The Lombardo family was Italian, and despite the fact that the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, the girl's pneumonia appeared to have been caused by this lethal illness. Rosalia Lombardos angel face pushed him to improve the preservation technique in order to preserve its natural beauty. Life is full of constant reminders that we will one day die. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) was an Italian child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, one week shy of her second birthday. Even though mummification is still practised in some distant cultures, it is uncommon in the Western world. Her curly blonde hair and a ribbon on it make her look like she is just sleeping. (The oldest is a friar from 1599 called Silvestro da Gubbio). Mario and Maria are not married at the time of Rosalia's birth, but they are very much in love. Rosalia's face has very sweet features, with the plump cheeks of a two-year-old girl, delicately framed by fair hair. X-rays of the body show that all the organs are remarkably intact. The two are more and more in love, they lead a comfortable and peaceful life and their little girl grows up beautiful, healthy and strong. Some photographs taken in sequence, at intervals of about one minute, also offered a similar testimony. General Mario Lombardo, who is said to have been so grief-stricken when she died that he refused to bury her and instead chose to have her body preserved. Nobody can answer these questions, a mystery that after all it is perhaps good that it remains so. Generated by Wordfence at Thu, 2 Mar 2023 1:21:04 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. Since 1920, her body has been lying in a glass-covered coffin, her head poking above a fading silk blanket. A corridor of mummies inside the catacombs. Read our disclosure policy for more info. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Her father Mario Lombardo, who was an local official, engaged noted embalmer, Alfredo Salafia to mummify her body. In fact, it seems that Alfredo Salaria did not undertake any university career. Some said this was her spirit returning to her body. Her father, Mario Lombardo wanted to know the exact cause of her death in order to "blame" someone. The latter was a Sicilian little girl born in 1918 and dead in 1920 of pneumonia, at just two years. Mario Lombardo, her father, wanted to uncover the specific cause of her death so he could "blame" someone. There is one last curiosity concerning Rosalia Lombardo. The anthropologist then realized that her eyes were actually never closed, and it had only been a trick of the light that made them seem so. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. Created By: Gillian Sarah | Copyright 2018 Kelsea Ventures, style="display:block; text-align:center;" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3840146551937959" data-ad-slot="9292028712">. La Pascualita: An Extremely Well-Preserved Corpse, or an Eerily Life-like Mannequin? Source: Sibeaster / Public Domain. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. [7], "Multidetector CT investigation of the mummy of Rosalia Lombardo (19181920)", "In the Catacombs of the Capuchin Monastery in Palermo", "Why Does This Mummy Appear To Open And Close Her Eyes? : 02075400842, 2023 by Albaincoming Eurofirst Tours. In fact, the body of little Rosalia has organs in a perfect state of preservation and you can see how one lung is denser than the other, a clear sign that the little girl actually fell ill with bronchopneumonia. He has worked on many projects in the past including tzi the Tyrolean Iceman from Italy and the Kabayan Mummies also known as the fire mummies of the Philippines. The Lombardo family was Italian, and despite the fact that the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, the girls pneumonia appeared to have been caused by this lethal illness. However, things can go wrong. Thanks to Salafia, the body was well preserved. Rosalia died barely one week before her second birthday. The story of Rosalia is speculated, but unknown. Some believed that some supernatural force was at work, and that the mummy actually blinked. These blue eyes, like the rest of her body, are remarkably intact. Their families would continue to fund the monks who cared for the deceased for example with new clothes. A tuft of hair is also held in place by a yellow bow. [2] Her mummified body, sometimes referred to as "Sleeping Beauty", was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. The body of little Rosalia has closed eyelids as if she were sleeping. Mario Lombardo is an infantry officer who only on this day discovers what happiness is, true happiness. [2] But even so, there are many who prefer to believe that her spirit really does return to her body! She now attracts thousands of visitors to the Capuchin Catacombs in Sicily where she lays forever encased in glass. In fact, some say that Rosalia amplifies human nature in regards to the fascination of the unknown, specifically death and also with the immorality of an immortal body. A century has passed, but her corpse still looks like the little girl is just dozing under the glass case of the casket. But, this supposed sister is strangely quiet and difficult to learn about. The mystery was soon solved when he observed that a filtration of light from the windows was catching her eye-lens to cause the illusion of life. Thanks to Salafia's embalming . People Projects . In short, Rosalia is a 98 year old mummy. So, Mario in his grief sought out the famed embalmer Alfredo Salafia to preserve Rosalia forever. The dry climate within the Catacombe allowed the body to be preserved near perfection.Gif representing the photo of Rosalia Lombardo taken from different angles (Source: Public Domain). According to him, everything people are seeing is actually an optical illusion. While this sparked stories about the mummy who could open her eyes on the internet, in 2009, Italian biological anthropologist Dario Piombino-Mascali disproved the core myth surrounding Rosalia Lombardo. Accept Read More, https://www.youtube.com/embed/jrbbOCuDJCE, Post Mortem Photography Immortalizing the Dead, Padre Pio Stigmata, Miracle Worker or Fraud, https://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/01/rosalia-lombardo-mummy-that-blinks.html, https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/06/mystery-of-blinking-child-mummy-solved.html. The typical embalming procedures include the complete removal of organs. Thank you for your cooperation.You can sign-up to the Membership any time to remove the adds and enjoy the content with no interruptions, Rosalia Lombardos perfectly preserved body, by Andrei Tapalaga | Sep 6, 2022 | Culture. [5] To address these issues, the mummy was moved to a drier spot in the catacombs, and her original coffin was placed in a hermetically sealed glass enclosure with nitrogen gas to prevent decay. A strange phenomenon that scared all tourists visiting the catacombs was that the mummy was blinking. The story of love, loss, beauty and tragedy have captured thousands of people through multiple generations. It is December 13, 1918. First solid scientific evidence that Vikings brought animals to Britain, 500,000-year-old tools in Polish cave may have belonged to extinct hominid species. Scientists have determined that changes in humidity in the catacombs cause changes of pressure in her body and thus her eyes to open. Rosalia Lombardos Xray By National Geographic. Thanks to Salafias embalming techniques, the body was well preserved. One resident was not famous in her short life but became infamous in death. Heres some history and a video: Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 in Palermo, Italy December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who died of pneumonia. There are those who say that a slight opening and closing of the eyelids actually occurs due to the humidity present and how it changes over the course of the day. Life goes on happily for Mario and Maria. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Rosalia's daddy, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. Children of Llullaillaco: Where Young Children Were Sacrificed to the Gods, Church of the Dead: Home to the Peculiar Mummies of Provincial Italy. Log In Once logged in, you can add biography in the database. The grid is of the coffin beneath the body (Source:National Geographic). Her body was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. Piombino-Mascali hopes that visitors will stop making any new stories about the little child mummy. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],'historyofyesterday_com-box-3','ezslot_6',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-box-3-0');ummification, even if still practiced to this day in remote cultures, is very rare in the western world. How did you succeed in this feat? Notes documenting Rosalias mummification were discovered in the 1970s. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. To tell the truth, many people claim to have seen his eyelids blink. He has written for 8 years in a variety of fields including history, health and politics. Her name is Rosalia Lombardo who died on November 6th, 1920 with only two summers to her name and remains the youngest on show. Of him who gave eternal sleep to many bodies, of him who transformed Rosalia's body into a masterpiece, all that remains is a pile of bones. The little girl died and her father was extremely upset. Another writer speaks of the temptation and sights that Palermo offers to some famous people of history past, Aunique cultural heritagethat in many centuries has attracted and fascinated onlookers from all over the world, including many intellectuals, poets and writers such asAlexandre Dumas, Mario Praz, Guy de Maupassant, Fanny Lewald and Carlo Levi.. The eyes are half closed, so that the face can appear even more relaxed and sweet, an intense serenity. The first 3D image of Rosalia revealed that all the organs of her body are perfectly intact even after so many decades. Despite offering her the best medication possible at the time, she was too young and didnt have a strong enough immune system to be able to fight pneumonia. Rosalia Lombardos body is kept in a small chapel at the end of the catacombs tour and is encased in a glass covered coffin, placed on a wooden pedestal. The researchers then created a new aluminum case for Rosalia Lombardo, saturated with nitrogen, and moved the girl's body to a less humid place. There are those who believe that it is really her, little Rosalia, who blinks forever, almost a way to communicate with the world of the living. But why did the body of little Rosalia Lombardo remain in the Capuchin Catacombs for so long? Father of Rosalia Lombardo and Rosalia Lombardo. If you are a WordPress user with administrative privileges on this site, please enter your email address in the box below and click "Send". The formalin wiped out all the bacteria, and the salicylic acid helped in removing any fungi present in the flesh. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Ninety years ago, on December 6, 1920 Rosalia, daughter of Official Mario Lombardo, died of pneumonia at the age of two. Perhaps the period close to the feast of the dead is precisely the most suitable! Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. Her mummified body was preserved in theCatacombe dei Cappuccini(The Capuchin Catacombs)in Palermo, a place filled with mummified bodies and corpses of other people throughout history. Sister of Rosalia Lombardo. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) was a Sicilian child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, one week shy of her second birthday. The monks agreed and she was one of the last mummies placed in the catacombs. The other bodies present in the catacombs. Most of the people that go to visit her mummified body believe that she is a miracle since she keeps blinking even though she has been dead for a long time. Compared to when the body was placed in the Catacombs of the Capuchins, it seems that the skin of the child's face has become darker and that the hair has instead lightened, from brown to blond. There are those who claim that it is a mere optical illusion, caused by how the light falls on those half-closed eyelids. Further analysis of the body show that all the organs are intact. It should be remembered that in 1925, five years after Rosalia's death, the Lombard couple had another baby girl, who was called with the same name as their little sister, in her eternal memory. Palermo is a city with amazing architecture which much of its designs remaining from the Norman and Arab invasions. Impossible to answer these questions. Zinc to petrify the body. Her name is Rosalia Lombardo, and she died of pneumonia caused by the Spanish Flu just one week shy of her second birthday in 1920. To add further to the folklore surrounding the Sleeping Beauty, rumor had it that Rosalia would blink multiple times a day. A symbol of love, death, loss and a reminder of just how short life can be. Directories Newly added. In fact, a few years ago it was realized that the girl's face was going to meet a normal decay. The paraffin dissolved in the ether, then wiped on the girls face, making it look like she is looking directly at those who are looking at her. The Lombardo family was Italian, and despite the fact that the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, the girl's pneumonia appeared to have been caused by this lethal illness. The results were staggering, showing that she was indeed truly a mummy and that even her organs were still in functional condition. Rosalia Lombardo: The Mummy That Blinks. Bronchopneumonia, diphtheria, typhus, over the years these have been the most widespread theories on the death of little Rosalia. When he uncovered this trove of the embalmers papers, he stumbled upon the document where the embalmer recorded all the chemicals that were injected in the body of Rosalia. But the proof of her heritage doesnt exist. We can only imagine the agony of the parents of little Rosalia. The formula consisted of formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin. It is December 13, 1918. Upcoming historian with over 30 million views online. The catacombs of the Capuchins of Palermo. Even if the little girl's body has not found a worthy burial, the choice to embalm her so as to be able to give her eternal rest and to give her name to her little sister are the clear sign of how much Rosalia was loved. The database we will one day die of Rosalia is speculated, but Corpse. About the little girl died and her father was Extremely upset ; s embalming that she was truly... Rosalia 's face has very sweet features, with the plump cheeks of a two-year-old girl delicately... 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