Gioie di Testa - Renaissance Hat Badges

Pinturicchio, Libreria Piccolomini, Wedding scene, Cathedral of Siena: men are
wearing hat badges 

"Gioie di Testa" is a very appropriate Italian description for the jewels that men wore on their hats in Renaissance paintings. This name is most fitting to the cultural paintings' level and the men who are wearing them.

"Gioie di Testa" in Italian literally means "Head jewels", "Jewels of the head".  In the beginning, I called these jewels by the name of brooches. I also described the meaning of these symbols for the men who were wearing them: brooches were representing the triumph of Virtue. Virtue was sealed by a luxury brooch.

I wrote two blog posts about this subject on this blog a few years ago. Blog posts were called: Brooches and the Art of Virtuosity (2012) and  Time for Action! (2013). I have always kept in mind how much I liked these jewels. The most talented artist who could paint "Gioie di Testa" is Pinturicchio, the Italian Renaissance artist who was born in Perugia. He was known as the artist of little things, of details. He was not as famous as Perugino, however, highly inspired the arts & crafts industry in the centuries to follow.

Jeweled gondola. This is the first time
I learned about such a usage of the word: jewel
(from the English teaching book I edited) 

What happens is that only a few days ago I found out what the perfect translation for "Gioie di Testa" could be. I would translate it: "Jewelled hat badges". How did I learn about the words ' jeweled' and 'hat badges'? By interacting with new friends of mine with whom I share my passion for the Italian Renaissance and the history of art.

The term 'jeweled' in particular was used in an Engish teaching book I recently did proofreading of and sent the corrections to the publisher.  'Hat badge' I learned from my friend Rosemary who used it as a description for a piece that is housed in one of my favorite museums in the world, the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

This is a simple example of how the learning process works when applied to something we truly enjoy and by interacting with friends who share interests with us. I find this process extremely interesting and I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed my blog post.

More about the jeweled gondola in the image on the left: Giovan Battista Scolari, jeweled gondola, 1568, Palazzo Pitti, Florence  Enameled gold, three pearls, three rubies, five (black) diamonds, two emeralds. Curiosity: diamonds were black because they were raw. They still didn't know how to cut diamonds!

A "Gioie di Testa" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Partly enameled gold set with diamonds and pearls, c. 1460-80. It represents St. John the Baptist in a Landscape. In English, it's called a hat badge and in French an "Enseigne" (a sign). Evidently, hat badges were worn by French Renaissance men as well.

(Last image description by my friend Rosemary who posted it on the dedicated  Facebook Renaissance art event where you can find more information, images, and curiosities)

(to be continued...will post more when I find hat badges closeups from famous paintings. Could not find much online)

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Gioie di Testa

Pinturicchio, Libreria Piccolomini, Wedding scene, Cathedral of Siena: men are
wearing hat badges 

"Gioie di Testa" is a very appropriate Italian description for the jewels that men wore on their hats in Renaissance paintings. This name is most fitting to the cultural paintings' level and the men who are wearing them.

"Gioie di Testa" in Italian literally means "Head jewels", "Jewels of the head".  In the beginning, I called these jewels by the name of brooches. I also described the meaning of these symbols for the men who were wearing them: brooches were representing the triumph of Virtue. Virtue was sealed by a luxury brooch.

I wrote two blog posts about this subject on this blog a few years ago. Blog posts were called: Brooches and the Art of Virtuosity (2012) and  Time for Action! (2013). I have always kept in mind how much I liked these jewels. The most talented artist who could paint "Gioie di Testa" is Pinturicchio, the Italian Renaissance artist who was born in Perugia. He was known as the artist of little things, of details. He was not as famous as Perugino, however, highly inspired the arts & crafts industry in the centuries to follow.

Jeweled gondola. This is the first time
I learned about such a usage of the word: jewel
(from the English teaching book I edited) 

What happens is that only a few days ago I found out what the perfect translation for "Gioie di Testa" could be. I would translate it: "Jewelled hat badges". How did I learn about the words ' jeweled' and 'hat badges'? By interacting with new friends of mine with whom I share my passion for the Italian Renaissance and the history of art.

The term 'jeweled' in particular was used in an Engish teaching book I recently did proofreading of and sent the corrections to the publisher.  'Hat badge' I learned from my friend Rosemary who used it as a description for a piece that is housed in one of my favorite museums in the world, the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

This is a simple example of how the learning process works when applied to something we truly enjoy and by interacting with friends who share interests with us. I find this process extremely interesting and I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed my blog post.

More about the jeweled gondola in the image on the left: Giovan Battista Scolari, jeweled gondola, 1568, Palazzo Pitti, Florence  Enameled gold, three pearls, three rubies, five (black) diamonds, two emeralds. Curiosity: diamonds were black because they were raw. They still didn't know how to cut diamonds!

A Gioie di Testa from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Partly enameled gold set with diamonds and pearls, c. 1460-80. It represents St. John the Baptist in a Landscape. In English, it's called a hat badge and in French an "Enseigne" (a sign). Evidently, hat badges were worn by French Renaissance men as well.

(Last image description by my friend Rosemary who posted it on the dedicated  Facebook Renaissance art event where you can find more information, images, and curiosities)

(to be continued...will post more when I find hat badges closeups from famous paintings. Could not find much online)

Cama® is a cultural brand

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Renaissance Art Curiosities in Times of Rebirth   

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St. Mama's Prayer: Paleographist for a Day

The detail from an Italian Renaissance painting piqued my curiosity.
What does the book say? 

The other day I was a paleographist for one day. My dear friend Rosemary posted a painting on Facebook by an artist I did not know, Francesco dei Franceschi. His San Mamante, St. Mama's is housed in the civic museum in Verona. I can't wait to see this painting in person as my Daniele has decided that our next trip to Italy is going to be to Verona and Mantova. It may happen soon. So I have an extra good reason to visit. 

The painting by Francesco dei Franceschi depicts San Mamante with a lion on his right side. The saint is holding a book in his left hand. The book's writing is gothic style with many syncopes. Syncopes are expressed by little signs over single words. They indicate that there is a letter or more missing in a word. At first sight, I could tell the original writing was much longer than what was on the painting:  the writing was full of syncopes. From the few words I had read, the writing was in Latin: 

I definitely wanted to decipher what the book said. It was a curiosity my new Facebook friend Laura had expressed to be fulfilled in one of her comments to the painting. She had piqued my curiosity, too! 

The first thing I did was enlarge the image that was posted on Facebook (see above). On the internet, there was no better resolution. Then I found out that by using my cellular touch phone I could obtain the best enlargements. In the beginning, despite I had enlarged the image, I could not see the writing clearly. So I was almost giving up. I was also tempted to write to the civic museum in Verona. I had marked down their email address already. Then what happened is that the next morning I woke up and said to myself I should have a bigger picture of St. Mama's painting. So I opened my computer and stood back enough to see the image better. I thought at that point I could read more than the few Latin words I had spotted in the beginning. "Deo vivo qui...[...] Deus meus" was about all I could read that made sense. Not much). 

So I looked for a St. Mama's prayer on the internet and my research took me to the gospel of St. Luc, where it says that God is the God of the living (St. Luc: 20,27.34-38). No way the book writing and St. Luc's gospel matched. 

The magic happened when I stood back in front of the writing and continued reading: «Deo vivo qui REGNAT...[...] servio et...[...] me [...] deus meus »  With these additional words in mind I went and redo my research on the internet and...I found the original book from which the writing came. I found it on Google books!                

So the solution is that St. Mama's book repeats a sentence from a book called: Acta Sanctorum, containing the history of saints by the saint's day. In particular, it is a sentence that is part of the chapter dedicated to Saint Magnus martyr: The writing goes: « DEO VIVO, QUI REGNAT IN CAELIS, FERVIO, ET NUMQUAM ME DERELINQUET DOMINUS DEUS MEUS »

(English translation: "The living God, who reigns in heaven, I serve, O Lord my God, and he will never abandon me." - Source: Acta Sanctorum. Die decima nona Augusti page 719- paragraph  6.

Collectore Petro Calo Dominicano. San Magno Martire Caesarea in Cappadocia ) 

Francesco dei Franceschi, San Mamante (st. Mama's),
circa 1450, civic museum, Verona, Italy 

At that point, all words were matching except for fervio-servio. What Francesco dei Franceschi wrote on the painting is the verb: servio. It starts with the letter that we currently use in Italian: it's the verb 'to serve' with initial "S": servire, to serve same as in English. This change from fervio to servio is for a professional paleographist to explain. There must have been a consonant rotation from the time the original book was written and the painting that belongs to the 15th century was created. Or maybe it was just an error that the painter made because servio starting with 'S' was more familiar to Francesco de Franceschi. In any case, the artist should have been faithful to the original Latin sentence. 

I hope you enjoyed my discovery. I love doing this as I am very curious. When I visit Verona, I will look for a book with the book's saying interpretation by a real paleographist!

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The Story of Three Ceramic Urns from Montelupo Fiorentino

The first urn is from the Cini Gallery in Venice 

I have never been to the ceramic museum of Montelupo Fiorentino. I would like to go sometime in the future as I have always been in love with their ceramics and now I have a story to tell.

Montelupo Fiorentino was considered as the furnace of Florence in times past. This is where the ceramic tradition started at the end of the 13th century and flourished in the Renaissance period. Montelupo's ceramic style is unmistakable and you can spot it immediately. You can see it a lot in stores in Orvieto, Siena and of course in Florence. Its patterns are very warm, colorful and the background glaze is off-white. They are rich in fruits, floral swirls, and leaves. 

Many beautiful antique pieces from Montelupo Fiorentino are in museums in Italy and abroad. Last year I saw a couple of beautiful urns from the 16th century at the Cini Gallery in Venice. A similar urn was on display at an exhibition in Florence a few years before and I thought they look like belonging to the same batch. They actually did.

So in my mind, these three urns were together again for one day!  

The reason why I do not visit museums or do things just for the sake of it is that I must have an important reason for doing things. What you read here that I am doing or writing about comes from real interactions with friends, contacts, and acquaintances whom I know in person or I have met on Facebook.

The second urn is from the Cini Gallery in Venice

Interactions with others truly pique my interest and make my creativity come to life. I think it comes from the fact that the first thing I have learned as a little girl at my family's ceramic workshop was serving customers. If customers were not there, there was nothing for me to do except wrap things for them, paint or talk to the artists. I was still doing something for customers, however, my task was welcoming them at the factory. Well, of course in the beginning I was my father's assistant. I have learned to serve customers from my dad who is the sweetest man of all. I will always be thankful to him for teaching me the secrets to best serve our customers.    

The third urn is from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

I have promised my father I will bring those days back in a different way. Whatever time it takes I had him promise on his turn to wait for the change to happen. He said he will live to be nearly 100 years old like our great-grandfather. So that gives me more time indeed. Thank you, Grazie!

So what happens is that these past years have given me the opportunity of interacting with my beloved customers on a different level: I am sharing the same interests in Italy with friends who are in love with Italy. It all started by accident and little by little I discovered that these friends are the same customers who visited our workshop. I could still interact with them by exchanging interests: Italian art, Italian cooking and everything beautiful there is in Italy. I can still meet them ideally outside the workshop and see them in action. Sometimes former customers visit me in Italy and that is the greatest gift of all: they are the famous, unique Friends of Cama.

The ceramic urns from the Cini Gallery collection and the urn with the Medici's coat of arms from the Uffizi Gallery (seen at the exhibition: L'Alchimia e le Arti, Florence, 2012) are part of an apothecary production setting the time of the pieces to the second half of the 16th century.

These ceramic containers were used to preserve farmaceutical medications often based on a sugar base. The three urns all look the same size as described in the exhibition catalog that I brought in Florence four years ago and related to the urn with the Medici coat of arms. Dimensions are: 33,5 cm high and 11,5 cm is the foot diameter which in inches is: 13 1/4" by 4 1/2" (foot diameter).

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My Note about Yesterday's Earthquake in Central Italy

The tortoise as a lucky charm   

The Cathedral of Norcia before after the earthquake that shook central Italy on October 30th around 7.40am

The cathedral of Norcia that collapsed yesterday under the earthquake broke my heart. Sacred places are the most ancient tradition we are carrying on in Italy. These places are like our identity card. They make us feel we belong to Italy.

The population of Norcia and its surroundings is safe and they have reached the Adriatic coast by bus organized by the Italian government. Some of our fellow citizens have arrived also here at the Trasimeno lake.

The people of Norcia, Castelluccio, Amatrice and other lovely small boroughs in the area between Umbria and Le Marche have left behind their homes, their belongings and everything they treasured.

I know what it feels like to lose everything. When you lock the door for the last time. That's how my blog started and why I am writing on this page. My family and I, we have lost everything we had: our workshop was our life.

Good luck to Norcia

However, there is much we can do if we are still alive. Our body becomes our home. We can think of ourselves as tortoises. That's actually what we become by getting stronger: tortoises. The warmth that we can spread through our body and mind is great. Life is sacred within us that we want to keep alive by praying in sacred places if we feel like it. For sure churches in Italy are inspiring thanks to their art. Art is for everybody to enjoy. It is not a matter of religion.

So I am sending out to the people of Norcia and surroundings all my best wishes for a safe recovery. You can never guess what is waiting for you if you accept your destiny, fight, hold on and rely on your resilience.

Current priorities regarding rebuilding the areas destroyed by the earthquake according to the government are 1. people, 2. churches 3. businesses. I agree with these priorities. Identity comes first. That is exactly what my priorities have been in reviving Cama. Of course, for me, the list of priorities came in by accident. I have discovered my destiny by the go.

Good fortune everybody in Norcia and let the tortoise be your lucky charm. An invitation to read my blog post about the meaning of Cosimo I de Medici's tortoise, Cosimo's favorite symbol.  I have written a few blog posts about the tortoise topic. The monks in Norcia will apologize to me for mixing sacred and profane. However, the profane bring some cheerfulness in relieving tragedies. This is also part of our traditions in Italy: we mix sacred and profane. It's one of our best gifts!

If you wish to make a donation to rebuild the cathedral of Norcia, herewith follows the direct link to the Benedictine monks. This is the newsletter the monks of Norcia sent out yesterday.

The monks of Norcia are on Twitter at this address: @monksofnorcia - We are now following them on Twitter!

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A New Take on an Old Story

PINNED POST FROM ROBERTA'S DESK 

The Friends of Cama's story: it's all about a creative journey! 

Who are the Friends of Cama? 

The friends of Cama are the loyal customers I have served for many years at my family's workshop in Italy and who are following me on this blog, on the Facebook page, and on Twitter. 

Cama's story 

In 2011 Cama ran out of business and in that year I started a revival journey that has changed my life. In the beginning, it was a matter of finding ways to get the business restarted. None of the business solutions where I counted on others would work. No way I could merge with other workshops in my town. Other attempts failed. So I found myself forced to count on myself. My close friends, my brother and the thought of my beloved customers were still there.

The Friends of Cama: the biggest gift of all

What happened is that the previous year a group of customers had gathered in the United States to support Cama and they touched my heart. They called themselves: Friends of Cama. This is why I am so fond of this name.

But what could I do by myself? Almost nothing was related to ceramics. The workshop's production had soon been replaced by another supplier. We were out of the game.

So what could I do that was not already available in the market? I said to myself I would come up with something different and eventually present the ceramic collections in the future. Eventually.

The Friends of Cama blog 

A couple of years earlier I had started a blog where I wrote about Italian Renaissance art curiosities. I had been inspired by my family's traditional patterns that date back to the Renaissance period in Italy. So by way of art, I got interested to see the works of art in person. I started going to places in Italy. New horizons were opening up like never in the past.

Discovering Italy through my customers' eyes is still an amazing experience: I have seen places in Italy I had never visited before and even got interested in Italian cooking: the two things customers did during their stay in Italy when they visited us in Deruta. Shopping at our workshop was part of their activities.

My first approach with a cooking class: a disaster

I am amazed in got interested in Italian cooking as I am more a good fork, we say in Italy: Una buona forchetta. My approach to my first Italian cooking lesson was a disaster. However, cooking was meant to be a part of my journey with Cama. Indeed my family's workshop was specialized in dinnerware. I can always say, that I resumed my career by washing those dishes that we used to make! 

My Odyssey: distractions taking me away from my mission

Since 2011 my journey for Cama went through several interruptions due to the fact that I got distracted by many things around me. In the meantime, my vision of Cama grew stronger and stronger. What were only scattered visions, in the beginning, seem like falling into place? It takes a long time to make a dream come true. So I now know for sure that reviving Cama is my biggest life challenge. I am putting my heart and soul to make my dream happen and I am inviting you to follow my story on the Facebook page.

Do you like my story? Are you fond of life stories?

For everybody else who is not fond of life stories, the Friends of Cama Facebook page is an opportunity to armchair travel in Italy. I am on Facebook every day with new posts and blog updates. Forwarding posts to Twitter. Therefore I would be very happy if you shared my page with your friends.

New friends and my fiancé have joined me on my journey in the last couple of years. We are now a team. So I am pleased to welcome you and your friends to armchair traveling with us on the most amazing experience in my life!  - Roberta

            

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MANDORLA: an Italian Art Renaissance Curiosity

Pietro Perugino (Italian painter, 1446–1524), Virgin and Child in a Mandorla with Cherubim
c  1480- 1500 National Gallery, London 

MANDORLA is the second Italian art history word I run into based on my art discussions with my friend Rosemary. 

Mandorla is an Italian word that we lent to the English language as is. Same as LOGGIA that describes a typical Renaissance architectural patio attached to a church (like in the Spoleto's cathedral) or a belltower (like in Venice) or to a palace such as in Siena (seen in the Piazza del Campo). Therefore when we say 'Loggia' we know what we mean without translating it. Loggia is the first word I shared with Rosemary upon our art armchair traveling on Facebook. 

The same popularity should apply to the word MANDOLA,  however, this latter is less known than Loggia. So we have to translate it to be understood. Translating the word "Mandorla" is easy to do though. It is only one step away. 'Mandola' means almond. In art history terms 'Mandorla' is also known as "almond-shaped aureole". Here is a Mandola longer description from the National Gallery's glossary: 

------------------------------------

Mandorla

Mandorla is the Italian word for almond. In painting or sculpture, the term is used to describe the almond-shaped enclosure which is sometimes depicted around Christ or the Virgin Mary. For example, the Virgin and Child are represented in a Mandorla in Crivelli's version of 'The Vision of the Blessed Gabriele', and 'The Trinity' is represented within one in Barnaba da Modena's panel.

Mandorlas are most often depicted in the context of Christ's Ascension and the Virgin's Assumption.

------------------------------------

I have seen several Mandorlas in Italian paintings in the churches I have visited these past years. There are several descriptions about the origins of such an almond-shaped aureole coming both from mythology as well as from the Christian tradition. Among all theories, the one I prefer is that the almond is linked to the almond tree and to fertility. 

The traditional almond candies from Sulmona, Italy - We call them CONFETTI

That was indeed the first thing that came to my mind: the almond candies we use in Italy for weddings share the same origin as the Mandola in religious paintings! 

As a memory of a wedding or special celebrations such as baptism and graduation in Italy, we give guests a favor containing 5 almond candies as a sign of prosperity. 

The most important production place of almond candies in Italy is SULMONA in the Abruzzi region. It is where the candy tradition started in Italy. I was in Sulmona for the first time in 2000 and I liked Sulmona very much. There are all sorts of almond candies there, anything you can think of. In Sulmona, producers have highly specialized in the field of almond candies and they are still the best in Italy. 

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Interpreting Italian Renaissance Paintings from a Different Perspective

Hans Holbein, Venus and Amor, circa 1524/1525,
Kunstmuseum Basel (The model is the artist's mistress)

I originally meant to write a post about the Renaissance courtesan. It was a topic of interest for me some time ago when I had noticed the distance in terms of quality between the Renaissance courtesans and the nowadays escorts. I wanted to express how everything in the Renaissance period was of a higher level and so I wrote some notes about it. However, I thought that writing a blog post about this comparison was not appropriate and would not take me much further on my journey.  

So I started wondering what courtesan meant in a relationship with mistress and lover. I asked my dear friend Rosemary for confirmation that my supposition about the meaning was correct. Then I waited for more inspiration to write this post and this is what I came up with. I hope you will enjoy it.  

The Renaissance courtesan was in general a very educated woman who could speak foreign languages and was talented in communication, politics, and in the art of love. The  Renaissance courtesan's religious counterpart is St. Catherine of Alexandria, who had the Renaissance courtesan's talents except for being a mistress.  A Renaissance courtesan could never become a saint. However, a Renaissance courtesan, as well as a mistress, could be an artist's model thanks to their beauty.  

Titian, La Bella, 1536, Galleria Palatina, Florence
(The model is often described as a courtesan from Urbino)

An example of a mistress as a model comes from Raphael's Madonna Sistina, which is famous for the pensive angels at the bottom. We have seen these angels reproduced on many popular wall picture decorations in the past couple of decades and they probably are still fashionable. Indeed the Virgin Mary's model is known as La Fornarina, Raphael's mistress.

Raphael, Madonna sistina, 1513-1514, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany
(the model was known as Raphael's mistress) 

There is much secular life in religious art paintings from the Italian Renaissance period. The secret to me is reading such paintings from a different perspective: which means that most of the time commissioners had themselves painted in the shape of immaculate religious saints so that they could not be attacked by their people.

Such freedom was extended to the artist himself who selected real women from the real world contributing by their beauty to make the paintings eternal. What could be best than celebrating one's own mistress and all the love, story, and emotions involved?

Another point of view is using irony in order to decipher Italian Renaissance paintings. What is refraining us from thinking that the angels at the Virgin Mary's feet are bored and annoyed by the fact that they cannot keep good company with their famous angel friend Cupid?

Last but not least I wish to mention St. Catherine of Alexandria and the triumph of love with her mystical marriage with Baby Jesus. St. Catherine of Alexandria in Renaissance paintings is depicted as a young woman to marry. That's what love is all about when we think of it as a romantic liaison that is celebrated with a wedding. In a way, the woman we see and wish to take to the altar is a symbol of perfection.

One way or the other the Renaissance courtesan, the mistress, and the romantic lover all receive their moment of glory through art.

Parmigianino, Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria, circa 529, National Gallery, London
(The ideal lover for life: St. Catherine of Alexandria)

I wish to thank my friend Rosemary for her contribution to this post. Yesterday I called her Rosemerina, with the endearment I like to use so much in Italian. I often call my American friends with endearments to such an extent that they call me with endearments in return. In particular, they call me FORRESTINA from Forrest Gump, because maybe I do not look that smart but I end up everywhere and get lots of opportunities in life. Go, Forrestina, go!

                                                                   

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"That's Another Pair of Sleeves!"

"That's another pair of sleeves" is a colorful expression that we use in Italian to describe something that is about a completely different thing with no connection to a previous one. The expression comes from the Medieval and Renaissance use of interchangeable sleeves in men's and women's dress in particular.

Agnolo Bronzino, Maria di Cosimo I de' Medici, 1551, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

In Europe, British English provides the expression: "That's a different kettle of fish", while French and other European languages use the idiomatic expression with the sleeves. Other English sayings that are similar to "That's another pair of sleeves" are: "It's a whole new ballgame", "That's a horse of a different color" or simply "It's another thing" and "It's something else", where the else in this idiom means "other than ordinary."

For us in Italy "That's another pair of sleeves" is the expression that to us makes more sense of all the above translations. The reason is that most of the time we use idiomatic expressions by way of tradition without being aware of where they come from. We feel comfortable with using these expressions that our ancestors have used before we did.

We learn idiomatic expressions from our grandparents, our parents, and our community. As idiomatic expressions are often related to arts and history, they can be thoroughly understood only by researching the expression's origin. However, we fully understand what we say without going into the etymology of it. It's the use of the idiom that tells us it is the correct thing to say.

For us in Italy "That's another pair of sleeves" has a positive connotation, probably coming from the beauty of the example it is related to. In terms of comparison of the two things we are mentioning, the second term of comparison is way better than the first one, the best of the two, the right thing.

The interchangeable sleeve tradition in the Renaissance was also part of the lover's cup tradition of giving an engagement token of love to one's beloved for their wedding. Interchangeable sleeves could be so valuable that they were kept in safes.

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