Legend has it that the Holy Face is a crucifix at least partly acheropito, ie not made by human hand, because, according to the tradition reported by deacon Leobino and contained in several codes of the XII century, the precious crucifix was made, to pass on the likeness of the Saviour, by the same Nicodemus, who was also a sculptor, but helped by divine grace in the phase of representation of the face.
The Holy Face was the object of deep veneration in the late Middle Ages (it is also remembered by Dante in Inferno, XXI, 48 and in the XI century William II the Red swore on the “volt de Lucha”) attracting to Lucca, which occupied a key position along the Via Francigena, pilgrims and merchants from all over Europe who did very well to the city’s economy. It was also necessary to produce copies for those who could not or did not want to go to Italy to admire and venerate the original.
It became the emblem of the city, so much that the image was reproduced on the seals of the currency changers and on the coins of Lucca. If on the dollar there is written “In God we trust” in Lucca they could have written “In Gold we trust” since I do not know how much it would please Jesus to see his face where there should be that of “Caesar”…
The dark-skinned Christ is depicted on the cross as a high priest, dressed in a long tunic with sleeves, tied by a knotted belt, arms stretched horizontally, head reclining to the right and eyes half open.
Among the miracles attributed to the Holy Face of Lucca there is that of the golden slipper ‘given’ to a poor jester who often went to pray at the foot of the crucifix offering in sign of devotion the only thing he possessed: his art, which however was not pleasing to the prelates and other people. One day the young man was ‘reciprocated’ by the Holy Face, richly dressed, with the golden slipper (the right), and nobody believed the story of the man who claimed that it had fallen from the crucifix and had not been stolen by him.
Any attempt to replace the slipper in its place was futile, it was continually ‘rejected’, as if indeed the Holy Face had made a gift of it to the jester, who finally believed, in exchange for the precious shoe received a consideration in money. However, the slipper was not put back to the foot of the crucifix, but only supported by a golden chalice.
Just as we now return from our travels with photos and postcards, the pilgrims of northern Europe returned home with copies and paintings of the Holy Face and, generation after generation, they no longer knew how to recognize in them the crucified Christ because of the long tunic, clothing considered appropriate for a female figure. To reinforce the misunderstanding would have contributed the presence of the crown that would have given birth to the belief that the bearded saint was the daughter of a king.
According to a legend dating back to 1300, in a small town in the
Spanish province of Avila, Cardeñosa, lived the beautiful Paola who, as a child, had consecrated herself to God. One day a young man dared to harass her and the girl went to take refuge in a chapel where, during breaks from work, she would pray, having preserved the relics of Saint Secondo, bishop of the city, and there, embracing the crucifix, she prayed to the Lord that he might save her from man’s overzealous advances. In response to her invocation, God gave her a beard and moustache. Her relentless persecutor, at that sight, was horrified and fled away or, according to another version, did not recognize her and continued in vain looking for days and days.
This story is sometimes confused with that of another virgin named Vilgeforte, Portuguese, who grew a beard to avoid an arranged marriage. This bearded Santa is also known as Wilgeforte, Vilgefortis and Wilgefortis and under many other names, including Starosta, Dignefortis, Eutropia, Reginfledis, Comera, Kümmernis, Uncumber, Ontcommer. The German name, the English one and equivalents in other languages derive from the popular belief that anyone who prays to the Saint at the hour of death will perish “without pain” (ohne kummer in German).
According to the traditional story, Saint Vilgeforte/ Vilgefortis lived in the VII century and was the daughter of a pagan king of Portugal who wanted to send her as his wife to a prince, also pagan (perhaps king of Sicily), ignoring that the beautiful girl had embraced the Christian faith and given her virginity to God. Determined to keep her vow of chastity, the young woman prayed to the Savior to make it repugnant, so that the promised groom, feeling disgust at seeing her, renounced marriage. Her prayer was heard: the night before the wedding day, she grew a beard and moustache and the marriage was not celebrated. The father, furious, ordered his daughter to be first imprisoned and then crucified as the Christ whom she worshiped.
At this point in the narrative is intertwined another story, according to which a shepherd, seeing the girl hanging on the cross, wanted to relieve her suffering by playing his violin (according to a variant, a lute); out of gratitude the young woman threw him as a gift, imagine what?, her gold-embroidered slipper.
Of the martyred virgin with a beard there are many representations that depict her on the cross also in Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, France where she is the protector of women who wanted to be freed by cruel men, despotic persecutors.
Everything would have been born from a misinterpretation, then. But is it really impossible that the legend contains any element of truth? Is it really impossible that a Santa with moustache and beard existed? Perhaps the superposition of the figures of the bearded virgin and the Holy Face was made possible by the memory of a pious virtuous woman, who really existed, who was afflicted with hirsutism or hypertricosi? Is this where the Italian saying “Donna baffuta sempre piaciuta” (“Moustached woman is always liked”) comes from?
Irene Buoncristiani
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