BUON FERRAGOSTO!
August 15 is a Big Beautiful Holiday in Italy, that will be celebrated a bit more low-key this year. The tradition goes way back to the days of the Roman Empire, when it was the Festival Holidays of the Emperor Augustus. The Goddess Diana was at the center of the revels, symbolizing the cycle of fertility, and all were grateful for the summerdays of sunshine and ripening…Here’s Diana in a Villa D’Este fountain. What looks like breasts actually represent bull’s testicles, as bulls were sacrificed at the Temple of Mother Goddess Diana in Ancient Times.
Along came Catholocism, and the holiday switched to center around the Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, a triumphant event honoring the Mother of God, that inspired masterpieces…
Titian’s in the Frari in Venice is my favorite, with Mary dancing skyward…
I also love Correggio’s in the ceiling of Parma’s cathedral...
Perugino’s…
As Mary is Star of the Sea, Ferragosto celebrations at Italy’s beaches are traditionally spectacular. Such as in Positano, a village on the Amalfi Coast, where festivities in non-Covid19 years begin on August 14, and the statue from the Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta is paraded along the winding stairways…
The grand finale on the night of August 15 is a fabulous fireworks display…
My Jersey shore memories of August 15: This was the day when my mother would say, “All the waters are blessed!” So we’d be sure to take a swim in the ocean, bring bottles with us to the beach, fill them up with the blessed water, and carry them back to my Nana and Aunts, who would take their breaks from making eggplant parmesan and pour that water on their swelled up feet…
Wherever you are, I wish you Happy Celebrations of this Abundant, Ripe Summertime — Buon Ferragosto!