Laudes Regiae | Venezia

Laudes Regiae

June 8 - July 29, 2007 | Convento Santi Cosma e Damiano, Giudecca, Venezia

Catalogue with texts by Maria Livia Brunelli, Beppe Caccia, Paolo Toffolutti, Saramicol Viscardi

Graphic project Matteo Rosso

Laudes Regiae, an immersive installation by Andrea Morucchio, weaves together themes of historical memory, spiritual tradition, and contemporary socio-political reflection. Conceived specifically for the evocative setting of the 11th-century former Convent of Saints Cosma and Damiano, the work resonates with the space’s monastic austerity, drawing visitors into a meditative and critical experience.

At the heart of the installation are 17 frosted red blown-glass helmets, modeled on a 14th-century celata (sallet), suspended or arranged within the minimalist Hall of the Fireplace. These ethereal objects evoke both protection and anonymity, blurring the line between relic and abstraction, past and present.

Projected images of the Wolf of Passau—the emblem once stamped onto medieval swords from the German town of Passau—appear through various techniques, echoing historical craftsmanship and martial symbolism. Accompanying these visuals is the haunting soundscape of the Laudes Regiae—a liturgical chant composed for coronation ceremonies in the 11th century. This polyphonic chant fills the space with a reverent, almost sacred atmosphere, amplified by the natural light filtering softly through white fabric drapes across fourteen windows, transforming the room into a timeless, hieratic environment.

Political Theology and the Aesthetics of Power

The title Laudes Regiae references a specific genre of medieval liturgical acclamation used during the coronation of kings, emperors, and popes. These chants, invoking Christ as both victor and king, were not merely spiritual affirmations but instruments of legitimizing temporal authority. Through repetition, they embedded in the collective consciousness the notion of divine right and the sanctity of hierarchical power.

As art historian Ernst Kantorowicz explores in his seminal book Laudes Regiae: A Study in Liturgical Acclamations and the Cult of the Sovereign in the Middle Ages, these acclamations were direct expressions of the power and glory of the ruler, channeling a militant image of Christ as a conqueror.

Morucchio’s installation reactivates these themes within a contemporary framework, inviting viewers to consider how ritual, imagery, and sound continue to shape collective belief and political structures.

From Sacred Rituals to Media Spectacle

Drawing from the thought of philosopher Giorgio Agamben (The Kingdom and the Glory), the work challenges us to recognize the continuities between medieval (feudal) political theology and present-day systems of power. Agamben argues that modern power is not only a matter of governance but also of glory, with ceremonial, liturgical, and acclamatory elements persisting at the core of Western political life.

In today’s democracies, the mechanisms of glory have migrated from cathedrals and royal courts to mass media, where they are multiplied, diffused, and internalized through spectacle. The function of acclamation, once confined to coronation rites, is now replicated in political campaigns, social media, celebrity culture, and public discourse—constructing consent, shaping public opinion, and sustaining authority.

Laudes Regiae: Art as Critical Invocation

Through its synthesis of minimal yet charged aesthetic elements, Laudes Regiae becomes more than a historical homage—it is a critical invocation, a space for reflection on the forms and functions of power, past and present. By evoking symbols of authority, sanctity, and warfare within a site of former spiritual retreat, Morucchio prompts the viewer to interrogate the relationship between form, belief, and control.

This installation speaks not only to the memory of liturgical and martial traditions but also to their resonance in our contemporary spectacle-driven society. It is a meditation on the enduring interplay between transcendence and politics, ritual and media, silence and voice.