The 11th Century fresco depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus that appeared after the earthquake in the mountain village of Rocca di Cambio
Posted on 04/20/2009 8:24:28 AM PDT by NYer
The aftermath of the Abruzzo earthquake has witnessed the miraculous survival of people beneath collapsed buildings - and even of a small black dog which scampered out of the ruins of a house on Easter Sunday after nearly a week under the debris.
But residents of Rocca di Cambio, a village high in the Gran Sasso mountains of Abruzzo 25 kilometres from L’Aquila, are celebrating the emergence of a more longstanding survivor: a long-lost 11th Century fresco depicting the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus.
“This is wonderful news at a time of so much destruction and sorrow,” Antonio Pace, the mayor of Rocca di Cambio, told The Times. “The appearance of the Madonna and Child is a sign of hope. Nothing short of a miracle.”
The fresco, in the church of San Pietro alla Collegiata at Rocca di Cambio - the highest of the Abruzzo mountain villages, at 1,500 metres above sea level - appeared when the earthquake which struck the region nearly two weeks ago shook the church, which lies at the top of the village, and the altar came away from wall.
“When we went in to check the damage we saw that the altar had moved, and behind the fallen plaster was the fresco,” Mr Pace said. “There was tremendous excitement, as you can imagine.”
He said the damaged fresco, which experts believe was painted by an unknown medieval master when the church was built, would be examined tomorrow by art conservationists from the Ministry of Culture in Rome.
Of Rocca di Cambio’s 416 inhabitants, 200 are second-home owners who ski at the nearby mountain resort of Campo Felice.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
A general view of a tent camp set-up at L'Aquila's stadium, in central Italy, Wednesday, April 15, 2009.
People crowd the dining facility of L'Aquila's tent-camp, central Italy, Wednesday, April 15, 2009.
Very nice!!
Very cool. After reading the title I assumed it was going to be another face in the toast story, but this is very interesting.
They refer to tourists as crazies? That’s sure to bring in relief money.
How wonderful! It’s like they were waiting a thousand years to be seen again at a time when they would give great comfort.
Heh... interesting indeed.
Interesting how some things never change. Who would plaster over a fresco? Well... I suppose somebody that was tired of it and wanted to “freshen the place up”... ugh. The same sort that, at some distant time decades ago in my old house... glued cheap acoustical tiles over what I found to be a beautiful tongue-in-groove solid cedar ceiling. What kind of interior design monster does such a thing?
The same sort that think it’s better to plaster over a fresco... I suppose. :-)
Dang. That’s a better-than-average tent city. As such things go.
An Easter story.
In 18-19c Russia iconography was in decline. The powerful medieval Byzantine style was replaced by cloy, “realistic” imagery. As churches were renovated, older icons were often taken by peasants into their homes, as they could not afford paying for new icons.
With the Communist Revolution in 1917 came the church pogroms. The churches were desecrated, icons destroyed, and those churches that were left standing were converted to workshops and warehouses. Only a few churches — so that to require a several days’ pilgrimage to attend — were allowed to operate.
But the icons that were kept in homes often survived, and they were more often than not the priceless old school. In the 1960’s and 70’s educated people would visit villages and offer money for icons (often forgotten in attics and no longer venerated), and formed valuable collections of icons that way.
So, one can say that the ill-conceived drive to modernize iconography had a conservationist effect, as it preserved older icons from vandalism.
The Lord continues to give us signs that He is working in the world.
Interesting.
We have a mural of the risen Christ and a lot of people hate it, we had a new priest for 6 months and he was going to paint over it!
Modernists are the same everywhere.
Interesting.
Wow! Exactly!
Vatican to Help Restore Art Damaged in Italy Quake
AP | 4/21/09
Posted on 04/22/2009 9:20:01 PM PDT by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2235791/posts
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a long-lost 11th Century frescoTo all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
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Every cloud has a silver lining?
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