About this Work
About the Artist
The Falassi Collection of Saints and Allegorical Figures
by Alessandro Falassi, Ph.D. It was my mother, Jolanda Falassi, a graduate of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia di Roma in piano and organ performance, who started the collection. Santa Cecilia, her patron saint, was the first statuette to appear on her Steinway. Other figurines soon followed to fill her studio. I then continued the collection, acquiring antique statuettes such as the Cherub Musician (“Cherubino Musico”), as well as folk art, devotional art and tourist art categories. The latter being an iconographic category launched in Berkeley by Nelson Graburnan, an anthropologist, during the 1970s.I have been collecting statuettes based on their anthropological and esthetic value. Some of them come from Lucca, home of the famous handcrafted gesso figurines, from Capodimonte and from other parts of Italy and France.Statuettes are a permanent feature in the Italian iconographic culture starting from the 8th century BC to the present day. Originally, they represented deities to which men paid devotion and asked for protection. Romans, for example, used to keep statuettes of Lares and Penates in their houses (recently made famous by the film, The Gladiator). With the advent of Christianity, the old deities were replaced by new Saints. This is the case of Calliope, Muse of music, replaced by Saint Cecilia, martyr patron saint of musicians (both included in my collection), or again, Saint Martin, patron of wine, who partially replaced Bacchus (statuette). Nymphs, angels and putti (statuettes) became gracious decorative or outline figures, with some exceptions such as Saint Michael the Archangel, who became both Saint and Head of God’s Army (statuettes of my collection).Of course, the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) gained a central place in the new iconography of statuettes. There are many images and versions of the Madonna revered in Italian houses, or on altars at crossroads called “Madonnini”.This happened because, for many centuries, The Holy Mary, also known variably as “Help of Christians", "Mother of Good Counsel", "Our Lady of Consolation", "Our Lady of Sorrows”, has been considered sister, friend and counselor to many women who have been privately and publicly abused.There are also several patron saint protectors of different Italian cities: Saint George in Genoa, Saint Mark in Venice, Saint John the Baptist in Turin and Florence, Saint Januarius in Naples, Saint Efisio in Cagliari, Saint Francis in Assisi and Italy, Saint Catherine in Siena and Europe. Other Saints acquired a special patronage other than merely geographic: Saint Anthony the Abbot is the patron of animals (statuette), Saints Cosmas and Damian are patrons of physicians and surgeons (statuettes), Saint Lucy is the patron saint for eyes (statuette). It is interesting to note that, beginning in the 19th century – perhaps due to the anti-religious thrust of the French Revolution – the old religious saints found themselves flanked by new secular saints. Anthropomorphic objects with both functional and esthetic value – sometimes made of iron or other types of metal- appeared on the scene: chandeliers, electrical lamp bases, or even fruit bowls (statuettes) representing gardeners, peasants, fruit, or game bird vendors. Finally, in addition to them, secular allegories such as America, Freedom, and Italy (statuettes).This trend, which has continued up to the present day, was influenced by Christopher Columbus and Giuseppe Garibaldi (statuettes) and includes products specifically designed for the American audience. The collection path ends here with three statuettes of dancers, by an unknown artist from Apulia, dating back to the 1980s. I chose to include them because they remind me of characters in a Degas painting, arriving to the Mediterranean coast looking for the southern Italian sun.And now it is my wish that they carry on dancing by the sunny gates of the Pacific Ocean.
Alessandro Falassi (1944-2014) of Siena, Italy, was a social anthropologist, professor, writer, and Commendatore of the Italian Republic. He authored dozens of books on social history, anthropology, and folklore, focusing especially on ritual and festival. He was best known for his study of one of Italy’s most extraordinary historic festivals: La Terra in Piazza: An Interpretation of the Palio of Siena (co-authored with Alan Dundes; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975; winner of the 1976 Chicago Folklore Prize) and for the popular Culture Shock: Italy.
by Alessandro Falassi, Ph.D. It was my mother, Jolanda Falassi, a graduate of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia di Roma in piano and organ performance, who started the collection. Santa Cecilia, her patron saint, was the first statuette to appear on her Steinway. Other figurines soon followed to fill her studio. I then continued the collection, acquiring antique statuettes such as the Cherub Musician (“Cherubino Musico”), as well as folk art, devotional art and tourist art categories. The latter being an iconographic category launched in Berkeley by Nelson Graburnan, an anthropologist, during the 1970s.I have been collecting statuettes based on their anthropological and esthetic value. Some of them come from Lucca, home of the famous handcrafted gesso figurines, from Capodimonte and from other parts of Italy and France.Statuettes are a permanent feature in the Italian iconographic culture starting from the 8th century BC to the present day. Originally, they represented deities to which men paid devotion and asked for protection. Romans, for example, used to keep statuettes of Lares and Penates in their houses (recently made famous by the film, The Gladiator). With the advent of Christianity, the old deities were replaced by new Saints. This is the case of Calliope, Muse of music, replaced by Saint Cecilia, martyr patron saint of musicians (both included in my collection), or again, Saint Martin, patron of wine, who partially replaced Bacchus (statuette). Nymphs, angels and putti (statuettes) became gracious decorative or outline figures, with some exceptions such as Saint Michael the Archangel, who became both Saint and Head of God’s Army (statuettes of my collection).Of course, the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) gained a central place in the new iconography of statuettes. There are many images and versions of the Madonna revered in Italian houses, or on altars at crossroads called “Madonnini”.This happened because, for many centuries, The Holy Mary, also known variably as “Help of Christians", "Mother of Good Counsel", "Our Lady of Consolation", "Our Lady of Sorrows”, has been considered sister, friend and counselor to many women who have been privately and publicly abused.There are also several patron saint protectors of different Italian cities: Saint George in Genoa, Saint Mark in Venice, Saint John the Baptist in Turin and Florence, Saint Januarius in Naples, Saint Efisio in Cagliari, Saint Francis in Assisi and Italy, Saint Catherine in Siena and Europe. Other Saints acquired a special patronage other than merely geographic: Saint Anthony the Abbot is the patron of animals (statuette), Saints Cosmas and Damian are patrons of physicians and surgeons (statuettes), Saint Lucy is the patron saint for eyes (statuette). It is interesting to note that, beginning in the 19th century – perhaps due to the anti-religious thrust of the French Revolution – the old religious saints found themselves flanked by new secular saints. Anthropomorphic objects with both functional and esthetic value – sometimes made of iron or other types of metal- appeared on the scene: chandeliers, electrical lamp bases, or even fruit bowls (statuettes) representing gardeners, peasants, fruit, or game bird vendors. Finally, in addition to them, secular allegories such as America, Freedom, and Italy (statuettes).This trend, which has continued up to the present day, was influenced by Christopher Columbus and Giuseppe Garibaldi (statuettes) and includes products specifically designed for the American audience. The collection path ends here with three statuettes of dancers, by an unknown artist from Apulia, dating back to the 1980s. I chose to include them because they remind me of characters in a Degas painting, arriving to the Mediterranean coast looking for the southern Italian sun.And now it is my wish that they carry on dancing by the sunny gates of the Pacific Ocean.
Alessandro Falassi (1944-2014) of Siena, Italy, was a social anthropologist, professor, writer, and Commendatore of the Italian Republic. He authored dozens of books on social history, anthropology, and folklore, focusing especially on ritual and festival. He was best known for his study of one of Italy’s most extraordinary historic festivals: La Terra in Piazza: An Interpretation of the Palio of Siena (co-authored with Alan Dundes; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975; winner of the 1976 Chicago Folklore Prize) and for the popular Culture Shock: Italy.
