朝聖是生命的隱喻，而每個人都是地球上的朝聖者(彼得前書 2:11)。 人生就像一場旅行，旅行的意義取決於其目的。對朝聖者而言，人生旅途 的終點不是死亡，而是尋找生命的意義。一旦尋得意義的珍寶，便帶著它 回歸家鄉。而對於中世紀的人來說，生命的目的是認識天主，回家於他們 而言，便是在生命的盡頭回到天堂，且實現但丁在《神曲》中描述的願景， 永遠享受三位一體的生活。人生的旅途充滿陷阱與危險，但比肉體消亡更 可怖的，是靈魂的衰亡、天堂的消逝。就如耶穌在福音中說道:「如果人 失去了自己的靈魂，那麼獲得全世界又有什麼好處呢?」(馬可 8:36)
本文簡要介紹中世紀朝聖的類型(懺悔型與虔誠型)、主要朝聖目 的地(羅馬、聖地亞哥，及耶路撒冷)，以及朝聖者的不同名稱(Romei, Pellegrini 與 Palmieri)。知道名稱的來歷後，我們將更能理解朝聖者的形象， 特別是前去羅馬朝聖的那位朝聖者，我們能勾勒出他的衣著以及朝聖後攜 回的事物(如:帽子上的標誌)。
在辨認朝聖者的外型、形象特徵，以及了解義大利中世紀的具象藝術 如何再現他們後，本文個別具體介紹一些朝聖者的形象，如聖加爾加諾和 聖方濟各，或朝聖家的主保聖人，聖洛克和聖克里斯托弗。據此，本文分 析了朝聖者在旅途中遭遇的危險，以及這些身體與靈性上的危害如何給予 朝聖者體會天主援助與人性慈善的機會。
Pilgrimage is a metaphor for life and every man is a pilgrim on this earth (1 Peter 2:11). In fact, life is like a journey and the meaning of a journey is its destination. For the pilgrim, the goal of life’s journey is not death, but to find the meaning of life and once found, return home with this new treasure. For the Christian man in the Middle Ages, the purpose of life was to know God, and to return home was to go, at the end of life, to Heaven to enjoy the life of the Trinity forever, as exemplified in Dante’s journey described in his Comedy which concludes with the vision of the Trinity. The journey of life is a journey full of pitfalls and dangers, but more terrible than corporal death is that of the soul in which heaven is lost forever: “what good is it for man to gain the whole world if he then loses his own soul?” Jesus said in the Gospel (Mark 8:36).
This article briefly introduces the types of medieval pilgrimages (penitential and devotional), the main pilgrimage destinations (Rome, Santiago, Jerusalem), from which the different names of the pilgrims (Romei, Pellegrini and Palmieri) de- rive to understand the figure of the pilgrim, in particular the one going to Rome, including how he was dressed and what he brought home after the pilgrimage (e.g., insignia on the hat).
After summarizing how to recognize the figure of the pilgrim, his iconographic attributes and how he is represented in the figurative art of the Italian Middle Ages, this article discusses the figures of select pilgrim saints such as Saint Galgano and Saint Francis, or protectors of pilgrims, such as Saint Roch, and Saint Christopher, in order to analyze the dangers they had to face during their journey, both physical dangers but also spiritual ones, and how these were opportunities to experience di-vine assistance and human charity.