Marchese, Domenico Maria.

[AN ADMIRER OF THE HOLY SAVONAROLA – NO COPIES IN NORTH AMERICA] Vita della venerabile serva di Dio Suor Catarina de Ricci: Fondatrice del Monastero di San Vincenzo di Prato [Life of the Venerable Servant of God Sister Catarina de Ricci: Founder of the Monastery of St. Vincent in Prato].

Rome: Nella Stamperia della Rev. Camera Apostolica, 1683. Small quarto (20.9 × 14.8 cm). Early nineteenth-century quarter vellum, marbled paper covered boards; [10], 441, [1] pp. Text with occasional foxing and toning, a few pages more heavily; a few small stains and spotting to margins; else good or better. Item #55216

First edition of the vita of Catherine Ricci (1522–1590) written by Domenico Maria Marchese (1633–1692); different variants appeared. Despite the Dominicans' efforts to have Catherine Ricci canonized, the Dominican nun, who died in 1590, was not beatified until 1732 by Pope Clement XII and canonized in 1746 by Pope Benedict XIV. Just four years after her death, the Dominican composer Serafino Razzi published an extensive biography of his order sister. Rome's reserve towards the native Florentine was probably due primarily to her open admiration for Savonarola. While Rome saw the Dominican as a “heretic, schismatic, and despiser of the Holy See”, Catherine revered him as a martyr and saint, writing a hymn in his honor. When she was born in 1522 into a wealthy family, the memory of the monk who had been hanged and burned in 1497 was probably still vivid in the collective memory of Florence. For Savonarola, who preached openly against the Borgia Pope Alexander VI, not only organized the “bonfire of the vanities”, which is still remembered today and into which Sandro Botticelli, among others, threw some of his paintings, but also propagated after the Medici fled from the French the founding of a republic and the disempowerment of the oligarchs. Not only the Franciscans of the city, but also some Dominicans turned against Savonarola, who, with the help of his followers, was increasingly building a theocratic dictatorship.

Catherine Ricci's veneration for the excommunicated priest was, remarkably, not entirely unusual in the sixteenth century. Another canonized adherent of Savonarola was Philipp Neri, also born in Florence, with whom Catherine Ricci was in contact. But for her, the condemned schismatic was also associated with a vision and a miracle of healing. Since 1540, she had been suffering from an illness that confined her to bed for over a year, and finally the pain had prevented her from sleeping for a whole month. On the eve of Savonarola's execution, some of his relics were brought to her, but they brought her no relief. During the night, she threw them on the floor in despair, but regretted her action and knelt down to pick them up again. Then Savonarola appeared to her, made the sign of the cross, and healed her. According to reports, he appeared to her in more than a dozen visions over the next two years. (Cf. Patrick Macey, Bonfire Songs: Savonarola's Musical Legacy, Oxford 1998, p. 132.) However, she was canonized on the basis of other visions. Over several years, she is said to have been transported into ecstasy every week from Thursday ("Last Supper") until Friday at 4 p.m. (“Death of Christ on the Cross”). In this state, she is said to have relived all the stages of Christ’s Passion and then described the feelings of the Mother of God with astonishing vividness. (Cf. Catholic Encyclopedia)

Already in the first vita, it is reported that Catherine Ricci, like the Dominican Catherine of Siena in the Middle Ages, received the stigmata and the wounds of the crown of thorns; accordingly, she is also depicted in a Dominican habit and with a crown of thorns (cf. LCI VII, p. 300). The problem for Rome with the veneration of Catherine was that it contributed significantly to the spread of the Savonarola cult in the Dominican Order and in urban circles. In 1583, Archbishop Alessandro de' Medici lamented in a letter to the Grand Duke the spread of images of Savonarola. Those in favor of Catherine's beatification and canonization endeavored to sweep Savonarola's name under the rug. Thus, the name is not mentioned in Marchese’s vita either. But despite his name being erased from the writings and printed vitae and carefully removed from the memories submitted during the process, it was to no avail. He had become too deeply ingrained in Catherine's story, so that some time had to pass before she was canonized. But long before that, popular piety and the nuns' veneration had already passed their judgment. Contrary to the rules of the Congregation of Rites, a veritable cult arose around the tomb of Catherine Ricci, where hundreds of votive offerings had accumulated over time. Numerous images also already depicted her as blessed. (Anna Scattigno, La costruzione di un profilo di santità femminile nella Firenze del XVII secolo >ht tp s://doi.o rg/10.13128/Annali_Stor_Firen-14444<, September 2, 2025).

As of September 2025, KVK, OCLC locate two holdings in London and none in North America.

Price: €2,500.00

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