3-070-136 - LTL/Heritage Images

The conclave for the election of Pope Leo XIII, Rome, 1878. Stove in the Sistine Chapel where the ballots are burned after each scrutiny. A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. The ballots used by cardinals are burned after each ballot. Black smoke (fumata nera) indicates that the ballot did not result in an election. White smoke (fumata bianca) announces that a new pope has been chosen. Leo XIII (1810-1903) was pope from 1878 until his death in 1903. From "La Ilustración Española y Americana", 1878.