The Ornamental Hood of the Mozzetta

Cardinal Giuseppe Ferretto

The mozzetta of prelates today is a shoulder cape garment that until 1969 was also always tailored to have a small ornamental hood for cardinals and bishops. This miniature hood was a nod to the past, reminiscent of the days when the mozzetta had an actual hood that was large enough to cover the head. That large hood was seen until the eighteenth century. The custom of the mozzetta dates to the latter half of the fifteenth century. 

Hoods were common in the late Middle-Ages, such as with the cappa magna, a clerical garment covering the whole body with a long train and a large hood that was lined with silk for the summer and ermine fur for the winter. This hood was worn when prelates were making public acts of penance (as with Cardinal Montini, seen below in 1955, with his Canons of the Duomo of Milan doing penance together in solidarity with the victims of the Hungarian Uprising). 

The forerunner of the mozzetta is believed to be the medieval "almuce," a very similar clerical garment, also with a hood, already in use when the mozzetta appeared. 

Although Pope Paul VI discontinued this tradition for bishops when he approved in 1969 the Instruction on the dress, titles, and coat-of-arms of cardinals, bishops, and lesser prelates, he continued to wear the same ornamental hood himself.

When he made the hood no longer required for prelates, he simply abolished its necessity. To this day, Norbertines, as Canons Regular, still have the mini-hood as part of their venerable white habit. Further, many titular and honorary canons across the world have continued this tradition in their canons' choral dress. 

The relevant section of the Instruction, reads, for cardinals:

"1. The following continue in use: the cassock of red wool or similar material, with trimmings, lining, buttons and thread of red silk, and the mozzetta of the same material and colour as the cassock but without the small hood." 

Source: Instruction on the Dress of Cardinals, Bishops and Other Prelates. 

The hood has a theological significance, a reminder of the need for penance and public acts of a penitential nature. Our arts have developed with useful meaning. Let us hope these age-old traditions will be preserved and appreciated instead of seemingly always being questioned, censured and cancelled. Let us ever be enamored by the beauty that our ancestors built and be sensitive to the beliefs that inspired them. 

Pope Benedict XVI in winter mozzetta

Pope Benedict XVI in the Easter Octave mozzetta with ornamental hood

The earlier papal mozzettas of Pope John Paul II also continued the tradition of the ornamental hood, as did those of Pope Benedict. The same hood has also been retained by certain canons, canons regular, and abbots, such as the Norbertines. Below is an image of the back of a mozzetta for canons, made by the papal tailor Gammarelli.

Canon mozzetta by Gammarelli

Ornamental hood visible in old handbook on clergy dress

Karol Cardinal Wojtyła, future Pope John Paul II

Canon of the Cathedral of Albenga-Imperia

Cardinal Bernard Jan Alfrink, with ornamental hood visible on back

Frank Cardinal Spellman

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