BE STUPID!

A very faithful portrait of St.Francis of Assisi after Giotto's fresco
in the upper Basilica of Assisi. Ceramic Reproduction from Deruta,
Italy, 1923 

'Be stupid' is the 2010 campaign's title of a famous Italian company based in Trieste, Italy and called DIESEL (2,000 employees and 5,000 stores all over the world). Campaign advertisements can be found all over New York and the United States where Diesel stores are located.

I ran into this philosophy claim because of the fact that I realized how business can be cruel, merciless. If you do not follow the rules of profit and money revenues you are considered as stupid vs smart.
According to the Diesel campaign, stupid people are those who do not follow conformisms;  free-thinking, progress and innovation are some of their keywords.

Click this image to see the Video by Diesel 

Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) was a free thinker, idealist and innovator of his time. He was proclaimed Saint in 1228 by Pope Gregory IX. Francesco's father was an affluent merchant of fine fabrics who made his fortune in France. He coined "Francesco" for the first time dedicating his son's name to France (Francia in Italian, Franciam in Latin). Saint Francis with his prayer 'The Canticle of the Creatures' is considered as one of the founders of the Italian literature. Thanks to St. Francis the Italian language went a step forward compared to Latin, the language that gave birth to current Italian. St. Francis of Assisi is celebrated in Italy every year on October 4th, Feast Day of St.Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Italy.

One of St. Francis' gifts was humbleness, which has become part of St. Francis spirituality. When we are in peace with ourselves we do not blame, we can create and our creations come from our accepting what happens in our lives, accepting people we meet without judging them. A deep tenderness may arise from crossed paths with other people. Creativity as a way of expressing the fruits of our friendship to others. Through mutal respect and straightforwardness we will not run the rish of being betrayed by the person who works with us. Benefits to his/her heart and our heart are very high. Touchy will not be part of a humble person's vocabulary. A defeat will be translated into a learning lesson to go forward on the beautiful path of both our personal and professional life.

The Canticle of the Creatures from the back of the Aedicule of St.Francis of Assisi located in Deruta, ceramics
plaques, beginning 1920s. 

I strongly believe that the 'Be Stupid' campaign is not meant to attract customers simply
because of a marketing claim, Diesel created it as a true philosophy.
this is one thing why Italy makes the difference with some of his producers: creativity.

Poverty is the second important tenet of St. Francis spirituality, which could be expressed in business organizations through a common share of profits, which in Italy goes under the name of "cooperative".

Last but not least is the call to fraternity, which can be applicable to business by making other people stand out for their personal gifts, giving up on competition.

this is fun!

Writing about business companies and employees empowerment under these terms is considered as stupid. There is too much heart in it. Additionally no one would believe on the power of getting together with love as a way to create business. Therefore this attitude would be considered as stupid twice (we judge as stupid something we refuse because in this case it is against business common rules, a field where there hasn't been innovation since the Industrial Revolution time. The Industrial Revolution has inspired the rest of the countries in Europe and in Italy in particular has fostered hatred between owners and employees. These latter supported by the unions). Therefore still nowadays it is very difficult to see people gathering together to found a cooperative in Italy. In people's mind terms of comparison are: competition, markets, costs, investments, risk, failure. Whereas there are no boundaries or problems that cannot be solved if energy, belief and hope is involved. Together only we can make it, as we need something truly powerful such as trusting each other to be successful.

Wait for your perfect match.
He/she will find you sooner or later!
Watch out and be ready for
the miracle. 

After all when we get married, do we ask ourselves if we shall make it? If we do, we should not get married. In an authentic relationship our "yes" is unconditional. When this happens marriage will bring lots of fruits immediately. Of course we must make sure that: 1. we have met our soul mate 2. accept our soul mate as is 3. love our soul mate without conditions! We will feel so strong and powerful that nothing will stop us from being happy. We will have so much energy that we will be able of doing anything. If we transfer these simple rules to business, "alea iacta est" (latin for "there you have it").

The perfect organization
based on
St. Benedict's rules is the latest
trend in marketing. 

For the above reasons St. Francis is the perfect example to establish the correct relationship among partners in an innovative company. Rules will be based on our Italian famous saint's genuine and original spirituality. From this point of view, St. Francis becomes the example of an outstanding personality and a revolutionary icon for all times.

On another level and thinking of how to get the best profits out of a business we may refer to St. Benedict of Norcia (480-547), patron Saint of Europe. We refer to St. Benedict as regards to a company's logistic and organization. Indeed St.Benedict was the first great entrepreneur in Europe by creating the first multi-national corporation of scriptoria (tr. copyists factories) during dark times and deep recession for the world at that time. Without St.Benedict's help we would have lost all our European heritage of ancient classical books.                                                                          
We will notice that St. Francis and St. Benedict are both inspired by simplicity. Like Americans say "short is sweet", simple is beautiful. Regarding simplicity I would like to dedicate tSt. Francis of Assisi simply prayer to my American friends, followers are readers wishing them "PAX ET BONUM" (St. Francis' motto "peace and well") and "ORA ET LABORA" (St. Benedict's motto "work and pray"), I have decided that these saints will be my sources of inspiration for my innovative way of doing business in times of wars, darkness and recession. I can see lots of light on the horizon, if fortune keeps staying next to me. Fortune: a little bit of pagan world adds some disenchantment and beauty to the subject of being good. We do not want to be tooooo good. Remembering that what is beautiful is also good!

St. Francis was a very brave heir giving up on his father's fortune to follow his heart. His choice of poverty has made him eternal. Despite St. Francis followed our God's local model, St. Francis is beloved everywhere in the world by people belonging to other religions, too. 

A Simple Prayer 

~ 

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, let me sow pardon.

Where there is doubt, let me sow faith.

Where there is despair, let me sow hope.

Where there is sadness, let me sow joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

– St. Francis of Assisi

 A classical holy picture of St. Francis.
A prayer is  unsually  printed on the back. 

And for my Italian readers the prayer's Italian translation:

Preghiera Semplice 

O Signore, fa di me uno strumento della tua Pace:

Dove è odio, fa ch'io porti l'Amore.

Dove è offesa, ch'io porti il Perdono.

Dove è discordia, ch'io porti l'Unione.

Dove è dubbio, ch'io porti la Fede.

Dove è errore, ch'io porti la Verità.

Dove è disperazione, ch'io porti la Speranza.

Dove è tristezza, ch'io porti la Gioia.

Dove sono le tenebre, ch'io porti la Luce.

O Maestro, fa' ch'io non cerchi tanto:

Essere consolato, quanto consolare.

Essere compreso, quanto comprendere.

Essere amato, quanto amare.

Poiché sì è:

Dando, che si riceve;

Perdonando che si è perdonati;

Morendo, che si risuscita a Vita Eterna.

San Francesco d'Assisi 

(mi dispiace deludere i lettori stranieri ma la Preghiera Semplice sembra che sia stata erroneamente attribuita a San Francesco, fu piuttosto una preghiera di autore francese ignoto che la scrisse dietro un santino di San Francesco e venne pubblicata in Francia nel 1912. E' comunque ispirata a San Francesco e quindi possiamo chiamarla Preghiera di San Francesco. In passato si sono presi questa licenza. Seguiamo ciò che hanno deciso per noi i fruitori della preghiera). 

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Grifonetto Baglioni: the most handsome nobleman of his time in Perugia

A new coffee shop has opened in Piegaro and it is called
"BAR LUNA" from the name of the owners' cat: LUNA! 

This year in August new ownership took over the coffee shop on my street and the name seemed already a good omen: BAR LUNA. It is not much about the moon but rather the fact that it is named after the owners' cat and Piegaro is the town of cats!

As an example my home's karma turned out to be cats without knowing it, there are images of cats everywhere including a wind-chime (all things that came with the home and I rearranged), what I brought in was the painting of birds in cages, which at this point is very safe for them to be in. I am very happy for these birds, I will find a way to make them feel free out of the reach of cats.

So in Piegaro, there are many beautiful cats, a few of them stand out, as an example 'Nuvola' who is the hostess of Piegaro. Recently there was a new entry, a tabby cat who was abandoned by his owners in the parking lot below the village. He made his way up to downtown by taking the stairs, leaving his water container behind and the first home he found became his new home. He seemed to be very well-fed, healthy, and friendly. He had no problem adapting to his new life. Last but not least an expat cat arrived recently in town and is named 'Mishka', he speaks Russian, Norwegian, English, Italian and Cat and he seems to be pretty comfortable with the rest of the community of cats in Piegaro. After all, he must be very educated with all his travels, he must have gotten over the fear of others. Finally, there is another cat who acts like a dog, I think he emulated dogs at a certain time in his life, he sits next to the bench where his owners are sitting as if he were a dog and he follows them along the streets of Piegaro just like a dog. I have loved cats all my life but cats in Piegaro surprise me every day. Cats in Piegaro are special cats or they become special by living here.

The Ghripon is the Symbol of the town of Perugia. 'Grifonetto'  is a term of endearment that comes
from 'Grifone', we use terms of endearments a lot in Umbria. Words usually end with -ino, -ina, -etto, -etta

Piegarese celebrate with
"Prosecco" wine, my fiancé has
introduced me to Spritz, a
classical drink from Veneto,
based on Prosecco with Aperol
drink and sparkling water.
"Cin-Cin!" "Salute!"=
"Cheers!"

Going back to the BAR LUNA, the owner of the coffee shop is very professional in what he does, he knows what he is doing, he has worked for many years for famous coffee shops downtown Perugia, he is a traveler and he has also worked as a chef but he says he prefers serving at the coffee shop because he likes to be with customers. I got very interested in his way of interacting with people, he is originally from Perugia and knowledgeable about the history of Perugia. At first, I said to myself that I had met one of the few perugini who are "simpatici", perugini are known for being "antipatici", unfriendly, snobbish, and to some extent rude (deriving from a prejudice), they are known to be bold, as per the description of Pope Paul III who had a strong fortress built in the city of Perugia in order to contain the boldness of the Perugini, in Latin: "ad coercendam Perusinorum audaciam". What makes the difference with other Perugini is that this gentleman is very open to listening and easy in responding!

Therefore between one espresso and the other, an excellent croissant -freshly made by a famous pastry shop in Perugia (that I love)- and a blackberry fruit juice, sometimes a Spritz with my fiancé, we started making friends by going back historically, beyond our short lives, funny enough from the Renaissance time of Perugia. Now I do not recall why he happened to introduce me to a gentleman of the Baglioni family of Perugia, Lord Grifonetto Baglioni. Grifonetto, locally called "Il Grifonetto" was apparently the most handsome nobleman of Perugia. I didn't know about his existence and his story but as soon as he mentioned a famous altarpiece painted by Raphael, I got more and more interested. This painting was originally commissioned by Lady Atalanta Baglioni, Grifonetto's mother, in 1507 and the face of Jesus is the authentic face of Grifonetto, Jesus is the handsome Grifonetto Baglioni.

Raffaello Sanzio, Raphael, painted this altarpiece for the Baglioni
family in Perugia in 1507 upon order of Lady Atalanta Baglioni, Grifonetto's mother.
(Borghese Gallery, Rome). It is called Baglioni Altarpiece (this is the central piece of the original work of art
now scattered in three museums)

The oil painting on wood was originally placed in the Church of San Francesco al Prato at the end of Via Dei Priori downtown Perugia, where it remained for about a century and later transferred to the Borghese Gallery in Rome. This painting was very important for the career of Raphael, it opened him the gates to Rome, where he was invited the following year by Pope Julius II.

Apple green is currently the color to go for
wedding decorations in Italy, such as favors.

While the altarpiece meant glory and success for Rapahel (1483-1520), one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance and apprentice of Pietro Perugino, the story of the painting is very tragic, there is the grief of a mother for the loss of her child (expressed by the Virgin Mary and the rest of the characters as well as by the cloudy weather), Atalanta Baglioni's handsome son Grifonetto, who had been murdered following to internal fights in the Baglioni family for the supremacy of a branch of the family and which go under the name of "Nozze di Sangue" or "Nozze Rosse" (tr. blood nuptials or red nuptials) and that took place on July 15th, 1500.


Among historical memories and lots of enthusiasm for Piegaro and my new friends, Luca and Patrizia at Bar Luna, I have already organized with them the sale of subscriptions for the jogging competition that will take place on September 23rd, this Sunday, in favor of the local cancer association (they sold out!). The next project is Zumba lessons. Bar Luna is going to find a Zumba teacher in Perugia, who is willing to come to Piegaro to keep us healthy! I will add some advice about eating healthy food and will ask advice to Bar Luna, maybe we can throw a health party at their café!


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BAR LUNA  VIA ROMA, 15 -  06066 PIEGARO (PG) open every day.

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Little Paris: The Art of Welcoming

Pope Paul III portrayed by Titian in 1543 at the
age of 75. 

Celebrating an important event that took place in Piegaro on September 20th, 1547, welcoming Pope Paul III who enjoyed staying in Piegaro.
-----------------------------------------------------

Last year in January I moved to the village of Piegaro on the border between Tuscany and Umbria. In my small house at the town entrance, which was once the toll house for all merchants entering the main door, I spend my days working on my research and enjoying learning about Italian Renaissance art and history.

The red area is the Piegaro municipality, the blue area
is the Deruta territory. In the Renaissance
period, Piegaro was an "Estate" and Deruta was
a "Castle". 

I selected Piegaro by accident because I am renting from one of my best friends and he happened to have a home for rent in Piegaro. What I knew about Piegaro was that there was a famous glass factory organized as a cooperative (I love cooperatives) and an American lady I knew the existence of from Slowtravel, she had remodeled the most ancient glass factory of Piegaro by turning it into a villa with apartments and she wrote on Slowtravel.
Little by little the town of Piegaro became very meaningful to me because it is located near Città della Pieve, the hometown of the artist Perugino. I imagined the artist on his horse riding to Deruta, which was a town of interest for very important family members in the Renaissance period such as the Borgias, the Sforza family, the Farnese family, and the Medicis along with the Baglioni's, owners of the castle of Deruta. Pietro Vannucci known as Perugino was a major artist of that time. He inspired the ceramic tradition immensely, besides painting a famous fresco for the castle of Deruta.

In the Church of St. Silvester in Piegaro
the chandelier in front of the altar was made in
one of its glass factories. 

So the first person I contacted when I arrived in Piegaro was this American lady, by email because in the month of January she was in the United States. Then I started exploring the town and found out that people were extremely welcoming!

the cathedral of Orvieto's glass windows
were made in Piegaro. In this
window:
"St.Paul with Angels"

Until the 1960s Piegaro produced
this kind of bottle called
"fiasco". Straw was
applied by hand. 

Indeed the piegarese are very cheerful and friendly, treasurers of a tradition of glory thanks to the glass factories which have been part of their culture since the 13th century with different productions. They are used to receiving people for the glass factories business, for travelers stopping by and from the fact that many piegarese expatriated and eventually came back to their land of origin, attracting people from the places they had lived in. Last but not least Italians and foreigners have been selecting Piegaro as a favorite place to move in and some of them have contributed to enhancing the town experience.
For a certain period of time in more recent years, specifically in the 1960s, Piegaro was called "La Piccola Parigi" (tr. Little Paris), because its downtown area was full of small selected stores with many different artisans, of social life traditions such as early evening promenades, which were a must for the married couples of Piegaro. The town was more lively than ever reaching its highest peak from the Renaissance times.
                                                                       
In my recent readings about Piegaro, I discovered that the welcoming tradition belongs to the history of Piegaro itself and it is also witnessed by a very refined and distinguished person, Pope Paul III (1468-1549), a member of the Farnese family in Rome, born Alessandro Farnese. Pope Paul III visited Piegaro five times on his way from Rome to Perugia and he was delighted by the place and its people. Pope Paul III is remembered as one of the greatest patrons of the arts of the Renaissance period, he was in touch with very important artists such as Titian and Michelangelo; to this latter, he commissioned the Last Judgement and the Capitol Square in Rome. Paul III is remembered as one of the greatest Popes of all time.

The modern glass factory in Piegaro has
specialized in making bottles for
famous companies such as Martini.

In the book "Storia di Piegaro e delle sue vetrerie" (tr. history of Piegaro and its glass factories, 1976) by Senofonte Pistelli we may read the story of Pope Paul III visiting Piegaro and this is a summary of it: 

"Pope Paul III visited Piegaro for the fifth time in 1547 and within that occasion, he wanted to thank the Piegarese for their affectionate welcoming and the warmth they expressed towards him by giving them three gifts: the wall clock for the Church bell-tower, secondly the exemption from a tax called "Gabella dei quattro Piedi" (tr. duty of the four feet) for the 18 years to follow and finally Pope Paul III proclaimed Piegaro "Terra" (tr. Estate), the highest title for a town at that time. Piegaro was honored with these presents on September 20th, 1547. Pope Paul III died two years later but Piegaro remained in great consideration at the Roman Curia."

Lucretia Borgia was among the visitors of the
Castle of Deruta. According to history, she
had blue eyes and dark hair (brunettes used
to dye their hair blonde at that time, a tradition that
we still have in Italy). This is a rare painting with Lucretia's
original hair color.

Renaissance wall plate with the writing:
"La Giulia Bella" (Giulia The Beautiful)
16th Century - namely Lady Giulia Farnese.
 (Deruta Ceramics Museum)

Ceramic wall plate with the Farnese Family Coat of Arms,
namely Pier Luigi Farnese, and made in Deruta (A.D. 1537). 

Farnese
Coat of Arms

Pope Paul III had a famous sister, Lady Giulia Farnese (1474-1524), known as "La Giulia Bella" (Giulia the Beautiful). Giulia Farnese was a friend of another famous lady of the Renaissance period, Lady Lucrezia Borgia, who is mentioned among the visitors of Deruta. Indeed at that time a  famous wall plate with the writing "La Giulia Bella" was produced in Deruta and is part of the collection of the Deruta Ceramics Museum. 

Additionally at the Deruta Ceramics Museum we may notice a commemorative wall plate with the Farnese Family Coat of Arms and dedicated to the election of Pier Luigi Farnese as Duke in 1537. The reason why members of papal families were visiting Deruta may rely on the fact that during the so called "Salt War" of 1540 between Perugia and the papal states, Deruta stand for the Pope, thus ending the dominion of the Baglioni family in our town. In Deruta as a consequence of this war we have been using unsalted bread since that time as well as they do in Piegaro. 

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Notes: "Terra" (Estate) was the highest title out of three: 1. Terra (Estate), 2. Castrum (Castle), 3. Villa (Village). "Gabella dei Quattro Piedi": Tax of the four feet apparently refers to a length unit= 1 'piede' ('pes' in Latin)=0,2957 m. 

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The Importance of Being Earnest

St.Sebastian by Pietro Perugino (1448-1523), ca. 1495
On the arrow the classical writing in Latin:
"Petrus perusinus pinxit" (tr. painted by Pietro Perugino).

We may find the image of St. Sebastian in many churches in Umbria. He is among the most popular icons of Italian art history and of the history of the Catholic Church (he is the third most important Saint of the Church of Rome, after St. Peter and St. Paul) probably because he was considered an anti-pestiferous and several plagues occurred in Umbria in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance period. In Deruta, the last plague occurred in 1476;  in the area of Fontignano- Piegaro-Città Della Pieve in 1523 and caused the death of one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance art: Pietro Vannucci also known as Pietro Perugino.
Pietro Perugino painted the wonderful St. Sebastian of this image probably around 1495, now the property of the State Ermitage Museum of St.Petersburg, Russia.

Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, Church of St. Sebastian, Panicale
(ca. 1505) 

On the contrary, the St. Sebastian Pietro Perugino painted for the Church of Panicale, Italy (about 15 km. away from Piegaro) is still part of the original church decorations.
--------------------------------

The striking beauty of St. Sebastian by Pietro Perugino is an example of Renaissance art whose aim went beyond the faithful portrait of reality. Art was a way to describe a spiritual rebirth. As a consequence what came through was an idealization of the values of the person in the fresco, who was painted here as a handsome, kind, charitable and earnest young man: an angel.

-----------------------------------
St. Sebastian was probably born in Milan and died in Rome (256-288 A.D.). His father was originally from France and his mother was Milanese. He became a Roman soldier and was martyrized because of his joining the Christian faith. He would help prisoners and people in need, he became so pure that he could make miracles, he converted important Romans to the Christian religion to such an extent that his Emperor felt betrayed, being Sebastian one of his most faithful soldiers. Upon his martyrdom St. Sebastian's body was filled with so many arrows that he looked like a porcupine, the story says. St Sebastian benefitted from a miracle himself because he didn't die because of this original martyrdom. A miracle occurred. He died as a consequence of the later flagellation by the order of the same Emperor Diocletian. His body was buried in the catacombs later called after his name: Catacombs of St. Sebastian.

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SINE SOLE SILEO

An Italian wall sundial with the writing: "Torna il Sole, non
il tempo" (tr. "sun will return, your time won't"). The rooster and the owls
are the symbols of the dawn and the sunset, the time span of the sundial
being of 12 hours. 

SINE SOLE SILEO (Latin)=NO SUN, NO SHADE. 

Many years before solar panels were invented, solar clocks made their entrance into the world of useful tools operated by the sun and usually accompanied by inspiring sayings mostly written in Latin. In Italy, the making of solar clocks, specifically "sundials", was considered as an art including scientific studies of longitudes, latitudes and other astronomic data of places of interest. Sundials in Italy are usually part of walls, rarely laying flat which is how they originally started in the dawn of time, the first examples going back to the 3rd millennium B.C. in China.

Herewith follow some examples of Latin sayings that may be found on sundials in Italy: 

Non sine lumine (tr. not without light), Utere hora quae hodie tua (tr. use your time today), Sol omnibus lucet (tr. sun shines for all), Omnia Mutantur (tr. everything changes), Omnia habet tempus (tr. everything has its time).  

"Sine Sole Sileo" is Latin and literally means "Without the sun, I am
dumb" or as a free translation: "No sun, no shade".  Example of a modern
project for sundials with classical horoscope signs and
Roman numbers. 

The difficult part is now that I do not know how to read these clocks. This is the problem of lost traditions, it takes a longer time to understand them and use them in this case. In these works of art, there are usually pieces of information regarding the months of the year (by the help of horoscope signs), of the equinox and of seasons. The seasons of the year are usually written in Latin and they are as follows: Autumnus (fall), Hiems (winter), Aestas (summer), Ver (springs) with several short information about the coordinates of the place (see the example on the above image): LONG stands for "longitudine" (longitude), LAT stands for "Latitudine" (latitude), DEC stands for "Declinazione della Parete" or "Azimut" (wall declination or Azimuth), C stands for "Costante Locale" (local constant) and Slm stands for "Sul Livello del Mare" (above sea level) It takes an engineer to make a sundial or an amateur of astronomical geography, nevertheless to cope with this difficult task there are nowadays dedicated computer programs.  

A flat (horizontal) sundial with Roman numbers and motto in English
"I Tell Only Sunny Hours". The stick is called gnomon
and is necessary to create the shade which will catch the time. Metal.  

Sundials are usually slow compared to modern and perfect wristwatches, usually by half an hour. Slow vs Fast, the two adjectives in use for time measuring. Slow makes me think of Slowness (vs Speed) which has been a new concept in modern lifestyle for several years now: i.e. slow food, slow art, slow travel, an invitation to slow down in a world where the rhythms of industrial technologies seem to teach us about a fast way to live our personal life, which on the contrary needs slow times in order to fully enjoy health, peace and joy. In this regards the beauty of slowness is described by the famous Renaissance motto of Cosimo de' Medici which is "Festina Lente" (Italian translation: agisci presto ma con calma - English translation: act quickly but calmly) which is apparently an oxymoron but rather the description of art itself, the Art of Slowness that may be applied to the modern era and help us fight stress, anxieties and frustrations, going hand in hand with the benefits of contemporary technologies but with us mastering the time, which is a precious tool in our hands, therefore something to use wisely.

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IMAGO VITAE

Ikon with St. Joachim, Mary, and her mother Anne

JULY 26TH,  
St. Anne's Day

On July 26th in Italy, we celebrate the Feast Day of St.Anne, Mary's mother. St.Anne is usually juxtaposed to the message of fertility which is expressed in this ikon by her green dress. Anne means "favor" or "grace" and the name comes from Hebrew.

The cult of St.Anne existed in the Eastern civilizations since the 6th century and arrived in Western Europe in the 10th century.

Like the Virgin Mary, St.Anne is a religious translation of existing pagan myths and goddesses and we find St.Anne in many cultures. She is a translation of the concept of fertility and as a consequence of life, growth, and future.

In Deruta, one of the Churches is dedicated to St.Anne and is located in the borough of Deruta, the lower part of town, where the ceramics art tradition got started.

St.Anne was much venerated by the community of peasants and artisans in Deruta who celebrated this day with an important farmers market and attractions for visitors from out of town, in particular from Perugia. The tradition was brought back to life not too long ago, July 26th is once again an important Feast Day for the community of Deruta.

On top of the altar of the Church of S. Anne, a dedication written in Latin and dated 1744:

"STERILITAS FECUNDATA EXPIA • DEVOT [ION] E FELICIS •  ET CAROLI DETIRA TELLIS • ERECTUM A 1744". The translation to Italian is as follows: "“Per sacro voto di Felice e Carlo Tiratelli si erige questo altare nell’anno del Signore 1744 a ricordo della sterilità resa feconda”, in English "Out of gratitude we build this altar in the year 1744 as a memory of the healed sterility by (the families of) Felice and Carlo Tiratelli".

It was probably a thank you for the birth of Luigi Tiratelli, Carlo's only child, last heir of the Tiratelli family in Deruta, who on his turn had no children like his uncle Felice. 

The brothers Felice and Carlo Tiratelli were the owners of the Church since the late 17th century, in earlier years this Church was a hospital for pilgrims on the way from St. Jacques of Compostela to Rome (about 2,400 kilometers with Assisi as an additional destination) according to the latest theories about this site. The original entrance plaque to the hospital is dated 1594 and is preserved in the ceramic art museum of Deruta. 

The ceramic plaque of the hospital of St. Jacques in Deruta
dated 1594 and still active in 1649 according to Giuseppe Fabretti (1787-1869),
a Derutese born in Casalina (a locality of Deruta) and in love with the history
of Deruta and Umbria. It is through Giuseppe Fabretti that we get to know
much about our past. (credit: Ceramic art Museum of Deruta).

The writing on the plaque is in Latin, language in use in Renaissance times as a rule: "Hospitalis Iacobi Sub Regim Comunis" (tr. The Hospital of S. Jacques under the control of the Commune").

Around the mid 17th century, the hospital of St. Jacques was transferred to downtown Deruta because it had gotten too small and this is when the hospital was turned into a Church and restored for this purpose.

The man in the plaque carries messages of life as well, on his left shoulder he has a shell, a symbol of the pilgrimage, the shell, in particular, meant that the person had been to St.Jacques of Compostela in Spain. This shell allowed the pilgrim to receive discounts on taxes due and special prices on tolls to be paid on the way back. The shell had to be sewn on the mantel. The tradition still exists and nowadays pilgrims sew their shells on modern backpacks. Also in the origin, the shell was a practical tool to drink surface water from ponds on the round trip to and from the Sanctuary of St. Jacques of Compostela. Because this person has no halo around his head, we may suppose he was the example of a pilgrim (the cane, the bundle, and the Gospel in his right hand are additional symbols). 

Finally, in Renaissance art, the shell was the pagan symbol of fertility as per paintings such as the "Birth of Venus" by Botticelli, in this painting Botticelli painted the shell by inscribing it in the golden number.

Sandro Botticelli, "Birth of Venus" (circa 1482-1485), the shell is a symbol of fertility, Venus
is the image of life, Imago Vitae in Latin.