Shrines : Images of Italian Worship
This was a good idea for a book.
Instead of another book of photographs of the great art in Italy, why not "roadside art"? Why not the religious art and devotion of the common man, albeit the Italian common man (which seems a step up). This book fills a niche (pun intended) by depicting many little Italian shrines and statues, mostly of the Blessd Mother.
The title is a misnomer since we don't worship statues or Mary. There's also very little text so it's intended as a visual repast. But it's interesting to think of how it would be to live in a Catholic country where pictures of your mother are around so many street corners and in front of so many houses. And the Italians cross themselves when they pass by one of the little shrines. How many American Catholics think to cross themselves when they pass the real presence of Jesus in a church let alone a plaster depiction of Mary?
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