Simon Mattacks
speaker
2,981 appearances
17 recordings
3 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard 13 Sep
Simon Mattacks’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 14 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 3.
Appearances
Early examples of the accessory have also been discovered on the Greek islands.
A collapsible umbrella found on Samos dates back to 700 BCE.
It features modern mechanisms, once more proving that technology was surprisingly advanced in those times.
In ancient Rome, a word similar to umbrella was used for the very first time.
The object became known as the umbraculum, as umbra meant shade in Latin.
The Romans created their own version of the accessory using animal skins or leather.
The frame comprised ribs that allowed the canopy to open and close,
and the shaft was carved from a long stick.
Umbracula seemed to have been used primarily by women as protection from the sun.
While the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century CE, the umbraculum survived as a papal symbol.
In a church in Rome, there's a fresco from 1248, which depicts the use of an umbraculum.
The accessory played an important part in papal ceremonies over the centuries.
The Pope's umbraculum was a symbol of power and authority, a lavish creation made from red and gold silk.
Each one had the papal insignia of the current pope stitched onto it.
They were displayed next to main altars in basilicas throughout the world and shown on the papal coat of arms.
When the pope visited a basilica, the umbraculum was opened, a tradition that still occurs to this day.
Once a church rises to the rank of minor basilica, it's entitled to display a red and yellow umbraculum.
In Italy, umbrellas also began to appear in paintings by prominent artists.
One features in a 16th century painting by Girolamo da Libri known as the Madonna of the Umbrella.
The Virgin Mary is shaded by a cherub who holds a red and gold parasol.
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