dell'Acheropìta, in: L'osservatore romano, a. LXXIII, n. 124, 26-27 May 1933

The holy heads of the saint apostles Peter and Paul in the Basilica of St. John's in Lateran

Among other things, the priceless relic of the sacred heads of apostles Peter and Paul, originally preserved at the Oratory of San Lorenzo, are conserved at the Basilica of St John. They were moved to the Basilica in the fourteenth century and placed in two valuable silver reliquaries made by Siena goldsmith Francesco di Bartolo; the present-day specimens, placed in the ciborium, are in fact a nineteenth-century copy by Giuseppe Valadier.

Francesco Cancellieri, Memorie storiche delle sacre teste dei santi apostoli Pietro e Paolo e delle loro solenne ricognizione nella basilica lateranense, con un'appendice di documenti, 2a ed., Roma 1852

The Holy Stairs and the Sancta Sanctorum

Scala Santa, in: Fioravanti Martinelli, Roma di nuovo ricercata nel suo sito... Di nuovo con ogni diligenza corretta & accresciuta con belle figure, Roma 1702

History of the Holy Stairs and the Sancta Sanctorum

Benedetto Millino, Dell'oratorio di San Lorenzo nel Laterano hoggi detto Sancta Sanctorum..., Roma 1666

The Holy Stairs and the Sancta Sanctorum

Giuseppe Maria Soresino, De Scala sancta ante Sancta Sanctorum in Laterano culta opusculum..., Roma 1672

History of the Holy Stairs and the Sancta Sanctorum

Giuseppe Maria Soresino, De Scala sancta ante Sancta Sanctorum in Laterano culta opusculum..., Roma 1672

The faithful climb on their knees the Holy Stairs

According to tradition, the Holy Stairs were the stairs up to Pontius Pilate’s praetorium in Jerusalem, which Jesus climbed on the day he was condemned to death. They were brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother, Helena. No feet are allowed to touch the twenty-eight white marble steps that make up the staircase; believers may only climb them on their knees.

Crépon, Penitents montant l'Escalier saint, dessin de Crépon d'après Picart,in: Le Tour du monde. Nouveau journal des voyages publié sous la direction de m. Édouard Charton et illustré par nos plus célèbres artistes, vol. XV, 1867

The icon of Sancta Sanctorum called Acheropìta

The acheropite panel (not made by human hand) of the Redeemer in the Chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum at the Lateran, which is said to have been brought to Rome from the Orient, is a life-sized image of the Saviour. With the exception of its face, Innocent III had the whole figure covered in silver. Between the ninth and sixteenth centuries, on the day before 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the icon was carried in procession to St Mary Major to “meet” the Salus Populi Romani, in what was a representation of Christ meeting his Mother at his death.

Vera effigies ss.mi Salvatoris ad Sancta Sanctorum de Urbe, in: Giovanni Marangoni, Istoria dell’antichissimo oratorio, o cappella di San Lorenzo nel Patriarchio Lateranense comunemente appellato Sancta Sanctorum e della celebre immagine del SS. Salvatore detta Acheropita, che ivi conservasi; colle notizie del culto e varj riti praticati anticamente verso la medesima..., Roma 1747

Statutes of the Company of SS. Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum

The Compagnia del Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum looked after the acheropite image of the Saviour (today at Ospedale San Giovanni in Laterano). The company was most likely founded in 1348, when the Compagnia dei Raccomandati del ss. Salvatore ad Sancta Santorum combined and expanded the previous Sant’Andrea and San Michele Arcangelo hospitals.

Statuti della venerabile Compagnia della sacratiss. immagine del s.mo Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum di Roma, Roma 1608

Statutes of the Company of SS. Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum

The Compagnia del Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum looked after the acheropite image of the Saviour (today at Ospedale San Giovanni in Laterano). The company was most likely founded in 1348, when the Compagnia dei Raccomandati del ss. Salvatore ad Sancta Santorum combined and expanded the previous Sant’Andrea and San Michele Arcangelo hospitals.

Statuti della venerabile Compagnia della sacratiss. immagine del s.mo Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum di Roma, Roma 1676

The transformations of Lateran area wanted by Sixtus V and realized by Domenico Fontana

After the ancient patriarchate was demolished, Sixtus V commissioned a smaller square-plan palazzo to be built, modelled on Palazzo Farnese. He commissioned Domenico Fontana to build a special-purpose building for the Holy Stairs and the Sancta Sanctorum, and the precious relics that they contained.

Domenico Fontana, Della trasportatione dell'obelisco vaticano et delle fabriche di nostro signore papa Sisto V fatte dal cavallier Domenico Fontana architetta di sua santità..., Roma 1590 [ma 1604]

History of the transformations af Lateran area wanted by Sixtus V and realized by Domenico Fontana

After the ancient patriarchate was demolished, Sixtus V commissioned a smaller square-plan palazzo to be built, modelled on Palazzo Farnese. He commissioned Domenico Fontana to build a special-purpose building for the Holy Stairs and the Sancta Sanctorum, and the precious relics that they contained.

Gregorio Leti, Vita di Sisto V pontefice romano..., vol. II, Losanna [ma Ginevra], 1669

The new look of Lateran palace, of the Loggia of the benedictions, of the Holy Stairs and of the facing square after Sixtus V works

The palace new appearance may be seen in this Giovanni Battista Piranesi engraving, which also shows the tall Egyptian obelisk that Sixtus V had moved to the piazza from Circus Maximus to crown the work.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Veduta della Piazza, e Basilica di S. Giovanni in Laterano [1775], in: Id., Vedute di Roma disegnate ed incise da Giambattista Piranesi Architetto veneziano, vol. I, Paris 1836

The new look of Lateran palace, of the Loggia of the benedictions, of the Holy Stairs and of the facing square after Sixtus V works

The palace new appearance may be seen in this Pierre Mortier engraving, which clearly shows the start of Via Merulana, to the right of the road that used to lead to the Coliseum, improving links between the Lateran district in the heart of town and, on the left, the building that houses the Holy Stairs.

Pierre Mortier, Veue de la Piazza della sacrosanta Basilica Lateranense madre e capo di tutte le chiese di Roma, Den Haag 1724