La visione del frate Domenicano Lorenzo dalla Grotteria e gli echi dell’iconografia del miracolo di Soriano in Dalmazia

Abstract

Two books published in 1621 and 1665 can be considered iconographic sources for the research of the iconographic subject, known in Croatian art history as the Miracle of Soriano. The first, published in Messina, “Raccolta de’ miracoli fatti per l’intercessione di san Domenico, istitutore del sacro ordine de’ Predicatori, con l’occasione d’una sua imagine portata dal cielo in Soriano” was written by the monk Sylvester Frangipane, while the second one, “Cronica del Convento di S. Domenico in Soriano dall Anno 1510 fin´al 1664” was also written by a Dominican monk - Antonino Lembo. In both we find the records of the event which took place during the night preceding the eighth day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, September 15th, 1530. Exactly three hours before dawn, as reported by Lembo, sacristan Lorenzo della Grotteria experienced a vision to be envied for. According to the monastery rules, the sacristan headed the same night to the uncompleted church of Saint Dominic in Soriano to lit candles and prepared everything for the morning service. Having lit the candles he saw three women in ceremonial attire, of magnificent looks and indescribable beauty that he stood frozen like a statue. One of them, the most honorable one, asked him about the convent, the church and the possession of images depicting Saint Dominic. The sacristan replied that there is no other saint’s image except the one crudely painted on the wall. And then the woman - Madonna accompanied by St Mary Magdalene and St Catherine of Alexandria - handed him a painting with the image of St Dominic, to take it to the prior of the monastery, Domenico Galiano, and to be placed on the altar. In front of the image made without hands, the miracles started to happen: primarily miracles of healing and deliverance from trouble and evil. But miracles took place also before the reproductions of the original. There are two basic iconographic guidelines of the resonance of the Miracle of Soriano in Dalmatia: one that copies the image not made with hands, a real portrait of Saint Dominic from Soriano, and another, much more common, that represents the miraculous event or the vision of the sacristan Lorenzo della Grotteria. The text analyzes all relevant sources that could affect the dissemination of the iconography of the vision in Soriano and its reception in the examples in Dalmatian paintings.