Taking a cue from the studies of authors such as Burckhardt, Eliade, Guรฉnon and Chevalier on the "constructive symbolism" of cathedrals, we deal here with that of Santa Maria Annunziata di Otranto in Puglia.ย
di Valentina Tamburrano
ย
The floor mosaic of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata of Otranto it is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating works that Italy preserves, and of which, despite the numerous interpretations, very little has been discovered about the real symbolic meaning hidden among the splendid representations that populate it. Those who have been able to enjoy, in fact, the privilege of observing it live have certainly experienced that bizarre sensation of being in front of a deep but hidden, elusive, yet majestically engaging message. Yet, although in fact little is known about the events that led to the creation of the mosaic work, a more careful analysis able above all to take into consideration the mentality and the symbolic customs of the society of the time could lead to results that were certainly more satisfactory for the understanding of its ultimate meaning.
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE CATHEDRALS
When one approaches the world of symbols, one must first of all accept and recognize the fact that the man of traditional societies, unlike the modern one, attributed a high value to the idea of โโ'sacred': sacred all those aspects of reality (natural and human) were believed to be capable of reveal the archetypal aspect of the Universe, that is, capable of interrupting the natural flow of ordinary existence and updating the divine time and space of the origins.
In a context, therefore, in which the world was considered "Sacred as the work of the gods"ย [1], the sanctuary occupied an exceptional place, since in its interior the immediate and continuous contact between the human being and the divinity is realized: in the temple, that is, "Holy place par excellence"ย [2], the profane, linear and quantitative time ceases to exist in favor of a sacred, immutable and qualitative time. "For the Christians, [...] the church was to be the image of the divine city " writes Titusย Burckhardtย [3]: in fact for Christianity the archetype of the sanctuary is embodied by the model of the Heavenly Jerusalem which was revealed to man by divine graceย [4]. The City comes โCompared to a unique, unalterable and sparkling jewel"ย [5], abode of God and symbol of the Center that it contains in itself "The new order of things that will replace that of the present world, at the end of time"ย [6].
The symbol of Jerusalem Celeste is analogous to that of Heaven: if this represents the existence that takes place before the fall into the dimension of duality, the divine City constitutes the overcoming of this dimension, in which human existence is reborn in a completely renewed order. The harmony of the Cosmos, which in Paradise is expressed through the vital beauty of the plants and animals that inhabit it, in the Celestial Jerusalem is embodied by a statically perfect architecture: the square shape [7]ย thus derives from measurements of equal length, width and height; twelve gates, three for each cardinal direction, are scattered along its walls to indicate the path of the sun; twelve are the angels and the "written names, the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel "(Rev 21, 12) [8], twelve like the apostles, finally, are its foundations.
Therefore, the first Christians were inspired by this model in the construction of sacred buildings, although in fact they also believed that โWhile the church still remains on earth and in time, it does not it must literally resemble the Heavenly City "ย [9]: so it was decided to adopt a series of geometric and directional expedients which, however, had to adhere to a precise symbolic scheme to make the earthly building resemble as much as possible its celestial modelย [10]. This phenomenon, which is part of that larger system we know as symbolism constructive, is complex in itself, and yet it constitutes a tradition common to peoples geographically and temporally very distant from each other: if we start from the assumption that for traditional societies the settlement outlined a separation between an ordered Cosmos and a chaotic and dark reality, it is then possible to understand what was the important role played by houses and, to an even greater extent, by sacred buildings for these societies. By building, man repeated and imitated the act of creating the Universe; for this reason the construction did not have to happen randomly, but was subjected to rigid rules and cyclical rites of consecrationย [11].
In particular, Christians borrowed from the Romans the custom of oriented constructions, that is the habit of consciously arranging buildings in space, so that their direction symbolizes the metaphorical reunion of the earthly world with the celestial oneย [12]. In the specific case of Christian temples it was customary to arrange the entrance to the West "Region of darkness, of anguish, of death, of the eternal abodes of the dead awaiting the resurrection of bodies and the universal judgment " and the altar to the east, "Gate of Paradise" [13]ย in which God appears the same way of the sun rising in the East: in this way it was traced a real symbolic path that moved along the entire length of the central nave, capable of marking, for the faithful, the passage from the dimension of sin to that of the encounter with Godย [14].
Obviously, the symbology did not concern only the direction of the building, but also its internal spaces: โThe inside of the church is the universe. [โฆ] The center of the building is the Earth. [...] The four parts inside a church are the symbol of the four cardinal points "ย [15]. More, the temple was also considered the microcosmic reflection of the celestial macrocosmic order, so that its very structure imitated the shape of the human body, with the head where there is the apse, the arms in the spaces of the transepts, the chest in the place of the altar, and the rest of the body stretched along the entire nave with the feet placed at the entrance to the building. It is Christ who lives in the temple and it is man who, in the image of him, inscribed in the form of the building, realizes the marriage between the celestial dimension and the terrestrial matter. [16]:
"Enrolled in the plan of the church, the body of Christ is as if 'nailed' to the cross of the axes of heaven: his head rests in the East, his feet are placed in the West, and his arms extend towards the North and the South The correspondence between the cardinal cross and the cross of the Passion is attested by tradition. According to the Fathers of the Church Jerome and Basil, the cross of the celestial axes is the prefiguration, in the cosmos, of the cross of martyrdom to which the Savior was nailed ยป
In addition to symbolizing the directions of space and the relationship that exists between the forces of the world, the axes of the cross realize the condition of what Renรฉ Guรฉnon call the "Perfect man "or "Universal man". If the Universe is thought of as the set of manifest possibilities and not of the infinite states of being that emanate from the Center, and if we consider the horizontal axis as "The amplitude o the integral extension of individuality " and the vertical one like "The hierarchy [...] of multiple states"ย [17], then the total Man will be the one who realizes the maximum expansion both in the sense of width than that of depth; that is, it fulfills the fullness of the possibilities of existence both in the sphere of individual manifestation and in that of universal manifestation.
In Christianity the universal man is the Prophet, for the Jews he is the "Adam Qadmon of the Kabbalah [โฆ];ย also the King (Wang) of the Far Eastern tradition "ย [18]. In the space of the temple the crucifixion of Christ is consummated, which is also the crucifixion of each human being nailed to the multiple states of becoming: only through the attainment of a full awareness of his own divine origin, can man be resurrected in the same way as Jesus Christ.
ABSIDE: THE INITIATIVE DEATH, THE WATERS AND THE SUN
In the apse facing east, Pantaleone represents the events of the prophet Jonah, from the fall into the sea to the moment in which it is swallowed by the sea monster, until the arrival in the city of Nineveh, where it announces the punishment of God to its unfaithful and sinful inhabitants.ย First of all, it is significant that this story was wanted precisely in the apse, that is in the space facing East and therefore closer to God. The story of Jonah is mainly a reference to the aquatic symbolism: water exists before Creationย [19] and it is, indeed, the source from which the whole existence flows; water is "Cosmogonic symbol, receptacle of all germs, [โฆ] substance magical and medicinal par excellence; heals, rejuvenates, ensures eternal life "ย [20], but it also represents the indistinct space to which all existences return after death.
The predominant importance of water as the mother symbol of all the possibilities of existence is a trait common to many cultures, as it is attested not only in the sacred texts, but also in the many rites linked to this element that invest the dimension of sacredness. as much as that of profanityย [21]. Despite the heterogeneity of the magical-religious rites developed in different times and regions, the function of the waters always remains the same: as primordial source and undifferentiated dimension that contains the potentiality of existence, water is a space that precedes creation and to which all creation returns. Many cosmogonic myths tell of the creation of the world as procreated by the shapeless chaos of the initial waters, just as the symbol of the tree is always associated with these waters..
Water is also a purifying potion and the principle of eternal life: those who want to possess the virtues must therefore undergo one "trial heroic initiation " [24]ย and defeat the monsters that populate it. This is the business to which he owes undergo Jonah, whose vicissitudes anticipate those of Christ and take on all the characteristics of a real one "Initiatory death". Like all symbols, in fact, even that of water has a double face; it is a dispenser of fecundity and eternal life, but also a destructive power which, through the flood floods the entire creation, allowing the fulfillment of a cyclical condition of the Cosmos, through which the existences that were first annihilated, are resurrected as purified and reintegrated in the new order of the Universe.
The rite of the flood is repeated at the level of the human condition from baptism: "Symbolically man dies by means of immersion, and is reborn purified, renewed [...] "ย [25]. The meaning of "initiatory death" must be sought in its constituting a rite of passage between the profane and the divine dimension: "Death in relation to the previous state, birth in relation to the consequent state. Initiation is generally described as one "Second birth" and it is in fact; but, this "second birth" necessarily implies death to the profane world and in some way immediately follows it, since it is in truth only the two faces of the same change of state "ย [26].
This condition is therefore a kind of palingenesis, since it cancels history and implements the "Restoration of the germinal state"ย [27]; since the restoration implies the repetition of the cosmogony, it is necessary to fall into a hellish condition from which the initiate must rise in order to be completely reborn as a world. The infernal condition in question is represented by the sea monster that inhabits the primordial waters: descending into its bowels, Jonah, the initiate, falls into the lower dimensionย [28] dominated by darkness that evoke the Cosmic Night, or the primordial Chaos. The period of imprisonment which lasts exactly three days ends with the new birth of the prophet and heralds the future resurrection of Christ.
The presence of the whale it is equally significant: it in fact โHides the versatility of the unknown and the invisible interior; it is the seat of the opposites that can come into existence. Its ovoid mass has therefore been compared to the conjunction of two arcs of a circle which would be the symbols of the upper and lower world, of heaven and earth. [โฆ] This semicircle also represents one cup, which in some respects can mean the matrix. From this point of view, that is, as a passive element of spiritual transmutation [...] the whale in some way represents every individuality, insofar as it contains in its center the germ of immortality "ย [29].
As a cup of the initial germ, of the core of existence, the whale remembers la "Initiatory cave"ย [30] from which emerges being completely renewed. Thus the "new" prophet Jonah can carry out the mission entrusted to him by God by converting Nineveh, the sinful city, and here too establish the divine order. The chaotic dimension in which the city lives is represented in the mosaic by naked men dancing, by the king who observes terrified and imposes that "The whole city repents, fasts and dresses in sackcloth"ย [31], probably also from a hunting scene boar and come on โTrumpet playersย [that]ย they spread the terrible prophecy from the doors and from the city โโwalls [...] "ย [32].
The movement of the story continues from right to left, from South to North, from the male to the female dimension [33]. The character of Samson, the biblical hero of surprising strength, recalls that of the "solar" hero who in the Middle Ages was constantly associated with "Prototype of Victorious Christ "ย [34]. Solar hierophanies, unlike what is commonly led to think, they retain a close link with funerary rites, therefore with the lunar-infernal dimension: setting, the Sun dies and then rises again. In this path it takes on the value of a psychopomp, since it guides the souls in the infernal region and then leads them back to the resurrection of the new light. Even in the history of Samson, therefore, one encounters the symbolism of "initiatory death"ย [35]: by killing the lion, the hero renews himself and establishes a new order of things.
Now the figure of the lion it presents, like all symbols, a double ambivalence: it is "Symbol of power, of sovereignty, [...] of the Sun, of gold, of the penetrating force of light and of the word" [36]ย (thanks to these qualities, the lion was one of the favorite animals in iconography Christian; often emblem of Christ and of the resurrection); but also, due to a violent temper and insatiable appetites, a symbol of greed and instinct. Samson rips open the lion "How a kid tears apart" [37]ย and, annulling its evil nature, assimilates its divine properties symbolically expressed through the figures of honey and beesย [38] that invade the carcass of the animal. The phenomenon of passing on the virtues of the object to the subject occurs through a kind of homeopathic process: eating the meat of the animal-divinity, the hero absorbs its characteristics [39].
The correspondence between the figure of Samson and that of thesolar hero which is completely resolved in the apse-head of the sacred building is also validated by the fact that the hero's strength lies in his hair. In addition to representing โSome virtues or certain powers of man: the strength, virility "ย [40], their growth in correspondence of the skull, where the divine crown (the Keter of the Jewish Kabbalah); the hair could therefore be the rays through which the power and grace of God can descend on manย [41]. The threat of darkness is perpetually lurking, as can be perceived thanks to the presence of the great snake-monsterย [42] depicted just before Samson. He is the biblical hero, however, who ends the first narrative that takes place in the apse, a complete symbol of the "initiatory death" which, rising from the darkness of the waters first to the kingdom of the Sun and then, inaugurates the new divine order.
Note:
[1]ย M. Eliade ( The sacred and the profane, Bollati Boringhieri, 2013), p. 42
[2]ย Ibid.
[3]ย T. Burckhardt ( The Birth of the Cathedral, Chartres; Arkeios Editions, 1995), p. 13
[4]ย โFor the people of Israel the models of the tabernacles, of all the sacred utensils and of the Temple, were created by Yahweh from eternity and Yahweh revealed them to his chosen ones so that they could reproduce them on Earth. In these terms he spoke to Moses: "You will build the tabernacle with all the tools, exactly according to the model that I will show you" (Exodus, 25. 8-9. [...] When David gives his son Solomon the project of building the Temple, of the tabernacle and utensils, assures him that "all this ... is found in a writing by the Eternal's hand, which he revealed to me" (The Chronicles, 28.19) "- M. Eliade (Ibid.), P.43
[5]ย T. Burckhardt (Ibid.), P.32
[6]ย J. Chevalier; A. Gheerbrant ( Dictionary of symbols, BUR Rizzoli; 2016), p.494
[7]ย "[โฆ] this [heaven]ย it was heaven on earth, while the new Jerusalem is earth in heaven; the circular shapes refer to the sky, the square ones to the earth " - J. Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant (Ibid.), P. 495
[8]ย Da (Rev 21, 12) in T. Burckhardt (Ibid.), p. 3
[9]ย T. Burckhardt (Ibid.), P.35
[10]ย What Burckhardt defines as "Coagulation of the circle" (T. Burckhardt, Ibid., P. 37) is the result of a meticulous geometric process through which Christian "architects" were able to derive the axes of the building from a circular figure traced on the ground through the use of compass. This process motivated the dissimilarity of the earth temple from the celestial archetype: โIf we consider the circle as the visible trace of time, the 'coagulation' of the rectangle circle represents the transformation of time into a spiritual "space". This corresponds to the symbol of the heavenly Jerusalem which, at the end of time, will descend from heaven in the form of a perfect cube " (T. Burckhardt, Ibid., P.37). On the privileged role of the compass we quote a brief comment that can be read in Vitruvius-Teutsch by Cesare Cesariano: โFirst of all there is the compass, whose important its characteristic is that in any circle of any size the two points can be applied six times on the traced circumference; in other words, half the diameter of each circle divides the entire circumference into six equal parts " (M. Gout, Symbolism in medieval cathedrals, Arkeios Editions, 2001; p. 30). The six-part circle is a recurring symbol in Christianity because: a) the relationship between the center (the Unity, the Principle) and the circumference (manifestation of the center, therefore the World) can be read clearly, since this cannot exist without the first; b) the rays, of potentially infinite number, which branching off from the center, divide the circumference, have the effect above all of giving them value as an expression of an eternal cyclical movement that governs reality; secondly, they symbolize the ideal line through which the center manifests itself in the world and, in an inverted path, the world can return to the Principle; c) finally, the circle thus drawn recalls the monogram of Christ, whose rays correspond "To the cardinal points and the polar axis, symbol of the" invincible sun "(sol invictus)" - T. Burckhardt (Ibid.), P. 20; R. Guรฉnon ( The symbolism of the cross, Adelphi, 2012). It is therefore legitimate to say that, as well as in the field of ontology, the sacredness of the church as the Center of the World is also legitimized by the construction rules which, in the use of specific geometric figures, prove to be imbued with a high religious spirit.
[11]ย For further information: M. Eliade (โThe sacred space and the sacralization of the worldโ, in The sacred and the profane, Bollati Boringhieri, 2013)
[12]ย The temple is one of the symbols of the Center: this symbolism justifies the world as a manifestation on different levels of the primordial Unity and is expressed geometrically in the figure of the point within a circumference (R. Guรฉnon, "The idea of โโthe center in the traditions ancient ", Ibid.). In the places where the identity with the Center is realized, with the original Being, there is one "Breaking of the levels " through which it becomes possible to enter into communication with the higher celestial world or with the lower infernal world. Such communication is commonly symbolized by images, such as the tree, the ladder, the mountain etc., โWho identify with the Axis mundi [...] " around which "The 'World' extends" (M. Eliade, Ibid.), P.29
[13]ย M. Eliade (Ibid.), P. 44
[14]ย In the Christian world, two very different types of cathedrals cohabit relatively early on: the basilica developed in length, which depicted the relationship between our world and the afterlife by means of a horizontal path, from the churchyard to the apse; and the domed building closed in the center, which depicted the sky overhanging the earth. Latin Christianity privileged the basilica type; otherwise, for Greek Orthodox Christianity, the domed construction was the predominant, though not exclusive, model. Such a choice is partly explained by the liturgy of the two churches which highlights above all the difference between the spiritual attitudes of the two communities: the Latin spirit emphasizes spiritual progress through works and ascesis; the oriental spirit, on the other hand, brings out the contemplative vision. " - T. Burckhardt (Ibid.), P. 25
[15]ย T. Burckhardt (Ibid.), P. 30
[16]ย Ibid.
[17]ย R. Guรฉnon ( The symbolism of the cross, Adelphi, 2012), p. 30
[18]ย Ibid., P. 25
[19]ย "The Waters existed before (as we read in Genesis:" darkness covered the surface of the abyss and the Spirit of God glided over the waters ") [...] "- M. Eliade ( The sacred and the profane, Bollati Boringhieri 2013), p. 83
[20]ย M. Eliade ( Treatise on the history of religions, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007), p. 174
[21] "In India, water is the raw material, Prakriti. The Brahmanda, the Egg of the world, is hatched on the surface of the waters. [โฆ] For the Chinese, water is Wu-chi, the culminating, primitive Chaos. [โฆ] In the Jewish and Christian traditions, water first of all symbolizes the origin of creation. The Hebrew letter 'men' (M) symbolizes the sensitive water, mother and matrix, source of all things, it manifests the transcendent and must therefore be considered a hierophany, a manifestation of the sacred. [โฆ] Even in the Islamic tradition, water symbolizes different realities. a) The Koran designates the water that falls from the sky as one of the divine signs [...] "- J. Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant (Ibid.), Pp. 7-8; for the fecundating and purifying rites related to water see M. Eliade ( Treatise on the history of religions, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007), pp. 169-194
[22]ย "The waters symbolize the primordial substance from which all forms are born, and to which they return, by regression or cataclysm" - M. Eliade (Ibid.), P. 169
[23]ย The tree of Life in Paradise is surrounded by "Four-armed river" (Genesis, 2, 9, 10); โThe 'ageless river' (vijฤra nadฤซ) is found next to the miraculous tree of the Kausitakฤซ Upaniแนฃad, I, 3; and in the Apocalypse (22, 1-2) the two symbols stand side by side: "He then showed me the river and the water of life, clear as crystal, which gushes from the throne of God and the lamb [... ] And on both banks of the river the tree of life grows "" - M. Eliade ( Treatise on the history of religions, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007), pp. 174-175; a further affinity between the symbol of the tree and that of water as a source of eternal life consists in the initiatory test which anyone who wants to acquire this privilege must undertake: for the waters we will see the meaning of the story of Jonah and the role of the sea monsters, for the tree, on the other hand, โ[โฆ] The myths about the pursuit of immortality and youth show a tree dai fruits of gold or miraculous leaves, a tree found 'in a distant country' (that is, in the other world) and defended by monsters (griffins, dragons, snakes) " - M. Eliade ( The sacred and the profane, Bollati Boringhieri, 2013), p. 96
[24] Ibid.
[25]ย M. Eliade ( Treatise on the history of religions, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007), p. 177
[26]ย R. Guรฉnon ( Considerations on initiation, Luni editrice, 2014), p.141
[27]ย M. Eliade ( Myths, dreams and mysteries, Rusconi, 1990), p.188
[28] "In medieval visions the underworld is frequently imagined in the form of a huge sea monster, which perhaps has its prototype in the biblical Leviathan. Being swallowed is therefore equivalent to dying, to penetrate into hell [...] " - M. Eliade (Ibid.), P. 187
[29]ย J. Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant (Ibid.), P. 130
[30]ย Ibid.
[31]ย (Jonah 3, 8)
[32]ย CA Willemsen ( The enigma of Otranto, Publisher's leave; 1980), p. 66
[33]ย However, if we observe the figures of the mosaic assuming the gaze of the Body virtually contained in the temple, then the right will become left and vice versa; the masculine will be feminine (Jonah and the Waters) and the feminine masculine (Samson and the Sun). Again, it is possible to cite the thesis according to which the fall of primordial man upsets the ontological order of things in such a way as to invert the right with the left: โIn the economy of this drama, man has reached the illusion of unity acquired with conquest of his NAME without having begun the work from the inferior spouses. Adam is now dressed in "leather tunics", "turned" outside himself. [โฆ] This nature distributes the energies in such a way that the right has become the left and the left the right. In the man-in-tunic-of-skin [โฆ] the right brain, corresponding to wisdom, sends its information to the left side of the body, and the feminine, which is ontologically a profound force, becomes feminized mercy, that is, emotional affectivity. " - A. de Souzenelle ( The symbolism of the human body, Servitium editrice; 2010), p. 69; In this sense, then, the female left and the male right mark the transition from a lunar dimension (that of water) to a solar one (embodied in the mosaic by the figure of Samson).
[34]ย H. and M. Schmidt ( The language of images, Christian iconography, New city, 1988), p. 21 in G. Gianfreda (Ibid.), P. 113
[35]ย The "death" that occurs under the sign of the Sun is however different from that typical of lunar symbolism: the Sun "without knowing death (as, for example, the Moon knows it), crosses the kingdom of death every night and reappears the next day, eternally equal to itself. The "sunset" is not perceived as the "death" of the Sun (contrary to the three days of darkness of the Moon, but as a descent of the star into the underworld, into the realm of the dead. Unlike the Moon, the Sun has the privilege of crossing these regions without undergoing the mode of death) " - M. Eliade ( Treatise on the history of religions, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007), p. 122
[36]ย J. Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant (Ibid.), P. 574
[37]ย (Judges 14, 6)
[38]ย Both honey and bees are symbols of regeneration and purification: โHoney is a symbol of the spiritual nourishment of the saints and gods essays; [โฆ] According to the Pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite, God's teachings are comparable to honey โfor their property of purifying and conservingโ. Honey will designate religious culture, mystical knowledge, spiritual goods, initiatory revelation [โฆ]. In the course of the Eleusinian mysteries, honey was "given to initiates of a higher degree as a sign of new life". Honey thus has a function in the initiatory spring awakening and is linked to the rites of rebirth " - J. Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant (Ibid.), Pp. 654-655; โAccording to ancient beliefs, bees could be born by spontaneous germination from animals sacrificed by divinities. [...] everywhere the bee was considered a fiery being, a fiery nature. She represents the priestesses of the temple, the Pythonesses, the pure souls of the initiates, the spirit, the word; she purifies with fire and nourishes with honey, burns with her dart and illuminates with her splendor. [...] " - Ibid., P. 74
[39]ย J. Frazer ( The golden branch, Bollati Boringhieri, 2014), pp. 586-590
[40]ย J. Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant (Ibid.), P. 195
[41]ย A. de Souzenelle (Ibid.), P. 353
[42]ย The gigantic snake located at the edge of the apse mosaic is probably the biblical Leviathan, whose meaning refers to the symbolism of the aquatic monsters which we have already dealt with with the episode of Jonah. He is depicted here in the act of strangling a deer with its tail, or of "Swallow the sun" (J. Chevalier, A. Gheerbrant; Ibid .; p. 584), if we admit the absorption of the deer in the dimension of solar animals.
Bibliography:
- T. Burckhardt - The Birth of the Cathedral, Chartres; Arkeios Editions, 1995
- J. Chevalier; A. Gheerbrant - Dictionary of symbols, BUR Rizzoli; 2016
- J. Frazer - The golden branchBollati Boringhieri, 2014
- M. Gout - Symbolism in medieval cathedrals, Arkeios Editions, 2001
- R. Guรฉnon - Considerations on initiation, Luni publishing, 2014
- R. Guรฉnon - The symbolism of the cross, Adelphi, 2012
- M. Eliade - Myths, dreams and mysteriesRusconi, 1990
- M. Eliade - The sacred and the profaneBollati Boringhieri, 2013
- M. Eliade - Treatise on the history of religionsBollati Boringhieri, 2007
- A. de Souzenelle - The symbolism of the human body, Servitium publishing; 2010
- CA Willemsen - The enigma of Otranto, Publisher's leave; 1980
ย
Very interesting. The Bible of the poor.