On a wall of the main cloister of the Basilica di Santa Croce, in Florence, an evocative monument to Florence Nightingale can be admired.
The worldwide famous "Lady with the lamp" was born in this italian City, after which she was named by her parents. In an oval niche of the wall, a delicate marble statue represents her, with an oil lamp in her right hand, as one of the wise virgins of the Gospel (cf. Mt 25). Under her feet the latin motto HORAM NESCITIS also remeber the gospel sentence: "Watch therefore, for you don't know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" (Mt 25,13).
Under the statue, a stone tablet with the following italian inscription: "FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE / MDCCCXX - L'EROINA DI CRIMEA - MDCCCCX / LA SIGNORA DALLA LAMPADA - COME LA CHIAMA- / RONO I SOLDATI , CHE LA EBBERO INFERMIERA / MIRABILE , NELLE NOTTI DI SPEDALE ANGOSCIOSE / E FIN D'ALLORA ANIMATRICE CON LA VIRTU' / DELL'ESEMPIO , A QUELL'OPERA VOLONTARIA / DI PIETA' INTERNAZIONALE , CHE POI FU LA / CROCE ROSSA , HA NELLA SUA FIRENZE , DOVE NAC- / QUE E NE PORTO' IL NOME GENTILE , QUESTO / RICORDO DI VENERAZIONE E D'AFFETTO". (FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE / MDCCCXX - THE HEROIN OF CRIMEA - MDCCCCX / THE LADY WITH THE LAMP , AS THE SOLDIERS CALLED HER , HAVING IN HER SUCH A WONDERFUL NURSE , IN THE PAINFUL HOSPITAL NIGHTS , AND SINCE THEN A GUIDING SPIRIT WITH THE VIRTUE OF THE EXAMPLE, TO THAT VOLUNTARY WORK OF INTERNATIONAL PITY , THAT BECAME THE RED CROSS, HAS IN HER FLORENCE, WHERE SHE WAS BORN AND OF WHICH CARRIED THE KIND NAME, THIS MEMORY OF VENERATION AND OF AFFECTION).
- Photos by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (March 2008)
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