{"id":1753,"date":"2020-05-09T18:11:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T18:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2020-05-09T18:40:57","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T18:40:57","slug":"lockdown-day-61","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/2020\/05\/09\/lockdown-day-61\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockdown – Day 61"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I saw the headlines yesterday: Corteo<\/em> and Palombella<\/em> Canceled This Year. It should not have come as a surprise, but it was still a shock. Distant thunder gave way to chain lighting, directly overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corteo Storico<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Corteo delle Dame<\/em>\u00a0are major events in Orvieto. The first represents Orvieto at the height of its power and influence, when representatives from all the cities and counties it controlled delivered tribute to the\u00a0Podest\u00e0<\/em>(or depending on the political climate, the\u00a0Capitano del Popolo<\/em>). The procession of officials, military, clergy, and noblemen is recreated as it would have looked during the fourteenth century. The costumes are authentic reproductions down to the finest detail. Three to four hundred people are included in the event, and there are hundreds more who build, maintain, and repair the costumes, military gear, and weapons. And, of course, there are drums and trumpets, and banners and flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lazy description of Corteo delle Dame<\/em> is that it’s the female version of Corteo Storico<\/em>, but that’s really not fair. The costumes are even more lavish, the groupings of women (and occasional men and children) are like tableaux vivant<\/em>, there is music and dance, and at the end a Corteo Popolano<\/em>, a parade of the common folk, which might include small livestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands come to Orvieto for the Corteo<\/em> and attendant events \u2013 banner tossing, horse racing, archery contests, and in some years, a form of jousting. But not this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palombella<\/a><\/em> is a local manifestation celebrating the miracle of Pentecost. As is most Italian cities, a dove is flown down a wire into the local cathedral. What happens when it arrives is interpreted differently in different towns. In Orvieto, a wooden tower is erected on the steps of the Duomo as a landing point for the dove (the bird is no longer tied to an armiture, but rides along in a plexiglass tube). In the tower are images of the apostles. When the dove arrives, smoke and fire is set off, and tongues of flame appear over the saintly heads. All this is proceeded by a parade in medieval garb, with plenty of drums and trumpets. But once the fireworks are spent, a guy in jeans and a striped shirt puts up an aluminum ladder to fetch the bird, which is then handed to two footmen dressed from the late 18th<\/sup>\u00a0century, who run it across the piazza to the town’s most recent parents (or other honorees) who wait on the balcony of a 19th<\/sup>\u00a0century palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also cancelled: Orvieto in Flower, the Corpus Domini<\/em> procession, Orvieto Musica, Orvieto Festival of Strings, and whatever else has the bad fortune to have scheduled events before July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, this evening I round the corner onto Via delle Pertiche Prima to find Renzo on his aluminum ladder, in jeans and striped shirt (sort of), and Gianni from up the street doing ground work. They were replacing the winter pansies that for a hundred meters grace the walls of the lane. In their place they are setting blooms in the colors of Corsica, the quartiere<\/em> \u2013 red and yellow. Later in the month they will hang banners and flags of the same colors with Corsica’s symbol emblazoned, the castle tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought Corteo<\/em> is cancelled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything is cancelled,\u201d lamented Gianni, listing the defunct events like fallen heroes. \u201cBut we are not cancelled. Life goes on. No crowds will gather to look at our street, but anyone who sees it will know that we still celebrate Orvieto’s beauty and continuity with its past. No virus can kill that!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrazie, ragazzi, ringrazio dal cuore.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrazie a te,\u201d<\/em> replied Renzo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I’ve done to be thanked for, beyond loving these people, I don’t know. Perhaps that’s enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viva Orvieto! Viva Via delle Pertiche Prima! Viva la storia! Viva la bellezza.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I saw the headlines yesterday: Corteo and Palombella Canceled This Year. It should not have come as a surprise, but it was still a shock. Distant thunder gave way to chain lighting, directly overhead. Corteo Storico\u00a0and\u00a0Corteo delle Dame\u00a0are major events in Orvieto. The first represents Orvieto at the height of its power and influence, when representatives from all the … Continue reading Lockdown – Day 61<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1753"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1759,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions\/1759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}