Griccia and gricia
Over HERE (and in my email) some people are confused about my reference to a camicia griccia. The sacristans of St. Peter’s Basilica used to dress Arnulfo di Cambio’s statue of St. Peter also with the camicia griccia on 29 June and 22 February.
A camicia is an alb. Griccia (not to be confused with gricia) is a technique of ironing into tight pleats in two, perpendicular directions.
My friend John Sonnen has a good photo at his blog of what the result is. HERE
And…
And… Enrico Dante in one…
They are extremely rare now, because a) Paul VI abolished it and b) well… they were thrown away and c) people forgot how to do it.
Once in many many years ago I met an old nun who showed me how to do it. She used an interesting scissor-like ironing-clamp with lots of zigzags. I believe that she and every other nun who did that stuff venerated Paul VI for the rest of their lives. The cynic in me says that Paul abolished griccia to secure the nun vote forever,
And gricia is a pre-Columban Roman method of preparing pasta (one of my favorites).
