I quattro picciriddi di Gangi

Probably from the term piccino comes the Sicilian comparative picciriddo, Sicilian for a child. In Sicily we were all picciriddi more than children! The work has the colors of Sicily and precisely takes up those of U carrettu Siciliano (Sicilian for cart). It was the means of transport par excellence in past centuries of the Sicilian people: both rich and poor. Basically it is a sort of wooden wheelbarrow pulled by horses. The peculiarity of the Sicilian cart was given by the sides of this structure, the sides, in which was almost always represented a scene of the Opera of the Puppets, representation of Sicilian puppets extremely popular since the seventeenth century (the cart itself was born around that time). Also, the cart was often very colorful in all its spaces, whether it was wheels, lateral woods, rods, etc.. Even the horse that pulled it, usually festive, was harnessed with brigth colors. Needless to say, its more or less its artistic opulence marked its social status. The artist imagines the scene in a carousel in the village of Gangi, in northern Sicily, between the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains. Gangi, which preserves historical evidence since prehistoric times is a classic village in the interland of Sicily, perched on a hill, dominated by sandstone that draws alleys and buildings of this medieval village where life flows quietly.

(photo) Gangi, perched on a hill, with Etna volcano on the backgroung