Although originally called Regina Coeli but now most often named Salus Populi Romani, the icon at the center of this study is attributed to St Luke and is believed to possess miracle-working properties. On 27 January 1613, Paul V [r. 1605–1621] moved the icon, which was enclosed in a ciborium of the early fourteenth-century located on the left side of Sta. Maria Maggiore’s nave, to his magnificent and newly constructed burial chapel in the same basilica, the Pauline Chapel. Such an act is typically sanctioned through public adoration, and before the Marian portrait’s new installation, the pontiff directed that a processional liturgy take place across Rome. Although it is briefly described and often mentioned in the art historical literature focusing on the icon’s meaning in Paul’s chapel, this event deserves greater emphasis than it has previously received. This paper spotlights the translatio – meaning the physical transfer of a holy object from one authorized location to another – to refine our understanding of the necessity of physical movement and devotional spectacle so as to allow access to St Luke’s portrait of the Virgin. Regina Coeli’s translation by Paul V transformed a tradition of the icon’s processional veneration into an uninterrupted and enduring devotion in the Pauline Chapel.