SAN SERGIO'S LEGENDARY "ALABARDA"
Artifact's history
Il manufatto è conservato tra le reliquie - sopravvissute nel 1984 al saccheggio sacrilego che ha interessato gran parte degli oggetti preziosi - del tesoro della Cattedrale di San Giusto, a Trieste.
The artifact is conserved between the relics of the Cathedral's treasure. Some of the precious relics were robbed in 1984 and so the 'alabarda' and some of the other rest relics are what has been left from that robbery in the San Giusto's Cathedral in Trieste.
The "alabarda" - Trieste's banner - is supposed to be belonged to San Sergio, christian martyr, lived in IV sec. d.C. Artifact's legend want that this spear was fallen from sky directly in the city's mail square during the roman legionary's martyr, in 313 d.C. Accorfing to this legend, this was because, when Sergio had leaved from the city of Trieste to the Orient, he promised a sign of his death if he would be killed.
So far, the 'alabarda' is documented in the city just from the second one-fouth of XIII sec., when he appeared in a stylized form on the coin dedicated to Bishop Volrico de Portis (1233 - 1254). In the urban statute of 1350 he was depicted in various miniatures as the Trieste Municipality's symbol. He was in fact embridered on the municipal messanger's dresses.
In the past, The relic has attempted to be silvered and gilded, in that period approach. This is documented al least from 1600: the negative autcomes have fomed the leggend of his prodigious origin.
Aur hypothesis
Analysis done on the artefact have corroborated our hypothesis that the "alabarda" has some reference to the ancient indian metallurgy ( period of wide prestige 300 a.C. ÷ 200 d.C.). Based on the results collected, with high probability, the macroscopic characteristic of "Signum" are to be attributed to a specific way of iron-working and to a peculiar composition of the raw material as well as to a certain atmosphere in which the row material was produced and worked.
This conclusion has achieved after a large study on the chemical-phisical and thecnological property of ancient indian siderurgical products, whose characteristic are in great accord to these shown by our object of study.
We studied the primitive hypothesis of an meteoric origin of the artifact but we found no reason to consider it valuable so it was rejected.
Photografic gallery
OUR EXTERNAL CO-WOKERS
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Dr. Fulvio Colombo ( picture not available) |
From the left: Ing. Lorenzo Sterni, Dr. Fulvio Colombo