Statue of Christ ransomed from Moulay Ismail in Morocco. 1 copy worldwide.
[Africa] / [Monument repatriation] / [Slavery] / [Francesco dello Spirito Santo]. Esercizj divoti da farsi per nove giorni dinanzi alla miracolosissima Immagine di Gesù Nazareno divino redentore del mondo, Il di cui Originale si venera nella chiesa de’ RR. PP. Trinitarj Scalzi del Riscatto nella Corte di Spagna; e la di cui Copia divotissima si venera nella chiesa di S. Carlo alle quattro Fontane dell’ istess’ Ordine in Roma. In Roma: per il Komarek, 1753. 12mo [14.4 x 9.1 cm], [1] f. full-page etching, 60 pp., with woodcut head-piece and initials. Disbound, otherwise well preserved.
Very rare (1 copy worldwide) earliest located (1753) edition of this history of the miraculous statue of Christ rescued in 1681 from the “Castle of Mamora in Africa” (i.e., Mehdya, Morocco) by the Trinitarians, an Order founded in 1198 with the purpose of ransoming Christians held captive by Muslims across the Mediterranean. The statue, which came to be known as the Cristo de Medinaceli, was taken to Madrid, and a devotion to it was widely promoted by the Discalced Spanish Trinitarians.
This booklet was printed in Rome for the use of devotees to the replica of the statue kept in the Trinitarian church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (Francesco Borromini’s architectural masterpiece, built 1638-46). Included is a full-page etching of the “true image” of the sculpture.
The first part of the booklet recounts the statue’s history (the Spanish taking of La Mamora [a.k.a. ‘San Miguel de Ultramar’] in 1614, the Bishop of Cadiz commissioning the statue of Christ for the church at La Mamora, Moulay Ismaïl’s retaking of the fort in 1681, Muslim abuse of the statue, its ransoming along with other Christian captives, its various miracles, its transport to Spain, etc.).
The second part of the booklet is a prayer-script for a nine-day devotion (novena) to the sacred statue. The worshiper is instructed how to contemplate the sculpture, which both depicts Christ as a captive during his Passion (an ‘Ecce Homo’) and was itself a captive of the Muslims in Mehdya.
OCLC, KVK & OPAC/SBN/ICCU locate just 1 copy of this 1753 booklet: Biblioteca diocesana Beata Lucia Broccadelli (Narni). This is the earliest dated version of the several similar booklets printed during the second half of the 18th century (each very rare), but the use of the term ‘reimprimatur’ in its privileges suggests that there was an earlier edition, which is now lost or unlocated.
*IT\ICCU\UM1E\026868.