|
Salus Populi Romani
Oil on panel
The name of this icon means "Health [or Salvation] of the Roman People." The phrase was in use in pre-Christian times. Legend has it that the icon was created by St. Luke the Evangelist and brought by St. Helena in the 4th century to Rome, where it was credited with a miraculous delivery of the city from the plague in the 6th century. The picture at left shows the icon after the restoration of 2018. Another image in the basilica represents St. Luke painting the icon.
Sources: Photograph of the original, Wikimedia Common; other photographs taken at the basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. |