The Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo, Rome: Representing the Immaculate Conception in Sebastiano del Piombo’s Birth of the Virgin

SummaryThe altarpiece executed for the Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo, Rome, between 1530 and 1547, by Sebastiano del Piombo, but completed by Francesco Salviati, features an unusual, and unprecedented, depiction of the Birth of the Virgin, rendered apart from the remainder of the Marian narrative. Created at a time when Rome was still reeling from the effects of the destructive Sack of 1527, it represents a uniquely Roman interpretation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Beginning with a description of the work, and arguments for the change of subject, the introduction is followed by an analysis of the contextual material that informs the subject type. The second part provides a modest history of the immaculacy doctrine and provides a few examples of images depicting the Virgin's birth. Finally, by associating the doctrine with the ritual celebration of the feast of the Virgin’s nativity, it becomes apparent that the female figure, personified as the Woman of Proverbs 8:1-4, and 8:22-31, was conflated with the non-sexual birth of the Goddess Venus Aphrodite to produce the final solution. The timeline of debate for the doctrine makes it clear that Sebastiano’s work was advanced to align with debates concerning the doctrine; and that still later, Salviati was most likely advised to arrange his work with the altarpiece subject to correspond with the doctrinal arguments in support of the immaculist position challenged at the Holy Ecumenical Council held in the German City of Trent in 1546.