«SEED OF LOVE IN THE HUMAN NIGHT»

For twenty centuries man has killed you
Yet you ceaselessly revivify and are reborn
You the humble interpreter of the God of all.
G. Ungaretti

As is known, there was bad blood between Siena and Florence in 1300, and Duccio di Buoninsegna (1260-1319), who opened the golden age of Sienese painting, was the one who contested the Florentine artistic supremacy of Giotto di Bondone. Duccio, whom Longhi defined as “created by Cimabue”, was very faithful to Byzantine painting, but in an intelligent way, that is, he was not a mere executor of meticulous techniques and precise pictorial rules, but he brilliantly revived the colour and the line thus opening up to a new aesthetic sensibility. In his panels we therefore see the very first signs of the Gothic civilization that would greatly influence Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers. His name is linked in particular to the Maestà, today preserved in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Siena. As the chronicles remind us, the impression on the people was such that the opisthograph panel (painted on both sides) was carried in procession from the master’s workshop to the main altar of the cathedral. The motif dates back to the famous battle of Montaperti (1260), a few kilometers from Siena, where on September 4 the Sienese Ghibellines defeated the Florentine Guelphs. On that occasion the city magistrate, Buonaguida, together with the bishop Tommaso, had entrusted themselves to the intercession of the Madonna “with the big eyes” (master of Tressa), preserved in the cathedral. The victory meant that Siena became Civitas Virginis. From here many Marian works, among which, in addition to Duccio, we must also remember the extraordinary Annunciation by Simone Martini today in the Uffizi. For Duccio, Mary is not only the mother according to Giotto’s humanization, but above all the mother of God. His painting therefore, in addition to illustrating and humanizing, consecrates, that is, opens onto the Mystery in which Mary has her happy fulfilment. However, it would be wrong to contrast Duccio’s vision with that of Giotto. Of course, they are two different perspectives but the idea of ​​faith is one. For Duccio, man is found through God, for Giotto, God is found in man. We also find Mary in the Pentecost panel painted between 1308 and 1311, today at the Museo dell’Opera in Siena. We are in the event that sees the birth of the Church. The mother of Jesus is among the apostles, painted according to the canons of Eastern iconography. However, the work is pervaded by a certain movement, especially in the faces. All are united in prayer, waiting for the Spirit, who rests on each one with rays of light. But there is also another important detail. In the panel, on the left we see the open door of the cenacle. What does it represent? Two things, the first that the Spirit helps to overcome fear; the second that the disciples are ready to announce the good news of the Kingdom to every creature. We therefore have the praying heart of the Church and its call to the people. But will this “seed of love in the human night”, as Giuseppe Ungaretti defined it, be welcomed? Will it be listened to? Will men be able to make its incredible announcement their own: the victory of Life over death?

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey