OMBRELLINO (umbella, umbraculum). — A small, foldable umbrella of white damask silk (red in the Ambrosian rite), trimmed with gold or silk fringe, held reverently over the priest carrying the Most Holy Sacrament in processions (before entering beneath the large canopy and upon leaving it) and when he carries the Viaticum in the form of—
(fot. Enc. Catt.)
OMBRELLONE – Umbrella of the Basilica of S. Maria in Trastevere – Rome.
The o. of red or crimson damask, trimmed with gold, was used for the popes (e.g., in their possessions or on their journeys), carried by a groom to shelter them from the sun; certain dignitaries of the papal court were entitled to the insignia of the light-blue silk o. Sovereigns also used it; many municipalities and municipal magistrates employed it as a mark of dignity and a sign of jurisdiction. The o. came from the East, where it was used as an insignia of divine and human power. In processions, statues of idols were surmounted by an o. to indicate their majesty. In Assyrian bas-reliefs, kings were represented beneath an o. From the East, passing through Egypt and Greece, it reached the Romans, who used it for distinguished persons. Evidence of its Christian use in the Middle Ages is provided by a gem, probably representing Giovanni III, bishop of Pavia, who, at the request of Berengario, had received from Pope Anastasio III the privilege (911). In a thirteenth-century fresco in the chapel of S. Silvestro at SS. Quattro in Rome, this Pope is seen followed by a cleric carrying the o. (v. tav. XL del vol. IV, col. 705).