Daydreaming about Cama

I have given my daydreaming experience a try
both in the virtual world and in reality.
I have been going through several tests. 
Herewith follow a few examples. 

Daydreaming is my favorite activity. When I visit a place, a community, a store, wherever I notice there could be an improvement or I envision potentialities, I wish I could be there in that moment. This is an example of how I see an outlet village, my favorite shopping destination. What is important is that I live in the outlet village. That would be much fun! 

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Last year I dreamt of getting the attention of an entire village in Italy to welcome customers. A projection of what I used to do at Cama as a shopping assistant but on a larger scale. 

Early this year I dreamt of being the art director of a group of artisans of different products. 

No matter how many doors have closed,
no matter how long it will take, the effort makes it worth it. It pays you back.

Assisting shoppers, caregiving and teaching are based on
the same rules.  These are my arts. They are accompanying me
towards new horizions for Cama. 

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Catherine wheels & other miracle stories

Stunning fireworks: human Catherine wheel 

St Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio, 1595-1596, Thyssen-Bournemisza Museum,
Madrid. St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patron saint of potters.  

A 'Catherine wheel' is a type of firework but originally it was St Catherine's torture device: a hooked wheel upon which bodies were restrained in a spreadeagle position. The Catherine wheel was better known as a breaking wheel and the name speaks for itself: we can imagine the painful saint's path to death as the expression 'coup de grâce' (tr. final straw) comes from this ancient punishment practice. But St Catherine escaped her death with the help of a miracle. According to the legend, the wheel of torture fell into pieces once St Catherine touched it. St Catherine of Alexandria is among the saints who didn't die as a consequence of the original death to which they were sentenced. Later on, St Catherine's wheel was translated into the potters' wheel and became a symbol of creativity. 

St. Sebastian by Perugino (1495 circa), Hermitage
Museum, St. Petersburg 

A similar story is that of St Sebastian. He also escaped his original punishment: shooting to death by arrows. St Sebastian's body was pierced with arrows like a strainer and left for dead but he recovered from his wounds. This is the reason why he was venerated as one of the anti-pestiferous saints and a symbol of a healthy body. St Sebastian is nowadays the patron saint of athletes.

St Januarius is the patron saint of Naples 
and of blood banks. 
Little holy picture. 

Lions were merciful to St Januarius (San Gennaro).  

The most famous saint who escaped his first sentence to death is probably St Januarius, affectionately known as San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples. He was originally thrown to the lions but the lions reacted as if they were not hungry that day. St Gennaro tamed the lions in some way and kneeled to the saint's charisma. 


St Catherine of Alexandria with St Sebastian and St Januarius were sentenced to death by martyrdom in the 4th century A.D. 

San Gennaro (St Januarius) is famous
for the annual miracle of
the liquefaction of his blood that takes
place in Naples every 19th September.

Last but not least is St Stephen's story, the closest saint to Jesus as he was the first martyr of the Christian church (36 A.D.). His legend is beautifully described by a series of frescoes in the Cathedral of Prato. St Stephen was originally sentenced to death by starvation when he was born. St Stephen was replaced with another child, so that his cradle was not empty, taken to the woods where no one would have looked for him. Here the saint was nurtured by a deer who saved st Stephen's life and he grew up as a healthy young man.  But St. Stephen's story is unique. 

St Stephen, fresco, Church of Villafranca Piemonte, Italy

Siena pattern by Cama, reproduction of sitting deers from the
marble Cathedral of Siena. St Stephen was saved by a deer as a newborn.
St Stephen is the patron saint of altar servers.

The saints' end of the story is a tragic one for in the 4th-century emperor Diocletianus sentenced to death the highest number of  Christians in all times. A few men and women did not die in the initial assault thanks to the miracles performed either by the saints themselves or by angels.
However, most of them were coldly beheaded later. Had I been them I would not have argued with the Emperor again. Then I would have lived!  I would have proved that miracles do exist. Miracles are a true blessing and a wonderful gift that can be expressed and shared in many ways. 

'St Stephen Born and Replaced by Another Child' by Filippo Lippi, 1452-1465,  Cathedral of Prato, Italy  (on the right the deer watching over St Stephen and waiting for him in the woods where he was taken to die of starvation). 

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"C" for "CHURCHES"

The Cathedral of Siena, famous for its marble floor, is dedicated to Our Lady
of the Assumption. 

Beginning October I realized why I kept posting images of churches on the Friends of Cama facebook page.

There are a couple of reasons to this selection. In the first place it comes from my personal experience of visiting the Assisi Cathedral on a regular base to admire its art, its silence and peace. It is the closest important church to Deruta. Indeed for three years I spent new years eve in the Cathedral of Assisi. It was one of the best moments in my life. I also like visiting churches when I adiscover new places in Italy. 

The Cathedral of Cascia dedicated to St. Rita, Patron Saint of the Impossible

Secondly churches celebrate ideal relationships among human beings by taking inspiration from models of perfection: saints. Churches are beautiful temples of simple values such as sharing, helping and serving as sacred gifts. 

I wish to extend this concept to shopping and create products and services that will last forever. Sooner or later we will have to talk about shopping. Please kindly let me know when you feel ready for something new on the horizon. I am getting there! 

The Cathedral of Assisi, dedicated to St. Francis, Patron Saint of Italy

This is my sixth post of short  stories entitled "Cake Stands for Cama": stories about my favorites starting with "C".  I hope you enjoyed it!

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Beautiful Brides

'IVLIA BELLA' (tr. Julia the Beautiful)
Lover's Cup, Casteldurante, first half of the XVI th century, private coll. 

In the Renaissance period in Italy gentlemen started the tradition of offering ceramic gifts as a token of  their love and devotion and to celebrate their bethrotal and any important event in the couple's married life. They were called 'Loving Cups': round ceramic plates with the portrait of the bride to be and a flying ribbon with the young lady's name and bella (beautiful) or gentile (kind) inscribed on the ceramic ornament. 

Sometimes the 'Lover's cup' had a painted portrait of the couple. There could also be a written dedication on the ribbon, a saying or a proverb. 

'UN BEL VOLTO VALE PIU' CHE SENO E ROBA' (tr. A beautiful face is worth more
than breast and possessions),  Lover's cup, Casteldurante,
first half of the XVI the century  (Hermitage Museum)

The ceramic lover's cup tradition started in Casteldurante, Italy at the end of the 15th century. Casteldurante was a  famous Renaissance ceramic town located in Le Marche region, known nowadays as Urbania. Soon after this tradition expanded to my ceramic home town, Deruta. 

Ceramicists had ceramic ladies' portrait samples available in their workshops and lover's cups were made upon special orders by additing custom made dedications to the selected model. As simple as that. 

'OGINI TEN [...] IENE CHI PO' (tr. ?)  Lover's cup, Casteldurante, 1530-1540 (Hermitage Museum)

In Deruta and other ceramic towns in Italy the 'Lover's cup' tradition lasted until the 18th century. Lover's cups were commonly known as 'BELLAs plates'. This may be the reason why it was said that men used to come to Deruta to meet their brides. What was the reason for choosing Deruta? After all there are beautiful young ladies everywhere in Italy and in the rest of the world. It must be some kind of heritage of the BELLA plates. This must the reason. It must be it. 

This thought came to my mind when I met my beloved last year in January with about a thirty years delay. I told him that it was not his fault, he was not informed about this Deruta tradition as he originally comes from Northern Italy: he should have driven towards the river Tiber instead of driving the opposite direction. This is what traditions are for, they make life easier. I was lucky to move to Piegaro and find him myself. I am glad it is never too late and time is a state of mind. Places aren't and I feel lucky that Fortune brought me here at last.                                                                                                                                                                          

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NEW! Posts editing

From the Desk of Roberta Niccacci

Re: Proofreading 
Dear Readers, 

A dream of mine is coming true, starting today I will have my personal posts' editor. The reason is that in the first place I wish everybody to enjoy an easy and pleasant reading, secondly it is a rule for authors who are not writing in their mother tongue to have their work proofread. Many thanks for following my blog, your visits are very important to me. Join me on facebook and twitter, I would be very pleased to have you in my international circle of friends! 

Have a great day,

Roberta 

find me on facebook: www.facebook.com/friendsofcama
follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FriendsofCama

Safe Travels, St. Catherine of Alexandria!

St. Catherine of Alexandria painted by Raphael  (Urbino 1482- Roma 1520)

'St. Catherine of Alexandria', painted by Raphael at the beginning of his career is going to be the Ambassador for Urbino in its bid to become the European Capital City of Culture in 2019.

This work of art will be exhibited at the Italian Culture Institute of New York from October 1st - 28th October. 

St. Catherine of Alexandria was very important in the Renaissance period and we can find paintings of her in museums and churches throughout Italy as she was the Patron Saint of Arts. 

Recently, I have been to Puglia and Liguria and I was impressed to see many paintings of St. Catherine, despite knowing she was a very popular saint in the Renaissance period.  I found a fresco of her in the Cathedral of Ostuni (Brindisi) and a painting in the Cathedral of San Nicolò in Pietra Ligure (Savona) in which she is painted with a piece of breaking wheel and an elephant,  probably with reference to her North African origins.

St. Catherine of Alexandria is mentioned in the Legenda Aurea and it is celebrated every 25^th of November.  In Deruta, St. Catherine is the Patron Saint of the town and of potters.  Therefore on the 25th November every year, all businesses are closed to celebrate the day with many social events. 

St. Catherine of Alexandria in the Cathedral
of Pietra Ligure, Italy is painted with a little elephant
next to her. 

Proofreading by A.S. 

Parmigianino, Mystic Marriage of St.Catherine of Alexandria at the hands of baby Jesus (c. 1527-31)

More posts about St. Catherine of Alexandria in this blog: 

1. http://friendsofcama.blogspot.it/2010/08/november-25th-feast-of-saint-catherine.html

2. http://friendsofcama.blogspot.it/2011/06/deruta-symbols.htm

3. http://friendsofcama.blogspot.it/2011/10/saint-catherine-of-alexandria-favorite.html

                                                                  

4. http://friendsofcama.blogspot.it/2011/12/majolica-of-orvieto-italy.html

5. http://friendsofcama.blogspot.it/2013/07/camas-true-colors.html

6. http://friendsofcama.blogspot.it/2013/08/3-c-stands-for-catherine.html

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