The Posthumous Trial

The Posthumous Trial of Pope Formosus forms the subject of one of the most celebrated pictures by J. P. Laurens, a painter of the French Historical School. He pictures the ghastly corpse of the dead Pope in the foreground attired in his pontifical robes seated upon the throne of the Council Chamber. Pope Stephen VII., his accuser, confronts him,--the judge is at the desk, and in the background there is a large assembly of witnesses.

Somewhat of a mystery attends this picture. It belonged to the Museum of the City of Nantes, and was sent to the Paris Exposition in 1877.

It attracted very general admiration and won the medal of honor in the School of Fine Arts.

After the close of the Exposition it was packed in a case eight feet by six in size, and shipped to Nantes; but from that day all trace of it was lost and no clue has yet been found as to its whereabouts.

Fine engravings of it had been obtained, however, and the picture is therefore preserved in all its striking details, except the coloring, which all engravings must lack.

Pope Formosus was the immediate predecessor of Pope Stephen VII. (896--897), who, on some political ground, had the body of Formosus exhumed and arraigned for trial.

A legal defender was appointed, and the posthumous trial was conducted according to the laws for the living, Pope Stephen VII. appearing in person as his accuser. Adverse judgment was pronounced, the body of Formosus was then stripped of the papal insignia, mutilated, and thrown into the Tiber; at the same time all his official acts were annulled, even those of consecration. This deed so horrified the populace of Rome, that the adherents of Formosus had no difficulty in seizing the malicious Stephen and casting him into prison, where he was soon after strangled.

J. P. Laurens, born in 1838, is one of the most noted French artists of the Modern School. Among other of his celebrated paintings may be mentioned "Saint Bruno," "The Death of the Duc d' Enghien," "Francisco Borgia," etc. All of which give him high rank among modern painters.