Zinc salts to keep a state of preservation The formula consisted of formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin. He approached a popular embalmer, Alfredo Salafia and asked to have her preserved for eternity. Rosalias gaze is something that has attracted onlookers to Palermo for a hundred years. People Projects . But what curiosity are we talking about? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Rosalia Lombardo (Born December 13, 1918 and Died December 6, 1920) was a Palmerian toddler who died one week before her second birthday from pneumonia caused by the Spanish flu. Since 1920, her body has been lying in a glass-covered coffin, her head poking above a fading silk blanket. Rosalia Lombardos angel face pushed him to improve the preservation technique in order to preserve its natural beauty. Her body is starting to take on a yellow waxy skin texture. To add further to the folklore surrounding the Sleeping Beauty, rumor had it that Rosalia would blink multiple times a day. But the proof of her heritage doesn't exist. (Sibeaster / Wikimedia Commons). There is one last curiosity concerning Rosalia Lombardo. The Lombardo family was . . The Lombardo family was Italian, and despite the fact that the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, the girl's pneumonia appeared to have been caused by this lethal illness. Alfredo Salaria arrived at the house of the Lombardo spouses, located in Piazza San Francesco di Paola, about 24 hours after the child's death. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. A city steeped in religious history; it was also home to a Catholic sect called the Capuchins (An order of friars and one of the main offshoots of the Franciscan order created by famous religious devout Francis of Assisi). To address these concerns, Rosalia Lombardos body was relocated to a more dry area of the catacombs, and her original coffin was put in a hermetically sealed glass container filled with nitrogen gas to prevent further decomposition. He studied and experimented, yes, but in total autonomy. Moreover, her striking crystal blue eyes are also visible underneath the blonde eyelashes. The researchers were able to ascertain that the internal organs are still in perfect condition, but it is the face that is surprising, that face that every visitor to the Catacombs of Palermo can observe with his own eyes. Agatha Christies Disappearance: Amnesia, Suicide, or Despair? The researchers then created a new aluminum case for Rosalia Lombardo, saturated with nitrogen, and moved the girl's body to a less humid place. Curiosities about the body of Rosalia, who seems to be blinking. Connect to 3,088 Lombardo profiles on Geni, Antonino Lombardo,
Lombardo (ne Lombardo (Ne Corrao)), Maria Italia Lombardo, Antonino Lombardo, Lombardo, Lombardo, Lombardo, Antonino Lombardo, Rosalia Lombardo (ne Corrao), pe Dit Armando Lombardo, Concetta Pancano (ne Lombardo), Maria Italia Aiello (ne Lombardo), Antonino Lombardo, Alfredo Dit Adolfo Lombardo, Palermo, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Glycerin keeping the body from becoming too dry The Lombardo family was from Italy and even if the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, it seems that the girls pneumonia was caused by this deadly virus. Piombino-Mascali made this amazing discovery in 2009 after some of the workers in the museum moved her coffin, which caused her body to shift a little bit. The blinking mummys mystery became famous across the world. There are those who claim that it is a mere optical illusion, caused by how the light falls on those half-closed eyelids. Perhaps the period close to the feast of the dead is precisely the most suitable! Why is he still there now that it's been over 100 years since his death? It is interesting how we have reached a technological point that allows us to analyze such mummies without the need of them being touched or at risk of deterioration. He has written for 8 years in a variety of fields including history, health and politics. While Rosalia was mostly kept intact during embalming, her blood was drained and replaced by the magical formula used by Alfredo. The older we get, the more constant they appear. Researchers and scholars had made many hypotheses, but without any evidence and without having official documentation. The mystery was soon solved when he observed that a filtration of light from the windows was catching her eye-lens to cause the illusion of life. In the 1970s, the notes describing Rosalias mummification were found. Impossible to answer these questions. Avid Writer with invaluable knowledge of Humanity! Genealogy profile for Mario Lombardo. Salafia recorded the chemicals he injected into Rosalias body: formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin., Formalin (formaldehyde and water) eliminates bacteria The mummification was so complex that in 2009 National Geographic took X-ray and MRI scans of Rosalia to determine if she was truly mummified, or if she was a wax replica. This may just be one of the best-preserved mummies in the world, however, it is only 100 years old so it should not be the greatest wow factor. Rosalia's father, Official Mario Lombardo, was sorely grieved upon her death, so he approached Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, to preserve her. According to the laws of the time, in fact, the embalmed bodies should have remained in the Catacombs only temporarily, only to later find a definitive burial, a burial that Rosalia never had. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. A 2009 National Geographic photograph of Rosalia Lombardo shows the mummy is beginning to show signs of decomposition, most notably discoloration. When he uncovered this trove of the embalmers papers, he stumbled upon the document where the embalmer recorded all the chemicals that were injected in the body of Rosalia. The story was a tragedy by all accounts: Mario Lombardo, now a grieving father, couldn't bear the thought of a life without ever being able to see the face of his beloved child, Rosalia, again. To tell the truth, many people claim to have seen his eyelids blink. The embalming of the body of Rosalia Lombardo by Alfredo Salaria. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. Even if the little girl's body has not found a worthy burial, the choice to embalm her so as to be able to give her eternal rest and to give her name to her little sister are the clear sign of how much Rosalia was loved. But let's go back to that December 6, 1920. Rosalias body is now preserved in a new glass coffin, which is designed to block the growth of fungi or bacteria. Their families would continue to fund the monks who cared for the deceased for example with new clothes. The story of Rosalia Lombardo got to Profesor Salafia, therefore he never charged the father for his services. One of the properties that makes Rosalia such a beautiful mummy is the embalming process that was used to preserve her. This added to an intricate system of drying rooms within the catacombs which implement pipes to drain any excess water and ultimately keep the bodies of the deceased dry. Her father was so grief-stricken that he sought the aid of an embalmer and taxidermist to preserve his child. COPYRIGHT UNSOLVED MYSTERIES & PARANORMAL ACTIVITIES, 2017-2018. There are those who believe that it is really her, little Rosalia, who blinks forever, almost a way to communicate with the world of the living. Rosalia Lombardo in her glass coffin. 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This, combined with the light which is filtrated in different ways during the day through the windows of the catacombs makes the girls eyes look like they are open.A team of researchers performing X-ray on Rosalias body (Source:National Geographic)This X-ray clearly shows Rosalias arms and feet (Source:National Geographic)The X-ray of Rosalia showed her brain and liver intact. The glass case also protects the body from any effects of light. Nothing to do with Rosalia's body! Rosalia's face has very sweet features, with the plump cheeks of a two-year-old girl, delicately framed by fair hair. Glycerin prevented her body from desiccating or drying out. Available at: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/06/mystery-of-blinking-child-mummy-solved.html. However, they are not perfectly closed, they are actually ajar, as if it were sleeping, yes, but on the verge of waking up. Thanks to Salafias embalming techniques, the body was well preserved. One piece of evidence pointing to Mario being her father is that he supposedly named his second daughter Rosalia (after the first). There are those who say that a slight opening and closing of the eyelids actually occurs due to the humidity present and how it changes over the course of the day. Thank you for your cooperation.You can sign-up to the Membership any time to remove the adds and enjoy the content with no interruptions, Rosalia Lombardos perfectly preserved body, by Andrei Tapalaga | Sep 6, 2022 | Culture. Thousands of visitors from across the world have come to see the girl, intrigued by the many reports that the eyes of the dead body are blinking. Read more on Wikipedia. You will then receive an email that helps you regain access. Her curly blonde hair and a ribbon on it make her look like she is just sleeping. Log In Once logged in, you can add biography in the database. It was still a mystery until the curator of Capuchin catacombs, Dario Piombino-Mascali, proved a new theory. Mario Lombardo is an infantry officer who only on this day discovers what happiness is, true happiness. It also appears that over the years, perhaps the 1960s or 1970s, the glass in the coffin broke. Despite offering her the best medication possible at the time, she was too young and didnt have a strong enough immune system to be able to fight pneumonia. The results were staggering, showing that she was indeed truly a mummy and that even her organs were still in functional condition. MYSTERIESRUNSOLVED & MRU MEDIA, 2019-2022. Obviously it was expensive, for this reason these bodies almost all belong to people of high class. But the magical element was the zinc salts which gave Rosalias body rigidity. Not only do visitors swear that the little girls eyes blink, but many sequences of photographs seem to confirm that her eyelids open and close a little. Salafia replaced the girls blood with a liquid made of formalin to kill bacteria, alcohol to dry the body, glycerin to keep her from overdrying, salicylic acid to kill fungi, and zinc salts to give her body rigidity. Most of the people that go to visit her mummified body believe that she is a miracle since she keeps blinking even though she has been dead for a long time. [2] Her mummified body, sometimes referred to as "Sleeping Beauty", was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. Her father Mario Lombardo, who was an local official, engaged noted embalmer, Alfredo Salafia to mummify her body. Mario Lombardo Unfortunately, though Rosalia is just 98 years old (a fairly young mummy) the truth about her life before death and her family is speculated, but unconfirmed. It seems that it was the video surveillance cameras that noticed this light and slow movement. They moved to other Italian cities and then also abroad, thus without having the opportunity to choose a cemetery where to bury their child. Her mummified body was preserved in theCatacombe dei Cappuccini(The Capuchin Catacombs)in Palermo, a place filled with mummified bodies and corpses of other people throughout history. Enjoyed this article? Others passed this phenomenon off as changes of the light. Then one day one of the descendants of the Salaria family remembered that she had kept an old manuscript. Amazingly, 8000 skeletons (although a more accurate number is said to be closer to 2,000) and around 1250 mummies inhabit the catacombs. Get notified of the best booming posts weekly. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 - December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who passed away of pneumonia. Daughter of Mario Lombardo and Maria Di Cara Luckily for the scientific community they consented and Dario found a handwritten memoir reveling the exact formula injected into Rosalia. Palermo is a city with amazing architecture which much of its designs remaining from the Norman and Arab invasions. Top Image: Rosalia Lombardo. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) [1] was a Palermitan child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, [2] one week before her second birthday. But, the fact is, that theres not even a single photo of Rosalia when she was alive to validate any part of her history. He then approached the monks who ran the Capuchin Catacombs and begged for his daughter to be placed there. Mario Lombardo, her father, wanted to uncover the specific cause of her death so he could blame someone. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. (HTTP response code 503). Watch on Mario Lombardo was overcome by grief when his only child died of pneumonia. She looks like a baby peacefully taking a nap, and although a blanket is placed over the coffin, the face is visible. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Her premature death at age two left her father grief-stricken. But, this supposed sister is strangely quiet and difficult to learn about. Genealogy for Mario Lombardo (1789 - 1864) family tree on Geni, with over 240 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. [3] This mix of substances was injected directly through an incision in the femoral artery. Catacombe dei Cappuccini | Palermo, Italy, Fact Analysis: Maria di Cara, his partner, has in fact just given birth to their first daughter, Rosalia. Who is right? There he found Salafias surviving records. Rosalia Lombardos remains is housed in a tiny chapel at the end of the catacomb tour, enclosed in a glass-covered coffin on a wooden pedestal. 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