Capuchin Missionary Witnessing a Tournament, Sogno, Kingdom of Kongo, 1740s
The missionary is seated in front of his house and is blessing the village head (in battle regalia with arms) for the sangare, a tournament; also shown are warriors with weapons and musical instruments. Caption notes that villagers usually got drunk with melasso, a palm wine. This source in Italian is a modern printing of a 1747 manuscript (located in the Biblioteca Civica of Turin) which describes Capuchin expeditions to the Kingdom of Kongo. The watercolor paintings record moments in the daily lives of missionaries Bernardino Ignazio and Gaspare da Bassano, who were resident in Sogno from 1743-1747. Sogno (Sonyo in English) was a province of the kingdom. The illustrations and accompanying manuscript were done by Ignazio. (Thanks to James Sweet for assistance in interpreting the source.)
Image Title
Capuchin Missionary Witnessing a Tournament, Sogno, Kingdom of Kongo, 1740s
RegID
SI-OB-681
Date
1740-1750
Title
Capuchin Missionary Witnessing a Tournament, Sogno, Kingdom of Kongo, 1740s
Source
Paola Collo and Silvia Benso (eds.), Sogno: Bamba, Pemba, Ovando e altre contrade dei regni di Congo, Angola e adjacenti (Milan: published privately by Franco Maria Ricci, 1986), p. 189.
Language
Italian
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--West Central North
Reproduced In
Paola Collo and Silvia Benso (eds.), Sogno: Bamba, Pemba, Ovando e altre contrade dei regni di Congo, Angola e adjacenti (Milan: published privately by Franco Maria Ricci, 1986), p. 189.
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Randall Ericson; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Identifier
sogno189