Giro d'Italia 2021

The heraldry of Italy
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Arthur Radburn
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Arthur Radburn » 11 May 2021, 19:23

Chris Green wrote:So today's first mystery is: what is the English heraldic term for the square charge that the Italians call "dado"? The French term is "carreau". "Tile" has been suggested, but that's just a guess.

How about "delve"? De Stalins' Vocabulaire Atlas also gives "peat" and "square billet" as alternatives.

Chris Green wrote:Today's finish is in the mountains outside Sestola. It is a pity that I can't find the Italian blazon of Sestola's arms, since the two curves present something of a conundrum.

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In English are they barrulets? Probably. But how does one describe the curve? And aren't they slightly wider at the ends than in the middle (or are my eyes deceiving me)?


According to https://www.araldicacivica.it/comune/sestola/, the blazon is D'azzurro a due fasce convesse d'oro, il tutto alla rocca a due torri laterali e un torrione centrale fondato su un colle all'italiana al naturale, il capo e caricato di un' aquila di nero coronata d'oro. Granted in 1933.

So : "two bar[rulet]s enarched Or". The variation in the width of the bars is evidently due to the artist. There are other renditions online, including the one on the municipal website, which show the bars of even width.
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 12 May 2021, 10:28

Wednesday's stage sets off from Modena, another Italian automotive centre (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani). I described Modena's arms back in 2016, and the mystery of the geological drills remains unsolved. This is how the arms are usually emblazoned:

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but the blazon tells another story:

D'oro, alla croce d'azzurro accollato da due trivelle di ferro e oro in croce di Sant'Andrea, sormontato da una corona aurea ducale tempestata di gemme sostenente nove fioroni d'oro, cinque visibili, caricato ciascuno di una perla nel cuore.


According to the official blazon, the drills shouldn't be behind the shield (they aren't additaments like crossed batons) but behind the cross. The Napoleonic arms of Modena recognised this.

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The race is a seemingly interminable straight, flat, route south-eastwards to the Adriatic coast. The riders pass through Bologna whose citizens were clearly torn between their love of liberty and their unwavering support for the Guelphic faction (both "capo d'Angio" and red cross on white ground).

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Blazon: Inquartato: nel primo e nel quarto d’argento alla croce di rosso, col Capo d’Angiò; nel secondo e nel terzo d’azzurro al motto “Libertas” in lettere d’oro, posto in banda. Lo scudo cimato da una testa di leone in fronte.


The single lion supporter behind the shield is unusual. I cannot immediately discover if it is simply ornamental or has some particular significance.

After Bologna the route takes the cyclists through several places that have featured in the heraldic Giro before: Imola, Faenza, Forlì and Cesena. It does however not make the detour through San Marino, which I shall feature anyway, as small states deserve to be remembered (unlike micro-"nations").

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Today's finish is at Cattolica whose name explains the coat of arms, which is more a baroque painting than an heraldic emblazonment.

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Blazon: Un campo di cielo, con la campagna rappresentante una marina corsa da due navi, sormontata dalla figura della Religione, vestita di bianco e di rosso, con la fiammella sul capo tenente con la destra le tavole del decalogo, con la sinistra il libro degli evangeli, il tutto al naturale. Lo scudo sarà cimato da un cerchio di muro d'oro, parto di quattro porte, sormontato da otto merli dello stesso, uniti da muricciuoli d'argento e posto tra due rami, a destra di alloro, a sinistra di quercia divergenti e decussati sotto la punta dello stesso scudo.


The field is given as "cielo", which should be bleu celeste. But here the artist has gone for an artistic sky which seems mostly to be cloudy or hazy. I am not entirely sure why "Religione" should be depicted as a female figure in flowing robes. But then I'm a Protestant.
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Iain Boyd » 12 May 2021, 22:22

According to Brooke-Little's "An Heraldic Alphabet", the square charge in the arms of Piacenza is a 'delf' or 'delve' or 'delph'.

He defines it as a 'square billet'.

He further states that -

"In heraldic fantasy a delf in the centre of the shield is said to be the abatement for one who revoked a challenge."

According to the Mirriam-Webster online dictionary a delf is supposed to represent a square sod.

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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 13 May 2021, 12:16

The Ascension Day stage commences at Genga whose most illustrious son was Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga, better known as Pope Leo XII (1823-29). His arms (with appropriate additaments) and those of the commune were those of the Counts of Genga.

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Blazon: Un'aquila d'oro coronata su sfondo azzurro.


The race actually starts at the Grotte di Frasassi, which were discovered as recently as 1971.

http://www.stefanociocchetti.com/Documenti_sito/lavori/Frasassi/Frasassi.html

Genga is also known for its abbey, San Vittore alle Chiuse, which dates from 1011. Those who have seen the film "the Name of the Rose" may have been surprised by how much the monastery resembled a fortress and how little what we mostly think of as a typical monastery. This abbey is even more forbidding.

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After a mountainous section in the middle of the race there is a long descent before a final punishing ascent to Ascoli Piceno whose arms are a castellated gateway, whose design is provided in great detail in the blazon.

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Blazon: Di rosso al castello di travertino al naturale merlato alla ghibellina con due archi aperti e galleria sovrastante a cinque arcate, fiancheggiata da due torri dello stesso di diseguale altezza; quella di destra più alta merlata, l’altra a tetto. Ornamenti esteriori di città.


The double gate is supposed to represent the "Porta Gemina" (twin gate) dating back to the first century AD and now a ruin (and which would not have had Ghibelline merlons). The tower however seems to be a cross between that of the 13th century Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo (which has the merlons but is narrower) and the fifteenth century Porta Tufilla (which has no merlons).
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 14 May 2021, 11:42

Friday sees the Giro start at Notaresco, a commune that doesn't run to a coat of arms. So here are the arms of the province of Teramo of which Notaresco forms part.

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Blazon: Di rosso, alla banda d'argento accostata da due croci trifogliate dello stesso.


The principal town of the province of Teramo is Teramo, whose arms are familiar:

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Ah ha! Teramum must be the Roman name of the town. Well no. They wouldn't have been able to fit the Roman name into the bend - Interamnia Praetuttiorum.

The race basically follows the line of the Adriatic coast, but skirts the city of Pescara in order to give the riders a hilly break from the boring flat straight highway. The arms of Pescara demanded a highly detailed blazon. Note how the dexter sea is "fluttuoso" (rough/stormy), while the sinister sea is "ondeggiante" (rippling/wavy) - the same word as is used for the tail of the comet. Another interesting aspect of the blazon is that the dexter field is designated "cielo" and the sinister field is "azzurro". We might assume that the first is "bleu celeste" and the second "azure", but the artist uses the same colour blue for both, adding clouds to the dexter side.

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Blazon: Partito. Il primo al campo di cielo, alla torre affiancata da una chiesa posta su di un mare fluttuoso, accompagnato nella destra del capo da una cometa d’oro ondeggiante in sbarra; il secondo d’azzurro, al castello uscente dal fianco sinistro dello scudo, terminato da una torre al naturale merlata di quattro, aperta finestrata e murata di nero, posta su di un mare ondeggiante d’argento. Un palo d’oro divide le partizioni.


The race ends at the fishing village of Termoli whose arms feature a castle on a rocky island. There is indeed a rather fine castle at Termoli called Castello Svevo, but it isn't on an island and it certainly doesn't feature a doorway and tunnel right through the structure!

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Arguably the most interesting feature of Termoli is not the castle, but the "trabucchi", wooden fishing towers that allowed the fishermen to fish without going to sea.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabucco
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 15 May 2021, 10:20

Having followed the Adriatic coast for a while, the Giro heads inland today (Saturday), which is encouraging for the riders who thrive on hilly terrain. They start fromFoggia whose arms are blazoned "proper" in their entirety.

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Blazon: D’argento a tre fiammate guizzanti dalla superficie del mare e in questo specchiantisi, il tutto al naturale.


Emperor Frederick II had a palace here in the early 13th century, to which he attracted several noted scholars, not least Michael Scotus, the Scottish astrologer and mathematician who graces the 8th circle of hell in Dante's Inferno.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Scot

The route heads westwards for quite a while before turning to the South at Campobasso (which sounds to me as if it should be the base camp for an Italian assault on Mount Everest). The arms of the city feature no less than six towers (is this a record?).

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Blazon: Di rosso a sei torri merlate d'argento, disposte tre a tre, accompagnate in capo dalla corona comitale d'oro.


The riders then continue southwards to Castelvenere whose arms were granted as recently as 1984. I suppose it was too much to ask that the design should not consist exclusively of a castle. This castle displays by its merlons the town's former allegiance to the Guelphs.

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Blazon: D’argento, al castello triturrito, quella centrale più bassa, di rosso, aperto del campo, murato di nero, le torri finestrate ciascuna di uno dello stesso, merlate alla guelfa di tre.


The last few kilometres are north-easterly to the finishing line at Guardia Sanframondi, which seems not to have a coat of arms. Instead I was going to post a picture or video of the "battenti" at the "riti settennali di penitenza" (a Roman Catholic ceremony held here every seven years). But some of you may be of nervous disposition.
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 16 May 2021, 09:11

Sunday's stage sets off from Castel di Sangro, which only obtained a coat of arms in 2002. We should give thanks that those responsible did not prefer a logo. The artist seems however never to have visited the town, as the castle which features in the arms is a much more substantial construction than the stone tower (about the size of a Martello tower) that seems to be the actual building. Indeed so insignificant is it that I could only find one picture, and that suggests that there is no choppy water lapping at its feet. The Sangro river is supposed to be "nearby" but seems to rise dozens of kilometres to the North East.

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Blazon: Campo di cielo, al castello di rosso, mattonato di nero, merlato alla guelfa, il fastigio di dieci, le due torri, alte e alquanto coniche, di cinque, finestrate di due, di nero, una e una, chiuso dello stesso, esso castello sormontato dalla stella di sei raggi d'oro e fondato sulla pianura di azzurro, fluttuosa d'argento. Ornamenti esteriori di Comune.


Once again we find the field "cielo", in this case interpreted by the artist as blue with diffuse high cloud.

After about 120 kilometres the cyclists come in sight of a real castle at Celano. Inevitably I suppose this is not featured in the arms of the town, which are in fact a curious hotch-potch. First the castle, which in its present (renovated) form dates from as late as the 1450s, when its design must have been considered very old-fashioned, artillery routinely demolishing castle walls by that date.

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As for the arms, words fail me (briefly).

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As for the text, the central part refers to a quote from Virgil: “Te nemus Angitiae, vitrea te Fucinus unda, te liquidi flevere lacus…” (For you the grove of Angitia mourned, and Fucinus' glassy waters, and the clear lakes) which relates to the glass-like surface of nearby lake Fucino, once the third largest in Italy, but drained between 1862 and 1878. Celano was, from the 9th century "Caput Marsorum" (capital city of the Marsican region). "Universitas" doesn't mean "university" but "universe" or "the whole", so perhaps "Capital of the whole Marsican region"?

The bottom half of the arms must be (ex) lake Fucino. Not sure why the Agnus Dei and other charges dumped in the top half.

The finish is on the Campo Felice, a plateau in the commune of Rocca di Cambio, whose arms feature ... you guessed! ... a castle, either with a (wine?) barrel in front of the entrance or without depending on the artist. I wouldn't have thought of the Abruzzo as wine country, but it does produce a red Montepulciano.

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Once again the actual "torre" is more like a Martello tower than a castle.

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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 16 May 2021, 09:15

In casting about for relevant info, I stumbled over this 1959 Heraldry Society article about Italian heraldry.

https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/articles/heraldry-in-italy-during-the-middle-ages-and-renaissance/
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 17 May 2021, 08:17

Monday is the last day before a rest day, so many of the Giro riders are probably feeling the strain. Ahead of them lies a stage that has a couple of climbs but is generally more down than up. The start line is at L'Aquila, whose arms inevitably feature an eagle, but also include the motto "Immota Manet" (It remains unimpaired), which is attributed to the 16th century humanist Salvatore Massonio, who came from L'Aquila, but he was quoting Vergil: "Mens immota manet, lachrimae vulvuntur inanes." (Aeneid IV 449). The letters PHS stumped me when the Giro passed this way in 2016 but now I know that they are part of the motto, which in full reads: "Immota publica hic salus manet" (Here the safety of the public remains unimpaired).

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Blazon: D’argento all’aquila dal volo abbassato di nero, coronata, rostrata, linguata e armata d’oro, accostata dalla scritta P.H.S. in capo e ai fianchi:Immota manet.


The finish is at Foligno whose arms look as if they include a large canton. However the Italian blazon considers it a quarter, with the third quarter (considered by the Italian blazon to be the second) being simply gules.

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Blazon: Semitroncato-partito: nel primo d’argento alla croce potenziata e scorciata di rosso; nel secondo di rosso, nel terzo di rosso al giglio d’oro. Lo scudo è sormontato da corona marchionale.


All but one of the emblazonments I have found show a line of division between the plain gules 3rd quarter and the sinister half. The one that doesn't is from a bucket shop selling the "family arms" of Foligno, which also has a canton instead of a 1st quarter.

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Dare I say I actually prefer the bucket shop version?!
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Re: Giro d'Italia 2021

Postby Chris Green » 19 May 2021, 09:04

Back in the saddle on Wednesday, the riders start out from Perugia, whose arms are simple and straightforward. No nod to Guelph or Ghibelline here.

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Blazon: Di rosso al grifone d'argento, coronato d'oro.


In English/Scottish heraldry, having the tail between the legs, as emblazoned here, would be blazoned "coward". But I am sure that is not the intention here. Other emblazonments have the tail in a more normal position.

The finish is at Montalcino famous for its wines. But rather than a vine, the arms feature a tree. The question is: is it just "a tree" (un albero) or "a holm oak" (un leccio)? Heraldry of the World (All hail to Heraldry of the World!) gives both blazons as being official.

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Blazons: D’argento al monte di sei cime di rosso, sostenente un albero di verde; or: (D'argento) Sei monti rossi sorreggono un leccio.


Montalcino has a spectacular castle built as a pentagon (quite common later in the days of artillery but not when it was built in 1361).

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For those looking for a wine recommendation: https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/brunello-di-montalcino-its-worth-the-wait/
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