All three take Communion
THE DEVIL'S Armor with its horned helmet is a splendid suit of fifteenth-
century Italian armor that has hung high on the wall in the village church of
Santa Reparata south of Florence since 1501. In addition to the graceful
horns, shaped like those of the chamois, the pointed gauntlet cuffs are stuck
where shoes should be, at the ends of the greaves, suggesting the cloven
hooves of Satan.
According to the local legend, a young man wearing the armor took the name of
the Virgin in vain as .he passed the church, and found that afterward he could
not take his armor off until he beseeched the Virgin for forgiveness. He gave
the armor to the church as a gift of thanksgiving. It is an impressive
presence and it honored its proof marks when an artillery shell burst in the
church in 1942.
The armor, its upper surfaces covered with a felt-like coating of dust, looks
down on the small sanctuary now as Mass is being completed. Incense rises,
passes through the empty visor.
Only three people are in attendance, two elderly women, both dressed in black,
and Dr Hannibal Lecter. All three take Communion, though Dr Lecter touches his
lips to the cup with some reluctance.
The priest completes the benediction and withdraws. The women depart. Dr
Lecter continues his devotions until he is alone in the sanctuary.
From the organ loft, Dr Lecter can just reach over the railing and, leaning
between the horns, raise the dusty visor on the helmet of the Devil's Armor.
Inside, a fishhook over the lip of the gorget suspends a string and a package
hanging inside the cuirass where the heart would be. Carefully, Dr Lecter
draws it out.
A package: passports of the best Brazilian manufacture, identification, cash,
bankbooks, keys. He puts it under his arm beneath his coat.
Dr Lecter does not indulge much in regret, but he was sorry to be leaving
Italy. There were things in the Palazzo Capponi that he would have liked to
find and read. He would have liked to play the clavier and perhaps compose; he
might have cooked for the Widow Pazzi, when she overcame her grief.