The Madonna, one of the most requested subjects for the cameo

09-01-2025
Torre del Greco cameos Immacolata Madonna

One of the most common applications of cameo engraving involves sacred art. We are frequently commissioned cameos with religious subjects: typical scenes and settings, the Madonna, the Christ Child or the Saints.

Recently we noted an intensification of this kind of production and cameos dedicated to the Madonna are in great demand.

The Immaculate Conception and Torre del Greco

The dogma of the Madonna has several roots, linked to specific cults with precise meanings. As happens with the Saints, the cult of the Madonna also depends on the place where she is venerated. Among the most requested and appreciated cameos dedicated to the Madonna, the cameos that reproduce the Immaculate Conception stand out, a cult closely connected to the city of Torre del Greco.

The cult of the Immaculate Conception is really important in the city of Torre del Greco. After a terrifying eruption of Vesuvius, the people of Torresi made asked to the Immaculate Conception to save the city. Since then, a procession has been organized every 8 December in Torre del Greco, when a cart with the statue of the Immaculate Conception is carried in procession, moreover enriched by numerous coral jewels and cameos donated by local workers.

Click here to see an example.

The other cameos dedicated to the Madonna

The Immaculate Conception is not the only subject dedicated to Our Lady, which appears on our cameos. In Nocera Superiore, the cult of the Madonna di Materdomini, one of the Seven Sisters of Campania, is very much felt. A cult that stems from the legend of Caramari, a peasant woman who in 1041 had a vision of the Madonna. After an initial reluctance on the part of the villagers, digging under the oak of the apparition, a painting was found that was later recognized as miraculous. Linked to the cult of the Black Virgins, Archetype of the foundation of Existence, emblem of fertility, motherhood and abundance, until the early nineteenth century during the celebrations in honor of the Madonna was also exhibited "the ampoule with the Holy Milk", an ampoule containing gray powder, found together with the painting. Today this celebration continues to attract faithful and fans of popular culture to Nocera Superiore between 14 and 15 August.

For this community we make many cameos with the icon of the Madonna di Materdomini which then become splendid jewels, such as rings or pendants in gold and silver: a deep veneration, that as what happens in Torre del Greco, binds sacred art to cameos.