Marco di Gatti: 1835-1926

Pink Acolyte Service: 1855-1926

The only remaining photograph of di Gatti taken ca. 1858, 3 years after his first encounter with the Rosenungetüm (what he originally called “Esha Sorti”, or “pink love”). Here he is wearing his ceremonial half-skull mask, which has since become a long standing tradition for PAU members.

Marco di Gatti was the son of Italian immigrants who settled in what is now known as Cincinnati, Ohio. Both foreign to the country and alien to the highly Germanic culture that surrounded them, the di Gatti family worked blue collar jobs around the city. Marco took after his father and older brothers and entered the construction industry as a stone mason, joining the Cincinnati-Lafayette Lodge 483 at the young age of 19.

Most of di Gatti’s surviving vessels were used in various rituals. While the current whereabouts of the Rosa Codex are unknown, many of his elaborate rituals and ceremonies continued to be practiced and documented beyond his death. The majority of his ceramic works are now held at the Luscinia Historical Society and may be viewed and researched there. What follows are a few images of his work in earthenware and stoneware.