#naples

[illustratus]

Virgil's Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus Declaiming by Joseph Wright of Derby

[forthepleasureofmylife]

Naples Backyard

Photo: Dieter Krehbiel

[theoutcastrogue]

"A frenzy of absolute disclosure": what post-WWII Europe needed and never got

Naples, Italy, 1955 [x]

Then Lila, drying her tears with the back of her hand, asked “Who are the Nazi Fascists, Pascà? Who are the monarchists? What’s the black market?”

It’s hard to say what Pasquale’s answers did to Lila. I’m in danger of getting it wrong, partly because on me, at the time, they had no concrete effect. But she, in her usual way, was moved and altered by them, so that for the entire summer she tormented me with a single concept that I found quite unbearable. I’ll try to summarize it, using the language of today, like this: there are no gestures, words, or sighs that do not contain the sum of all the crimes that human beings have committed and commit.

Naturally she said it in another way. But what matters is that she was gripped by a frenzy of absolute disclosure. She pointed to people, things, streets, and said, “That man fought in the war and killed people, that one beat people with a stick and poured castor oil down their throat, that one starved his own mother, in that house they tortured and killed, on these stones they marched giving the Fascist salute, on this corner they beat people up, these people's money comes from the hunger of others, this car was bought by selling rotten meat and flour laced with marble dust on the black market, that butcher shop came from stolen copper and vandalized freight trains, behind that bar is the Camorra, smuggling, loan-sharking.”

— Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend

Note: I was gonna quote the official English translation and get done with it, but it was BAD. It had vocabulary like "administered castor oil", "inflicted beatings", "adulterated with marble dust", and I couldn't stand it. This is formal register, not how a teenager would casually talk to her friend. It's maybe how she'd write an essay for school, but that's the whole fucking point: school doesn't cover this, formal register is not applicable. We're in Italy in the 1950s, and the establishment pretends all this doesn't exist, and in turn the girls' families and neighbours pretend it doesn't exist, everyone shuts their eyes and mouth because they don't want any trouble. That's the point. Lila has read the entire school library, and she still wouldn't know what a Nazi is if the communist kid hadn't told her.

Post-war Italy – like most of post-war Europe and especially countries that had fascist movements and/or were under occupation, and ended up on the NATO side – forged a comforting narrative where everything bad that happened was of external origin or in the past. When the war ends and the dust settles, the people involved are still around if not more or less in power, everything's still in shambles, no rights have been wronged, with a handful of exceptions fascists and collaborators have kept the fortunes they made on other people's misery and walk around unbothered, and no one talks about it.

[ancientsstudies]

Basilica Reale Pontificia San Francesco da Paola by viaggiatore_con_borsello.

[saintangelic]

The Sopranos in Naples, Italy.

[allthingseurope]

Naples, Italy (by Mario)

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Villa Pappone, Napoli, ITALIA

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Piscina Mirabilis.

Date: Second half of 1st century B.C.

Place of origin: Naples, Piscina Mirabilis

(Napoli, Piscina Mirabilis)

[unbfacts]

The first recorded pizza delivery dates back to 1889 when Queen Margherita of Savoy, tired of French cuisine, requested a local dish while visiting Naples. Renowned pizza maker Raffaele Esposito prepared three pizzas for the Queen, including one topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil—symbolizing the red, white, and green of Italy’s flag. This pizza became famously known as the Margherita pizza in her honor.

[zegalba]

Palazzo Albertini di Cimitile (1753) Located: Naples, Italy

[illustratus]

Dancing Maenad in a silk dress. Roman fresco from Pompeii, 1st century AD.

[shanks]

狐猫

[dankomaksimovic]

ph. Danko Maksimovic - Naples, Italy (2023)

Film: Kodak Portra 800

[wandering-italy]

Palazzo Reale, Naples

March 2024

[majedgerbawi]

Dear Friends 👋🏼❤️,

From the depths of my heart, I want to thank you for all your support and patience during this challenging time😔. In recent weeks, we faced a major setback when our campaign on GoFundMe was paused for verification. Those were moments filled with fear and anxiety, but we did not give up. We provided all the necessary documents, including medical records, my children’s university registrations, and our official IDs to prove that we are real people facing real struggles🤍🍉.

Thanks to God and your support, our identities and the authenticity of our campaign have been verified, and hope returned when our campaign was reactivated. Our need has become more urgent now, as we are seeking a safe home for my children—a place that will provide the safety and stability we lost🙏🏻🥺.

Every donation, no matter how small, has a profound impact on our lives. It’s not just a financial contribution, but a support that rekindles hope in our hearts. I kindly ask you to continue supporting us, whether by donating or by sharing our story with others. With you, we can build a better future for my family, filled with safety and hope.🙏🏻😔

🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Maged & his family

[madiocane]