Soft and white is the undisputed star of children's games during this last period of the year: the INFO. With her we can have fun throwing balls, skiing or admiring mountain landscapes but above all building cute puppets! But how was this candid and fluffy little man born? Let's try to find out together by browsing of past story of a snowman!
The origins
From north to south the snowman it is a widespread tradition in all regions of Italy. Her Story dates back to the cold medieval nights and it seems to reach us from the Dutch coast. The first portrait of the little white man appears in 1318 in "Book of hours" now kept in the library in The Hague. His image is made up of three balls arranged one above the other in descending order starting from the bottom: exactly like today. Bad traditions they travel together with men and thus they have crossed the borders of numerous European countries. Italy in the Middle Ages is strongly Christian but welcomes and renews pagan rites. The same is true for the snowman. Originally related to the cycle of the seasons, the soft little man becomes for worship Christian symbol of rebirth. Indeed the snow protects the earth and its seeds from the barren winter. But in spring everything changes: the white blanket melts and the seeds are born life. Thus the Christianity welcomes the puppet as a angel of heaven. The snow of which it is formed is in fact a gift of God for this capable of intercede between men and the Most High. The puppet was then addressed requests and favors that would perhaps have been fulfilled when the snow was chosen.
Saint Francis
Among the leading figures of the religion it certainly cannot be forgotten San Francesco d 'Assisi. Medieval character, known for gestures of kindness and numerous miracles, is linked to him parable which sees the snowman as its protagonist. It is said that one day the demon appeared to the Saint to tempt him to the pleasures of the flesh. To resist him, Francis would have started to scourge himself but the pain of the body was not enough to overcome the desire. So, having left his cell, he started running naked in the snow in the garden. He immediately collected some and molding it into a sphere he began to build the shapes of seven puppets. But who were these white men? For the Saint they represented precisely the members of the family that would have been born if he had yielded to temptation. "Hurry, dress them or they will die from the cold but if this worries you, go back to your God!" the Evil One ordered him. Francesco immediately returned to his cell illuminated by fire of the Holy Spirit that melts the ephemeral matter of the puppets. With San Francesco the snow man becomes a means to fight demons and dark creatures.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
What does a genius of art like Michelangelo with a snowman? You may be wondering. Here your curiosity is satisfied. As we all know, once upon a time painters, sculptors and artists were generally in the service of power. If you made a mistake, if the games changed, if you were no longer favorites, then you were left without assignments. This is what also happened to our Michelangelo after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Two years of fatigue and economic hardships for the artist passed Renaissance an opportunity presented itself or perhaps better to say a provocation. Piero de Medici, nicknamed "The fatuous", son of Lorenzo and Clarice, proposed to Michelangelo the construction of one sculpture. If this does not surprise us, it will surely surprise us to know that this work had to be entirely built of snow. Having accepted the challenge, Buonarroti managed to mold the soft material by creating a puppet in a courtyard in via Larga in Florence. The features were perfect and once again the artist proved the greatness of his name.
