An Article About the History of Cā Dei Lenzotti   :  A Mysterious and Precious Tetra gram.

A religious engraving above a portal of Cā Dei Lenzotti in the Apennines of Modena has recently attracted the attention of a history lover who has identified the characters, expanding the horizons of the local history. The writing is Serpianso, embedded in an equilateral triangle. The first word on top, the only on in Hebrew, represents the Tetragram. The Tetragram has four letters, spells the name of God and means "He is becoming," ensuring that the Creator fulfills his promises. Many dictionaries and versions of the Bible in Italian translate the name of God with “Jehovah”, while others use “Yahweh.” Other translations, however, substitute the Tetragram with words such as Lord or God, thus following the practice that existed for Jews at the time of Jesus. We began to think that this was not the proper name. For years this information was hidden, but in the 15th century the Tetragram was again found in translations of the Bible in various languages. The other words are in Greek and mean Jesus, Mary, always with us  (alpha-omega-alpha) and depict the Creator, for those who ask for protection. Scholars have done research to find out when the inscription was engraved and who commissioned it.
    A history book published by the Province of Modena (Historic Settlements and Cultural Heritage-The Friganano) assumes that the nature of the inscription is from the first part of the 17th century, and the same volume tells that the house was inhabited by the family Lenzotti. One of the best known members of that family was Lenzotti Don Ottavio, who died in 1743. In an adjacent house, his name is still visible, carved in Latin on stone along with the date, 1739. It could be that he was the one who commissioned the writing, but there is no way to be sure. The inhabitants of Cā Lenzotti were aware of the frequent landslides and avalanches that hit the nearby communities of Brocco and Groppo, and they asked for protection from these natural disaster from God. This evidence in stone at Cā Lenzotti shows that the Apennines of Modena were also a part of the story of art in Italy. The ancient home with the name of God engraved in stone gives a great lustre to the mountain culture of the land of Modena.

Questo articolo č stato pubblicato sul quotidiano "Il resto del Carlino - edizione di Modena", in data 11 marzo 2008, rubrica "Riolunato".