(map) Spello
Once a year in May or June, in conjunction with the religious feast of Corpus Domini, the festival of L’Infiorata (from the verb infiorare, to decorate/bedeck with flowers) is celebrated in Spello, a charming, medieval hill town in central Umbria with origins that pre-date the Romans.
Preparations include growing and gathering enormous quantities of flowers in every color and hue imaginable held in buckets that fill the streets and squares. The scents alone are intoxicating, as young and old work day and night snipping off stems and pulling off petals to create palettes of color, like pots of paint, used to create gigantic floral tapestries that line the streets of the town.
Working through the night, they fill in their line drawings with petals, until morning, when bells chime and the Bishop and his entourage emerge from Mass amid music and singing to lead the faithful in procession through the streets and over the lovely floral carpets, that soon turn to a mass of crushed petals and shredded paper. A fleeting moment of beauty, proof that nothing lasts and encouraging us all to enjoy each moment as it spreads itself before our eyes.
-- Contributed by Rosemary and Bob Connelly (see bio), artists who fulfilled their dream to "Live Cheap and Make Art" in Italy. Their website www.livecheapmakeart.com showcases their watercolors and photographs.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Beautiful images…what a huge amount of work!
June 12th, 2009 at 10:01 am
So much devotion and artistry goes into that. I wonder how long this custom has existed? Thank you for the beauty.
June 12th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Fascinating that a part of this incredible effort is its short life. A modern version would have it sprayed with a fixing agent, put under plastic, etc. Carpe diem, for sure!
June 12th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Thanks so much for your daily snippets of Italian life. Look forward to each message to start my day with a smile. Keep up the good work.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Beautiful pictures! If you’re in Rome or its surroundings this weekend don’t miss the Infiorata in Genzano (Castelli Romani)! :)
June 12th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
You can also see one in Sicily, in the streets of Noto.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Beautiful! Everyone should take this message to heart!
June 12th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
i remember some people blogging about this last year, absolutely beautiful never seen anything like it. Stunning.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Yes, I had heard of the one in Sicily but unfortunately we were not there to witness it! You can read more about our experiences in Spello on our blog livecheapmakeart.blogspot.com (Archives, June 2005) with more photos of this beautiful festival.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Unfortunately we were not there to view in person either but the town of Itri also hosts a festival like this – absolutely incredible!
Bonnie(valentinoswife)
June 13th, 2009 at 2:55 am
They are even more beautiful because they are so ephemeral…
June 15th, 2009 at 3:25 am
The pictures you sent were so beautiful.So much time and work spent creating the petal pictures. It is a shame that the petal pictures do not last a little longer for all to see.
Thank you so much for your articles,I anxiously wait for them. My husband and I always think of our times spent in Italy.
Thanks again and keep the articles coming.
Ciao!!!!!!
January 6th, 2010 at 8:16 am
We were very lucky to be in Spello May 2005 for this flower art festival – fabulous!! we want to return to see this amazing art display again.