medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
At 09:59 AM 2/5/2004 -0500, chris crockett wrote:
>John, do you have an idea of what this object is :
>
>http://www.comune.catania.it/conoscerect/sagata/immagini/sagata29.jpg
>
>looks like a giant parasol, made out of mums?
>
>parasols were a feature in middlevil processions, i'm thinking.
It's what's called a 'candelora' ("standard Italian") or 'cannalora'
(Sicilian). If you look up 'candelora' in a major dictionary of "standard
Italian" all you're likely to find is an entry for the term in its meaning
'Candlemas'. But in Giorgio Piccitto's scholarly and informative
_Vocabolario siciliano_ (Catania; Palermo: Centro di studi filologici e
linguistici siciliani, 1977-2002; 5 vols.; run out and buy your copy
today!) at vol. 1, p. 549, s.v. 'cannalora' one learns that this is (in my
inadequate translation):
"a great column of wood in the form of a candle, historiated with
bas-reliefs figuring individual aspects of daily life; it is decorated with
ribbons and flowers and is carried on people's shoulders through the
streets of Catania during the festival celebrations in honor of St. Agatha;
each 'candelora' constitutes the ensign of a category of artisans or people
in small trades, such as for example bakers, butchers, and sellers of
fish." [as opposed, say, to "butchers, bakers, and candlestick- [but not
candelora- ] makers").
[In the instance you cite, the candelora is that of the fish-sellers
('pescivendoli')].
This definition is perhaps a bit too specific or too traditional for
today's 'candelore'. These often have statues and other carvings in the
round but little in the way of bas-reliefs. And they frequently resemble
ornamental lampposts surmounted by globular lamps. See:
http://www.comune.catania.it/conoscerect/sagata/immagini/sagata41.jpg
and
http://www.comune.catania.it/conoscerect/sagata/immagini/sagata6.jpg
So not really parasols.
The type of flower used in this last example (and also in the one you cite)
is a carnation ("standard Italian": 'garofalo'; Sicilian: 'galofaru'; in
each case accented on the 2d syllable). Such floral decor is also used on
Agatha's ornate bier ('Vara'), with the colors, said to have specific
symbolic import, changing on each day of the festival. See:
http://www.comune.catania.it/conoscerect/sagata/immagini/sagata30.jpg
The Vara's design is attributed to the Neapolitan artisan Antonio Archifel
(active in Catania, 1486-1533); the present version reproduces one
destroyed by a bomb in 1943.
How to make this posting at all medieval in reference? Well, Agatha's
shrine in the duomo di Catania is fifteenth-century "gothic". See:
http://www.comune.catania.it/conoscerect/sagata/immagini/sagata44.jpg
and (center of the page)
http://www.cataniaperte.com/santagata/reliquie/reliquie.htm#busto
And at least one of her body part-reliquaries has "gothic" lettering:
http://www.comune.catania.it/conoscerect/sagata/immagini/sagata18.jpg
Of course, such lettering by itself is hardly a good indication of the
artifact's date (in my neighborhood one of the churches has posted clearly
modern signs at entrances to its parking lot that say, in "black-letter"
script, "Thou shalt not cut through."). But perhaps there's enough
evidence elsewhere in this image of the reliquary to enable art historians
on this list to hazard a date for it.
But the real reason I show it is the detail of the elephant, Catania's
official symbol since 1239 and an unofficial one long before that. Here's
the Catanese elephant par excellence, 'U Liotru' (the name is said to
derive from that of the mage Heliodorus, the arch-enemy of St. Leo, bishop
of Catania, whose 9th-cent. Greek life repays reading):
http://www.lns.infn.it/catanaweb/liotru.htm
U Liotru is made of basalt (I don't know what the tusks are made of,
though) and is thought to have been in Catania since East Roman (Byzantine)
times. At present he's part of an 18th-century assembly gracing a fountain
in the square in front of the cathedral. But during the central Middle
Ages at least he surmounted one of the city gates and gave Catania its
Arabic name "Medina el-fil" ("City of the Elephant").
Best,
John Dillon
PS: In my previous posting in this thread I referred to the "lost 6th(?)
original" of Agatha's legendary Acta. That should, of course, have been "
lost 6th(?)-century original".
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