Report of National Museum 1893. 



Plate 24. 





ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY AND ART 















^8 



Md 



Costume of the Misericordia of Tuscany 





This costume consists of a simple hooded cassock 

 of black, worn over ordinary citizen's dress, and a 

 broad brimmed felt hat, used m outdoor ser\ice. 



SIENA. 1892. 



'53.893- 



Collected by G. Brown Goode. 



The FRATERNITY OF THE MISERICORDIA {P^a Arcicon^ 

 fraterntta de Santa Maria deiia Misericordia) is a great society, with 

 branches in Siena, Florence, Pisa, and the other cities and towns of Tuscany, 

 which has for its sole object the alleviation of suffering and the furtherance 

 of all works of benevolence. Its most striking characteristic is that its 

 active work is carried on by its members in person, and not by paid deputies. 

 On its rolls arc found the names of a large proportion of the adult males 

 of the community, without regard to rank or wealth. A certain number 

 of these are assigned to duty for each day in the year, and are expected 

 to respond at once to any call from the officer of the day, and while on 

 duty are under strict discipline. 



The personal relationship of the wealthy and the powerful to the 

 cbantable work of the community is productive of much good. All dis- 

 tinctions of rank are ignored in the organization, and to this end a costume 

 ol the cheapest material is used, to disguise figure and face, and members 

 while on duty neither speak nor are spoken to. except as a matter of 

 necessity. The money needed for the work is obtained by the mute appeals 

 of the members in public places and at the doors of churches, and from 

 the fees of membership. Each local society has its chapel for funeral 

 services, and all funerals with but few exceptions, are conducted by this 

 organization, the coffin being borne by its members in their peculiar dress. 



One of the oldest of ihese sfxieties, that to which the costume exhiLiied belongs, is that of Siena. 

 This was founded ai rhe end of the fourteenth century by Bernardino Albizicschi (San Bernardino) as a 

 society to ptrfonn worki of mercy and t ) aid prisoners. In 1564 a statute prescribed the manner in which 

 their charitable offices mighi be exercised. It was suppressed in the time of Leopold I, and resuscitated 



" ^ 1 Pisa and Fluren(.e. 



:ured, which has smce 

 City of fifty thousand 



by royal permission in 1794. In iSag it w; 

 and in i86i by popular subscription an end( 

 been mcreascd b> other donations. Its m 

 inhabu.ints, about three thousand active mei 

 Its scope mcludes everything winch cur 

 misfortune of any kind at .luy iime or place 

 ■at.vely fe ' " 



IS reorganised upon the model of those 1 

 .wmcni of 155,000 bra {S31.000) w 

 embership is very larye, including 

 nbers. 



shoulders. Invalids 



izcd under the nam 

 home, sij|.plying the: 



. Within the tenn charity — the relief of those stricken by 

 Owing to the precipitous char.ictcr of many of tlic streets, 

 m Siena, and sick |)eopie. as well as coffins, must be carried upon men's 

 I by them to the R.jyal Hospital, iliree mile from the city, and they*ha\c 

 jmctcry, in which nearly all interments are made. A group of members is orqan- 

 visitoVs to tlie sick {Cotr.tutaiiJii /n/nmufi). They render aid to the ill at 

 th bc-ds, underclothing, bandages, broths, easy chairs, trusses, and watchers or 

 nurses at ni^tit. in summer the Society dispenses nimeral water lor use m baths, and when necessary, 

 keepsojjena room fur \ac< motion and dispenses the vatcinc matter throughonl the city and the surrounding 

 country. In the case o( an accident of any kind, a s<iuad of members is upon the spot to render service, 

 in other communities cxperied Irom ilie police and board of health. 



■| he administration IS in the handi of a brother called the Ft ovvffiti'rf, who presides at the meet- 

 ings of the board of manjgemcnt, the Ma^^istralo, composed of twelve brothers called Consen-.Uori^ 

 and also those of the council. comfJO^<d of ei^^hty councillors {Conu-ttfn'). A full financial report is 

 printed each year. The Society has it*- house, in which is not only a chji>el, but a vast warehouse for the 

 accessories of their work — litters and surgical appliances, — and a great room, surrounded by cupboards, in 

 which the cassocks of the members are kept ready to be put on when they arc hastily summoned to duly 

 from theit places of business. 



The officers of the Society are an inspector \hfiftiorf). who controls the public and private services ; a 

 brother deputy {Dff>utaro), in clur^^e of the Convalescent's Home , a secretary (C/*Trc///<-r(--5<,-rci'jjx.'), who 

 supervises the business, archives and correspondence ; a treasurer {(.amjr/iH-;,-). and a steward {A/itss,ifv)f 

 who has charjje of all linen, furniture, and other pro|*rt) m lite warehouse. There are fiity-two officers o( 

 the guard, who in turn, day by day throughout the yeai, supervise the public services, and sometimes as 

 many as three hundred of the members are in active duty in a smgle day. under the charge of one of these 

 officers. All officers serve graitutously except the secretary, a physician, two priests, two servants and a 

 letter-carrier. 



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SPECIMtN FORM OF LABEL. 



