Salus Populi Romani, Luke the Evangelist (16–100 A.D.)

I. IDENTIFIERS

Artist/Attribution:  Traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist

Date: c. 1st Century A.D. / 5th-13th Century surface

Medium: Encaustic and tempera on cedar wood

Location: Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

Culture/Period: Byzantine / Sacred Icon

II. HISTORICAL CONTEXT

This particular painting is complex in its origins. There is a theological tradition which the Catholic Church heavily promoted during the Middle Ages in which they acknowledge that Saint Luke is a vera icona (true image painted by Saint Luke based on seeing the person alive).  The historical context following the theological tradition is around the years 50-80 A.D. During this time, Christianity was spreading globally and there were massive converts to this new religion that had different ways of spreading their religion undercover because if they were found then they would be killed. 

However, in 2018 the Vatican Painting and Wooden Materials Laboratory performed a massive restoration of the icon, in which the materials underwent different testings. The wood panel had Radiocarbon (C 14) testing conducted to the cedar wood backing and the results proved that the wood comes from later dates during the 9th and early 11th century. If using the latter date for historical context, then the painting style aligns with the Italian-Byzantine works of the 11th and 13th centuries. Around this time Rome was under siege and there were fights between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor.

II. HISTORICAL CONTEXT

This particular painting is complex in its origins. There is a theological tradition which the Catholic Church heavily promoted during the Middle Ages in which they acknowledge that Saint Luke is a vera icona (true image painted by Saint Luke based on seeing the person alive).  The historical context following the theological tradition is around the years 50-80 A.D. During this time, Christianity was spreading globally and there were massive converts to this new religion that had different ways of spreading their religion undercover because if they were found then they would be killed. 

However, in 2018 the Vatican Painting and Wooden Materials Laboratory performed a massive restoration of the icon, in which the materials underwent different testings. The wood panel had Radiocarbon (C 14) testing conducted to the cedar wood backing and the results proved that the wood comes from later dates during the 9th and early 11th century. If using the latter date for historical context, then the painting style aligns with the Italian-Byzantine works of the 11th and 13th centuries. Around this time Rome was under siege and there were fights between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor.

III. SUBJECT MATTER

The subject matter of Salus Populi Romani falls into the ancient artistic category in Christian iconography known as the Hodegetria. The Hodegetria comes from the Greek word Odigitria, meaning “she who knows the way.” The Virgin Mary (the Theotokos) holds the Christ Child while He blesses the viewer using the traditional Byzantine sign of blessing which symbolizes the Holy Trinity by the use of three fingers and the remaining two fingers represent the embodied natures of Christ (divine and human). Christ Child holds a Gospel book studded in jewels, while Mary holds a light blue consular mappa. A consular mappa was used in Ancient Rome by emperors and high-ranking consuls to drop the cloth into the arena to signal the beginning of the public games. Because Mary holds it, she is depicted as an empress who holds the authority to signal mercy and divine intervention for humanity.

The gaze of both the Virgin Mary and Jesus are calm and distant. The Child Jesus has a gaze that portrays Him as the Logos (Eternal Word of God). His facial features such as the receding hairline, and the serious expression emphasize that even as a child, he possesses absolute divine wisdom.  

IV. ABOUT THE ARTIST

St. Luke the Evangelist was a companion of St Paul, and the ascribed author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He is the largest contributor of the New Testament.  His Gospel is called the “Gospel of Mercy” because of the predominant themes of God’s forgiveness, care for the poor, social justice, and prayer. St Luke is also the first icon painter who is also attributed to having painted the renowned icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help located in Rome’s Chiesa di Sant’Alfonso all’Esquilino. St. Luke the Evangelist is the patron Saint of surgeons, artists, students, butchers and brewers. His feast day is on October 18th. 

St. Luke the Evangelist, Pray for us. 

V. PERSONAL CONNECTION

In April of 2025, I went to Rome for the first time and obviously did the pilgrimages to the four Papal basilicas and the last one that I went to was St. Mary Major. I recall my fascination upon entering the Borghese Chapel in which this painting is located and remembered my fascination with it. Mary looks empowered, yet fully mysterious. The effect of the candle’s smoke adds tension to the painting and makes both the Virgin Mary and Jesus appear ethereal. While sitting in the Borghese Chapel, I remember being distracted in my prayer because of this icon that I could not stop looking at. It was impressive to hear that this icon was used by several popes during moments of hardship such as Pope Pius XII who prayed and asked Mary in this icon to help protect Rome from devastation during the Nazi-fascist occupation and that same year on June 4, 1944, the Allied forces liberated the city. The trust and devotion that is given to this image by Romans and the popes inspires me and makes me realize that part of the human experience is to trust in something bigger than us, that protects us and is here within us showing us that it is okay to believe fully in God.