Whatever you call it: holiday, vacation, free day, it all equates to one more day of Liberty!

April 25 in Italy is celebrated as the Festa della Liberazione – or rather the anniversary of the day Italy was “liberated” of the nazi-fascist occupation. This event was courageously fought for by persons of every age, creed and economic possibility uniting provinces and regions in the name and honor of their country.
When I first came to Italy, I must admit WWII was only a long list of dates and a series of cliff notes but upon my arrival 20 years ago the events of this traumatic moment in history were still very much present and on certain occasions I felt as if I was breathing history.  My arrival in Italy was not to some large city like Milan, Rome or Florence – I was dumped in the countryside.  The poetic, romantic and green countryside where by chance the partisans where particularly strong and where the foreign liberators were seen almost as saviors.  Ignorant of the part the partisans played along with the United States and Great Britain  in this liberation, it took just a few years of learning the language, meeting the people and being my naturally inquisitive self to discover the hardships, the reality, the togetherness and the drive which pulled an entire country through tragedy, massacres, political and religious  persecution and horrors.  Somehow things just came alive to me when I asked – why is that building riddled with holes  and received the answer oh that was machine gun fire from the Nazis … yikes, you realize how not so far off things were.

So even though I am not an Italian citizen and though I am not one to dwell on the disasters of the past, I find that I celebrate this holiday all the same, not because it means a day off of work but because it means honoring people – of all nations – who believed in freedom and achieved it.  I see it as a sign of respect for all of those persons who gave of themselves for something that they felt to be right and true.

Thank you!  Thank you for your actions then, 67 years ago, and thank you for your actions today, to all those who still strive to uphold freedom.

Watch out for tomorrow !

Né di venere né di marte, non si sposa né si parte; né si dà principio all’arte.

This traditional proverb translates to shouldn’t leave for anywhere, get married or start a work of art on Friday or Tuesday. Tuesday because it is named after the God of War Marte and Friday because legend has it that the evil spirits were created on this day.
Combine that with the number 17, which when viewed as the Roman numeral, XVII, it is then changed anagrammatically to VIXI, which in the Latin language it translates to “I have lived”, the perfect tense implying “My life is over.”  History shows us the power of this phrase, following the executions of traitors the famous Roman leader, Cicero, is said to have  declared “Vixerunt” (they have lived), the archaic formula intended to ward off ill fortune in such circumstances.

Combine these two elements and you have the equivalent to Friday the 13th in most other parts of the world.

Our solution – why of course a little FORTUNATA! What’s in the name Fortunata? Fortunata means lucky in Italian. In Italy  the “corno”  (aka the red hot chilli pepper) is supposed to assure the owner of warding off evil and blessing each event with a lucky flair.  Pierotucci has created a line of handbags that carries FORTUNATA as its name and but of course, the lucky corno has been incorporated into the bag!

Genuine Italian Leather Good Luck Charm

Did you know that there was no goddess of music?

Ancient Greek and Roman mythology appears to give us only a muse for music and her name was Euterpe, one of 7 sisters who were proclaimed to inspire.  While describing the newest consignment of Carnelian shell cameos my research pulled up that the enticing figure in this 4 cm oval shaped pendant framed in 18K gold could only be a muse, since the only deity of music was Apollo – a man ! THE MOUSAI (Muses) were the goddesses of music, song and dance, and the source of inspiration to poets.  Pierino Neri, the artist who carved this particular cameo, choose to use the contours of the shell and hand carve a lyre by her side instead of the more commonly found double flute.

The Bull mouth or Red Helmet sea shell, also known as the carnelian shell, were discovered to have layers of strongly contrasting colors and the shells were large enough to be perfect for carving cameos making them ideal for carving into cameos. The vivid colors and contours of the shell become are both the objective and the challenge that each artist is confronted with as they decide what image and how to portray it.

Our Eutrepe has fine details in her hair, the laurel wreath encircling her head and the folds of the gown.  It is quite impressive how the artists creates an entire story of time, beauty and depth while portraying only one element.

Happy Befana to one and all

This is the time that the real child comes out in the Italians – a playful holiday where the children run and hide and the adults walk around calling each other “Befana’s”  or old witches .

The 6th of January is stockings that are full of goodies from oranges, candies, potatoes, garlic and carbon coal. For many of the older generation, especially after the war, memories of the Befana are more strongly embedded than those of Babbo Natale  a/k/a Santa Claus because this was when the real gift came – trucks and dolls, and it was Santa that brought the sweets and carbon coal.

We are Pierotucci Leather Factory wish everyone a very happy Befana day !!

check out this site for even more info on the Befana.

http://www.justfoodnow.com/2012/01/05/la-befana/trackback/

If a picture is worth a thousand words

If a picture is worth a thousand words then I can only imagine the story pouring out of  a hand carved cameo.   An artist will thoroughly study the shell – his or her canvas – to find the curves, bumps, nicks and dents that they need to incorporate in their image.  Then, much like Michelangelo insisted, they will free the story or object that is captured inside of the shell.

One of the newest additions to the Pierotucci Sardonyx Collection is this enthralling cameo, carved to use the shell at a unique angle – as a diamond shaped cameo exquisitely framed in 18K gold with a top hook to be worn as a pendant or a back clip, so that it doubles as a brooch.  The sardonyx seashell is defined by a thick outer layer and a dark brown interior.   In fact a finished sardonyx cameo will have a varying shades of brown in the background and a white foreground, closely resembling marble.  Sardonyx or what is most commonly known as Helmet shells have been used since the Roman Empire for everything from food to cooking pots, trumpets, and jewelry.

According to Homer and others, he was a son of Tros by Calirrhoë, and a brother of Ilus and Assaracus; being the most beautiful of all mortals, he was carried off by the gods that he might fill the cup of Zeus, and live among the eternal gods. (Hom. Il. xx. 231, &c.; Pind. Ol. 1. 44, xi. in fin.; Apollod. iii. 12. § 2.) The manner in which he was carried away from the earth is likewise differently described; for while Homer mentions the gods in general, later writers state that Zeus himself carried him off, either in his natural shape, or in the form of an eagle, or that he sent his eagle to fetch Ganymedes into heaven.  (source)

It appears that the artist of this delicate and unique cameo was inspired by the story of Zeus sending his eagle to carry off the young boy, and carved this image to depicting the fate of Ganymedes, surrounded by a flowing ribbon that frames the cameo within the 18K gold frame.