Salus Populi Romani
| Salus Populi Romani Protectress of the Roman people | |
|---|---|
Restored by the Vatican Museum (2018) | |
| Location | Rome |
| Date | 590 A.D. (official arrival in Rome) |
| Witness | Pope Gregory I |
| Type | Oil Painting |
| Approval | Pope Gregory XVI Pope Pius XII |
| Shrine | Pauline Chapel, Basilica of Saint Mary Major |
Salus Populi Romani (English: Protectress of the Roman people, also known as the Salvific Health of the Roman people) is a Roman Catholic title associated with the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome. This Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child Jesus holding a Gospel book on a gold ground, now heavily overpainted, is kept in the Borghese (Pauline) Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
The image arrived in Rome in 590 A.D. during the reign of Pope Gregory I. Pope Gregory XVI granted the image a canonical coronation on 15 August 1838 through the Papal bull Cælestis Regina Maxima. Pope Pius XII crowned the image again for the secondary time and ordered a public religious procession during the Marian year of 1 November 1954. The image was cleaned and restored by the Vatican Museum, then given a Pontifical Mass on 28 January 2018.
The phrase Salus Populi Romani goes back to the legal system and pagan rituals of the ancient Roman Republic. After the legalisation of Christianity by Emperor Constantine the Great through the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., the phrase was sanctioned as a Marian title for the Blessed Virgin Mary.