CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

A passage crowded by proverbs and sayings leads to the last room whose theme is customs and traditions. For its hardness, an olive wood gear, suitable for the challenging application, reminds of the wisdom of the “do it yourself”. A Child Jesus dressed in a refined garment, with his arms clasped to the small body, refers to Christmas and to the occasions when oil is used. Oil in soap making is referred to by Islamic copper and silver boxes, to hold the soap when used in hammams. The loom model refers to the oil needed in the weaving of wool to make it manageable.

The cross of reeds with the olive branch planted in the fields on May 3rd, the day of the Holy Cross, opens the calls to memory in the large window. Early childhood is referred to by the “brief”: a small pouch hanging from the cradle containing badger hair, a wolf’s tooth and olive leaves. Then follow the suggestion to jelly with oil, food for the infant and the elderly, and the memory of the three drops of oil poured into a basin of water to chase the evil eye. Other customs and magical practices are described in the panel opposite, as reported by the anthropologist Gian Carlo Baronti.