MORTORIO. - This was the name given to a sacred representation that re-enacted the Passion and Death of Christ. Adapting itself to the tastes of the time and to various settings, the m. sometimes assumes truly remarkable literary and spectacular aspects. Particular success was enjoyed by the Riscatto di Adamo by Filippo Orioles of Palermo (d. at the age of 106 in 1793), reprinted several times under the sole title of M. di Cristo. At Acireale (Sicily) the action took place on a long stage and had as its setting the main square of the town: the spec-

The spectacle, in which hundreds of actors took part, lasted an entire day. In the living relics of the sacred drama there is evidence of m. for various regions, from Sicily to Calabria, to the Naples area, to Tuscany, to Piedmont; but by now the m. has been reduced to the simple dramatic procession of the evening of Good Friday (v. GESÒ CRISTO, VIII. G. C. in folklore).

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: G. Pitrè, Spettacoli e feste popolari siciliane, Palermo 1881, pp. 13-35; A. D'Ancona, Origini del teatro italiano, II, 2nd ed., Turin 1891, pp. 199 2gg., 211, 213, 226, 230.

Paolo Toschi

@incollection{ec8_mortorio, author = {Toschi, Paolo}, title = {Mortorio}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1450--1451}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/mortorio} }

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