1 universita' degli studi della tuscia “viterbo” - Unitus DSpace

Italian devotion is, indeed, entirely formal and external. At a High Mass celebrated
by the Cardinal of Ferrara, who presided over the jubilee festivities that year, I saw people
coming into the church as into a theatre, and going from one to another, loudly admiring the
decoration and illumination of the church. The women were waling about fan in hand, pausing
for a moment to take part in the service, genuflect and make the sign of the Cross, and
then continuing their promenade, chatting with the friends they encountered and admiring the
Madonna delle Grazie, illuminated by limelight at the top of the nave like the “star” in a ballet
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Le pagine dei diari privati o dei resoconti di viaggio dei visitatori nordici
restituiscono frequentemente descrizioni dettagliate di processioni religiose,
di feste o cerimonie, in cui si coglie tutto lo stupore e l’entusiasmo di
fronte ad eventi non familiari.
Janet Ross, nel suo Italian Sketches, parlando delle feste nella Firenze
medicea, ricorda una frase cara a Lorenzo il Magnifico, Pane e feste tengon il
popolo quieto 46 emblematica, a suo avviso, di un modo di pensare e di vivere
prettamente italiano. Più avanti la viaggiatrice inglese si sofferma in una appassionata
descrizione delle feste nuziali in onore di Violante di Bavaria e
Ferninando II:
Princess Violante of Bavaria, who came, in 1689, to marry Ferdinand, son of Cosmo
III, was received with great splendour. She entered Florence by the Porta San Gallo, where a
chapel had been erected on purpose to crown her as she crossed the threshold of the city. The
princess then seated herself on a jeweled throne, and was carried into the town under a
conopy borne by a number of youths, splendidly dressed and chosen for their beauty and high
birth. After a solemn thanksgiving in the cathedral, she was escorted to the Pitti palace by the
senate and the chief people of the city. The carnival feasts that year were more magnificent
than usual in her honor 47 .
Come già accennato, è soprattutto all’indomani del Congresso di
Vienna, terminato l’incubo napoleonico che per anni aveva paralizzato i viaggi
in Europa, che gli inglesi ripresero con rinnovato interesse e accresciuta in-
45 G. Faurè, Wanderings in Italy, London, 1919, p. 126
46 J. Ross, Italian Sketches, op. cit., p. 10.
47 Ivi, p. 11
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