Ludovica Albertoni

Ludovica Albertoni (1473 – 31 January 1533) was an Italian Roman Catholic noblewoman from the Renaissance period and a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. The death of her husband prompted her to dedicate her life to the service of the poor in Rome and she was also known for her ecstatic experiences.

Her fame for holiness became widespread in Rome and devotion to her remained intense after her death which prompted Pope Clement X to approve her beatification in 1671.

Life

Bernini's sculpture of Albertoni in the Altieri chapel of San Francesco a Ripa.

Ludovica Albertoni was born in 1473 in Rome to the prominent nobles Stefano Albertoni and Lucretia Tebaldi. Her father died around 1475 and she was entrusted to the care of her paternal aunts who saw to it that she had a Christian education.

Beatification On 28 January 1671 her beatification received approval from Pope Clement X, who voiced approval for her longstanding and popular "cultus" (otherwise known as an enduring public veneration). The pope signed the decree at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Her liturgical feast is affixed to the date of her death, as is the norm.

Bernini sculpture Albertoni is best commemorated through Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture entitled Beata Ludovica Albertoni, housed in the Altieri chapel in the San Francesco a Ripa church in Rome. The recumbent statue captures Albertoni in her death throes and depicts her as suffering, but also in the light of her religious ecstasies as she awaits her union with God.