The Image of the Immaculate Conception
from St. Vitus Church in Rome
The General Chapter celebrated in Rome in 2017 introduced the following article into our Congregation’s by-laws: “Let the confreres use and cherish signs that express and enliven their Marian identity, such as: the coat of arms, the motto, the hymn of the Congregation, the invocation Immaculata Virginis Mariæ conceptio sit nobis salus et protectio, the scapular and the medal of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the image of Our Lady Immaculately Conceived (painted by Francis Smuglewicz in St. Vitus Church in Rome), and the antiphon Tota pulchra.”[1]
The statement in bold from the quoted article may raise questions regarding the aforementioned picture, its history and connection to our Congregation, seeing that the legislators deemed it important to single out this particular image from among many others. Therefore, it is worth trying to put together everything that has been established so far about this image, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful images of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was inspired by and commissioned by the Marians. To do so, we must first look back on the beginnings of our community in the Eternal City.
The Marian Fathers’ General Chapter of 1776 celebrated in Marijampole decided to dispatch to Rome Frs. Candide Spourny and John Niezabitowski, assigning them the task of initiating the beatification process of Father Papczyński and Father Wyszyński. They were also to renew efforts towards finding in Rome a place where the Marians could settle permanently.[2] 
These men arrived in Rome on January 11, 1777, and for a time they stayed at the Franciscan monastery in Aracoeli.[3] Immediately upon his arrival in the Eternal City, Father Candide started actively searching for a suitable place for a permanent site of the general procurator’s office. Towards the end of 1777, he learned about the Cistercians’ plans to sell their monastery with the adjoining 8th-century church of St. Vitus. On February 23, 1779, Pope Pius VI issued a special apostolic brief, by which he permitted the sale of the monastery to the Marians, who officially took possession of it on July 14, 1779.[4]
The previous owners, who occupied the property for more than 100 years,[5] took care that the church interior had hallmarks of the Cistercian spirituality and for that reason, they probably decided to place the painting of St. Bernard above the great altar. However, the new occupants wished to communicate, using the church interior, their own spirituality and thus Fr. Spourny decided to commission a new painting, depicting the Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Conception, to replace the image of St. Bernard.[6] In 1780, he commissioned one of the Roman painters, whose name is unknown to us, to create such an image. However, for some unknown reason, this man never did any work, despite taking money towards the purchase of needed painting materials.[7] At that point Fr. Candide approached a Polish painter, Francis Smuglewicz, then residing in Rome, asking if he would consider doing the Marians a favor by painting in their newly acquired church[8] the image of the Immaculately Conceived Mary. Smuglewicz readily agreed to the Marian Fathers General Procurator’s request, and in December 1782 a large canvas, which the artist created in classicist style, was placed above the main altar of St. Vitus Church in Rome. A gilded plaque, informing that the altar belonged to the rank of “eternally privileged” granted by the Holy See to the Marians, was placed directly above the painting.[9]
For his work, Smuglewicz received a modest wage, which was meticulously recorded in the book of the Roman monastery’s expenditure, along with other fees related to the creation of the painting.[10] Due to the meager funds of the Marians’ Roman monastery, Father Spourny petitioned the Superior General, Fr. Raymond Nowicki[11] by letter, asking to have him adequately reward the artist, who was returning to his homeland. We do not know whether Fr. General of the Marians fulfilled that request.
We should say a few words about Francis Smuglewicz here. This Polish painter and graphic artist was born on October 6, 1745, in Warsaw. He was the son of Luke and Regina née Olesińska, niece of the painter Simon Czechowicz. Francis’s older brother, Anthony, was also a painter. Francis studied first in Warsaw with his father, a court painter of King Augustus III, and also with Czechowicz.
a lithography by
J. Oziębłowski,
Vilnius
In 1763, Francis went to Rome and remained there for 20 years. Initially, he studied with Anton von Maron and then refined his skills at the Accademia di San Luca, where, in the 1766 Clementine competition, he received first prize for his drawing on the biblical theme Melchizedek’s Sacrifice, accompanied by the note: 1766, Prima Classe. Primo Premio. Francesco Smuglewicz Polacco). From 1767, he received a scholarship from King Stanislaus August Poniatowski, who contributed annually 100 ducats towards the young painter’s education. Smuglewicz also obtained in Rome a doctorate in philosophy. In 1784, he returned to Poland, and in 1795 settled permanently in Vilnius, where he became the head of the newly established Department of Drawing and Painting at the University of Vilnius. He died in Vilnius on September 18, 1807, and was buried in the catacombs of the missionary priests at the Rossa cemetery. Unfortunately, the place of his burial has not survived.[12]
In 1798, as Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Eternal City, all foreigners were ordered to leave town, which also included the Marians who had to abandon their monastery at the St. Vitus Church. Unfortunately, they never recovered their former property. Today St. Vitus Church serves as an auxiliary parish church at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. One can still admire the painting of the Immaculate Conception – still beautiful, but needing urgent conservation – created by a Polish painter from Warsaw. Now the canvas hangs on the sidewall of this single-nave church. Today the former Marian monastery houses the parish and the rector’s offices.
It appears that the old historic St. Vitus Church is under intensive conservation works sponsored by the Italian Department for Preservation of Cultural Heritage, which is also the legal custodian of all movable works of art contained within this and many other historic shrines of Italy.
Although a small group of confreres – especially residents of the Roman House – knew that the image of Mary Immaculate existed in our former church of St. Vitus, it was “rediscovered” only in the 1990s. In 1992, the Marians of the American Province of St. Stanislaus Kostka commissioned a professionally made photograph of the painting, which enabled its promotion in various media on a mass scale.
To close, it should be said with regret that some contemporary Italian publications and Internet posts mistakenly attribute the authorship of “our” painting to Pietro Gagliardi (sic!), who lived between 1809-1890.[13]
Andrew R. Mączyński, MIC
[1] Constitutions and Directory of the Marian Fathers, General Curia of the Marian Fathers, Rome, 2018, D 7, p. 175.
[2] Boleslaus A. Jakimowicz, MIC, Andrew R. Mączyński, MIC, A Cloud of Witnesses – Marians Across the Centuries, Second revised and expanded edition, Stockbridge 2016, pp. 77-81.
[3] J. Kosmowski, MIC, Marianie 1670 – 1788; Od pustelni do ewangelizacji, Warszawa 2020, p. 360.
[4] Boleslaus A. Jakimowicz, MIC, Andrew R. Mączyński, MIC, A Cloud of Witnesses – Marians Across the Centuries, Stockbridge 2016, pp. 77-81.
[5] Copy of the letter of Feb. 13, 1779, sent by the Venerable Fr. John Niezabitowski from Rome to the Reverend Father General in Poland, [in:] Protocollum Romanarum 1782.
[6] Copy of the letter of July 19, 1783, sent from Rome to Warsaw by Fr. Candide Spourny, Licentiate of the Sacred Theology to the Most Reverend Isidore Taudt, Father of the Order, [in:] Protocollum Romanarum 1782.
[7] Cf. Expensa przez x. Kandyda w Rzymie (…) [in:] Akta luźne dotyczące beatyfikacji o. St. Papczyńskiego, Teczka Trzecia, APS 7, Archives of the Archdiocese of Poznan [photo copy at the General Archives of the Marian Fathers in Rome, b. sygn.], c. 29.
[8] Copy of the letter of July 19, 1783, sent from Rome to Warsaw by Fr. Candide Spourny, Licentiate of the Sacred Theology, to the Most Reverend Isidore Taudt, Father of the Order, [in:] Protocollum Romanarum 1782.
[9] Ibid.. Also see Expensa przez x. Kandyda w Rzymie (…) [in:] Akta luźne dotyczące beatyfikacji o. St. Papczyńskiego, Teczka Trzecia, APS 7, Archives of the Archdiocese of Poznan [photo copy at the General Archives of the Marian Fathers in Rome, b. sygn.], c. 43.
[10] Cf. Expensa przez x. Kandyda w Rzymie (…) [in:] Akta luźne dotyczące beatyfikacji o. St. Papczyńskiego, Teczka Trzecia, APS 7, Archives of the Archdiocese of Poznan [photo copy at the General Archives of the Marian Fathers in Rome, b. sygn.], k. 29,38.
[11] Copies of letters of June 28 and July 19, 1783, sent from Rome by the Most Reverend Fr. Spourny to the Most Reverend Fr. Isidore Taudt, the Father of the Order, [in:] Protocollum Romanarum 1782.
[12] K. Załęski, Franciszek Smuglewicz, [in:] W kręgu wileńskiego klasycyzmu, expo catalogue Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie 2000, pp. 559-561; http://encyklopedia.naukowy.pl/Franciszek_Smuglewicz (acc.: 19.01.2021); http://zpl.lt/2017/04/wilnem-zyciorysie-2-7/ (acc.: 19.01.2021); http://www.polskipetersburg.pl/hasla/smuglewicz-szmuglewicz-franciszek (acc.: 19.01.2021).
[13] Churches of Rome WIKI, Santi Vito e Modesto, https://romanchurches.fandom.com/wiki/Santi_Vito_e_Modesto#Interior (acc.: 19.01.2021).