Vaticinia Pontificum of Benozzo Gozzoli

Vaticinia Pontificum of Benozzo Gozzoli

Benozzo Gozzoli’s Vaticinia Pontificum is an enthralling codex, in many ways the perfect work, not only by its beauty and notable quality of the illustrations, but also for the mysteries and hidden keys within its pages and images. Vaticinia Pontificum is considered to be the father and iconographic origin of Nostradamus’ work and his worldwide famous manuscript, made in 1629, almost two hundred years after the Vaticinia Pontificum, also known as the Lost Book of Nostradamus. It's the most famous manuscript of prophecy and contains a series of thirty prophecies related to the destiny of the papacy and the Church attributed to the Italian mystic Gioacchino da Fiore. The work contains symbolic connections with past historic events of the Vatican that have already been verified, as well as events of the modern church, and could even unveil the keys of the future of humanity.

The Keys of Humanity’s Future

The similarity of the Vaticinia Pontificum, particularly when one compares the images, with the Lost Book of the Prophecies by Nostradamus, makes it clear that Nostradamus’ work is a copy based on the British Library’s “Harley 1340.” The ten last predictions express the confidence in the arrival of a near “angelical pope” or a series of angelical popes, meaning, a saintly and purifying pope, a charismatic figure that differs himself from the rest of his predecessors by his moral integrity and high spirituality, and also that he opens a profound phase of reform within the Church. This could be related to the figure of Saint John Paul II, and even the present Pope Francis I. The miniature referring to this prophecy corresponds to the folio 13v: the naked pope. It represents a spectacular praising of the humble spirit embodied by an angelical pope that has been stripped of all of his possessions and the temporal power, with the conviction that the papacy could only be renewed through poverty and the dispossession of mundane belongings.

Benozzo Gozzoli – Genius of Universal Painting – Illustrated this Mysterious Manuscript

Illuminated by Benozzo Gozzoli, genius of the universal style of painting and author of the Journey of the Magi, who made majestic frescos at the behest of Piero di Cosimo that present Lorenzo the Magnificent riding a horse as one of the Magi, which is kept in the Magi Chapel in the Medici Palace, Florence. Benozzo Gozzoli was one of the most famous and sought-after painters of the Tuscan Quattrocento and thanks to his longevity, around one hundred pictorial works can be attributed to him. Even though he was prolific with panel painting, many reredos, polyptychs, and altars from his studio survive today; Gozzoli stood above all in his talent for mural painting with frescos. In his works, with some lingering Gothic influences, the influence of his master Fra Angelico can be seen clearly, especially in the brightness and intensity of the color use, or the softness in the treatment of the faces. Nowadays, his works are in the most important museums in the world: the Louvre Museum, The National Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of New York, and the Vatican, amongst others.