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WALKING TOURS OF ROME

Providing Dowries for Poor Girls

25/3/2019

 
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The Annunciation by Antoniazzo Romano, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
The Annunciation by Antoniazzo Romano

March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation, the celebration of the moment the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. 

The Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva is home to a fascinating painting of the Annunciation (c. 1482), the work of Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili (c.1430 – c.1510), better known as Antoniazzo Romano.

The painting was commissioned by the Arciconfraternita della Ss. Annunziata in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, a charitable body founded in 1460 by Cardinal Juan de Torquemada (1388-1468), the uncle of Spain's infamous first Grand Inquisitor, Tomãs de Torquemada (1420-98). 

The arch-confraternity was set up to provide dowries for poor girls. Each year, on the Feast of the Annunciation, the dowries would be distributed to a select group of girls by no less a figure than the pope himself. ​

The painting depicts Cardinal Juan de Torquemada presenting three girls to the Virgin Mary, who hands each of them a small bag of money. 


The practise continued for centuries, only coming to an end in 1871 when Rome became the capital of Italy.

​
The event was witnessed by the English travel writer Augustus J. C. Hare, who wrote in his book Walks in Rome (1871): "On this occasion, the girls who are to receive the dowries are drawn up in two lines in front of the church. Some are distinguished by white wreaths. They are those who are going to 'enter into religion', and who consequently receive double the dowry of the others, on the plea that 'money placed in the hands of religion bears interest for the poor.'"

The Annunciation (detail) by Antoniazzo Romano, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome

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    Walking Tours For Discerning Travellers

    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private and
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  • Home
  • Private Tours
  • Small-Group Tours
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
      • Pope Gregory XIII
      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
      • Pope Benedict XIV
      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Gallery
    • Piazzas >
      • Piazza del Campidglio
      • Piazza del Quirinale
      • Piazza del Popolo
      • Piazza di Spagna
      • Piazza Navona
      • Piazza S. M. in Trastevere
      • Piazza San Pietro
    • Mosaics
    • Fountains
    • Churches
    • Ancient Rome
    • Palaces
    • Domes
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
    • Old Photographs
    • Borromini & the Baroque