Knight Without Fear and Without Reproach*: Giuseppe Petrosino - a True “Supercop”

Lt. Joe Petrosino, NYCPD, Badge #285

By Niccolò Graffio 

“When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death – this is heroism.” R.G. Ingersoll: Speech in New York, May 29, 1882

Growing up, like many American-born boys, I was enamored with tales of superheroes, men with “powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men” who used their powers in the fight against evil. The names of these fictitious heroes no doubt would ring a bell with many who are reading this article: Superman, Spiderman, Thor and Daredevil, to name just a few. To a young boy like me it was exhilarating to read of the exploits of these people in comic books, even if in the back of my mind I knew they didn’t really exist (except in the world of imagination). Of all of them, my favorite was always Batman.

Why Batman, you say? Simple: unlike the others, Batman wasn’t blessed with extraordinary powers no real human could possess. True, he was highly intelligent, very athletic and a capable fighter, but nothing about Batman (except perhaps, some of the technology he utilized) was out of the realm of the possible. In short, Batman was a “normal human.” I guess then you could say he was my favorite because I could most identify with him.

As I grew older (and more cynical) I put away “childish things” like comic books because like most adults, I saw things “through a glass darkly” and realized the world was nothing like that in comic books. Superman and Spiderman didn’t exist. There was also certainly no one like Batman, a normal human who, equipped with nothing but guts, sheer force of will and available technology, could wage a reign of terror against the forces of evil.

Needless to say, it was refreshing for this young boy at heart to learn he was wrong.

Giuseppe “Joe” Petrosino was born in the town of Padula in the region of Campania, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies on August 30, 1860. At an early age he came down with smallpox (which killed his mother). He would carry the scars of that disease for the rest of his life. Shortly afterwards, his father sent him over to America to live with his grandfather and a cousin in New York City. 

Tragically, a street car accident took the life of his grandfather. Joe and his cousin wound up in surrogate court, where they faced the dismal prospect of being remanded to an orphanage. Instead, and incredibly, the judge took the two boys into his own home, providing for them until relatives in Italy could be contacted and sent over.

This provided opportunities for young Joe that otherwise might not have been available for him, given the fact he was a recent immigrant. Taking advantage of the situation, he studied hard and eventually joined the New York City Police Department on Oct. 19, 1883.

A common stereotype of Petrosino perpetuated to this day is of him being short and fat. While it is true later photos show him on the portly side, earlier ones show a thickset man with very wide shoulders, large chest and bull-like neck. He looked like someone with whom you didn’t want to tussle. What he lacked in height he more than made up for in tenacity and brute strength, something that served him well in his early days as a beat cop. New York City in the 1880s was a far more brutal place than it is today, as crime statistics from that time will attest. The police, in turn, often had to resort to more brutal methods to enforce the law and maintain order.

Joe Petrosino thus proved more than capable of handling the rigors of patrolling the streets of New York City on foot. One incident that highlighted this was the case of a Mr. Washington, who was set upon by three large muggers. Trying desperately to fight them off, Washington was quickly joined by Officer Petrosino. Between the two of them they pummeled the three thugs into the dust, and Petrosino subsequently arrested them. In the beginning Joe was constantly being tested by neighborhood toughs. In time, however, they backed off as they soon learned he was no pushover.

Petrosino eventually attracted the attention of then-Police Commissioner Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, who promoted Joe to Detective Sergeant assigned to Homicide (1895), according to some making him the first Italian-American ever to hold that position. The “Bull Moose” also saw in Joe a kindred soul, and the two quickly struck up a friendship that would last a lifetime.

Roosevelt’s promotion of Petrosino proved to be a wise one, as Joe, in addition to being a competent street-brawler, possessed a keen, intuitive mind as well. It is documented that during his tenure in Homicide, he racked up more arrests and convictions than any other detective in the Bureau. Documentary evidence shows most of these cases were solved using long hours of painstaking research, making him a true-life “Lt. Columbo.”

According to Petrosino himself, his favorite case concerned an Italian immigrant named Angelo Carboni, who was sentenced to die in the electric chair for murder. Joe was convinced of the man’s innocence, and took it upon himself to save him. Over a period of four weeks (and traveling through two countries), he used disguises, informants & police savvy to eventually capture the real murderer and free Carboni, who was literally just days away from being executed!

In December, 1908 Joe was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and put in charge of the Italian Squad, an elite group of Italian-American detectives whose job was to investigate and crush organized crime in New York’s Italian-American communities. At this time a particular problem was the existence of a criminal activity labeled “The Black Hand” (Sicilian: “A Manu Neura”) which had been brought over by gangsters from Italy. Black Handers would extort monies from victims by letter threatening assault, kidnapping, arson or murder if their demands were not met. Preying almost exclusively on their fellow immigrants (who they knew were less likely to cooperate with police), by some accounts as many as 90% of Italian-Americans were victimized by these traitorous scum, including famous Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso!

Petrosino made it his life’s work to shut down the operations of these gangsters.  Armed with arrest warrants and with the help of his fellow members of the Italian Squad, Petrosino arrested hundreds of gangsters, often during actual meetings of the gangs! Published accounts state overall crime in Italian-American communities fell 50% thanks to Joe and the Italian Squad.

Numerous anecdotes exist attesting to the incredible bravery and tenacity of this man. My favorite concerns his run-in with Ignazio Saietta (i.e. “Lupo the Wolf”), a vicious gangster (and prolific murderer) who vowed to “take care” of Petrosino. Learning of the threat, Joe confronted him in a store in Little Italy, Manhattan. During a heated exchange, Saietta apparently called Joe a “son of a bitch” (an insult taken quite literally back then). Enraged at the insult to his late mother, Petrosino lunged at Saietta, chasing him outside the store and beating him black and blue. He finished Saietta off by dropping him, head first, into an ash can. Turning to the small crowd which had gathered in wonder at the scene, Joe pointed to Saietta and yelled “Is this the coward you are all so afraid of? How tough does he look now?” before stomping off.

Another concerns a young Italian girl who was kidnapped and held for ransom by the Black Hand. She was kept in a room and every night a woman would come in to feed and wash her. One night, while lying in bed, the skylight opened up and a rope came down. A man started climbing down the rope. The girl cringed in terror. The man placed his finger over his lips, motioning for her not to scream. Upon reaching the floor he showed her his badge, identified himself as Petrosino, assured her she’d be alright and then instructed her to hide under the bed. He then waited in the darkness until her captors appeared and promptly arrested them.

Petrosino’s fame exploded! Among his many accomplishments:

• He helped set up America’s first organized crime task force (the aforementioned “Italian Squad”)

• He set up America’s first Bomb Squad, learning how to trace bomb-making components

• He helped pioneer witness protection and intelligence-gathering programs

• He stressed the need for infiltrating criminal organizations for purposes of gathering intelligence against them

Every superhero has his nemesis, and Lt. Petrosino would be no different. Just as Batman has his Joker, Joe would have his Vito Cascio Ferro. Ferro was a prominent Mafia thug, born and raised in Sicily, who immigrated to the United States. Uneducated but by most accounts very intelligent, he had a hand in reorganizing the Mafia in the U.S. before running afoul of Petrosino, who chased him to New Orleans before Ferro fled back to his native Sicily. Before he left, Ferro vowed to one day kill Petrosino “with his own hands.”

In 1909, Joe came up with an ambitious plan to cripple the Mafia in the United States. Secretly traveling to Sicily, he would gather the names and photos of every Mafioso known to Italian police. By comparing them to files in the U.S., American authorities could then arrest and expel any gangsters living here as “undesirable aliens.”

The Fates, however, had decided to confer upon Lt. Giuseppe “Joe” Petrosino that greatest of honors a warrior of law and good can receive…the crown of martyrdom! Shortly before he was to depart for Palermo, Sicily, New York City’s corrupt and incompetent police commissioner Thomas Bingham leaked word of the mission to a local newspaper. In spite of this, Joe decided to go anyway, naively believing the Sicilian Mafia (like their American counterpart) would not kill a policeman.

While in Palermo he was contacted by an unknown party asking to meet him in the Piazza Marina, ostensibly to give him information concerning the Mafia. It turned out to be a trap, however. He was gunned down in cold blood. Though he was never tried for the crime, both Italian and American law enforcement officials believe Vito Cascio Ferro was the “trigger man.”

Back in the United States, Lt. Petrosino would be given a hero’s funeral (attended by over 250,000 people). Vito Cascio Ferro would earn “street cred” for the murder, and would subsequently go on to rule over the Mafia (and the island of Sicily). He would not be lucky enough to rest on his laurels, however. Within a few years the political situation in Italy would change drastically. By 1922 Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Party would be in control of the country. Within four years “Il Duce” would establish dictatorial control. One of his first orders of business was to rid Sicily of the Mafia…and Vito Cascio Ferro. This was accomplished by one of Mussolini’s underlings, Cesare Mori: “the Iron Prefect of Sicily.” Stripped of his power and spirited off to an island prison, Ferro would die a gruesome death in 1943 (and people say there’s no such thing as karma!).

Back in the United States, law enforcement officials would be left to wonder how different American history would have been had this real-life Batman been successful in his mission to Palermo.

*- Said of the Chevalier Pierre du Terrail Bayard (1476-1524)

Further reading: “Joe Petrosino” by Arrigo Petacco (MacMillian Publishing, 1974)

Ponderable Quotes from Julius Evola's "The Path of Cinnabar"

The first keyword, I argued, was to be counter-revolution. Leaving aside the broader horizons mentioned in Revolt Against the Modern World, in Men Among the Ruins I described the preliminary, practical duty of those men who remained standing (among the ruins, as it were) in terms of an integral and uncompromising rejection of all the ideologies borne of the French Revolution. The liberal revolution, after all represented the starting point of the latest phase in the crises of Europe: having engendered the democratic revolution, it had paved the way for socialism and Communism. No compromise, in this respect, was to be made. In the face of the increasing insolence and arrogance of the forces of subversion, I invoked the intellectual and physical courage of labelling oneself a 'reactionary': a charge which all the petty politicians of Italy feared – including those belonging to so-called Right wing parties. 

Naturally, the reaction I invoked had nothing to do with the kind of reaction which serves as a handy pretext for our enemies: for it had nothing to do with the interests of an economic class and with the capitalist Right. The reaction I had in mind was rather that of a political and aristocratic Right, which would regard any form of power derived from the mere possession of wealth as an act of usurpation and subversion. Counter-revolution I defined not on the basis of material interests but of ideals. With the rejection of progressive social myths, I argued, fundamental ideals would emerge which possessed an immutable normative value for all social and political organisations of a superior kind. In a similar way, I suggested, Vico had spoken of 'the natural laws of an eternal republic which takes on various forms at different times and in different places'. — Julius Evola, The Path of Cinnabar, Integral Tradition Publishing, 2009, p. 188-189, Chapter XIII, In Search of Men Among the Ruins

 * * *

A further distinguishing trait of the true state, I argued, is its organic unity. For the true state exists as an organic whole comprised of distinct elements, and embracing partial unities, each possesses a hierarchically ordered life of its own. At the basis of the true state, therefore, lie the values of quality, of just inequality and of personality: the fundamental principle of such a state being the Classical principle of suum cuique ('to each his own and to each his own rights' in accordance with natural dignity). Hence the sharp contrast between the organic state and the totalitarian: for the latter necessarily expresses a leveling, despotic and mechanistic kind of unity. The totalitarian state derives from the individualistic corrosion of the organic state: for once individualism has freed each person from what links him to higher powers, once 'freedom and equality' have destroyed all hierarchies, and a shapeless multitude has emerged amid a chaotic array of separate interests and forces – each aiming to gain ascendancy by all possible means; in such a context, the violence of 'totalitarianism' acts as desperate means to impose some sort of external order by establishing a system which, nevertheless, stands as the materialist counterfeit of organic unity. I here recorded how the very process, which only recently unfolded on a vast scale, had already been recorded by Tacitus in exact terms: 'To overturn the state (i.e., the genuine, organic traditional state), they talk of freedom; once freedom will have been attained, this, too, they will attack.' Likewise, Plato had observed that: 'Tyranny is borne and takes hold from no other political system but democracy, which is to say that from extreme freedom, the most unmitigated and harsh slavery arises.' I shall add one final quotation, taken from Vico: 'Men first desire freedom of the body, then freedom of character – which is to say freedom of conscience (the "immortal principles") – and wish to be equal to others; then they wish to dominate their equals; and finally, to trample on their superiors'. — Julius Evola, The Path of Cinnabar, Integral Tradition Publishing, 2009, p. 190-191, Chapter XIII, In Search of Men Among the Ruins

* Giambattista Vico (1668-1774) is a Neapolitan philosopher who is best known for his book, The New Science, in which he outlined a cyclical theory of civilisations as progressing through three ages: the divine, the heroic, and the human age, which closely resembles traditional doctrines of history.

Pontelandolfo Commemoration Marred

Pontelandolfo rally, August 14, 2009 (Photo courtesy of Agostino Abbaticchio)

On August 14 a small group of Duosiciliano patriots made their way to Pontelandolfo to pay their respects to the victims of the 1861 massacre. The pilgrimage to the small town in Benevento has become an annual event to help recount the Piedmontese atrocity in Pontelandolfo (and neighboring Casalduni), where 336 townspeople–men, women and children–were raped and slaughtered by the Italian military.

Assembling in the piazzetta the participants, about 40 in all, peacefully made their way to the Chiesa del S.S. Salvatore to commemorate the fallen. However, at the church entrance they were met by the Mayor of Pontelandolfo, Dr. Cosimo Testa, who ignobly informed the attendees that they were in violation of incitement of civil disobedience because of their Bourbon flags. The patriots protested but most of them were barred entry into the church and forbidden to attend the "official" observance with their seditious flags. To add further insult, the Carabinieri harassed the participants by collecting personal information from them as if they were common criminals.

It seems more than a little strange that in a country where mobs of Communists and Moslems can rally (or riot) with impunity that such a small and peaceful gathering would evoke the response it did. (Also, at a time when church attendance is at an all-time low one would imagine they would be happy to have people filling the pews and praying to the memory of the victims.)

In defiance the gatherers sang the Hymn of the Two Sicilies on the church stairs and proudly flew their flags while chanting, "Long live the King" before leaving. They returned to the piazzetta to hold a commemoration of their own, leaving the mayor to perform his ceremony with virtually no one in attendance. The mayor and his color guard further marred this solemn occasion by bearing the Italian tricolor, for in whose name the victims at Pontelandolfo and Casalduni were slaughtered.

The Pontelandolfo – Casalduni Massacre

General Enrico Cialdini: 

The Butcher of Gaeta

By Giovanni di Napoli

On August 14, 1861 the towns of Pontelandolfo and Casalduni were sacked and torched by the Piedmontese military during the so-called "war against brigandage" in Southern Italy. On the orders of General Enrico Cialdini (*) the towns were reduced to rubble and townspeople indiscriminately slaughtered in retaliation for the death of 41 soldiers at the hands of partisan loyalists.

Accounts of the Piedmontese reprisal describe the shooting of unarmed men and bayoneting of groveling women. The survivors were left homeless and without means of survival. Dispatched by Cialdini, Colonel Gaetano Negri telegraphed his superior to report on the carnage: 

"At dawn yesterday justice was done to Pontelandolfo and Casalduni. They are still burning." 

Sadly, Pontelandolfo and Casalduni were not the exception. In the first 14 months after the conquest of Southern Italy the towns of Guaricia, Campochiaro, Viesti, San Marco in Lamis, Rignano, Venosa, Basile, Auletta, Eboli, Montifalcone, Montiverde, Vico, Controne, and Spinello all suffered a similar fate. Arbitrary arrests and summary executions were common. By 1864 over 100,000 troops, nearly half the Italian army, were deployed in the South to try and keep order.

Despite attempts to prove otherwise (so they could politically justify Piedmontese atrocities) the insurrection was not the work of common criminals and brigands, but was in fact a popular revolt by former Bourbon soldiers, loyalists and desperate peasants against the Northern invaders. These resistance fighters were protecting their homes and families. As many as 80,000 Southerners were imprisoned for political reasons. It was only after the floodgates of immigration opened in the decades after "unification" and large parts of the South were depopulated that the violence began to wane. Unfortunately, due to unreliable figures, the exact number of Southerners killed during the "war against brigandage" will never be known.

(* It should be noted that General Enrico Cialdini was the commander in charge at the Siege of Gaeta who refused a cease-fire, as was the custom, during negotiations for surrender. His actions led to the unnecessary deaths of over fifty defenders when a powder magazine exploded just prior to Gaeta's capitulation. He was made Duke of Gaeta as reward for his bloody assault on the Southern Italian fortress.)

Remember Otranto!

Martyrs of Otranto, ora pro nobis

sangue otrantino
saporito come menta e petrusino,
sangue forte e fino
contro il turco malandrino.

Otrantini blood,
pungent as parsley and mint,
strong blood and fine
against the wicked Turk.*

On August 14, 1480 eight hundred men from Otranto, a small town in the Kingdom of Naples, were driven before their captors up the Hill of the Minerva to be beheaded. Their crime was the refusal to convert to Islam. At about 200 men per-day for four days straight, the last remaining men of Otranto were mercilessly slaughtered.

The victims were captured after the sacking of Otranto by the Ottoman Turks. Despite heroic efforts, the stalwart defense was no match against the marauding hordes of Mehemt the Conqueror. Hopelessly outnumbered and poorly armed the defenders were eventually overwhelmed. When the walls were breached on August 11th the Ottomans poured in and raped and murdered as they pleased.

Coat of Arms of Otranto

According to some sources, as many as 12,000 townspeople were slain and another five thousand sold into slavery in the seraglios of Albania. With a foothold in the Salento peninsula the Ottomans wreaked havoc and destruction until their expulsion by the Neapolitan and Hungarian forces led by Duke Alfonso of Calabria in 1481.

After the invaders were driven from Southern Italy, the remains of the martyrs were gathered and interred in reliquaries in the city's Cathedral, where they can still be seen today. The Hill of the Minerva has since been christened the Hill of the Martyrs in their honor.

* A lullaby the women of Otranto sing to their babies. Reprinted from Otranto, a novel by Maria Corti, Italica Press New York, 1993

Remembering King Francis I of the Two Sicilies

Today is the 232nd anniversary of the birth of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies. Born in Naples on August 14, 1777, he became Crown Prince and Duke of Calabria in 1778. His Majesty married Maria Clementina, Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Emperor Leopold II, in 1797 and after her death he married Maria Isabella of Spain, daughter of King Charles IV of Bourbon, in 1801. Francis I was 48 years old when he ascended the throne in 1825. Due to the long reign of King Ferdinand I, Francis I ruled for only five years. He died on November 8, 1830 in Naples. Viva 'o Rre!

Who We Are

As an advocate of Southern Italian independence and self-determination I’m often asked, “Who are Southern Italians and where exactly does Southern Italy begin and end?” Ironically, these seemingly clear-cut questions don't always have explicit answers. Depending on whom you ask, you’re likely to get any number of responses. For instance, some say Sardinia is part of Southern Italy; others include Rome. For the sake of clarification I would like to take this opportunity to share my personal opinions on this delicate subject.

While I agree that Sardinia and Rome share similarities and face some of the same problems with the Mezzogiorno I do not consider these regions part of Southern Italy. They are their own distinct entities with their own historic memories and should be in control of their own destinies. For me, Southern Italy’s boundaries are those of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which includes the regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia and Sicily.

Having said that, I would like to stress that this also includes the territories partitioned and rezoned into the province of Lazio in 1920's. For example, Gaeta is now technically part of Lazio, but this area historically belongs to Campania's Terra di Lavoro and is an important part of Southern Italian history. In fact, Gaeta is where the Bourbons made their heroic last stand against the invading Piedmontese. Amatrice, Cassino, Cittaducale, Sora, and others belong to the South as well, and in my humble opinion any talk of an independent Southern Italian nation must include these lost territories.

As for who is Southern Italian, the most straightforward answer I can give to this question would be to say the indigenous people (Calabrese, Neapolitans, Sicilians, etc.) of the Southern Italian regions. This, of course, includes the millions of immigrants and expatriates from Southern Italy found around the globe. On the other hand, migrant workers and refugees coming into the homeland, even those who are law-abiding and speak the local vernaculars perfectly, are not Southern Italians. Even though I live in the United States I'm still Southern Italian because my ancestors hail from Napoli, Sturno and Catania in the same way, for example, the Chinese living in Palermo will always be Chinese. By law they may be citizens but they are not Southern Italian. Certainly, some kindred people (the Arbëreshë, for example) are assimilable, but I believe that a people create a culture, not the other way around, so it's undesirable to change the ethnic composition of the regions, especially if we wish to preserve our distinct culture and heritage.

~ Giovanni di Napoli, August 5th, The Feast of the Madonna della Neve 

Addendum (added December 31, 2010):
Chinese schoolhouse in Southern Italy helps children remember origins

Masaniello and the Revolt of Naples, 1647-1648

Tommaso Aniello by Onofrio Palumbo

"The Revolution, like Saturn, devours it's children" – Georg Buchner

The Revolt of Naples began on July 7, 1647 when the fruit-vendors of Pozzuoli refused to pay an excessive tax on produce imposed by the Spanish crown. The rebels' leader was Tommaso Aniello d'Amalfi (1620-1647), a poor fisherman from the slums of Vico Rotto al Mercato. During a mock battle between the Neapolitan lazzaroni (lumpenproletariat) and “Saracens” enacted in honor of the upcoming Festa della Madonna del Carmine, Masaniello, as he became known, and his lieutenants dressed in Muslim garb instigated a riot among the participants. Crying, "Long live the king and down with bad government!” they set fire to the hated tax station in Piazza Mercato.  

Other disgruntled tradesmen soon joined the insurrection, and like a spark in a tinderbox the revolt quickly spread throughout the province. Reprisals were meted out to the most abusive lords. Amongst those targeted by the mob, was the reviled Don Giuseppe Carafa (d. 1647). Torn to pieces, his mutilated corpse was dragged through the streets. The violence was immortalized in a painting by renowned Neapolitan artist, Domenico Gargiulo, better known as Micco Spadaro (1609-1675). 

Appeals were made to King Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665), but money was desperately needed for the war against France. The Spanish Viceroy, Rodrigo Ponce de León (1602-1658), the 4th Duke of Arcos, and his retinue took refuge in the Castel Nuovo. In fear of losing the Kingdom the Duke conceded to the Neapolitans' demands and abolished the tax. Masaniello was elected Capo del Popolo and the riots were momentarily quelled.

The murder of Don Giuseppe Carafa by Micco Spadaro

At first the modest fisherman appeared to be the right choice for leader. When offered a gold chain by the Viceroy, Masaniello graciously refused: "I thank his Excellency, but this is not a thing for me, because, once this business is over I want to go back to selling fish." On another occasion, when a group of curious nobles wished to see the popular leader up-close he reportedly threatened them: "Gentlemen, leave here, otherwise I will have your heads chopped off because I want no other company than simple barefoot people, like myself." [1]

However, after meeting with the Duke of Arcos again, Masaniello soon changed his tune. He began making outlandish demands and behaving irrationally. Mad with power (or, as some believe, from poison) the people's captain was struck down and beheaded on July 16th by his own supporters. His body discarded, Masaniello’s head was impaled on a stake outside the Fosse del grano. Believing the threat was over the Viceroy prematurely revoked his concessions. More rioting ensued and Masaniello's body and head were recovered and given a funeral fit for a hero. "They have become so insolent," complained the Viceroy, "that they took him to be buried that very night according to the rituals that are reserved for deceased generals; and they even took him before the windows of the palace." [2]

The Punishment of Thieves at the Time of Masaniello by Micco Spadaro

Unable to put down the rebellion, the Duke of Arcos was replaced by Juan José de Austria (1629-1679). After bombarding the city, the new Viceroy fought the insurgents to a stalemate. On October 17, 1648 the rebels, drunk with power and grossly overestimating their position, declared the end of Spanish rule and naively appealed to the Kingdom of France for help. Five days later, under the leadership of Gennaro Annese (1604-1648) and the inept French Duke of Guise, Henri II of Lorraine (1614-1664), the short-lived Neapolitan Republic was born.

Spanish reinforcements soon arrived with another new Viceroy, the Count of Oñate, Iñigo Velez de Guevara y Tassis (1597-1658). Exhausted and without able leadership, the populace offered little resistance to the Spanish tercios. Appeasing the people, the Count of Oñate cut taxes and granted amnesty to the rebels. Predictably, he broke his promise and had the leaders of the revolution, including Gennaro Annese, executed. Henri of Guise remained imprisoned until 1652 before being allowed to return to France.

Thus ended the revolt of Naples. 

~ Giovanni di Napoli, July 15th, Feast of Santa Rosalia

The Sellaria Fountain in Piazzetta Grande Archivio, Napoli, commemorates the suppression of the Neapolitan revolution by Viceroy Iñigo Velez de Guevara
Photo by Andrew Giordano

Addendum:

Masaniello's Wife

by Ferdinando Russo (1866-1927)

The Spaniards now are back in town,
the good times are finally through;
now the young girls walk forlorn
down Marinella avenue.
And the queen of the eight days
is reduced to being a maid
cares and worries are here to stay
a tax on fruits now must be paid.

That fine dress, all inlaid
with fine silver and with gold,
our good queen has had to trade
for the tattered dress of old.
The splendid crown in gold-wrought lace,
what is now? a crown of thorns!
All the sequins of her necklace
are no longer being worn.

The Spaniards now are back in town
yet more scornful and arrogant,
among the soldiers she is known
as the queen of mendicants.
And they give her a light hit,
and they let word go by,
and they pull her skirt a bit...
All alone, she starts to cry.

Darkened bread and bitter tears,
bitter tears and darkened bread
walk in step and go in pairs
like monks marching in their stead.
From the Palace then she came
behind Borgo and now sells love;
she's acquired a bad name
but it's pain she's dying of!

In the slum of the poor woman
now the regiment is moving;
her good luck is finally gone,
and an evil wind is blowing.
She became so wholly mired
in a hungry and wretched life,
she who once was so admired
as Masaniello's wife. [3]

Notes:

[1] Quotes from Representing the King's Splendour by Gabriel Guarino, Manchester University Press, 2010
[2] Quoted from The Revolt of Naples by Rosario Villari, Polity Press, 1993
[3] Reprinted from Dialect Poetry of Southern Italy edited by Luigi Bonaffini, Legas, 1997

Amended June 10, 2021

Vincenzo Gemito

Il Pescatore at the Museo Civico
in the Maschio Angioino, Napoli

By Giovanni di Napoli

A year before his death the great Neapolitan sculptor Vincenzo Gemito wrote, "If the artist lacks knowledge of the past, he will never be able to make masterpieces." (1) As with art, this rule also applies to people. Without historical memory there is no shared identity or vision. This is why we study our history and keep our ancestral folk traditions alive. A people cut off from their past are enervated. Those who don't know their history will never be able to fulfill their destiny. Gemito's genius is a source of inspiration and a reminder of the potential that is still in us.

Vincenzo Gemito was born in Naples on July 16th 1852. Abandoned at the wheel of the Santissima Annunziata by his mother, with only his ear pierced for protection against the evil eye (Jettatura), the charitable sisters of the foundling hospital took him in and named him Vincenzo after a nearby piazza. The child was given the surname Gemito, meaning “to whimper,” because of the pitiable mewling sounds he made.

An excerpt from Ferdinando Russo’s (1866-1927) poem, The Wheel at the Annunciation reveals the pervasiveness of child abandonment at the time:

   Night and day one went and another came;
   never did that wheel ever tire!
   It turned always... always it turned and turned... (2)

Giuseppe and Giuseppina Baratta, a poor couple grieving the recent loss of their infant son, adopted him on July 30th. A former monk, Giuseppe worked as a house painter, but died when Gemito was only six-years-old. To help support his foster mom the young scugnizzo sold coffee in the streets. Giuseppina eventually married Francesco Jadicicco, another poor house painter, with whom Gemito had a loving relationship. He affectionately referred to his new stepfather as Masto Ciccio.

The boy worked with Francesco as a house painter until the age of nine when he became an assistant to the sculptor Emanuele Caggiano (1837-1905). Astounded by the boy's natural ability, Caggiano encouraged Gemito to pursue further art instruction. In 1864 Gemito enrolled into the Real Istituto di Belle Arti (Royal Academy of Fine Arts) where he became lifelong friends with the Roman painter Antonio Mancini. Together they studied in the workshop of Stanislao Lista (1824-1908), a prominent artist whose realistic style significantly influenced contemporary Neapolitan sculpture.

Testa di ragazzo at the Museo Civico in the Maschio Angioino, Napoli

During this period Gemito joined a colony of artists who set up a workshop in Sant'Andrea delle Dame, an abandoned monastery in the old city center. He would often explore the Via San Gregorio Armeno — famous for its workshops producing figurines for the Neapolitan presepe (Nativity scenes) — and the coast of Posillipo, observing the young scugnizzi at work and play. Naples' street-urchins were a popular subject with Gemito, one in which the artist would often return to in his career. In addition to the inspiration he found in everyday Neapolitan life, he'd often visit the Museo Archeologico to study the Greco-Roman sculpture excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum.

At sixteen Gemito presented his Il Giocatore, a wonderful rendering of a young card player, at the Promotrice di Belle Arti in Naples. The statue was so well received that King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy purchased a bronze cast for the Museo di Capodimonte, a former Bourbon palace and one of Europe's great museums.

Museo di Capodimonte, Napoli

The young artist quickly gained a reputation as a master portraitist. While only 22 years of age he cast the now famous bust of Giuseppe Verdi, capturing the brooding composer in a moment of deep contemplation. Gemito's love for his people was reflected in the many portraits he did of the Neapolitan peasantry. His Il Malatiello (The Sick Child) is a wonderful example of the artist's ability to fuse Classicism with Realism. Among Gemito's most celebrated works are his remarkable portrayals of his friend, the great Neapolitan painter Domenico Morelli (1823-1901) and the Spanish Romantic painter, Mariano Fortuny y Carbo (1835-1874). Perhaps his most famous portrait is his stoic Il Filosofo (Bust of a Philosopher), said to be inspired by the Hellenistic bronze Pseudo-Seneca discovered at Herculaneum. It is presumed that Masto Ciccio was the sitter for this piece.

In 1873 Gemito met Mathilde Duffaud, a Parisian model who posed for several of the artist's friends. Although nine years older than him they fell instantly in love and moved in together. He modeled at least four sculptures of her. They traveled to Paris (with Mancini) in 1877. The following year Gemito presented his Il Pescatore, a statue of a Neapolitan fisher boy securing his catch, at the 94th Paris Salon. His success won him international recognition.

Another look at Il Pescatore

During his stay in the French capital, Gemito befriended the celebrated artist Jean-Louis Ernest Messonier (1815-1891) and was given space to work in the Frenchman's atelier on the Boulevard Malesherbes. Gemito modeled two portraits of his host, a bust and statuette, as well as exquisite life-sized studies of Messonier's hands, holding paintbrushes, a rag and part of a palette.

After three years in France, Gemito returned to Naples. With the help of a wealthy Belgian industrialist, Baron Oscar de Mesnil (1855-1897), he set up a foundry for lost-wax casting on the Via Mergellina. The quality of work produced at the foundry is considered his finest. An imposing bronze bust of his patron (said to have been completed in just twelve hours) can be seen at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Bust of Baron Oscar de Mesnil at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

In the spring of 1881 Mathilde died from tuberculosis in Resina. She was 38 years of age. Deeply upset over her death Gemito went to the Isle of Capri to recover. He produced several drawings and a silver portrait of a local peasant girl, which he later named La Caprese.

That same year he created Il Acquaiolo (The Water Vendor) for Francesco II di Borbone, the exiled King of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Worried that Queen Maria Sophia would be upset by the statue's nudity, the King asked Gemito to tailor a pair of silver pants to cover the figure. In 1882 Gemito presented a second version — con pantaloni (with trousers) — at the Paris Salon. In 1885 the statue, plus several portraits, won him a first class medal at the Universal Exposition at Antwerp, Belgium.

In 1882 Gemito met Anna Cutolo working as a model in Domenico Morelli's studio. She is believed to be the sensual figure immortalized in Morelli's Dama con ventaglio (Lady with a fan) now housed in the Museo Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes in Naples. They quickly married and in 1885 their daughter, Giuseppina, was born. Anna was the subject of many drawings, including the hauntingly beautiful Coserella. In 1886 he rendered a terracotta portrait of Anna from which, several bronze and marble versions were made. Masterfully executed, it is a deeply personal piece exuding the tender love the artist felt for his wife.

At age 35 and at the height of his career Gemito was commissioned to sculpt a marble statue of Charles V, which stands in the facade of the Palazzo Reale in Naples. The work troubled him greatly and upon its completion he suffered a nervous breakdown. He entered the Fleurant clinic in 1887, but soon withdrew into isolation in his apartment on the Via Tasso. He was unable to complete the silver Trionfo da Tavola, an elaborate table decoration incorporating allegorical figures of Naples, commissioned by King Umberto I of Italy. For over two decades the troubled artist abandoned sculpting, devoting himself entirely to drawing. Anna supported him until her death in 1906.

Charles V Palazzo Reale, Napoli

Gemito resumed sculpting in 1909. His taste developed towards a more Classical aesthetic, best represented by his La Sorgente (The Source), an idealized version of the artist's Acquaiolo motif. Although many of his works from this period depict mythological (The Young Neptune and The Sibyl) and heroic characters from antiquity (Alexander the Great), he continued to draw inspiration from the people of his native city. His magnificent Busto di Fanciulla Napoletana (Bust of a Neapolitan Girl) and Acquaiolo Storto (Crooked Water Vendor) are notable examples.

In his later years Gemito spent much time between Rome and Naples, visiting his daughter, Giuseppina, and four grandchildren, Annita, Bice, Carlotta and Alessandro. In Rome he studied the works of Renaissance and Baroque masters, sketching many of their famous masterpieces. He was especially fond of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), even going so far as to try and acquire the Florentine's workspace underneath the Castel'Sant Angelo in Rome. Producing fewer and fewer sculptures Gemito dedicated his time mostly to drawing and smithing highly prized small-scale pieces in precious metals, including a silver relief of the great cosmocrator and gilded head of the gorgon, Medusa.

Vincenzo Gemito died on March 1, 1929. Old black-and-white photos in the Museo Pignatelli collection show thousands of people attending his funeral procession along the Piazza San Ferdinando in Naples. He was admired by many of his contemporaries, most notably the warrior-bard Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863-1938) and poet Salvatore Di Giacomo (1860-1934), who wrote the artist's first biography, Vincenzo Gemito: La vita, l'opera (Life and Works), in 1905. Gemito is considered by many to be the most important Italian sculptor and draughtsman of the late nineteenth century.

Photos by New York Scugnizzo

(1) Quoted from A Chisel and a Brush: Vincenzo Gemito 1852-1929, Antonio Mancini 1852-1930, from the Gilgore Collection, 2000, p. 58

(2) Quoted from The Bread and the Rose edited by Achille Serrao and Luigi Bonaffini, Legas, 2005, p. 146

The following sources proved invaluable to this post:

• Vincenzo Gemito: Drawings and Sculpture in Naples and Rome by Emanuela Ricciardi, Kate Ganz USA, 2000

• A Chisel and a Brush: Vincenzo Gemito 1852-1929, Antonio Mancini 1852-1930, from the Gilgore Collection, 2000

• Vincenzo Gemito: Drawings by Bruno Mantura, Trinity Fine Art, 2008

Il Regno and Friends' Weekend of R&R

One of many mushrooms we discovered on our "hunt"
WARNING: Do NOT forage for mushrooms without expert supervision.
Some mushrooms can KILL you

Members of Il Regno (NYC) took to the hills this weekend to escape the hustle and bustle of the urban jungle.

Saturday — Under the attentive supervision of mycological experts we spent a pleasant day foraging for mushrooms and learning about edible plants and roots. Excursions into sylvan tranquility, such as these, always makes this city-slicker feel more in tune with nature and closer to God.

Unfortunately, inclement weather cancelled our planned evening boat trip on the Hudson River. However, the rain did not dampen our enthusiasm because we were able to enjoy good company, some fine wine and, of course, our fungi (cooked to perfection in a wild mushroom frittata).

A musician from Caserta and folk dancers at the Westchester Festival

Sunday — NYC not being the haven for Southern Italians it once was means sometimes traveling to ethnic enclaves outside the metropolis to celebrate our culture and heritage. We visited the annual Italian Heritage Festival at Kensico Dam Plaza near Valhalla, Westchester. We were treated to a enjoyable day of food, folk music and dancing.

If all this wasn't enough, upon returning to Brooklyn we stopped by the Feast of San Paolino di Nola and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, for zeppoli and espresso to cap off our relaxing weekend.

The Giglio and Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Photos by New York Scugnizzo