One of the properties that makes Rosalia such a beautiful mummy is the embalming process that was used to preserve her. Mario Lombardo, her father, wanted to uncover the specific cause of her death so he could "blame" someone. [8], The mummy has achieved further notoriety for a phenomenon in which her eyes appear to open and close several times a day, revealing her intact blue irises. Her grieving father couldn't settle . Its stunning streets and crossroads run to the Capuchin Monastery, another building of fine intricate beauty. I spend many hours researching her and you can read more about that here if you want. Rosalia Lombardos one hundred year old body may be the most beautifully embalmed body in the world. Salafia recorded the chemicals he injected into Rosalias body: formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin., Formalin (formaldehyde and water) eliminates bacteria For after all, the dead have no need for grand decorations in this realm they leave behind. Maria Cara Lombardo e Mario Lombardo, i genitori della piccola Rosalia (per gentile concessione della . Mario Lombardo, Rosalia's father, was determined to find out the exact cause of her death in order to assign blame. Rosalia has indeed sparked much fascination in the world of science and commoners alike. Who is wrong? Alcohol dries the body Read more on Wikipedia. Mario was so devastated by her death that he asked Alfredo Salafia (a well-known Italian pharmacist) to mummify her and keep her as alive as possible (by looking). The catacombs of the Capuchins of Palermo. 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. Who is right? Rosalia Lombardo (Born December 13, 1918 and Died December 6, 1920) was a Palmerian toddler who died one week before her second birthday from pneumonia caused by the Spanish flu. The corpse was preserved nearly perfectly due to the dry atmosphere inside the Catacomb. 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. Piombino-Mascali hopes that visitors will stop making any new stories about the little child mummy. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) [1] was a Palermitan child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, [2] one week before her second birthday. Others passed this phenomenon off as changes of the light. He made a small puncture and injected a mixture of zinc salts, formalin, glycerin, and salicylic acid. 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. 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. (The oldest is a friar from 1599 called Silvestro da Gubbio). 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. The formula consisted of formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin. Full text data coming soon. Managed by: David Nicholas Yustin: Piombino-Mascali, in trying to find out the formula, tracked down the living relatives of the embalmer. 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. [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? The blinking mummys mystery became famous across the world. The story of love, loss, beauty and tragedy have captured thousands of people through multiple generations. Rosalia Lombardo: The mystery of the Blinking Mummy, Present condition of Rosalia Lombardos mummy: The preserved corpse was relocated. But the magical element was the zinc salts which gave Rosalias body rigidity. It is interesting how we have reached a technological point that allows us to analyze such mummies without the need of them being touched or at risk of deterioration. The skin of Rosalia still appears very smooth, as if it is made of porcelain. The body was beautifully preserved thanks to Salafias embalming procedures. Not only was the eye blinking mystery solved by Piombino-Mascali, but he also managed to track down the embalming formula Alfredo Salafia used to preserve the body of Rosalia in such impeccable condition. (In Pics) Ten Extinct Animals which Survive only in Drawings. The little girl died and her father was extremely upset. Further studies however, including time-lapse photos by National Geographic, show that Rosalia does in fact blink several times an hour! Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. Mario Lombardo is an infantry officer who only on this day discovers what happiness is, true happiness. Rosalia Lombardos remains is housed in a tiny chapel at the end of the catacomb tour, enclosed in a glass-covered coffin on a wooden pedestal. Husband of Assunta Mananizza Father of Eugenia Lombardo and Rosalinda Lombardo. Children of Llullaillaco: Where Young Children Were Sacrificed to the Gods, Church of the Dead: Home to the Peculiar Mummies of Provincial Italy. The catacombs are open nearly everyday and the entry fee is only 3 euros. Further analysis of the body show that all the organs are intact. Many of these ingredients are commonly used today, but the shining star of this concoction is the zinc salts which essentially petrified her body. It is possible that contact with the air before its replacement may have resulted in damage. Rosalia's body was one of the last to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. It is reasonable to believe that the embalmer made a choice of this type to pay homage to this young missing soul, to ensure that this body could give the appearance of life. 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. The heartbroken father of Rosalia sought the help of an embalmer named Alfredo Salafia to preserve his childs body. Rosalia's father, official Mario Lombardo, was sorely grieved upon her death, so he approached Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, to undertake the task of preserving her. To add further to the folklore surrounding the Sleeping Beauty, rumor had it that Rosalia would blink multiple times a day. Suddenly, however, fate plays a mocking trick on the couple. The father refused to bury his daughter, seemingly extremely traumatized because of losing his child.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofyesterday_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_5',104,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Rosalias death took place only a week shy of her second birthday. One piece of evidence pointing to Mario being her father is that he supposedly named his second daughter Rosalia (after the first). Rosalia Lombardo. The changing direction of the light through the day makes Rosalias eyes seem to open and close many times. These questions arise spontaneously. Via Panepinto 8 I-92022 Cammarata (Ag) Italy A 2009 National Geographic photograph of Rosalia Lombardo shows the mummy is beginning to show signs of decomposition, most notably discoloration. Indeed, she is nicknamed the sleeping beauty. X-rays of the body reveal that all of the organs are extremely healthy. Is it better to believe in science or in the irrational? People have witnessed that her eyes open slowly, and that the eyes seem to glisten due to the low lights in the catacombs. Luckily for the scientific community they consented and Dario found a handwritten memoir reveling the exact formula injected into Rosalia. Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 in Palermo, Italy - December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who died of pneumonia. Rosalia Lombardo's father, official Mario Lombardo, was severely upset by the death of his loved daughter and contacted a famous Sicilian embalmer, Alfredo Salafia, to preserve the body of Rosalia. Rosalia meant the world to her family, especially her father who sought to preserve her eternally. Glycerin prevented her body from desiccating or drying out. Your email address will not be published. The other bodies present in the catacombs. Genealogy for Mario Lombardo (1789 - 1864) family tree on Geni, with over 240 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. The story of Rosalia is speculated, but unknown. If you want to visit Rosalia, youre not alone. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. The zinc sulfate was used to petrify the body. It is so amazingly well-maintained that even X-rays show the internal organs to be intact. While her eyes generally open just slightly more than 1/8th of an inch, they open to reveal perfectly intact baby blue eyes. They are arranged in sections such as religious figures, professions, women, virgins and children. Many find it too overwhelming to be underground with what looks like an army of the dead from a horror film, including an Argentinian companion of mine who had to surface for air and rejoin the mortal beings above. Bipin Dimri is a writer from India with an educational background in Management Studies. Avid Writer with invaluable knowledge of Humanity! It was still a mystery until the curator of Capuchin catacombs, Dario Piombino-Mascali, proved a new theory. Alfredo Salaria used glycerin, formalin, zinc salts, alcohol and salicylic acid on the body of little Rosalia. The problem at the time, was that no one knew how Rosalia had been preserved. Upcoming historian with over 30 million views online. Missing Three Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers. It is difficult to untangle the feelings aroused by Rosalia, innocent and young, yet frozen between worlds, un-allowed to decay least her family lose her spirit forever. Impossible to answer these questions. The preserved body of Rosalia Lombardo, as photographed by National Geographic in 2009, has started to show indications of decomposition most notably discoloration. A century has passed, but her corpse still looks like the little girl is just dozing under the glass case of the casket. 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). Shes located in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily with over 8,000 other mummies. Her mummified body, sometimes referred to as 'Sleeping Beauty', was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin . MYSTERIESRUNSOLVED & MRU MEDIA, 2019-2022. 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. Her body was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. Rosalia Lombardos Xray By National Geographic. The Lombardo family was . The mummy of Rosalia Lombardo (Source: The Archaeology News Network), NASA is launching the DNA of some of the most prolific presidents in US history, The 1985 story of a bear that ate 77 pounds of Plabo Escobar's finest cocaine. Her father Mario Lombardo was understandably so beset with heartache that he sought out a renowned local embalmer by the name of Alfredo Salafia. Rosalias body is now preserved in a new glass coffin, which is designed to block the growth of fungi or bacteria. The first 3D image of Rosalia revealed that all the organs of her body are perfectly intact even after so many decades. 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. Mario Lombardo is an infantry officer who only on this day discovers what happiness is, true happiness. Mario Lombardo, her father, wanted to uncover the specific cause of her death so he could "blame" someone. The Lombardo family was from Italy and even if the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, it seems that the girl's pneumonia was caused by this deadly virus. Create Biography . Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old girl, died in 1920 from an intensified case of bronchopneumonia, a kind of pneumonia that involves inflammation in the alveoli. Geni requires JavaScript! After which, they were bathed in vinegar and stuffed with hay. The embalming of the body of Rosalia Lombardo by Alfredo Salaria. There is one last curiosity concerning Rosalia Lombardo. Many people believed that Lombardo had opened her eyes a fraction of an inch in a composite of many time-lapse photographs. The impact of a new culture of Nordic tradition on Sicily in the 11th-12th century led to a new architectural style: Palermos Arab-Norman architecture introduced innovative elements from the north of Europe, such astowers at the sides of faades, within Byzantine layouts, such as the greek-cross plan inscribed in a square, and structural or decorative details of Islamic origin, such as pointed arches. However, the work that Alfredo Salaria managed to carry out on the body of little Rosalia is incredible, his most successful work ever, the body considered the most beautiful in the world by scholars and experts in the sector. Within Palermo, the catacombs are a short walk from the city center, but public transportation is also available. Piombino-Mascali made this amazing discovery in 2009 after some of the workers in the museum moved her coffin, which caused her body to shift a little bit. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Thousands of visitors from across the world have come to see the girl, intrigued by the many reports that the eyes of the dead body are blinking. Nobody can answer these questions, a mystery that after all it is perhaps good that it remains so. 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. Rosalia captures the hearts of thousands each year. After 7 months from the birth of the child they also decide to get married, aware that they need to take this step in order to guarantee serenity and tranquility for their family. Genealogy profile for Mario Lombardo. In fact, it seems that Alfredo Salaria did not undertake any university career. Her father, Mario Lombardo, was so grief stricken that he asked an embalmer to preserve Rosalias remains. Required fields are marked *. Rosalia's face has very sweet features, with the plump cheeks of a two-year-old girl, delicately framed by fair hair. Rosalia, an Italian child born on December 13 in the year 1918, died due to pneumonia as a result of the Spanish flu less than two years later, on December 6, 1920. This may just be one of the best-preserved mummies in the world, however, it is only 100 years old so it should not be the greatest wow factor. Husband of Maria Di Cara (The oldest is a friar from 1599 called Silvestro da Gubbio). (HTTP response code 503). Some photographs taken in sequence, at intervals of about one minute, also offered a similar testimony. A visit to the Catacombs of Capuchin is the ultimate reminder or Memento Mori (in Latin) that we too will join the endless ranks of the dead alas perhaps in not such a spectacular setting. They were famed for their Romanesque architecture, characterized by semi-circular arches. 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. [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. The body of Rosalia is famous among the 8,000 bodies present in these catacombs under the Capuchin convent. But the proof of her heritage doesnt exist. There are those who claim that it is a mere optical illusion, caused by how the light falls on those half-closed eyelids. Notes documenting Rosalias mummification were discovered in the 1970s. We are talking about the body of Rosalia Lombardo, a 2-year-old girl, who has been in the Catacombs for over 100 years, masterfully embalmed, in perfect condition, who also seems to be about to open her eyes and come back to life. Rosalias dead body has caught the attention of everyone, as people have noticed her eyelids move many times, seeming like she is blinking. I wrote about the Capuchin Catacombs already, but essentially, the Catacombs were a place where the dead were displayed in order to be visited by the living. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 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. The salts preserved her appearance perfectly, even preventing her nasal cavities and her cheeks from caving in. Her father, Mario Lombardo wanted to know the exact cause of her death in order to blame someone. 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 paraffin dissolved in the ether, then applied on the girls face, creates the illusion that she is staring straight at whoever is staring at her. King Abu Bakr IIs mysterious voyage: Was America discovered in the early 14th century? 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. Hours researching her and you can read more about that here if you to... Body show that all the organs are intact professions, women, virgins children. To reveal perfectly intact baby blue eyes t settle the story of Rosalia sought help. 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