We discovered this ornate brick today - an eight-pointed star which has been carved onto the face of a totally square brick. Adriana, the Fresco expert says it dates from the 14th or 15th century and believes it was part of the original eastern gate of the village of Gualdo. According to christianity, the eight-pointed star is the Star of Redemption or Regeneration and represents baptism. Eight is traditionally the number of regeneration, and thus many baptismal fonts have an octagonal base.
Providing added significance is the assumption that Jesus was circumcised and named when he was eight days old (the traditional Jewish practice); baptism is seen as the New Testament equivalent of circumcision.
Finally, eight persons were saved in Noah's ark, which is another Old Testament parallel of baptism.
Well, we feel it is quite apt as there is certainly a lot of regeneration going on at Cancello Est.
If anyone can throw any more light on this we would really appreciate the feedback. We have forwarded to the local historical offices for more information.
It's a clue whose meaning will be revealed in Dan Brown's new book entitled "The Fresco Mysteries at Cancello Est"
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be great - need to check the local Churches for Albino Priests with scars on his back! Seriously the art work in the local Churches is amazing - and some of the Saints that are depicted had quite gruesome deaths. Saint Agnes is currently the favourite horror story!
DeleteLuckily the British didn't plunder a lot of the churches in Marche so a lot of fine art is still here to discover and enjoy - found a beautiful Crivelli in Monte San Martino yesterday.
Check him out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Crivelli