The Lunette at Carafa

Beneath the Hellespontine Sibyl in the Carafa Chapel in Rome, on the west side, Fillipino Lippi has painted a miracle of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint whose feast day is celebrated in the chapel.  "When god works miracles, He does supernatural wonders above the common order, raising the minds of some living in the flesh beyond the use of sense even up to the visions of His own essence," wrote Saint Thomas.  So, was the miracle depicted by Fillipino Lippi that of the Miracle of Chastity or the Miracle of the Speaking Cross?  Much argument has been written on the subject.  Let's explore this and then view this beautiful, frescoed lunette.

Humanists categorized Saint Thomas Aquinas by his virtue and his learning.  In 1243, Thomas decided to live a life of chastity and became a Dominican friar.  His prominent family fiercely opposed this.  His domineering mother arranged for Thomas to be kidnapped and brought back to the family palace at Roccasecca.  For over 15 months the family tried to get Thomas to break his vows.  His brother brought in a prostitute, whom Thomas threw out.  (No, that's not the miracle.)  The miracle tells us that two angels appeared with a Girdle of Perpetual Chastity.  They placed it on Thomas.  The best known painting of this is by Bernardo Daddi.  We see the story clearly in his work.

In 1273, Thomas was engrossed in theological writings that were devoted to the Eucharist.  While praying in the monastery beneath a crucifix, the miracle tells us that the crucifix spoke to Thomas saying, " You have written well of me, Thomas.  What will you accept in gratitude?"  Thomas answered, "Nothing but Yourself, Lord."

Now, let's decide which of these miracles Fillipino Lippi, under the guidance of his patron, Cardinal Carafa, chose to portray.  We see Saint Thomas on the left kneeling beneath a cross with a very elaborate Christ.  There are two lilly-bearing angels at his side.  The lilies represent virginity and, therefore, chastity.  There are epigraphic elements to Fillipinos chapel frescoes however there is none in the lunette fresco.  Why would he omit the words spoken by God in the miracle?  There is a book on the floor beneath the crucifix.  Could this be the writings of Thomas about which God honored him with praise?

Let's take the popular view and say that this is the Miracle of Chastity and not the Miracle of the Speaking Cross.  With this approach, we can identify the other figures in the scene as family members in the Aquinas palace.  The two woman are the sister, Marotta,  and mother, Donna Theodora, of Saint Thomas Aquinas.  Donna Theodora is depicted with limited emphasis due to her negative role in the miracle.

The vibrant, swirling young man is Ruinaldo, the chief conspirator in the abduction.  Here we see evidence of Fillipinos access to Masaccios Tribute Money in Brancacci Chapel.

The youth entering from the loggia is the brother of Thomas, Landolfo, who helped in the abduction.

 Although his father, the Count Landolf, was deceased at the time of the miracle, we have to believe that the old man with the white beard is meant to represent him.  Or, could it just be a blatant reference to evil?  In the center of the painting is a child and dog.  This may reflect back to the infant Hercules struggling with a snake, symbolizing virtue overcoming vice.

The child and the dog seem to link the left side of the painting (Thomas and the angels) with the right side of the painting (the frenzied, conspiring Aquinas family).

Fillipino Lippis basic, meditative narrative transports us into a dramatic, colorful experience of  visual contrasts as the tension lures us from the right and we focus on Thomas.