ABSTRACT
This paper discusses theological ideas as well as visual representations connected to the iconography of the Virgin in Sole, the Woman Clothed in the Sun from the end of the fifteenth to the second half of the sixteenth century. The description of the Apocalyptic Woman appears in the Book of Revelation 11–12 and was interpreted as the persecuted Church symbolized by the Virgin Mary. The Dominican preacher, Girolamo Savonarola in his short treatise entitled Esposizione sopra l’orazione della Vergine (1483) destined to a community of nuns in Ferrara, characterized Mary as a singular being for being united to God both in Her mind as well as in Her body, and for being blessed because She conceived the Son of God as a virgin, and She remained a virgin although She was also a mother. Mary is identified with the Apocalyptic Woman; she is clothed in the Sun of Justice, while the stars on Her crown signify the apostles, among whom She lived after Christ’s ascension and the Moon symbolizes earthly matters. The Dominican recommends his followers to recite the Virgin’s prayer or ‘coronella,’ composed of four Pater Noster prayers for the Sun and 12 Ave Marias for the 12 stars. For the Moon they should recite the Magnificat, to symbolize victory over the ‘dominion of this world.’
