Statue of Angel with the Superscription "INRI" on Ponte Sant' Angelo, Rome, Italy
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N 41° 54.136 E 012° 27.981
33T E 289840 N 4642029
Bernini's statue of Angel with the Superscription "INRI" on stamp emitted in 1975 in ocassion of the Holy Year.
Waymark Code: WM9A7Z
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 07/21/2010
Views: 31
The series of the stamps emitted in Italy in ocassion of the Holy Year 1975 depicts famous G.L. Bernini's Angel statues placed on Ponte Sant' Angelo.
The Meaning of the Bridge of Angels
The Bridge of Angels (in Italian, Ponte Sant'Angelo) spans the Tiber River in Rome. Only a few steps away from St. Peter's Basilica, the bridge reflects the psychological shift from secular to sacred that occurs when pilgrims crossed from the busy streets of Rome over to the churches of the Vatican. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the famed Italian sculptor, originally designed the bridge's angel sculptures in the seventeenth century. Though few of the angels standing today were done by his hand, Bernini's vision for the bridge lives on.
Five angel sculptures flank each side of the bridge, with statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on the eastern bank. At the base of each sculpture is a line from the Bible in Latin. The verses inscribed on many of the sculptures are dissimilar to the verses readers find in today's Bibles, because they are based on an old and superseded scripture translation called the Latin Vulgate.
Below are the Latin inscriptions, their translations, and an explanation of their religious significance.
Angel with the Superscription "INRI"
Inscription: "Regnavit a ligno deus"
Translation: God has reigned from the tree (sixth-century hymn)
Significance: The lyrics to this ancient hymn about the cross describe the "blest Tree, whose happy branches bore/ the wealth that did the world restore." The inscription INRI is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews." According to the gospels, the INRI sign was affixed to Jesus' cross.
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