EyeItalia

If you’ve ever been walking down the street in Italy and look up to see one of those darling round ceramics plaques with the little swaddled baby, it’s the emblem of Europe’s (and perhaps the world’s) first orphanage; the Spedale degli Innocenti. Opened in 1444 for Florence’s foundling children, the “Hospital of the Innocent” has been working continuously for the last five hundred and fifty years caring for the city’s orphaned and abandoned children.

HUMANISM, GOOD DEEDS AND THE “CONFRATERNITA’”
The Florentine Renaissance was a time of incredible prosperity and progress. The city was buzzing with new ideas and man’s creativity provided unending possibilities. A new movement called “humanism” appeared and called for an increased awareness and sensitivity towards one’s physical, spiritual and social world. The movement’s belief was that it is the citizen’s responsibility to be involved in civic issues and the newly created “confranternita`;” a non-religious charity association were formed to do just this. There was also the growing Christian belief that “God’s poor” deserved to be protected and taken care of. One of  the benevolent “confraternita`” was the thriving “Arte della Seta; Florence’s powerfully rich Silk Guild which had the responsibility of providing for the city’s foundling children. The great need for a ”Spedale degli Innocenti;” for the city’s increasing foundling population was met with the willingness and generosity of the powerful guild. Yes, the charity that “confraternita`” provided for the foundling children was a noble gesture but it was also a “noble method of preserving the soul of the giver!”

THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL; BRUNELLESCHI’S FINE DESIGN
When the Silk Guild decided to build the Spedale they chose one of their own members, Filippo Brunelleschi, as the architect. Already known for other impressive works, the future architect of the cupola of Florence’s Cathedral was heralded as a man of such genius that he’d surely been “sent by heaven to renew the art of architecture.” Ironically, he was also described as “simple, short, bald and plain.” His down-to-earth nature was reflected in his an architectural work which was based on logical geometrical proportions. His theory maintained the purity of form while making the functional, elegant and he created structures of lasting beauty. His design for the Spedale degli Innocenti held true to his style: a building that delivered both beauty and functionality. The pure lines of the Spedale’s inner courtyard create a sense of calm and order that provided a welcome contrast to the anxiety that surrounded the foundlings experience.  He broke with the traditional theme of a cloistered, church-like structure, and created instead a large loggia, or covered porch, that could accommodate the necessary comings and goings linking the outside world with the internal workings of the Spedale. This element was both practical and supported the institution’s credo that the foundlings “were individuals deserving the respect of society.” The ten Della Robbia maiolica roundels of the swaddled child were details added after Brunelleschi’s death. The arcade was originally meant to be void of detail but ironically hese swaddled figures have become the image most frequently identified with foundling hospitals.

RICH MAN, POOR MAN
While humanism and the renaissance surged ahead, poverty and desperation increased in the lower classes. The arrival of another baby meant another mouth to feed for those who already struggled to feed themselves. Plagues, ignorance, illegitimacy and poor living conditions complicated the already slim chances of survival. The average life expectancy was a mere 30 years; (our midlife crisis was their “first sign of senility!”) and in the 1400’s, from twenty-five to a huge ninety percent of babies died before the age of one. Infanticide was common and until the creation of the Ospedale, abandoned babies were simply left in some public place with the hope that a passerby would eventually notice them and pick them up.

“LA RUOTA”: THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
The sad journey of a foundling started when the agonizing parent brought them to the Spedale.and deposited them into a basin located on the far right of the porch. Inside, a nurse on a 24-hour watch, would be alerted by the child’s cry and bring the baby in. The more discreet method using the “ruota,”or wheel, was used later;  protecting the identity of the person leaving the child. This horizontally-revolving turntable, located on the far left of the loggia, allowed the child to be placed in a compartment in the wheel from outside and then was rotated inside to a waiting nurse. Often the child wore some sort of trinket or identifying piece of clothing that was meticulously documented so that if someday, the parent managed to reclaim the child (which was the intent of many), these details were used in the identification process. Today an iron grill covers where the wheel once was  and a plaque above says: “Ruota degli Innocenti”…“segreto rifugio di miserie e di colpe.” (“Wheel of the Foundlings…secret refuge of miseries and guilt.”)

WET-NURSING FRAUD
The foundlings were wet-nursed and when weaned were placed with a foster family who often taught the child a trade. The issue of wet-nursing was complicated and sometimes regarded as perpetuating the problem of pregnancy in  poor women.  In 1552 there were cases of fraud by wet-nurses who abandoned their own babies to the Spedale and then hired on to nurse their own babies as wet-nurses. In the 1550’s however, startling news from Spain told of feeding babies with cow’s milk and the wet-nursing problem was resolved. By 7 years old, boys typically started work as apprentices while girls stayed in the Spedale until a dowry was secured, without which, marriage was virtually out of the question. Their only other option for girls was to be a servant or join a convent. Sadly, most of the abandoned babies were female.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Although the Spedale degli Innocenti ceased to exist as an orphanage in 1875, the vestige of Italy’s orphans continues today in some Italian surnames. Baptism has always been a very important part of a baby’s life so name-giving was done by the children’s caretakers. These are now common last names but initially they were literal descriptions of the foundlings:

Ignoti-(The) Unknowns
Poverelli-Little Poor Ones
Esposito-Exposed or Placed Outside (typically Southern Italian)
Proietti-(The) Thrown Outwards or Outcasts (typically Southern Italian)
Innocenti-Innocent Ones (of the parents’ sin)
Trovatelli-Little Found Ones

Some conveyed hope:
Ditifeci-God Made You
Pregadio-Pray (to) God
Diotiaiuti-(May) God Help You

Others, like the name “Trentanove,” were without doubt, simply perfunctory: the “thirty ninth” child to be abandoned that year.

TODAY’S SPEDALI
Florence was by no means the only Italian city to have Spedali degli Innocenti. Bologna, Venice, Naples, Siena and many smaller towns also had these institutions. Some of the surviving Spedali have been changed into hotels which is a perfect way of utilizing the jumble of rooms that was common to these structures. . 
So, in your travels, keep your eyes open for the figure of a swaddled baby and remember the story of the foundlings. And, if you ever meet an Italian with the last name of Innocenti or Trentanove, you can be sure that somewhere back in the family tree there was a foundling forefather. 

The Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence still serves as a children’s day care center and is open for visits from 9 am to 2 pm, closed on Wednesdays.

—Lisa Halderman