The Quintana is a spectacular event in any number of considerations. It has been produced by the community of Ascoli Piceno and the surrounding towns, for over sixty years. It is said to be based on the contests held in Imperial Roman Army encampments to encourage prowess and solidarity. The costumes are based on Renaissance depictions in the paintings of the fifteenth century artist, Carlo Crivelli, who painted in Ascoli. The principal events climax during the last weeks of July and then into the first week of August. The community of Ascoli Piceno itself is composed of six distinct districts, the Sestieri, each fiercely holding on to its own identity. There are contests in choreographed flag tossing (Sbandieterri), Archery and the main event the Giostra, or Joust, where a mounted horsemen engages a stationary target with a lance and competes in both time completing the circuit and the score of the hits on the target. There are two engagements of the Giostra. One is in late July and the second in the first week of August. Prior to these climactic events, there is a grand procession through Ascoli Piceno of the Sestieri that includes contingents from the surrounding communities that were in reality the castles of lesser nobles who owed fealty to the Lord of the Castle of Ascoli Piceno. In recent years, we have enjoyed going into the Piazza where the procession gathers to form up prior to marching off in solemn procession through the city center. We find the atmosphere full of enthusiastic anticipation and it permits me the luxury of freely wandering through the crowd and photographing these costumed and exceptional people at closer range. What follows are some images of the procession and for the most part, the participants in that more relaxed time in the Piazza before the procession begins. The images presented are actually drawn from several of the proceeding Quintana reenactments. The demonstration of community cohesiveness by the participation of over 1,500 volunteers is one more example of an Italian sense of pride of place....
Read More
FIVE YEARS Recently, we observed the fifth anniversary of our arrival In Ascoli Piceno, Italy to take up residence. Prior to leaving our home of many years in the San Diego, California area, we started this Blog. Part of the motivation was to have a means of keeping something of a journal to reflect back on our experience. The other motivation was self-serving to the extent that it gave us a means to inform immediate family and close friends about what was going on without multiple reiterations. There have been some unanticipated benefits in the writing of this Blog. For me, it has developed as a more personal reflection on adapting to the life of an American couple becoming expatriates in Italy. What was also a pleasant surprise was the reaction of people we did not previously know, who contacted us with questions about our experience. The reality that the Internet provides a broad exposure to what one posts should have been obvious. The unintended fallout is we are delighted this Blog has turned out to be of interest to some others. I had set a goal of posting to the Blog at least monthly. One of the motivations emerged out of the process of attempting to gain a proficiency in a language outside of previous experience. In reality, at my stage of life, as much as I would wish otherwise, it will be some time – if ever, that I will be able to express myself in Italian with the nuance that I hope I can muster in the English language. Retrospectively, I have a sense that writing in the Blog has given me a vehicle to keep language and thought formation in my native tongue active through exercise. With the passing of time, there has been an increasing difficulty in setting aside time to write something for the Blog. The result has been greater gaps between postings. My sense is it is not a matter of having lost interest in the Blog but rather the gradual change that has taken place over the past five years as we are more fully taking on the role of being expatriates in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. After five years, if anything,...
Read More
Recent Comments