L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 3 Italian September harvest: a tradition with roots in a Greek myth found out about the affair he had with Semele while she was preg- nant. Appearing as an old lady, Juno befriended Semele and the woman confided who was the actual father of the baby she was carrying in her womb. Juno, furious, pretended to not believe her, planting seeds of doubt in her mind and tricking her into asking to see Jupiter as he really was. Jupiter begged her not to ask this, but she persisted and he agreed. Therefore he came to her wreathed in bolts of light- ning; mortals, however, could not look upon an undisguised god without dying, and she per- ished in the ensuing blaze. Jupiter rescued the fetal Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh. Nine months later Dionysus, or Bacchus, was born. As a child, Dionysus was tutored by Silenus, who was a great lover of wine, and because of his passion, he often had to be carried home on the back of a donkey. The legends says that Dionysus was the last god to join the twelve Olympians, but before he took his place at Olympus, he wandered the world for many years, going as far as India to teach people how to grow vines. In art representations, his plants are vines and twirling ivy, and Dionysus often carries a pinecone-topped staff fol- lowed by goat-footed Satyrs and Maenads, wild women who would dance energetically around him. Today what is left of the leg- end is the clear perception that winemaking is not simply a process through which men cre- Continued from page 1 Tucked away in a small cor- ner of a little church in a small town exists a big fresco proba- bly painted by huge renaissance painter Piero della Francesca of Arezzo. This portrait of Saint Antonio Abate is located in the Pieve di San Paolo. Originally a Paleo-Christian baptismal church, San Paolo boasts a 14th century bell tower and 15th century frescoes painted by Lorentino d'Andrea. Parish priest Natale Gabrielle said that he has known for awhile that the fres- co painting is most likely by Piero della Francesca, and that those who frequent the Church regularly are quite familiar with it. Art scholars have been studying this painting for years to determine its creator. Paola Refice, director of the Medieval Museum and presi- dent of the Piero della Francesca Foundation, works closely with Serena Nocentini, the commissioner of sacred arts of the Curia, on Piero's paint- ings. Until now, they believed the painting was possibly authored by Agnolo di Lorentino, Piero's prized pupil. Refice announced that Saint Antonio's face was definitely made with one of the cartons used for the Cappella Bacci, a 14th-century chapel in the Basilica di San Francesco in Arezzo. "Now we have to fig- ure out if the rest of Saint Antonio's body was also paint- ed by Piero della Francesca. There are indeed elements that point in that direction," Refice noted. The Cappella Bacci houses the Legend of the True Cross, Piero's famous sequence of frescoes. According to Refice, this stunning fresco cycle of the crucifixion of Christ may have been produced as early as 1447. Born in Borgo Sansepolcro, Tuscany in 1415, Piero della Francesca is admired for dis- playing serene humanism and geometric forms, as well as experimenting with perspective in his paintings. Piero worked in the Basilica of San Francesco producing frescoes, which are Arezzo's most famous art pieces. Today, almost half of Piero's masterpieces rest in Arezzo. At the Basilica di San Francesco alone, there are 13 stunning frescoes in the Legend of the True Cross. Visitors can certainly expect big things from little Arezzo. JaNe HusoN Piero della Francesca may have left a hidden fresco in Arezzo ate a product, wine. Winemaking is an art, a philos- ophy, deeply rooted in our tradi- tion and culture. The harvest time is the cru- cial moment of an entire year's work. The grapes have been exposed to various threats, including heat, rain, hail, and frost, which can damage them and trigger various vine dis- eases. So the instant grapes are picked is a magic-filled time, full of expectation, hope and excitement, because a good wine can only be obtained from perfect grapes. In Italy winemakers and vineyard owners at this time of year must decide whether to use hand pickers or mechanical har- vesters. In order to obtain a high quality wine and select the good grapes from the damaged ones, most winemakers choose the first option, despite the obviously higher costs. Of course the images of women pressing the grapes with their feet while dancing and singing are now a distant mem- ory. But if you take a stroll at the crack of the dawn, when the first light makes the vines resplendent and the earth still smells of dew, you may be able to find a winery somewhere that has just opened its door and will allow you to witness in person the magic of the harvest. Unfortunately it's not possi- ble to actively participate in the actual picking, as wineries in Italy can only allow employees who posses an appropriate voucher to work the vineyard. But it is still be possible to have an unforgettable experience. September is the month when the Italian countryside is swarming with people and trac- tors carrying baskets of hand- picked grapes to the wineries, where they will be pressed and fill the air with the typical fra- grance of the must. Go, and experience the dream! Drinking Bacchus by Guido Reni, 1623

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