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: 

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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.

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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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A Couple More Steps Forward and...It's Paradise!

The Purgatory is the second book written by Dante Alighieri
about a life journey's story. 

The book is part of a famous trilogy called: Divine Comedy

I couldn't wait any longer to share something I discovered on the Purgatory image I posted the other day. The image was part of my blog post about evolution coming in threes. My great discovery is that right now I am close to Paradise. So I am there at the end of Purgatory.

Where do you think I am? You would never ever guess why and where I got stuck these past months in the Purgatory. There is a particular reason you may not aware of. It comes from my family name: Niccacci. I am stuck in the circle of gluttons!!! I only have two circles left and I am stuck with gluttons!

Indeed my last name Niccacci comes from an Italian nickname for glutton, gourmet and to some extent a person who likes the right things, meaning good food as an example and beautiful things. Such a person is defined as NICCA in our dialect. Niccacci is the corresponding noun to 'nicco' (masculine) and 'nicca' (feminine), which are adjectives.

It is such a relief when there is an answer to what is happening to us. In these past months, I have been eating everything that was at hand. The fridge would not open the door for me at a certain point anymore, so much he was tired of being opened every other minute. If only I had known the circle of gluttons was near the end of the Purgatory!

The circle of gluttons is before the last circle. The very last one is the circle of lust. I will skip on that. I will find a rope and climb on it to get to Paradise straight from the gluttons' circle. My great-grandparents, the original Niccacci family, will see me and help me get there with them. They will give me a hand. After all the connection is perfect: from the gluttons' circle to the authentic Niccacci family in Paradise.

I have been waiting to get to Paradise for two years now. Since the time I was in San Francisco in 2014 looking for an eligible partner. A partner I could not find at that time and I was forced to come back to Italy. It was like falling back to square one, to the book of Hell. If people only knew what I have been going through. So once I am in Paradise. I will stay there put and hold on to it!  

Aurora by Guercino: this is ideally what the conclusion of my journey with Cama should look like 

P.s. When I was in school I could not care less about the Divine Comedy. I am enjoying studying art and literature now because they mean something to me. The reason is there is a connection with my real life: my journey with CAMA. Works of art really take life now. They speak to me. I have always loved teaching and with the amazing experience I had in these past years I would have much to share with students:  about the importance of education and how studying could be turned into something useful and enjoyable if we knew what it is for. 

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Evolution Comes in Threes

Pseudo Granacci, Triumph of Venus, c. 1500, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA

This is purgatory according to Dante Alighieri. A very interesting
critic says Dante's Divine Comedy describes a creative journey.  No  more
struggling in Paradise I hope. Once you get there, you won't feel like
going back.  

One of the things I notice when I watch a movie is that actors try something for three times: the third and last attempt is the right one. This is what usually happens when characters hit a success: the third try is the good one. I am sure you noticed it, too. This happens also in other art productions, as an example in literature. The greatest Italian literary masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. The book is inspired by the biblical division of the afterlife: hell. purgatory and paradise. The most interesting critics of the Divine Comedy is that it is the description of a creative path. that means going through three steps that are similar to visiting hell, passing through purgatory and in the end, it's paradise: the celebration of victory. 

But what is a creative path if anything but an evolution journey? This is not all. The reason why I thought of these examples of things coming in threes is that recently I ran into a unique Italian Renaissance altarpiece containing an allegory coming in threes and...expressed by trees! 

The altarpiece with the trees coming in threes is homed in Asolo in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. It is a masterpiece by Lorenzo Lotto that he painted in 1506 at the young age of 26.  With this altarpiece the artist concluded his art experience in the area of Treviso. 

The trees coming in threes are from the left to the right: laurel,  cypress
and oak. (Virgin Mary altarpiece by Lorenzo Lotto in the
Cathedral of Asolo, Italy)  

In Lotto's altarpiece, three are the trees describing the evolution from redemption (alloro-laurel), death (cipresso-cypress) and resurrection (quercia-oak). I had never seen such an allegory in a painting before. Have you? Do you have any examples to share about evolution coming in threes? Have you ever experienced such a journey in your life?

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