Historia Eustachio Mariana

Kircher later reported how the Virgin Mary had spoken to him when he first visited Mentorella in 1661: Kircher vowed to ensure that her sanctuary was restored. ==Research, fundraising and restoration==

Kircher began research to find the origins of the ruins he had discovered, and concluded that the shrine had been built at the time of Constantine the Great and commemorated the conversion of the Roman soldier Placidus, known to posterity as Saint Eustance. He then spent four years studying the site and its history, which culminated in a celebratory fete in 1664, followed by the publication of Historia Eustachio Mariana the following year. These donations were secured partly through Kircher's account of how the shrine had originally been built by the Emperor Constantine and consecrated by Pope Sylvester I, which had no foundation in evidence at all, and relied on Kircher's own idiosyncratic interpretation of an oak panel from the site. Overall, the claim of great age and illustrious founding for the shrine has been described as the "art historian Kircher at his most creative." and 700 scudi from Pedro Antonio de Aragón, Viceroy of Naples. Other Catholic rulers from all over Germany also contributed. Having rebuilt and restored the chapel, Kircher added a device of his own design in the form of a set of large speaking trumpets that pointed at various villages in the valley below the shrine. These allowed the broadcast of calls to attend Mass to people several miles away. They were not described in Historia Eustachio Mariana, but were illustrated in his later work Phonurgia Nova (1673). ==Sections==

The work is divided into five sections: (i) the story of Saint Eustace and his martyrdom (ii) the genealogy of the saint (iii) a description of the place where his conversion took place (iv) the shrine and (v) the church of Saint Eustace in Rome. ==Illustrations==

One of the plates in the book shows the moment of Saint Eustace's conversion. A stag of great size stands at the top of a cliff, where he had leaped after being chased by Placidus, who was hunting. Between the stag's horns is a vision of Christ on the cross, which inspired Placidus to become a Christian. A beam of light shines down from the vision to Placidus below, carrying the words of the stag "Placidus, why are you hunting me?". Beneath him kneels the future saint, gazing up with the words "Lord, what would you have me do?". The book also included illustrations of the wall-paintings he found in the ruined shrine, as well as some of the treasures that had formerly belonged to it, kept in safekeeping by the Duke of Polana in his library. These included a medieval silver cross, a large bronze candlestick, and an oak tablet carved with the legend of Saint Eustace. Kircher discussed the iconography of this tablet at some length, showing a degree of interest in medieval art which was unusual for his era. ==External links==