Hand Gestures

Of the many hand gestures, from the encouraging thumbs-up to the vulgar V sign, there is one that drew me to the history of the Popes; the sign of benediction. With the hand held aloft, palm forward and the thumb, index and middle fingers extended, and the little and ring fingers curled into the palm, the priest intones the benediction and blessing. See the diagram below.

The three-fingered sign of benediction and of damage to the ulnar nerve.

 

Strangely the same hand posture is also a sign of damage to the ulnar nerve. The ulnar is one of two main nerves supplying the skin and muscles of the hand. It is usually damaged the elbow. Most of us have banged our ‘funny bones’ and experienced unpleasant tinglings in the ring and little fingers. That is a temporary bruising of the ulnar nerve.

Is there any connection between ulnar nerve damage and the benediction sign? I think there is.

Old paintings always show the benediction sign as a flat hand with all fingers extended. Hippies adopted that sign in our day to mean ‘Peace, man. I’m smoking it too.’ Early in the 14th century, the three-finger benediction sign began to appear in paintings, and the gesture remains in use to this day. What caused the change?

Focusing down, the first painter to show the three-finger benediction sign was Matteo Giovanetti (1322-1368). He was summoned to Avignon to paint frescos and murals on the newly completed Chateauneuf du Papes built by Pope Benoit (Benedict XII, 1334-1342).

Pope Benoit blessing a supplicant. From a mural in the Palais du Papes painted by Matteo Giovanetti. The Pope uses the three-finger gesture; the four figures on the right show the flat opposed hands signifying prayer. Jean-Marc Rosier from http://www.rosier.pro, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

But you thought the Popes lived in Rome; so did I. They did – until 1309 when they moved to Avignon. Rome became increasingly chaotic and violent at that time as the two ruling families fought for control. The Popes found they could have a good and more peaceful living in Avignon. In addition to their usual sources of income, they took tolls from the river Rhone traffic and from the famous bridge, half of which is still standing. The song, Sur le Pont D Avignon was written about 200 years later. The title should be Sous le Pont as all the shenanigans happened beneath the bridge.

Pope Benoit XII – Showing the three-fingered hand posture. Cavalieri century 18th, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

My hypothesis is that Pope Benoit suffered damage to his right ulnar nerve and, when he came to give the benediction, his hand could only open up so far as to provide the three-finger gesture. Because he was Pope and had direct contact with God, his people assumed that the gesture was divinely inspired. Who were they to argue? So they copied it and later explained that the three fingers represented the trinity. The more imaginative suggested that the other two fingers represented the devil’s horns turned down towards hell.

The picture below, of the Annunciation, now in the National Gallery, and painted by Duccio Buoninsegna and completed in 1311, seems to contradict my thesis. It was painted before Benoit’s time and shows Angel Gabriel with a three-fingered hand gesture. However, students of fine arts tell me that another artist added the hand at a later date.

 The Annuciation (1311) by Duccio Buoninsegna. The hand was added later. National Gallery, London – Creative Commons.

In 1378 the Popes decided to return to Rome, but some remained in Avignon because the riches were so great. Each called the other the anti-Pope. The Rome branch won out, as we know. They rebuilt St Peter’s Basilica on their return to Rome; the one we know today. The Vatican City-State was created by the Lateran Treaty of 1929. Meanwhile, the Chateauneuf du Papes fell to ruin and is now part of a UNESCO Heritage site. Giovanetti’s murals are still well preserved. Few of his paintings survive, I noted one altarpiece for sale recently at 700,000 euros. To most of us, Chateauneuf du Papes is a rather fine red wine from the late-ripening Grenache vine.

Painting of St Francis of Assisi blessing with a flat hand. Painting from before the time of Pope Benoit. Margaritone d’Arezzo, (1250-1290) Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

The sceptics among you will be able to point to Dupuytren’s contracture, a different disease that contracts the hand to a similar posture. You are right, but Dupuytren’s contracture occurs in men with Viking blood. Benoit was born in the foothills of the Pyrenees; it is unlikely that the Vikings got down there.