One of the Roman customs that gets a great deal of interest and attention is that of draping churches in red silk hangings for the most solemn of occasions. This particular custom is thought to be particularly "Roman" in its origins (possibly going back in some fashion to the ancient Romans themselves). Within the Roman Christian sphere, it is a custom that dates back to the time of Pope Zachary who sat upon the chair of Peter from A.D. 741 to 752 -- one of the last of the so-called "Greek popes," having hailed from the Greek / Eastern-Roman infused territories of southern Italy.
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| A depiction of Pope Zacharias in the Roman basilica of S. Maria Antiqua. This depiction would have been done while this pontiff was still living (as denoted by the distinctive square halo). |
In Pope Zachary's instance, these red silk draperies were hung between the columns lining the nave of Old St. Peter's basilica and would eventually spread outside of St. Peter's to other great basilicas of Rome, as well as to Italy and some other locales more generally. Within St. Peter's, this tradition continued to be seen right up until modern times, unfortunately falling victim to the liturgical fads and fashions of the 1960's and 1970's.
Our purpose today is to simply catalogue some of the best colour photographs of this tradition as expressed in St. Peter's Basilica -- a traditional, I should add, that was also accompanied by the hanging of candlelit chandeliers which were hung before these same silken banners as well as elsewhere in the basilica.
Before we do that, however, I'd be remiss to not note that this tradition was not always expressed in exactly the same form, as can be testified to by various paintings showing St. Peter's so solemnly vested.
The main differences on might perceive here are the way in which the hangings are treated around the throne as well as the fact they are covered with complex gold-coloured decorations.
It is also worth noting that St. John Lateran also saw this tradition:
Turning back to St. Peter's hanging's however, specifically the contemporary one's, a detail that is frequently missed within these is the fact that these hangings included the symbol of the papal tiara and keys. Regrettably there is no high quality image of this to share with our readers, but if we zoom in, you will be able to make out pieces of the tiara and crossed keys design embedded into the weave of the silk damask:
With all that background in mind then, here is a collection of some of the better colour photographs depicting this noble and venerable Roman tradition as expressed in St. Peter's Basilica. We hope you enjoy them.
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