The Fire Christ Came to Kindle

Luke’s hard Gospel, the witness of the martyrs, and the painting that still burns in Rome

When you enter the chapel of the Venerable English College in Rome, the first thing that draws your eye is the high altar. Above it hangs a canvas, darkened a little with age, painted in 1583 by Durante Alberti. At first glance it looks like many other Counter-Reformation altarpieces: Christ hangs upon the cross, flanked by saints, with angels holding scrolls. But then you notice something unusual. Beneath the crucified Lord is a painted map of the British Isles, and from the pierced body of Christ drops of blood fall downwards, landing on England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Wherever the blood touches, little flames burst forth. The whole nation is being set on fire. A child-angel holds up a scroll with words that seem both terrifying and thrilling: Ignem veni mittere in terram — “I came to bring fire on the earth.”