The Sheltering Cloak: Images of Charity and Mercy in Fourteenth-century Italy

Abstract

The iconography of charity (caritas) underwent considerable changes in fourteenth-century Italy, signifying a break with the traditional transalpine depictions of love personified. Some iconographical aspects of the French Caritas Misericordia (or Mercy Charity) were transferred to the Madonna of Mercy, also known as the sheltering-cloak Madonna. With her cloak spread to protect the needy and her devotees, the Madonna of Mercy likewise personifies benevolence, leaving room for artists to develop an allegorical type of Charity. Significantly, the earliest Mother of Mercy images show the Virgin extending her cloak with her own hands as Mercy Charity. The meaning of the gesture is multifaceted. The Virgin is not just offering a cloak, but sharing hers. Because of the association of textiles with flesh, and therefore with the incarnation, textile relics were supposed to have protective powers. With the garment, Charity—and later the Virgin—provides the pauper with a protective layer. The development of the Madonna of Mercy fits changed views and practices of charity in Italy during the thirteenth century. The Madonna of Mercy is depicted frequently in churches, oratories, and charitable institutions, often depicted more than once within one hospital. In the gesture of opening up her mantle, she mirrors the hospital loggia. The cloak of the Virgin could symbolize the protective walls of a building, or even the dome of heaven. Reversely, the loggia of the hospital could be regarded metaphorically as a sheltering cloth protecting the citizens of the community. Visually the loggia functioned not just as a transitional area, but an embracing and enclosing space covering the community like a sheltering cloak. As such, the loggia articulated the purpose and aspirations of the hospital in society, reflecting the popular image of the Madonna of Mercy.