'FALÒ DELLE VANITÀ', FLORENTINE BURN THEIR SINS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about falò delle vanità, a bonfire that occurred on a day like today in 1497 in Florence.

 

A bonfire of the vanities, in Italian falò delle vanità, is a burning of objects condemned by religious authorities as occasions of sin.

The phrase itself usually refers to the bonfire of 7 February 1497, when supporters of the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola collected and burned thousands of objects such as cosmetics, art, and books in the public square of Florence, Tuscany, on the occasion of Shrove Tuesday.

Francesco Guicciardini's The History of Florence gives a firsthand account of the 1497 Florentine bonfire of the vanities. The focus of this destruction was on objects that might tempt one to sin, including vanity items such as mirrors, cosmetics, fine dresses, playing cards, and musical instruments.

Other targets included books which Savonarola deemed immoral (such as works by Boccaccio), manuscripts of secular songs, and artworks, including paintings and sculpture.

Although often associated with Savonarola, such bonfires had been a common accompaniment to the outdoor sermons of San Bernardino di Siena in the first half of the 15th century.

Fra Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican friar who was assigned to work in Florence in 1490, at the request of Lorenzo de' Medici -although within a few years Savonarola became one of the foremost enemies of the House of Medici and helped bring about their downfall in 1494.

More information: The Local

Savonarola campaigned against what he considered to be the artistic and social excesses of Renaissance Italy, preaching with great vigor against any sort of luxury. His power and influence grew so much that with time, he became the effective ruler of Florence, and had soldiers for his protection following him around.

Starting in February 1495, during the time in which the festival known as Carnival occurred, Savonarola began to host a regular bonfire of the vanities. He collected various objects that he considered to be objectionable: irreplaceable manuscripts, ancient sculptures, antique and modern paintings, priceless tapestries, and many other valuable works of art, as well as mirrors, musical instruments, and books on divination, astrology, and magic.

Anyone who tried to object found their hands being forced by teams of Savonarola supporters. These supporters called themselves Piagnoni Weepers after a public nickname that was originally intended as an insult.

Savonarola's influence did not go unnoticed by the higher church officials, however, and his actions came to the attention of Pope Alexander VI. He was excommunicated on 13 May 1497. The charges were heresy and sedition at the command of Pope Alexander VI.

Savonarola was executed on 23 May 1498, hanged on a cross and burned to death. His death occurred in the Piazza della Signoria, where he had previously held his bonfires of the vanities. Then the papal authorities gave word that anyone in possession of the friar's writings had four days to turn them over to a papal agent for destruction. Anyone who did not comply also faced excommunication.

More information: Smithsonian Magazine

E fu in quel tempo che io montai quassù,
e dissi che io non era mandato a predicarti
da uomo del mondo, né da signore alcuno,
ma da colui che è signore dei signori e dalla santa Trinità.

And it was at that time that I got up here,
and I said I was not sent to preach to you
as a man of the world, nor as any lord,
but from him who is lord of lords and from the holy Trinity.

Girolamo Savonarola