The Passion of Remigio 雷米吉奧的激情 レミジオの情熱

“The Passion of Friar Remigio

Il sole si oscurerà,

la luna non darà più la sua luce,

Le stelle cadranno dal cielo

e le potenze dei cieli saranno sconvolte

Matteo 24,18

During the Venice Carnival, I tried to represent a Christian who was persecuted and captured by the Janissaries (an elite Byzantine military corps) while he was carrying out his missionary work.

The reading of the Gospel represented the strength of faith despite persecution.

The costume, on the other hand, is a study that is evolving into the figure of 'Friar Remigio', a pupil of St Thomas Aquinas, in the Order of Disciplined Friars, a friar from a monastery near Perugia (central Italy), inspired in his features by Umberto Eco's novel 'The Name of the Rose'.” - Luca Germondari

The Name of the Rose (Italian: Il nome della rosa) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory. It was translated into English by William Weaver in 1983.

The novel has sold over 50 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling books ever published. It has received many international awards and accolades, such as the Strega Prize in 1981 and Prix Medicis Étranger in 1982, and was ranked 14th on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century list.

In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso of Melk arrive at a Benedictine abbey in Northern Italy to attend a theological disputation. The abbey is being used as neutral ground in a dispute between Pope John XXII and the Franciscans over the question of apostolic poverty. The monks of the abbey have recently been shaken by the suspicious death of one of their brothers, Adelmo of Otranto, and the abbot asks William (a former inquisitor) to investigate the incident. During his inquiries, William has a debate with one of the oldest monks in the abbey, Jorge of Burgos, about the permissibility of laughter, which Jorge regards as a threat to God's established order.

The second day, another monk, Venantius of Salvemec, is found dead in a vat of pig's blood. He has black stains on his tongue and fingers, suggesting poison. William learns that Adelmo was part of a homosexual love triangle that also involved the librarian, Malachi of Hildesheim, and Malachi's assistant, Berengar of Arundel. The only other monks who knew about these indiscretions were Jorge and Venantius. In spite of Malachi's ban, William and Adso enter the abbey's labyrinthine library. They discover that the library contains a hidden room named the finis Africae after the presumed edge of the world, but they are unable to locate it. In the scriptorium, they find a book on Venantius's desk along with some cryptic notes. Someone snatches the book and they pursue to no avail.

The third day, the monks are surprised by the disappearance of Berengar and William learns that there are two former Dulcinians in the abbey (Remigio of Voragine, the abbey's cellarer, and the deformed monk Salvatore). Adso returns to the library alone in the evening. While leaving the library through the kitchen, he encounters a peasant girl. Although they do not share a language, they have a sexual encounter, Adso's first. After confessing to William, Adso is absolved, although he still feels guilty.

The fourth day, Berengar is found drowned in the abbey's bathhouse. His fingers and tongue bear stains similar to those found on Venantius. The pope's legation now arrives, led by Grand Inquisitor Bernard Gui. Salvatore is discovered attempting to cast a primitive love spell on the peasant girl, and Bernard arrests them both for witchcraft and heresy.

The fifth day is the day of the disputation. Severinus, the abbey's herbalist, tells William that he has found a "strange book" that demands the friar's attention, but William is unable to investigate the discovery until the disputation has ended. When William and Adso arrive at Severinus's laboratory, they find him dead, his skull crushed by a heavy armillary sphere. They search the room for the missing book but are unable to locate it. Remigio is discovered at the scene of the crime and taken into custody by Bernard, who accuses the "heretic" of committing all four homicides. Under threat of torture, Remigio confesses. Remigio, Salvatore, and the peasant girl are taken away and assumed to be doomed. In response to the recent tragedies in the abbey, Jorge gives an apocalyptic sermon about the coming of the Antichrist.

At matins the morning of the sixth day, Malachi drops dead, his fingers and tongue black. The abbot is distraught at William's failure to solve the crimes and orders him to leave the abbey the following day. That night, William and Adso penetrate the library once more and enter the finis Africae by solving Venantius's riddle. They discover Jorge waiting for them in the forbidden room. William has by now arrived at a solution. Berengar revealed the existence of the finis Africae to Adelmo in exchange for a sexual favour. Adelmo, stricken with guilt over this sinful bargain, then committed suicide. Venantius overheard the secret and used it to gain possession of a rare and valuable book that Jorge had hidden in the room. Unbeknownst to him, Jorge had laced its pages with poison, correctly assuming that a reader would have to lick his fingers in order to turn them. Venantius's body was discovered by Berengar, who, fearing exposure, disposed of it in pig's blood before claiming the book and succumbing to its poison. The book was next found by Severinus, but Jorge manipulated Malachi into killing him before he could pass it on to William. Malachi died after ignoring Jorge's warning not to investigate the book's contents. The book itself, now back in Jorge's possession, is the lost second half of Aristotle's Poetics, which discusses the virtues of laughter.

Jorge confirms William's deductions and justifies himself by pointing to the fact that the deaths correspond to the seven trumpets described in the Book of Revelation, and therefore must form part of a divine plan. Two more deaths will complete the sequence: that of the abbot, whom Jorge has trapped in an airless passageway beneath the finis Africae, and that of Jorge himself. He begins consuming the book's poisoned pages and uses Adso's lantern to start a fire in the library.

Adso summons the monks in a futile attempt to extinguish the fire. As the fire consumes the library and spreads to the rest of the abbey, William laments his failure. Confused and defeated, William and Adso escape the abbey. Years later, Adso, now aged, returns to the ruins of the abbey and salvages any remaining scraps and fragments, eventually creating a lesser library.

The Venice Carnevale is not all about masks. Many local Italians prefer painted faces, historical costumes and recently even cosplay. Often, these costumes look much better than full masks and I do enjoy photographing them very much. My Italian friend Luca Germondari is part of a group that frequently dress up as medieval knights, but this year, he decided to come as Friar Remigio while the rest of his group keep their medieval knight costumes.

The Passion of Remigio is a Gold Winner at the London Photography Awards 2026.