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Rosalia Lombardo

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Rosalia Lombardo
Lombardo's embalmed body in 1982
Born(1918-12-13)13 December 1918
Palermo,Sicily,Kingdom of Italy
Died(1920-12-06)6 December 1920 (1 year, 359 days)
Palermo,Sicily,Kingdom of Italy
Other namesSleeping Beauty of the Capuchin Catacombs
Known forBeing in an especially well preserved state in her tomb, in theCapuchin catacombs of Palermo

Rosalia Lombardo(13 December 1918 – 6 December 1920)[1]was aPalermitanchild who died ofpneumonia,resulting from theSpanish flu,[2]one week before her second birthday. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, grieving her death, askedAlfredo Salafia,anembalmer,to preserve her remains.[3]Sometimes called "Sleeping Beauty",hers was one of the last corpses to be admitted to theCapuchin catacombs of PalermoinSicily.

Embalming[edit]

Lombardo's body in 2012.

Thanks to Salafia's embalming techniques, the body was well-preserved.X-raysof the body show that all the organs are remarkably intact.[4]Rosalia Lombardo's body is kept in a smallchapelat the end of thecatacomb's street and is encased in a glass coveredcoffin,placed on a wooden pedestal. A 2009National Geographicphotograph of Rosalia Lombardo shows the mummy is beginning to show signs ofdecomposition,most notably discoloration. Her body is starting to take on a yellow waxy skin texture.[5]To address these issues, the mummy was moved to a drier spot in the catacombs, and her original coffin was placed in ahermetically sealedglass enclosure withnitrogen gasto prevent decay.[6]The mummy remains one of the best preserved bodies in the catacombs.

While there are claims that Capuchin catacombs curatorDario Piombino-Mascaliand his associates were the first to discoverSalafia's unpublished manuscripts,Professor Umberto Di Cristina and co-author were the first to discover the unpublished manuscript in their bookLa Dimora delle Anime,which was published in February of 2007, two years before Dario Piombino-Mascali and his colleague's published their work. An English translation by the author's of"The discovery of the Salafia handwritten manuscript and formula. Chronological and biological considerations"note 21, p. 90 from the bookLa Dimora delle Animeby Di Cristina et al., 2007: "Alfredo Salafia studied the process of mummification of the bodies and dedicated his life to the research of the methods to preserve the corpses by the use of pharmacological substances and chemical preparations. He wrote a treatise entitledNuovo Metodo Speciale per la conservazione del cadavere umanointero alla stato permanentemente fresco(New Special Method for the Preservation of the Entire Human Cadaver in the State of Permanent Freshness). It consists of around 30 handwritten pages where Salafia performs a concise description of the mummification techniques from the Egyptians to the Capuchins, and provides information on the European and American studies in the first years of the twentieth century; in his treatise he describes his own (embalming) method and describes the history of the embalming procedures of some illustrious personages, (whose bodies were) well-preserved thanks to his method: among those (are), Francesco Crispi, the cardinal Michelangelo Celesia, Archbishop of Palermo, and the Senator Giacomo Armò». "The author's state that" there are no published documentary, archival or photographic sources which support the claim that Alfredo Salafia embalmed Rosalia Lombardo "[7]The embalming formula, as stated byDario Piombino-Mascali et. al,is described as "one partglycerin,one partformalinsaturated withzinc sulfateandzinc chloride,and one part of an alcohol solution saturated withsalicylic acid",and was entered into the body through a single-point injection, most likely into thefemoral arteryvia a gravity injector.[1][8]Rossella Lorenzi of Discovery News reported that the formalin was used to kill bacteria, the glycerin used to preventdesiccation,and the salicylic acid used to eliminate any fungi within the flesh, with the purpose of the zinc salts beingpetrifaction.[8]

The mummy has achieved further notoriety for a phenomenon in which her eyes appear to open and close several times a day, revealing her intact blue irises.[9]In response to speculation about her moving eyelids, Piombino-Mascali stated that "It's anoptical illusionproduced by the light that filters through the side windows, which during the day is subject to change... [her eyes] are not completely closed, and indeed they have never been ".[10]

In 2021 a German heavy metal bandUnder The Night Skyreleased an EP calledRosalia (1918-1920).[11][12][13]

References[edit]

  1. ^abPanzer, Stephanie; Gill-Frerking, Heather; Rosendahl, Wilfried; Zink, Albert R.; Piombino-Mascali, Dario (2013)."Multidetector CT investigation of the mummy of Rosalia Lombardo (1918–1920)".Annals of Anatomy.195(5): 401–408.doi:10.1016/j.aanat.2013.03.009.PMID23725823.
  2. ^Wiesner, Janika; Baumjohann, Kristina; Benecke, Mark; Scheidt, Jörg (May 2, 2013)."In the Catacombs of the Capuchin Monastery in Palermo"– via leica-microsystems.
  3. ^National Geographic.February 2009. p. 124.
  4. ^National Geographic.February 2009. p. 150.
  5. ^"Archived copy".National Geographic Society.Archived fromthe originalon 2021-02-28.Retrieved2019-12-17.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^"The Girl in the Glass Casket".National Geographic Channel. Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2012.Retrieved24 April2011.
  7. ^Glassi, Francesco; Lanza, Tiziana; Mattutino, Grazia; Sine, Luca; Nerlich, Andreas; Donell, Simon; Bianucci, Rafaella."The discovery of the Salafia handwritten manuscript and formula. Chronological and biological considerations".Research Gate.Archivio per l’Antropologia e la Etnologia - Vol. CLI.Retrieved22 May2024.
  8. ^ab"Why Does This Child Mummy Appear to Open And Close Her Eyes?".ScienceAlert.22 September 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 17 July 2018.Retrieved16 July2018.
  9. ^Reuben Westmaas (16 October 2017)."This Mummified Two-Year-Old Appears to Blink Every Day".Curiosity.Archived fromthe originalon 17 July 2018.Retrieved16 July2018.
  10. ^Rossella Lorenzi (20 June 2014)."Why Does This Mummy Appear To Open And Close Her Eyes?".io9.Discovery News.Retrieved16 July2018.
  11. ^"Under the Night Sky - Rosalia (1918-1920)".Discogs.
  12. ^"Rosalia (1918-1920), by Under The Night Sky".Under The Night Sky.Retrieved2021-12-21.
  13. ^"Rosalia (1918-1920)".Spotify.

Sources[edit]

  • Dario Piombino-Mascali, 2020.Lo spazio di un mattino. Storia di Rosalia Lombardo, la bambina che dorme da cento anni.Dario Flaccovio, Palermo.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRosalia Lombardo.
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