A relief dated 1511 on the facade of what used to be a hospice for poor tailors in Cannaregio. To the right of the Blessed Virgin and Child is Santa Barbara, holding the tower that her evil pagan father locked her in.
To the left, holding a pair of scissors and a moneybag, is an obscure Italian saint called Sant' Omobono (great name!). Also known as Saint Homobonus, he was a merchant from Lombardy who was canonized in 1199, two years after his death. I'd never heard of him but learned from Wikipedia that there's been a recent resurgence of interest in him since he was a wealthy holy man and in addition to being the patron saint of tailors, he's the guardian of all business people, and they can buy kitschy plastic statues of him to bless their efforts. Check it out:
Comments (9)
Wow, that's extraordinarily odd.
The relief is lovely, Santa Barbara looks cool.
But the plastic statue of Homobonus begs to be mocked. (To say nothing of the choking hazard warning on the front. He must fall apart quite easily.)
Posted by sandrac | March 23, 2010 4:29 PM
Posted on March 23, 2010 16:29
Sandra, the choking warning is funny. It amuses me how the Dashboard Jesus has blossomed into a whole industry of plastic saints and religious figures of questionable taste. :)
Posted by Annie | March 24, 2010 9:22 AM
Posted on March 24, 2010 09:22
Lovely carving. If you want to see other tacky religious gear, go to the Gadgets for God section on the Ship of Fools website. Very funny. In fact a friend at church bought us a bathtime ducks Nativity set last year which she saw on there. Andrew
Posted by Andrew | March 24, 2010 9:49 AM
Posted on March 24, 2010 09:49
Ahhh, I SO want one of those cheesy statues for my friend Mark!! He lives to mock such things!
Posted by Anne | March 24, 2010 11:19 AM
Posted on March 24, 2010 11:19
OK, I love the relief, hate that little plastic statue.
Posted by Candi | March 24, 2010 12:29 PM
Posted on March 24, 2010 12:29
Andrew, thanks for the head's up about Gadgets for God! That rubber duck Nativity is hilarious. So is the Jesus tree topper. :)
Anne, I think we talked about our love for tacky religious "art" before. Isn't your friend Mark a minister? It's great that he's got a sense of humor about such things. :)
Posted by Annie | March 24, 2010 2:11 PM
Posted on March 24, 2010 14:11
Oh I'm in trouble now: I should not have looked into the Gadgets for God. Now I NEED to get a few of the rubber duck Nativity sets to give at Christmas!
Beautiful relief!
Posted by Maria I. | March 25, 2010 11:08 PM
Posted on March 25, 2010 23:08
Maria, those nativity would make great Christmas gifts. I'd like to have one for myself too. :)
Posted by Annie | March 26, 2010 10:25 AM
Posted on March 26, 2010 10:25
This cracks me up (the bottom plastic statue). Beautiful relief.
Posted by girasoli | March 29, 2010 1:47 AM
Posted on March 29, 2010 01:47