Via Santuari Stile Italiano

I lived on the boarder of France and Italy for a couple of years right on the Mediterranean Sea.  I would walk through terraced gardens full of grapefruit, tangerines, and oranges.  A five minute walk from my apartment I was at the sea. I walked up the street another two minutes and I was in Italy. Living on the French Cortez was like living in brackish water where the people are a blend of French Italian. Menton, the village where lived, it was common for people to speak both languages.

One day a few friends and I decided to make the journey to Genoa Italy, where there is a  Romanesque style cathedral  with Islamic architectural influences. But it was not the grand cathedral that caught my eye on this journey it was the humble shrines that were scattered through out the city streets.  Black Virgins, Saints , Angels, and Virgins most precious were woven into the fabric of people’s daily lives. Some of the Shrines were painted in the hues of the earth, or the ochre color of the buildings or made with pink terrazzo marble.

Terra Cotta Colored Virgin and Child

The Black Virgin of the Streets

Mary of Queen of the Angels and Other Saintly influences.

A Virgin Protected

Some of the old shrines were still well kept and some had offerings of faded flowers in need of replacement for something alive in the moment.

 Mary  Divine Shepherdess

The year of 1703 Father Isidore of Spain had a vision Blessed Mother appeared to him as a shepherdess.  This street shrine commemorates this vision.

Virgin and Child

Our Lady Queen of Heaven

The Christ Child Holding the Olive Sprig

Worn by the Elements this Shrine Still Has Its Own Beauty

Black Virgin influenced by Eastern Orthodox Icons