The PATRON SAINT of Moai?

I always thought that the gigantic moa of Rapa Nui were semi-abstracted representations of the human head. Then I saw the "miraculously preserved" head of Saint Rita of Cascia. Weird.....or what?

Interesting and weird. I think your description is good about Rapa Nui moai being semi-abstract. They are brilliant and cool!

I love these creepy Catholic relics and the Moai resemblance is striking. According to the faithful who come to venerate her, St. Rita's corpse has been known to open its eyes during Mass, then turn her gaze upon the parishioners....BRRRR!

And like most of these supposedly "incorruptible saints" her body was discovered to have been eviscerated and heavily embalmed.

I have on my own camera several movies of statues "opening their eyes". It's often reported as a miracle when some tourist photographs a religious statue in a church with a movie camera. In is in fact merely a case of the auto-focus adjusting the depth of the photo which blurs and then sharpens the image.

And yes, most of those "incorruptibles" are in fact wearing "light" wax masks to hide the obvious signs of decay. "Light" is in this case a complete misnomer. They would give anything in Madame Tussauds a run for the money! St Maria Goretti actually did a tour of America I believe? FAR more wax than saint on display. Even poor old Lenin is periodically taken out of his glass coffin for a complete make-over lasting months! They replace any bits that have succumb to rot with plastic so that each time what you see is less and less of Lenin and more and more akin to a plastic doll. He has actually improved with age though, looking younger every time he goes back on exhibit!

[ Edited by TIKIGIKI on 2022-12-17 19:03:14 ]