Easter in Florence
Why an Exploding Cart?
By Carol Faenzi
I spent the Easter holiday in Florence a few years ago and witnessed the spectacle of the Scoppio del Carro, or Explosion of the Cart.
Easter traditions vary across Italy, from elaborate religious processions, reenactments of battles of Good vs Evil, flower laden floats, and fire rituals.
The Explosion of the Carts is unlike any other Easter tradition in Italy, and as is the case with most traditions, there is a complex story behind it.
Side Bar:
If you have had the opportunity to watch the Medici series on Netflix, you may recall a scene where the head of the Pazzi family, Jacopo de Pazzi, is telling the Pope’s nephew, who is a young Cardinal, the heroic story of ancestor Pazzino de Pazzi who, during the First Crusade (1097) was the first to scale the walls of Jerusalem.
(Mind you, Jacopo is relating this story on the steps of the Florence Cathedral before his family’s plot of assassinating the Medici brothers would take place on Easter Sunday and inside the Cathedral during Mass.)
Young Pazzino de Pazzi was rewarded for his bravery in Jerusalem with three flints from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Pazzino carried these back to Florence and they have been protected in the Church of Santi Apostoli ever since.
The Easter tradition developed of taking the flints from the Church and carrying them through the city by prominent young nobles with torches to light the way to the Cathedral and share the holy fire with the citizens of Florence.
At some point, a cart and an enormous candle were used to create more of a spectacle.
The cart has been in use since the late 15th century, so Renaissance greats like Michelangelo, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Machiavelli would likely have been in attendance in the Piazza to see this.
It is quite something to see!
Here is how it unfolds.
An enormous crowd starts gathering that morning around 8:45 in front of the Florence Cathedral for a ceremony that will not begin until 11:00 a.m.
The ancient flints are lit at the Church of Santi Apostoli where they are always kept, and carried in a procession to the Piazza del Duomo by clerics, city officials, and even members of the Pazzi family.
The 500-year-old cart is led to the Piazza del Duomo by a team of powerful white oxen. They are adorned with fresh flowers and herbs. The cart is loaded with fireworks – a lot of them.
The escort is 150 Renaissance costumed soldiers, musicians, and flag throwers.
The cart is stationed in the Piazza right in front of the Cathedral.
A wire is connected to the cart and is extended through the giant doors of the Cathedral all the way to the altar. Attached to the wire is a mechanical white dove, called la Colombina.
While the silenced crowds in the Piazza stand a good distance back, the Mass proceeds inside the Church and when the singing of Gloria in excelsis Deo begins, the Cardinal lights the fuse of la Colombina with the holy fire from the flints and it soars with tremendous speed over the heads of the worshippers straight into the heart of the cart, which ignites the fireworks. The Dove zips back to the altar.
While this is going on, the bells of Giotto’s Campanile ring out across the land.
The colorful, noisy, spinning pyrotechnics last for about twenty minutes!
If the Dove successfully hits the cart and returns to the altar without incident, it forecasts a good harvest, stability in civic affairs, and good business for Florence.
Buona Pasqua!
Resources
Watch a Short Video of the Exploding Cart
Read a Blog with Beautiful Photographs of the Ceremony
Watch the Medici Series on Netflix, three Seasons.
Not always historically accurate, but a fascinating account of Renaissance Florence and the Medici intrigues with the Pazzi and other rival banking families.
