First half of the 19th century
Madonna with Child and souls of Purgatory
Lacquered and gilded papier-mâché with polychrome wooden base
96.5 x 37.5 x 28 cm
"At that time I asked the Lord Jesus: 'For whom must I still pray?'. Jesus replied that the following night he would let me know for whom I should pray. I saw the Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I found myself in a foggy place, invaded by fire and, in it, an enormous crowd of suffering souls. These souls pray with great fervor, but without effectiveness for themselves: only we can help them. The flames that burned them did not touch me. My Guardian Angel did not abandon me for a single instant. And I asked those souls what their greatest torment was. And unanimously they replied that their greatest torment is the ardent desire for God. I glimpsed the Madonna visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call Mary 'Star of the Sea'. She brings them refreshment."
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska p. 11)
A Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) reinterpreted in the pages of her testimony the ancient role of the Virgin as savior and supporter of the souls in Purgatory. The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council established that, assumed into Heaven, the Mother of God should operate a continuous intercession in favor of those children awaiting Paradise who found themselves in the place, mentioned for the first time by Pope Gregory the Great in his Dialogues, in which to await expiation from earthly sins. Saint Bridget of Sweden, born in 1303, testified how the purging souls felt relieved just hearing the name of Mary while, a little later, San Bernardino da Siena (1380-1444) recalled how the main intent of the Virgin was to mitigate the pains of the souls awaiting eternal life. Many subsequent theologians have reiterated the decisive importance of the Virgin's role in the salvation process within the boundaries of Purgatory, among all Saint Alfonso Maria de' Liguori (1696-1787); the help offered by the faithful, who can recite the prayer of the Rosary in suffrage of the deceased, remained equally useful according to subsequent interpretation. In the present sculpture, the souls are depicted within the canonical flames of Augustinian memory, adopting an iconographic practice used for both paintings and sculptures of all eras: we recall in this regard the works of similar subject by Luca Giordano (Basilica of San Pietro di Castello, Venice), Ludovico Carracci (Vatican Pinacoteca, Vatican Museums), Orazio de Ferrari (Church of S. Ambrogio, Voltri) as well as the statuary group made with the same material as the present one, papier-mâché, work of the Lecce school of the 20th century (Mother Church of Santa Maria di Licodia).
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