Case report, case study
https://doi.org/10.5671/ca.46.4.4
Paleopathological Approach to the Study of a Christian Relic: The Case of the Blessed Maria Lorenza Longo
Mirko Traversari
; Laboratory of Ancient DNA, Department of Cultural Heritage (DBC), University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
Luca Ventura
; Division of Pathology, San Salvatore Hospital, L’Aquila, Italy
Elisabetta Cilli
; Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
Donata Luiselli
; Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
Giancarlo Troncone
; Public Health Department, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Naples, Italy
Arturo Brunetti
; Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University "Federico II", Naples, Italy
Sirio Cocozza
; Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University "Federico II", Naples, Italy
Enrico Petrella
; Department of Radiology, AUSL Romagna, Morgagni-Pierantoni City Hospital, Forlì, Italy
Robin N.M. Feeney
; UCD School of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
Claudio Bellevicine
; Public Health Department, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Naples, Italy
Abstract
The Blessed Maria Lorenza Longo, founder of the hospital of Santa Maria del Popolo degli Incurabili and the Order of the Capuchin Poor Clares in Naples, Italy, died on 21 October 1539 and was recently beatified on 9 October 2021. The relic, a fully skeletonized cranium, underwent visual and radiological inspection. The biological profile supports the at¬tribution of female sex of the relic, whereas the age at death is estimated to be younger than that reported by historians. A paleopathological survey was conducted to evaluate the historical reports of poisoning or rheumatoid arthritis affecting Maria Longo. Given the limited skeletal data, it was not possible to confirm the presence of these claims. No obvious in¬dicators of dietary deficiencies were observed, and the tertiary syphilis hypothesized by textual sources was excluded. Postmortem alterations of the relic were clearly visible on the superior aspect of the cranium and testified to the worship of the relic.
Keywords
paleoanthropology, paleoradiology, paleopathology, relics, neurosyphilis
Hrčak ID:
289729
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2022.
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