The Ombrellino, Umbraculum or Pavilion and Medieval Tent Construction

A 13th C. fresco of Sylvester I and Constantine, showing an ombrellino held over a papal tiara (source: Wikimedia)

At least as early as the 13th c., a sort of parasol, called an umbraculum in Latin, an ombrellino in Italian, or a pavilion, was carried for certain medieval dignitaries. It was particularly associated with the Pope, but also carried for the Doge of Venice and others. It served at least two purposes: protecting them from the sun and showing their importance and dignity.

It must have had some sort of internal frame to spread it open, perhaps a frame of radial ribs like the modern or classical parasol.

It also provides evidence of how medieval tentmakers might have solved the similar problem of building a round tent with an internal structure spreading the roof.

There are a number of possible solutions: sloping radial ribs like a parasol, horizontal spokes like a wagon wheel, a rigid hoop in the valence, or a combination of hoop and spokes or ribs.

Here's a larger version of the fresco shown above. There's no evidence of horizontal spokes, and the canopy is visibly convex, suggesting flexible ribs.

Here the Ombrellino is shown over St. Peter on the ceiling of the Chamber of the Popes in the Lateran Palace. There are no horizontal spokes visible, and what could be sloping ribs are visible beneath the canopy. There could be a rigid hoop structure within the valence.

Here is the form carried behind the Doge of Venice, from a 19th c. reduction of Jost Amman's Swiss woodcut ca. 1565. Here the canopy has two levels, with a concave curve to the lower level. Modern patio and beach umbrellas often have a similar two level canopy, to allow an exit path for wind. The bearer seems to have some sort of support for the bottom of the shaft

Update: Tracy Justus found this, from Concilium Constantiense by Ulrich von Richental, printed in 1483.

Thanks to Karen Larsdatter for pointing out the umbrella held over the figure in front of a temple on the left side of this image from the Utrecht Psalter.

If any of my readers have had a chance to view the underside of surviving ombrellinos from the Middle Ages or Renaissance, or seen any other depictions in the iconography of the period, I welcome your comments. Ombrellinos are still part of Papal regalia, and one of the privileges granted to Catholic basilicas, although I don't know how the modern construction relates to the medieval.

Here are more posts on medieval tent construction.

Here is a useful thread on pavilion structure, discussing a modern reconstruction of a round pavilion with a rigid wooden internal hoop.

Here is another that discusses pavilion construction

A table of medieval and Renaissance tent pictures. More images here.

Medieval Pavilion Resources

Illustrations of 15th c. tents

Illustrations of 16th c. tents

A surviving Portuguese/Spanish tent of 1542-45. Another view.

A surviving 17th c. pavilion at Basel

In addition to ombrellinos, we can also look at canopies of state and bed canopies to look at how medieval tents and pavilions might have been constructed. Several of the conical canopies of state in this thread show strong evidence of a hoop. Bed canopies were usually rectangular, but here is an example of one with a conical canopy.