Purpureos flores ad sanguinis imitationem in quo est sedes animae. I Rosalia e l’iconografia del mese di Maggio

The Rosalia was a festival celebrated on various dates, between April and July, of significance in various different ways, especially chthonic, but also related to imperial and sun cults, and to war. The most important ritual in this festival was the offering of roses. It has generally been acknowledged that the personification of May in the illustrated calendars of the Late Antique period - a man or a woman surrounded by roses - referred to the celebration of Rosalia. Through analysis of the literary descriptions and the epigraphic sources concerning this festival, and the representations of May, this paper aims to prove that the image of this month has only seasonal significance, because it refers to the typical iconography of Spring.