The Council of Trent

The Council of Trent, fresco by Italian artist Pasquale Cati (1550-1620), Altemps chapel, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome

The Council of Trent was the Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church convened in Trent in the Holy Roman Empire (now Italy) between 1545 and 1563 in 25 sessions. The council fathers met in Trent (sessions 1-8, 1545-7) and in Bologna (sessions 9-11, 1547) during the pontificate of Pope Paul III, and in Trent (sessions 12-16, 1551-52) under Pope Julius III, and in Trent (sessions 17-25, 1559-63) under Pope Pius IV.

The council issued important reform decrees, defined Church teachings on the scripture and traditions, sacraments, original sin, justification, the veneration of saints and condemnations on heresies, among many other important matters concerning the Catholic Church.

The Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri)

PD Image 1: The Chair of Saint Peter (bottom center), designed and executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

PD Image 2: The Cathedra Petri and the interiors of Peter's Basilica, Rome

The Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri in Latin) is a wooden chair conserved in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, enclosed in a gilt bronze casing designed and executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1647-53 AD. The cathedra in Saint Peter's Basilica was once used by the popes, and hence often said to have been used by Saint Peter himself, but it was a gift from Charles the Bald to the Pope in 875 AD.

The Capitoline Hill Cordonata in Rome

PD Photo: The Capitoline Hill Cordonata in Rome (at the centre of the photo) leading from Piazza di Ara Coeli to Piazza del Campidoglio

The Cordonata (Cordonata Capitolina), designed by Michaelangelo, leading from Via del Teatro Marcello up to Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, Italy. The two Roman statues at the top of the steps are the mythological twins Castor and Pollux placed there in 1583. The Piazza was designed in the 1530s by Michaelangelo for Pope Paul III. The building opposite the top of the steps (with the tower) is Palazza Senatorio, Rome's City Hall. The massive flight of 134 steps on the left leads up to the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli.

Typically, a Cordonata is a sloping road composed of transversal stripes made of stone or bricks, similar to a flight of steps allowing the transit of horses and donkeys. Another famous Italian Cordonata also is in Rome, leading to the Piazza del Quirinale, and gives the name to a road, Via della Cordonata.

Capitoline Venus, marble copy of Venus by Praxiteles

Photo: Capitoline Venus, one of the best preserved copies of Cnidian Venus by Greek sculptor Praxiteles (4th century BC), height 1.93 m (6 ft. 3 ¾ in.), a gift of Benedict XIV in 1752, located at Palazzo Nuovo, First Floor, Cabinet of Venus, Capitoline Museums, Rome, Italy.

Capitoline Venus, copy of Venus by Praxiteles

Image: Capitoline Venus (after the Aphrodite of Cnidus), a marble sculpture belonging to Roman artwork of the Imperial Era (2nd century CE), from Anzio, Italy, located at Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Sully, ground floor, room 17, Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

Praxiteles of Athens was the most renowned of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC. It is widely believed that Praxiteles was the first to sculpt the nude female form as a life-size statue. While no unquestionably attributable sculpture by Praxiteles is in existence, numerous copies of his works have survived. The Thespian courtesan Phryne is believed to be his beautiful model, and a speculated relationship between Praxiteles and the model has inspired works of art ranging from painting (Gerome) to shadow puppetry.

The Capitoline Wolf in Rome, USA

Not just the name, but certain other features are also shared between the American city of Rome and the Italian city of Rome. Rome in Georgia, USA, was built on seven hills with a river meandering through them, a feature that was an inspiration for the name. The seven hills that inspired the name of Rome are Blossom Hill, Jackson Hill, Lumpkin Hill, Mount Aventine Hill, Myrtle Hill, Old Shorter Hill, and Neely Hill.

In 1928 Italian Chatillon Corporation began construction of a rayon plant in Georgian Rome, as a joint venture with the American Cotillion Company, for the cornerstone of which Italian premier Benito Mussolini sent a block of marble from the ancient Roman Forum with the inscription, "From Old Rome to New Rome". On completion of the rayon plant in 1929, Mussolini honored Rome with a bronze replica of the sculpture of The Capitoline Wolf, suckling the twin brothers Remus and Romulus, who named Rome after his name.

The bronze statue The Capitoline Wolf, a symbol of the original Rome, was placed in front of the City Hall of the new Rome on a base of white marble from Tate, Georgia, with a brass plaque inscribed, "This statue of the Capitoline Wolf, as a forecast of prosperity and glory, has been sent from Ancient Rome to New Rome during the consulship of Benito Mussolini in the year 1929."

In 1940, anti-Italian sentiments due to World War II ran so strong that the Rome city commission moved the statue into the storage to prevent any possible vandalism, replacing it with an American flag. In 1952, the statue of The Capitoline Wolf was restored to its original location in front of City Hall. You can view the picture of the historical statue above, taken on 8 August 2005.

The Capitoline Wolf - She-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus

The Capitoline Wolf (Lupa Capitolina), a larger than life-size bronze sculpture standing 75 cm tall and 114 cm, long is located in the Museo Nuovo in the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Campidoglio (the ancient Capitoline Hill) in Rome, Italy. The statue's theme is linked to the founding of Rome, when the twins Romulus and Remus saw their father Numitor dethroned by his brother Amulius, who ordered the twins be thrown into the Tiber. But the twin brothers were rescued by a she-wolf that suckled them and took care of them until a herdsman, Faustulus, found them raised them further. The brothers, with the support of their followers decided to found a new city, but in a dispute about the site of the city Romulus killed Remus and built Rome, which was named after his name.

The Capitoline Wolf statue was long thought to be an Etruscan work of the 5th century BCE, with the figures of the twins added in the late 15th century CE, probably by the sculptor Antonio Pollaiolo. However, radiocarbon and thermo-luminescence dating tests found that sculpture was possibly created in the 13th century CE.

The she-wolf from the legend of Romulus and Remus has been regarded as a symbol of Rome from the ancient times. Several ancient sources refer to statues depicting the wolf suckling the twins. Cicero mentions a statue of the she-wolf as one of several sacred objects on the Capitoline that was inauspiciously struck by lightning in 65 BCE, "It was a gilt statue on the Capitol of a baby being given suck from the udders of a wolf."

German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann of the 18th-century attributed the statue to an Etruscan sculptor of the 5th century BCE. But, Winckelmann also identified a Renaissance origin for the figures of Romulus and Remus, saying they were probably added in 1471 or later.

During the 19th century several researchers questioned Winckelmann's dating of the bronze sculpture. In 1854 August Emil Braun, Secretary of the Archaeological Institute of Rome, proposed that the damage to the wolf's paw had been caused by an error during casting of the statue, not due to lightning. Similarly, Conservator of the Louvre, Wilhelm Fröhner, stated in 1878 that the style of the statue was of the Carolingian period rather than Etruscan. In 1885 Wilhelm von Bode also opined that the she-wolf statue was most likely a medieval work.

In 2006 Italian art historian Anna Maria Carruba and Etruscologist Adriano La Regina contested the traditional origin of the she-wolf on the basis of the bronze casting technique. Carruba was restoring the sculpture in 1997, when she examined how it had been made. She observed that the statue had been cast as a single piece, using a ‘lost-wax casting’ technique that was not used in ancient times. Ancient Greek and Roman bronze statues were constructed from multiple pieces. Whereas, single piece casting technique was widely used in medieval times to mould bronze items. Carruba argued, like Braun, that the damage to the she-wolf's paw had resulted from an error in the moulding process. In addition, La Regina, the state superintendent of Rome's cultural heritage, argued that the sculpture's artistic style is more akin to Carolingian and Romanesque art than to the ancient times.

In February 2007, radiocarbon and thermo-luminescence dating tests was conducted at the University of Salento. Although in July 2008 La Regina announced that the results of the tests had produced a ‘very precise indication in the 13th century’, the question of the age of the statue was not solved. The results of the tests were not to be disclosed before the end of 2008, but as of April 2010, they have not been published by the Museo Nuovo.

The twelfth-century English cleric Magister Gregorius in his essay, De Mirabilibus Urbis Romae, recorded in an appendix three pieces of sculpture he had neglected, one being the wolf in the portico at the principal entrance to the Vatican Palace. But he mentioned no twins.

The present-day Capitoline Wolf could not have been the sculpture seen by Benedict and Gregorius, if its newly attributed age is accepted, though it could have been a replacement for an earlier, now lost, statue of the Roman wolf. In December 1471 Pope Sixtus IV ordered the present sculpture transferred to the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill, and the twins were possibly added then.

The Capitoline Wolf was a favorite of Benito Mussolini, who projected himself as the founder of the ‘New Rome’. To win American goodwill, he sent several copies of the Capitoline Wolf to U.S. cities. In 1929 he sent one replica to Cincinnati, Ohio, which was replaced in 1931by another replica of the statue, which still stands in Eden Park, Cincinnati. The same year another replica was given by Mussolini to the city of Rome, in Georgia, located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, United States. A third replica was sent to New York City.

The Capitoline Wolf has a special place in the past and present history, as well as the culture of Rome. The image of the Capitoline Wolf was used on both the emblem and the poster for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Also, the Roman football club A.S. Roma uses the Capitoline Wolf in its emblem.

Verteidigung einer Sabinerin by Joseph Uphues

Verteidigung einer Sabinerin (1886), inspired by the legend of Romulus and Remus, is a larger than life bronze statue in the neo-baroque style created by the Berlin sculptor Joseph Uphues. It was commissioned by Philipp Schoeller for his garden. Now the statue is located in Stadtpark, Düren, Germany.

Romulus and Remus are the twin founders of Rome, according to the traditional myth. They are fathered by Mars or the demigod Hercules on a royal Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia, whose uncle leaves them to die in the wild. The twins are found by a she-wolf who suckles and takes care of them and eventually they attract many followers and decide to found a new city.

Romulus wishes to build the new city on the Palatine Hill, but Remus prefers the Aventine Hill. They agree to determine the site through augury. Romulus seems to receive more favorable signs but each of the twins claims the results in his favor and in the dispute, Romulus kills Remus. Romulus builds and names the new city Rome, after his name.

Minerva Dressing by Lavinia Fontana

Image: Minerva Dressing (1613) oil on canvas painting by Italian painter Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), currently located at Galleria Borghese, Rome.

The Slave Market in Rome (Slave Auction) by Gerome

Image: The Slave Market in Rome (Slave Auction) by French painter and sculptor Jean-Leon Gerome, a 1884 oil on canvas painting of dimensions 92 cm x 74 cm currently located at The State Hermitage Museum of Art And Culture in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The State Hermitage Museum of Art And Culture in St. Petersburg, Russia, is one of the largest and oldest museums of the world, founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and open to the public since 1852. Its collections comprise nearly 3 million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the eastern wing of the General Staff Building also are part of the museum.

Cleopatra tests poisons on condemned prisoners

Image: Painting named ‘Cleopatra testing poisons on condemned prisoners’ (1887), oil on canvas, by French artist Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889) located at Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, Belgium.

A Christian Dirce by Henryk Siemiradzki

Painting: ‘A Christian Dirce’ by Henryk Siemiradzki - a Christian woman is martyred in this re-enactment of the myth of Dirce. Siemiradzki (1843-1902) was a Polish Academic painter, known for depictions of scenes from the ancient Greco-Roman world and the New Testament.

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (15 December AD 37-9 June AD 68), generally known as Nero, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Christian tradition and other historical sources hold Nero as the first major state sponsor of Christian persecution. The non-Christian historian Tacitus describes Nero as extensively torturing and executing Christians after the Fire of Rome in AD 64. Suetonius also mentions Nero persecuting Christians in the Roman Empire. The Christian writer Tertullian (155-230) was the first to call Nero as the first persecutor of Christians, when he wrote, "Examine your records. There you will find that Nero was the first that persecuted this doctrine".

Nero is also accused as the killer of Apostles Peter and Paul. Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (275-339) was the first to write that Apostle Paul was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero. He states that Nero's persecution led to Peter and Paul's deaths, but that Nero did not give any specific orders. However, some other accounts have Paul surviving his two years in Rome and traveling to Hispania. By the 4th century, a number of writers were stating that Nero killed Peter and Paul.

Early Christian martyrs’ last prayer in Rome

Painting (1883) of early Christians being slaughtered for entertainment in the Colosseum in Rome by French painter and sculptor Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 - 10 January 1904). The artist is known for the style known as Academicism, and the range of his oeuvre included historical paintings, Greek mythology, Orientalism and portraits.

Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire

Photo: Front view of the Imperial Crown: cross is an addition from the early 11th century; the arch dates from the reign of Emperor Conrad II (ruled 1024-1039); the red velvet cap is from the 18th century. It is made of gold, cloisonné enamel, precious stones, and pearls.

The crown is of the King of the Romans, the rulers of the German Kingdom, since the High Middle Ages, from when most of the kings were crowned with it. Probably, it was made somewhere in western Germany (10th century). The Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, especially the Imperial Crown, were all kept 1424-1796 in Nuremberg, Franconia, and could only leave the city for the coronation. Now the crown and the rest of the Imperial Regalia are exhibited at the Hofburg in Vienna, officially ‘until there is again a Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation’.

Pope Saint Clement I: monastic mural

Image: Saint Clement I, one of the first century Bishops of Rome, considered successor to Saint Peter as leaders of the Catholic Church (mural in a monastery of Saint Clement, Macedonia).

Pope Saint Clement I (aka Saint Clement of Rome or Clemens Romanus) is listed from an early date as a Bishop of Rome. Not much is known about Pope Clement's life, but according to Tertullian, he was consecrated by Saint Peter, and he is known to have been a leading member of the church in Rome in the later part of the first century.