**PIANETA** (Planeta, casula, amphibolus). — A sacred vestment, proper to priests in the celebration of Mass. In current usage, for two or three centuries, it has consisted of a two-flapped scapular (the back panel measuring 65–75 cm in width and 1.05–1.15 m in length, the front panel shorter).
Four types of *p.* are distinguished:
a) **Roman**: the two flaps are sewn together on the chest; the opening for the head is trapezoidal in shape; the back ornament is a vertical strip called a “column,” while the front is in the form of a T (a cross with joined arms);
b) **German**: the flaps are sewn at the shoulders; the opening is round; the back ornament is a cross, the front a simple “column”;
c) **French**: the flaps are sewn at the shoulders; the opening is like the Roman type but less deep; the ornamentation is similar to the German type;
d) **Spanish**: the flaps are sewn at the shoulders; both front and back ornaments are only in the form of a “column,” widening toward the bottom. From the mid-19th century, a form resembling those of the 14th and 15th centuries was restored, inaccurately termed the *p.* *gothica*, of St. Bernard or of St. Charles Borromeo.
The *p.* derives from the ancient *paenula*, used throughout the Greco-Roman world. The name *p.* (the etymology of which, according to St. Isidore [Etym., XIX, 247], from the Greek πλαγίασμα is unclear) instead of *paenula*, appears in the 5th century and is already in liturgical use in the same century; in Spain it was in use before the 4th Council of Toledo in 633 (can. 28). It was worn outside Rome only by bishops and priests; in Rome, it was worn by all clerics (including deacons, subdeacons, and acolytes). From the 12th century, it became a vestment proper to priests in the celebration of Mass; in other functions, the cope (*piviale*) was used.
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**PIANCIANI, Giambattista.** — Physicist and philosopher, b. in Spoleto on 17 Oct 1784, d. in Rome on 23 Mar 1862. Jesuit from 2 June 1805, from 1824 professor of physical chemistry at the Collegio Romano, he distinguished himself especially in the field of electricity and magnetism. Forced abroad by the revolutionary movements of 1848, he was professor of dogmatic theology at Georgetown College in Washington in 1849–50. Returning in 1851, he became an assiduous contributor to the nascent *Civiltà cattolica*.
Though a discoverer of particulars, his mind was more inclined toward synthesis, with a wealth of erudition open to progress. The principal study of his entire life was a concordist commentary on the Mosaic account of creation, opposing the vogue of biblical rationalism and especially the “mythicism” of D. Strauss—an undertaking of great merit at the time. Although he demonstrated “the harmony of revelation and tradition with science” (A. Secchi), explaining the phases of creation “with the guidance of Scripture and natural philosophy,” today every form of concordism (v.) has been abandoned.
Principal works: *Istituzioni fisico-chimiche* (4 vols., Rome 1833–34); *Elementi di fisico-chimica* (2 vols., Naples 1840–41); *Saggi filosofici* (Rome 1855); *Nuovi saggi filosofici* (ibid. 1856). His greatest work is *In historiam creationis Mosaicum commentarius* (Naples 1851, reprinted by A. Crampon in *Commentaria in Scripturam Sacram... Cornelii a Lapide*, I, Paris 1861, pp. 54–135). *La Cosmogonia naturale comparata col Genesi* is a reprint of articles from *La Civiltà Cattolica* published in 1858–62.
The broad and long form, extending almost to the feet of the ancient paenula, was preserved until the 13th century, without a hood, raised at the sides above the arms to allow free movement of the hands, the so-called "bell-shaped" form, very wide and equally hanging, entirely closed. Later (13th–15th centuries), for greater convenience and also for economy, the sides were cut back, leaving only the front and back panels, which were also cut in a semicircle or to a point, until the current form was reached in the 18th century. A return to the use of the medieval paenula cannot be made at will, but requires a special apostolic indult (S. Rit. Congr., 11 Feb 1863 and 9 Dec 1927).
In antiquity, secular paenulae were adorned with two vertical purple clavi. As decoration for the liturgical paenula, monuments show a simple braided trim around the neck opening. From the 11th century onward, a vertical band divided at shoulder height into two diagonal arms (in the shape of a Y; sometimes the vertical band extended up to the neck) was used, joining on the chest and descending to the lower hem; all embroidered with ornamental designs or figures of saints. This purely ornamental motif was later interpreted as a cross; indeed, from the 13th century in England, France, and Germany, a cross with horizontal arms was placed on the back panel (while the front had a simple "column"). Today, ornamental styles vary, sometimes inspired by themes or symbols of the ecclesiastical year.
Only in the last century has there been a prescription—though to confirm a centuries-old practice—to use silk for the paenula; half-silk fabrics are no longer permitted. Wool, linen, and cotton paenulae are preserved in museums and sacristies of cathedrals, and during the Thirty Years' War, leather or straw-woven ones as well. But as a rule, precious fabrics were used, sometimes from the East (in antiquity, the renowned workshops of Alexandria, Damascus, and Byzantium; in the Middle Ages, Saracen workshops in Sicily and Spain; precious damasks, brocades, and velvets from Genoa, Lucca, Milan, and Venice). Until the 12th century, single-color or single-pattern fabrics prevailed, after which fabrics with geometric or floral designs—especially the pomegranate (perhaps in reference to Ex. 28:33)—or with images of real or fantastical animals became preferred. These designs were not specifically Christian but originated in the East.
Because the paenula is worn over the shoulders, it is considered a symbol of the Lord’s yoke, and as the priest puts it on, he says: *Domine, qui dixisti iugum meum suave est...*.
**Paenula, folded (Planeta plicata).** — On days of mourning and penance, sacred ministers, instead of the dalmatic or tunicle, wear the folded paenula; that is, the front part of the paenula is wrapped in front of the chest or even cut off just before the middle. The subdeacon, before the reading, removes the folded paenula, to resume it afterward; the deacon, however, from the Gospel to Communion, after removing it, dons the so-called sticharion, to be freer in serving at the altar.
ART. — Mosaics and frescoes from the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries (e.g., the Chapel of St. Satyrus in S. Ambrogio, Milan; S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna; S. Agnese fuori le Mura, Rome; catacombs of S. Ponziano, etc.) already document the existence of the paenula as an essential part of liturgical vestments. About twenty bell-shaped paenulae survive in Germany, including those in Mainz, Munich, Erfurt, Isburg, Würzburg, Niederlaitach, Deutz, Xanten, Brauweiler, and in Italy at Castel S. Elia. The process of shortening can be traced in the collection of paenulae in the Treasury of Halberstadt Cathedral, while Castel S. Elia, in the Roman countryside, offers a complete series of paenulae in various stages of development.
Among medieval paenulae, the oldest, dating to the 11th century, are two in the Treasury of Bamberg Cathedral and the famous one of St. Stephen in the Crown Treasury of Hungary in Pressburg; all three are worked in gold on a silk ground. Other notable paenulae from the 12th–13th centuries include those from S. Paolo in Carinthia; Erfurt Cathedral; Fermo Cathedral (attributed to St. Thomas Becket); the blessed Bernardo degli Uberti (1133); Florence, S. Trinità, similar to that of Pistoia Cathedral; the Treasury of Anagni, of English workmanship, also entirely embroidered like the preceding ones. Also in Anagni is another paenula of cypress work, perhaps Palermitan, in red jasper embroidered in gold, with the usual white motif of pairs of confronted parrots. Roman school embroidery is found in the paenula of Benedict XI (d. 1304) from Velletri Cathedral, and central Italian figures of the Apostles appear in the paenula of S. Corona in Vicenza. The paenula of St. Dominic in the Treasury of Toulouse Cathedral features Gothic inscriptions among eastern tendrils and figures of phoenixes and peacocks, in a Palermitan style. Closely tied to Umbrian and Tuscan painting of the 15th century are the sacred motifs of the paenula from the Bishop’s Seminary of Montalcino, depicting the Adoration and angels supporting an inscription on a canopy. Several brocade and damask paenulae from the church of S. Maria in Gdańsk date to the 14th century. Toward the end of the 15th century, an example of exuberant decoration appears in the paenula from