L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE ROCHELLE DEL BORRELLO A ny trip to Southern Italy is never com- plete without brows- ing through dozens of ceramic s tores from the Amalfi coast, to Puglia and throughout the is lands . There is a saturation of maiolica artist studios, each with their own decorations and interpreta- tions of this ancient art. Tourists could be forgiven for feeling totally overwhelmed by an over- dose of pottery. But the stories behind these individual artworks are as fascinating as Italy itself. Majolica, or maiolica, comes from the Medieval Italian word for the Spanish island of Major- ca. The Italians mis takingly thought the s tyle w as from Spain, while the technique origi- nated in the Middle East back in the ninth century. In reality Moorish potters took their craft to Sicily and the style gradually spread to the mainland from Cal- tagirone and Santo Stefano di Camastra. The refined finis h of this white-glazed pottery is due to the presence of tin oxide, a pow- dery white ash. Tin was a rare imported substance, which made maiolica a far more expensive commodity than ordinary pottery and therefore a sought after lux- ury item. In Renais s ance F lorence, Luca della Robbia took the glazed terracotta technique to a new level creating a family stu- dio which produced hundreds of sculptures, reliefs and church ornamentations in a technique which proved to be much more resistant to the elements and per- fect for external decorations. Many della Robbia artworks can still be seen throughout the city, maintaining their original vibrancy to this day. This tin-glazed pottery is dec- orated in vivid colors on a white background and often depicts his torical and mythological scenes, known as istoriato wares. Quite often the stories behind each piece are as extravagant as the ceramics themselves. One of the most characteris- tic examples of Italian ceramics, the one stimulating the most interest from visitors, is that of the Moorish head designs. These consist of pairs of pots, cups or jars which depict a fair skinned woman and a man with distinctly North African features. Most foreigners are perplexed by this extravagant couple, which is often the proud features of local exquisitely groomed balconies and gardens. Behind this duo is an intrigu- ing mix of mythology and histo- ry. Theirs is a love story with a surprisingly gruesome mixture of violence and folly. This cou- ple takes us back to the end of the Arab period in Sicilian histo- ry, their story has been retold many times, but the characters at its heart alw ays remain the same. The original folk tale comes from Palermo and tells of a Sara- cen merchant who falls in love w ith a beautiful local girl. Together they start a passionate love affair, until the girl discov- ers her lover has a wife and chil- dren w aiting for him in his homeland. In a fit of rage, she murders him in his sleep, cutting off his head. The girl uses the head as a vase to grow a beauti- ful basil plant. Others, seeing her flourishing plant, forge them- selves colorful clay head pots in an attempt to recreate the bounti- ful fertility. A more romantic version of the tale comes to us from Messi- na. Every summer, as part of the elaborate mid August procession w hich celebrates M es s ina's patron, the Virgin Mary, the pagan founders of the city are also featured. The gigantic eight meter tall papier-mâché statues of Mata and Grifone riding on horseback date back to 1723 and reenact the arrival of the Norman king Roger, the first of Sicily, to Messina, after the island was lib- erated from the Arab domination in 1071. The popular folk tale told at Messina about Mata and Grifone is a love story, with a staunchly catholic flavor. Mata was the beautiful daughter of a Messi- nese nobleman and she caught the eye of Grifone, a general in the invading Moorish army that had jus t conquered the city. Pledging his undying love for Mata, he asked for her hand in marriage, which was granted with the understanding Grifone would convert to catholicism, which he did and the two went on to become powerful rulers of Messina. Probably, the most famous version of the gruesome heads story is the one retold by Boc- caccio in the Renaissance short stories from his Decameron. Boccaccio sets the story directly in Messina, the main protagonist is Lis abetta or Is abella an orphaned noble girl who is jeal- ously guarded by her three broth- ers. Isabella falls honestly and s pontaneous ly in love w ith Lorenzo, a local boy with modest means. Their relationship goes on in secret until the three broth- ers discover Lisabetta leaving to meet her lover and decide to end the relationship to avoid any pos- sible scandal. The brothers led Lorenzo out of the city and mur- der him, hiding his body in a shallow grave and tell their sister Lorenzo left on business. But when Lorenzo is absent for too long, Lisabetta becomes desperate with worry. One night Lorenzo appears to Lisabetta in a dream telling her he was killed by her brothers and describing the spot where his body was buried. Determined to find Lorenzo, she obtains permission from her brothers to go to the countryside with a female servant. She finds Lorenzo's body, unable to give her lover the burial he deserves and insane with grief, she cuts off Lorenzo's head. At home, she hides the head in a vase and plants some basil in it. The plant blossoms, watered by Lisabet- ta's tears. Isabella's behaviour alarms the neighbours and her brothers soon discover Lorenzo's head. They get rid of the evidence, leave M es s ina and flee to Naples, abandoning a distraught Isabella, who eventually dies of a broken heart. In 1849 the sad tale of Isabel- la was revived by the artist John Everett Millais, who created the first painting in the romantic Pre Raphalite style. Lorenzo and Isabella is filled with hidden mes s ages and s ubtle phallic symbols which have intrigued art lovers for generations. Another imminent romantic artist Edward Coley Burne Jones painted his portrait of Isabelle and the pot of Basil in 1867. This painting is an emotive work of art depicting the moment the girl weeps over her basil plant towards the end of the story. This mas terpiece draw s on ancient mythology, recalling ele- ments of classical folklore. The ancient G reeks and Romans believed basil was asso- ciated with hatred and, accord- ing to popular belief, the plant had to be sown while swearing and ranting. The ancient Egyp- tians us ed the herb in the embalming process, making it also a symbol of mourning. Romantic poet John Keats used the same story as the inspi- ration behind his poem Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. In the hands of the highly idealistic Keats the tale became a love story corrupt- ed by the pride and greed of Isabella's brothers. This version is set in Florence and is filled with deeply violent imagery. Keats also quotes the Ancient Greek myth of Perseus on his quest to kill Medusa the gorgon serpent headed monster, who is at the centre of the ancient Trin- caria, a symbol still used to rep- resent Sicily today. The majolica ceramics have survived for centuries and the stories they still tell us remain as vital, unique and animated as the hand painted baroque ornamen- tations themselves. The truth behind ceramic Moorish heads Moorish potters took their craft to Sicily and the style gradually spread to the mainland from Caltagirone and Santo Stefano di Camastra

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