Saint Roch: the Plague, the Cult and the Image

The shrine was ceded in 1553 to the Jesuits who built their Professed House, the seat of the entire Portuguese province, which included its vast colonial empire, in Asia and America.

The São Roque Museum, exhibits one of the oldest pictorial narratives dedicated to the saint, dating from 1525. Composed of four paintings, each with two scenes. It is based on the written account published by Francesco Diedo.

In this first painting, we can clearly see two scenes, a main one, the birth and a secondary one, the departure of his parents' home to dedicate himself to the poor.

The saint was born in Montpellier with a red cross on his chest, which will have given him the name: rouge - Roche.

The father recognizes the child's paternity, the fact is being proved by two witnesses, a reminiscent of the Roman law.

The clothes and objects indicate that it was a wealthy family.

The convalescent mother takes an eggnog, which was very common in postpartum recovery.

The Portuguese-African ivory spoon indicates the status of the family.

In the secondary scene, Saint Roch distributes his family wealth among the poor, repeating the example of Saint Francis Assisi. Already wearing pilgrim's robes, he embarks on a pilgrimage to Rome.

In Rome, he heals an English cardinal sick with plague and who is on the verge of death. His healing was considered a miracle by those who witnessed the scene.

At the foot of the bed, the galley - the cardinal's hat -, a container with marmalade, a bowl with pomegranate berries, another remedy against the plague, with an ivory Portuguese-African spoon, and two bottles with ointments.

On the wall, there is a small panel representing Calvary that, interestingly, follows the norm of representation that would be approved decades later at the Council of Trent (1563).

Now healed, the cardinal, with the cross marked on his forehead, introduces Saint Roch to the Pope, telling him about his miraculous healing.

With the gift of curing the plague patients, Roch goes to Piacenza and assists the patients in the local hospital, but he himself ends up contracting the plague, being forced to leave the hospital.

The bubonic plague is manifested with a swelling in the lymph nodes, which appeared mainly in the groins and armpits, generating the famous bubo's that, in some days, became wounds and together with other symptoms, such as fever and vomiting, led to death in less than a week.

The plague also affected young and healthy people. It is estimated that between 30% to 60% of Europe's population died in the most severe years, in the middle of the 14th century.

Until the 17th century, there continued to be outbreaks of plague on the European continent, especially in the south.

So Saint Roch takes refuge outside the city. A dog brings him a bread every day to feed him, a legend imported from Saint Paul the Anchorite. An angel healed his wound. Gothardo - the dog's owner - found him, becoming his first disciple.

Final scenes: prison and death of Saint Roch.

In the way to his homeland, in the south of France, he was arrested near the Lake Maggiore, being accused of being a spy.

A judge condemns Saint Roch to prison.

After his death, he was recognized by his maternal family in prison through the stigma with which he was born in the chest.