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THE SACRED AND PROFANE TATTOOS: OF THE HOLY HOUSE OF LORETO by Caterina Pigorini Beri
Reviving an enthralling anthropological journey through rituals, loves, and superstitions in the Piceno area from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.
The work “THE SACRED AND PROFANE TATTOOS: OF THE HOLY HOUSE OF LORETO” by Caterina Pigorini Beri, published in 1889, offers an extraordinary anthropological perspective on a unique custom widespread among the populations of Piceno from the 13th to the 19th century: the sacred tattoo linked to the Marian cult of the Loreto Sanctuary.
Through meticulous ethnographic analysis, the author reconstructs the origins and evolution of this practice, relating it to the history and popular traditions of the region. This sheds light on the social and spiritual role of tattooing in those rural communities where religiosity, peasant culture, and historical events deeply intertwined.
After describing the widespread phenomenon among men of tattooing mottos, religious symbols, and crosses on their arms, Pigorini Beri identifies the main root of this…
