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.