L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano Dio e Mastro Titta Pasquino loses his head LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE L ocated north of the Piazza Bocca d e l l a V e r i t à , w h e r e p u b l i c executions were held until 1868, the Church of San Giovanni Decolla- to is the headquarters of the Confraternity of Mercy, a voluntary association found- e d i n 1 4 8 8 t o s e r v e c o n - demned criminals. Members administered the last rites, accompanied prisoners to the scaffold, and buried their b o d i e s . W h e n e v e r t h o s e robed and hooded figures p a s s e d m e , I s h u d d e r e d . They acted like angels but looked like ghouls. Now dedicated to penal reform, the Confraternity's m e m b e r s n o l o n g e r w e a r penitential black. Rome's night traffic laws prohibit dark clothing for pedestri- ans. But the Confraternity's emblem remains carved in a tondo above the cornice of the church door: a severed head on a platter. Due to its wealth and influence, the Confraternity used to have the right on August 29, the Feast of John the Baptist's Martyrdom, to free one con- vict sentenced to death. But only one prisoner and only o n t h i s o n e d a y . F u r t h e r clemency would have inter- f e r e d w i t h t h e d u t i e s o f Mastro Titta, the boia or executioner for the Papal States. I knew him well. H i s r e a l n a m e w a s G i o v a n n i B a t t i s t a Bugatti. Mastro Titta was his nickname, a Romanesco corruption of his official title: Maestro di Giustizia, Master of Justice. Between 1796 and 1864, he dispatched 514 pris- o n e r s a n d r e c o r d e d t h e i r deaths in a meticulous note- book. But there was nothing sinister, I assure you, about this tubby, frog-faced man with the rolling gait and the hearty grin. He would have p r e f e r r e d t o s u p p o r t h i s a d o r i n g w i f e b y m a k i n g , p a i n t i n g , a n d r e p a i r i n g umbrellas for the curio shops around St. Peter's. The cou- ple was childless, but their s t r a i t e n e d c i r c u m s t a n c e s forced Giovanni Battista to moonlight as a headsman. B u g a t t i l i v e d n e a r t h e Vatican. For his safety, he was confined to the Borgo district on the west bank of the Tiber. If he had shown h i s f a c e a n y w h e r e e l s e , believe me, he would have been torn to pieces, so he p a t i e n t l y w a i t e d f o r h i s assignments at his compul- sory residence in Vicolo del Campanile, decorating para- sols with papal portraits and Roman scenes until his ser- v i c e s w e r e r e q u i r e d . Executions occurred about every other month. For each one, he was paid three cents a head: half the price of a cabbage sold in Campo de' Fiori. W h e n e v e r a s u m m o n s c a m e f r o m t h e V a t i c a n , Bugatti removed the clothes of his humble trade and like a Marvel superhero trans- formed himself into his pow- erful alter ego. He did not wear a mask, but he did wear a hooded, calf-length scarlet cloak. Because of his girth, the cloak had an elastic sec- tion around the belly that expanded with its wearer. After going to confession and r e c e i v i n g c o m m u n i o n a t Santa Maria in Traspontina, he strode across the Castel S a n t ' A n g e l o B r i d g e w i t h great pomp and ceremony. U r c h i n s y e l l e d : " M a s t r o Titta passa ponte!" Executions were held in t h e P i a z z a d i P o n t e S a n t ' A n g e l o , P i a z z a d e l Popolo, or Via dei Cerchi near the Piazza della Bocca della Verità. Whatever their l o c a t i o n , t h e s h o w s d r e w huge crowds. Papal dragoons p r o v i d e d s e c u r i t y , t o t h e frustration of whores and pickpockets. Cigarmakers a n d p a s t r y c h e f s h a w k e d their wares. Vendors sold memorabilia. Gamblers bet on how long it would take for a criminal's head to drop i n t o t h e b a s k e t . C h i l d r e n c h a n t e d : " S e g a , s e g a , Mastro Titta!" For the spectators at this street fair, the victim (almost always a man) was the Ace of S p a d e s a n d L o r d o f t h e Feast; but for Mastro Titta, the people's surgeon, he was a suffering patient whose headache must be cured as q u i c k l y a n d p a i n l e s s l y a s possible. Whether the con- demned prisoner's crime was murder, sodomy, or sedition made no difference. Mastro Titta always offered a pinch o f s n u f f a n d a w o r d o f encouragement: it would all be over soon. B u g a t t i ' s s k i l l a l w a y s i m p r e s s e d m e . A s a b u l l - necked young buck, he pre- ferred the mazzatello. He would swing a large mallet t h r o u g h t h e a i r t o g a t h e r momentum and then bring it crashing down on a prison- er's skull: the same way cat- tle were killed in the stock- yards. When this method p r o v e d t o o t a x i n g , h e s w i t c h e d t o t h e a x e a n d reserved drawing and quar- t e r i n g f o r m o r e h e i n o u s crimes. Eventually, he used the guillotine. Even though this device was invented by the godless French, it was still efficient and humane, not to mention simple. Place the prisoner's head in the lunette, release the cord, and swish! The mechanism was so well-designed, in fact, that Mastro Titta smoothly plied his trade until he was eighty- five years old. One day, how- ever, things went wrong. As usual, fathers, who had dragged their sons to the e x e c u t i o n a s a w a r n i n g against wickedness, clouted them on the neck just as the blade came down. "Pijja!" they said. "Take that and k n o w t h a t t h e s a m e f a t e awaits a thousand others who are better than you!" But this time the lesson was drowned in a geyser of blood that astonished even Mastro Titta. While displaying the severed head to the crowd, the old executioner slipped in a puddle and fell flat on his face. The head tumbled off the platform and landed i n t h e l a p o f a w e a l t h y matron. Mastro Titta retired and received a monthly pension o f t h i r t y s c u d i ( r o u g h l y $ 4 7 0 ) . F i v e y e a r s l a t e r , shortly after his death, capi- tal punishment was abol- i s h e d i n R o m e w h e n t h e Kingdom of Italy annexed the Papal States. Today, his cloak, axe, and guillotine are preserved in the Museum of C r i m i n o l o g y o n V i a d e l Gonfalone, but his legend looms larger in our imagina- tion. Whenever heads are about to roll, office workers announce: "Mastro Titta is c r o s s i n g t h e b r i d g e ! " Children impersonate him. Restaurants are named after him. He even provides comic relief as a character in the popular musical Rugantino. His fame is only fitting, I think, in a city that worships the Cross. To quote an old proverb: "Roma è santa, ma er su popolo boja." Rome is holy, but her people are exe- cutioners. Pasquino's secretary is Anthony Di Renzo, professor of writing at Ithaca College. You may reach him at diren- zo@ithaca.edu. ANTHONY DI RENZO The Church of San Giovanni Decollato, in Rome (Photo: Konstantinos Papaioannou/Dreamstime)

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