A camauro (from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, meaning "

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

-skin hat") is a cap traditionally worn by the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, the head of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Construction

Camauros are traditionally made of red

velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

and white ermine fur, or of white

damask Damask (; ) is a woven, Reversible garment, reversible patterned Textile, fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the gro ...

fabric with fur for the hat worn during the octave of

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. It is constructed with the rear panels shorter than the front panels, so it sits lower on the neck and ears in the rear, providing more warmth and comfort. Its red-and-white construction has led it to be compared to the hat worn by

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

History and use

The camauro emerged in the 12th century, originally being worn by both cardinals -- without the fur trim --and the Pope in place of the

biretta The biretta () is a square cap with three or four peaks or horns, sometimes surmounted by a tuft. Traditionally the three-peaked biretta is worn by Christian clergy, especially Catholic Church hierarchy, Roman Catholic clergy, as well as some ...

. It perhaps shares a common ancestor with the

zucchetto The zucchetto (, also ,"zucchetto"
(US) and ,< ...

, another hat worn by high-ranking Catholic prelates. In 1464 it was restricted to the Pope, with cardinals wearing the scarlet zuchetto instead. During the Rennaisance era, when the hat appears in a 1512 portrait of

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

, it was a part of the less formal version of papal dress, the

choir dress Choir dress is the traditional vesture of the clerics, seminary, seminarians and religious order, religious of Christian churches worn for public prayer and the administration of the sacraments except when celebrating or Concelebration, con ...

. It also was part of the vesture in which the pope was dressed following his death. It was worn commonly by popes up until the latter part of the 18th century, and occasionally used by

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

and

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

. While it was worn by

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

as part of his funeral rites, neither he nor any of his successors wore it while they were living for 50 years prior. John XXIII wearing Camauro with Enrico Dante

John XXIII wearing Camauro with Enrico Dante

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

revived the hat with the assistance of papal tailor Gammarelli, wearing it for the first time in a December 1958 audience with the pastors of the city of Rome. The sartorial firm recreating the garment, lacking contemporary examples of the headwear, had to base their construction off of rennaisance portraiture featuring the hat.

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

also made use of the hat on one occasion in December of 2005, saying that he wore it mainly to keep his head warm but stopped wearing it to avoid over-interpretation. Some commentators viewed it as a " pre-Vatican II fashion statement" or "overtly camp", with others saying it is a sign of Benedict's hermeneutic of continuity. Neither Gamarelli nor Raniero Manicelli, another tailor used by Benedict, would comment as to the identity of the manufacturer of the camauro worn by Benedict in 2005.

Gallery

File:Pope Julius II.jpg,

File:Gian Lorenzo Bernini - Portrait d'Urbain VIII.jpg,

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

File:ClementXIII.jpeg,

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

File:Camauro Weiss Sammlung Philippi.JPG, The Easter camauro, with white fur trim and a white damask base.

Notes

References

External links

About the camauro
* The Philippi Collection
About the skull cap

'Santa Pope' woos Vatican crowds
(

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 22 December 2005))
History of the Skullcap
(

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

, p. 21–22)
Various popes wearing the camauro on a church watching blog

Pictures of Camauro and other clerical headgear, information and literature in German language

Picture with summer-camauro in amaranth red silk, white camauro in silk-damask worn during the Octave of Easter and winter-camauro in red velvet
{{Papal symbols and rituals Formal insignia Hats Religious headgear Papal vestments