The Heart of Maria Klementyna

Maria Klementyna Sobieska died on 18 January 1735 at the Palazzo Muti in Rome. The body of the wife of James III Stuart, a Catholic pretender to the English throne, was embalmed and then laid in state, first in the palace and later on an imposing catafalque in the Church of Santi Apostoli, adjacent to the Stuart residence. It was then carried in a solemn procession to St Peter’s Basilica and buried there. A few years later, during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XIV, a monumental tomb was completed inside the basilica. Maria Clementina was thus honoured as the fourth woman in history to receive such a tribute, following Charlotte of Cyprus, Matilda of Canossa and Christina of Sweden.

An epitaph had also been dedicated to the wife of the pretender to the English throne in the Church of Santi Apostoli, several years earlier. It was there that the urn containing her internal organs, which had been removed from her body during the embalming process, was laid to rest. The separate interment of rulers’ hearts and internal organs, commemorated by tombstones or epitaphs, had been known in European tradition since at least the Middle Ages; in Rome, however, this custom was generally not practised. If the deceased was embalmed, the internal organs were usually buried alongside the body, and even when this was not the case, the place where they were laid to rest was not particularly commemorated.

For example, the internal organs of popes were placed in simple terracotta urns in the church of Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio. In the case of Maria Clementina, however, a different approach was taken. It seems that, apart from the propaganda aspect, the widespread belief in Rome that the deceased was worthy of canonisation played a decisive role. She had, after all, devoted the final years of her short life to piety and charitable work.

From idea to creation

The epitaph commemorating the interment of Maria Klementyna Sobieska’s entrails was commissioned by the Franciscan friars in February 1737 and completed in October 1738. It was created by Filippo della Valle, a native of Florence and one of the most outstanding sculptors working in Rome during the late Baroque and early Classical periods. This was not his first commission relating to the Sobieski family – ten years earlier, he had been commissioned by his master, Camillo Rusconi, to create the tomb of Alexander Sobieski in the Capuchin Church in Rome (1727–1728). It is also worth noting that Filippo della Valle frequently worked on commission for Pope Clement XII, who was associated with the Stuarts, and it was thanks to his financial support that Maria Clementina’s funeral took place.

A design sketch preserved in the Archivio Chigi at the Vatican Library shows the concept for the epitaph taking shape. The final form of the composition was undoubtedly influenced by suggestions from the Franciscans who looked after the Church of Santi Apostoli, and perhaps even by the opinion of Clement XII himself. This is indicated not only by the coherence between the figural composition and the text of the foundation plaque, but also by the artist’s use of the motif of a royal cloak instead of the more vague drapery still visible in the preparatory drawing. This is most likely a reference to the cloak on which the queen’s body was laid on the catafalque in the Church of Santi Apostoli; it was also used during the funeral ceremonies at the Vatican, before ultimately being presented to the Corsini family. The cloak, as well as another motif featured on the tomb—an urn with a crown—can be found on the frontispiece of the publication *Parentalia Mariae Clementinae…*, commemorating the life of Sobieska and her ceremonial burial. The compilation and publication of this work were commissioned by Pope Clement XII.

An epitaph for a queen or a saint?

The epitaph is simple in form – on the cornice, above the foundation plaque, rests an urn containing the queen’s remains. One putto, draped in a royal cloak, holds a crown placed upon the urn with its left hand, whilst the other presents a burning heart, illuminated by rays of heavenly glory emanating from between the clouds and three angelic heads. The work demonstrates the sculptor’s mastery, both in terms of composition and technical execution. On the one hand, it forms a superbly conceived, self-contained whole, on the other, it dynamically enters the church’s interior through the putto’s leg and a fragment of the royal cloak protruding beyond the edge of the cornice, as well as the turn of the second putto’s head, which is directed towards the frescoes on the church’s vault. Filippo della Valle skilfully combined various colours and textures of marble, and through the differing treatment of the surfaces, he subtly distinguished the smooth white bodies of the putti surrounding the urn from the slight roughness of the angelic wings and clouds.

Although tombstones and epitaphs of crowned heads often and intentionally evoked associations with the transfer of relics and the cult of saints, the motifs of the work from Santi Apostoli, above all the heavenly rays falling upon the burning heart, relate primarily to depictions of saints or ecstasy. This is because, in parallel with Filippo della Valle’s work, the beatification process had begun: between 1737 and 1738, the first testimonies and accounts from contemporaries were gathered, confirming Maria Clementina’s exceptional piety and virtues.

However, the Church prohibited the veneration – not only in public but also as part of private devotion – of individuals who had not been officially recognised as saints. This process, which was scrupulously observed in the first half of the 18th century, was multi-stage and could take as long as several decades. Francesco Valesio, however, mentions that the people of Rome touched Maria Clementina’s body, lying on the catafalque, with their rosaries. This discrepancy between official recognition of her sanctity and the popular belief in it was reflected in her tombstone. The rays emanate not from the heart but from heaven; yet, as they fall upon it, they clearly convey the very idea of sanctity.

These subtleties are also emphasised by the text on the plaque. The play on words and meanings in the phrase ‘NAM COR CÆLESTIS FECIT NE SVPERESSET AMOR’, which can be translated as: ‘heavenly love did not allow the heart to survive’, refers to the heart both as a mortal internal organ and, at the same time, as a symbol of fervent piety and immortal divine love. The rays thus fall upon the heart, whilst beside it, on the urn containing her mortal remains, rests a crown against the backdrop of a cloak – a symbol of royalty, but also of worldly glory, which Maria Klementyna had rejected in the final years of her life. This echoes the view expressed in the beatification documents that ‘the true kingdom to which she aspired was not that of England, but that of Heaven’.

Epitaph of the heart of Maria Klementyna Sobieska

The Church of Santi Apostoli in Rome

designed and executed by Filippo della Valle

1737–1738

marble, porphyry

Inscription on the plaque:

HIC CLEMENTINÆ REMANENT PRAECORDIA: NAM CORCÆLESTIS FECIT NE SVPERESSET AMOR · MARIÆ CLEMENTINÆ MAGN · BRITANN · ET C · REGINÆ FRATRES MIN · CONV · VENERABVNDI PP ·

Here lie the remains of Clementina: heavenly love did not allow the heart of Mary Clementina, Queen of Great Britain, etc., to survive. The Friars Minor Conventual, with devotion, dedicate