(Chapel of St. Lawrence)
Welcome to Rome. We are now in Basilica San Lorenzo in Lucina.
Emperor Valerian who reigned from 253 to 259 persecuted Christians
And put to death several of them. One of them was San Lorenzo - "Lawrence" in English
Here is he being sentenced to death
and he suffered a very grim death
you see it here in this other painting
he is being roasted like a hamburger on a gridiron
You see the gridiron there in the heavens.
Lawrence is holding it - symbol of his passion
You also have it here - inside the box below the altar.
We are now going out of the Basilica San Lorenzo in Lucina
That street over there is Via Frattina
which leads to the famous McDonalds at Piazza di Spagna
And speaking about hamburgers
we are going to speak more about Saint Lawrence
who was roasted like a hamburger
We are going to see an important inscription where the cult of Lawrence is attested
According to some historians Lawrence was not actually roasted
An ancient source gives "assus est" "he was roasted"
According to a modern historian we have here a scribal error for "passus est" "he suffered."
In any case, this inscription attests the cult of Lawrence as believed during the Middle ages.
This inscription is from 1130.
This inscription was made during the "Dopmini" - corresponding to "Domini" in Classical Latin, i.e. "Lord"
"Pape" corresponds to the classical "Papae" singular genitive.
"During the Lord Pope Anacletus II."
"PRIMO ANNO" "During his first year"
Then you have the word "vero" "truly" but you can eliminate it in a translation. It separates this from the preceding phrase
It was made during "indictio" - a period of 15 years to count taxes.
You have the same word in this other inscription "indictione" - ablative from "indictio"
It was the eighth year of "indictio"
"In the month of May"
"MADIO" is "Maius" in classical Latin
"Maggio" in modern Italian
"25th day." In the word "quinta" "fifth" you have a ligature (binding multiple letters)
The subject is over here: "This church"
"was dedicated."
The phrase ends there.
The subject of the next phrase is:
"CORPORA SANTORUM MARTYRUM"
"Bodies of holy martyrs"
This is a list or an inventory of things inside the church
"These bodies of holy martyrs were put back (i.e. buried) by the hands of the same pope" i.e. Anacletus II
"(to be venerated) on the main altar"
Then there is an inventory of things inside the church
A "vestis" "clothing"
"of Saint Sixtus who was both martyr and pope"
"Sixtus" is "Sisto" in modern Italian
The name means that he was the "sixth" pope after Peter, the apostle of Christ
The inventory continues
with "two ampoules"
"of glass"
"containing blood and grease"
"ADIPE" means "grease" or "body fat"
These liquids came from the "Most holy and glorious martyr St. Lawrence"
Then you have an ornament here but theologically speaking the preceding genitives belongs also to the next phrase
because it relates to the cult of Lawrence
"FURCULA" is a "small fork"
"CRATICULE" in English with "G" "Graticule" "grid" or rather a "gridiron" or "grill" - almost like this one here.
Where he was being roasted
he told one of the solders (who was there roasting him) :
"Please, turn me also to the other side"
The soldier probably used a "fork" mentioned here in order to turn him onto the other side
just as you would also do with a hamburger
The gridiron was of iron
there was also shackles attached
There is a "GAUSAPE" "clothing of wool." This is a Greek word. The Latin one is "VESTIS"
Then "PINGUIDO" "grease". You have actually two synonyms for "dripping" in this text:
"ADIPE" and "PINGUIDO"
The last line "CUNCTA" "all"
"All these things are in the church"
This is a very precious document for the cult of St. Lawrence during the Middle ages (1130). It is important because he is the patron saint of chefs.