Cella Di Padre Pio Cella Di Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy <--- Canada

[post_card_stories]

Back side of the card:




This is a rather unusual card. It depicts the bedroom (cella) of Padre Pio, a revered friar from Italy. The card was sent with some apologies that it doesn't have 'mirrors' but I think it does :)  Or at least it has some connections to the mirror theme.

After I've got this card, I found a bit more information about this person, and this place (now a sanctuary), including the pictures made by the tourists (or pilgrims?)


 
I first thought that the large oval object hanging above the bed could be a mirror; it happened to be the painting of Mary and the Child. I also found a few pictures capturing the moment of visiting this room by the current Pope Francis:  



N1 is the portrait; but N2 is an interesting object. It looks like a convex mirror; unlikely it's a mirror in its own, but it's very likely a religious artefact (a relic of some sort) or another painting encased in a glass frame that makes it looking like a convex mirror. This and similar objects are still used by the believers, a few of them suspect that these strange shapes are indeed a reference to convex mirrors that had been used in the past as iconic (sic!) representations. The so called Mirror of Arnolfini is perhaps the best example of such. 
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