This is the title of a lovely book I was given yesterday at the Museo Paolo Cresci in Lucca. It roughly translates to “Under all skies” and is a guide to the story of Italian immigration as told in the beautiful little museum to the side of the Palazzo Ducale di Lucca in the chapel of the S. Maria della Misericordia.
The chapel is almost on the corner of Via Vittorio Emanuele II and Via Vittorio Veneto, just around the corner from Piazza Napoleone. The entrance could be easy to miss, it is a small door leading into a little courtyard.
The entrance to the museum is the beautiful chapel. Look up as soon as you go inside to the frescoed ceiling.
The exhibition is in Italian, but there are lots of wonderful photographs and items collected around the theme of immigration from Italy in the last century, making it easy to follow.
The photographs are very touching. There are some sad and expectant little faces looking out. I hope they found what they were looking for in their chosen country.
Life must have been very hard indeed to make people undertake a frightening voyage to the unknown.
There is a great depiction of the ships that carried people across the seas. I suspect that the trip in steerage would have been a bit grim.
There are postcards sent home to loved ones left behind…even one from Australia.
The new life in other places is shown as well. Ellis Island New York was the place where many landed and they had to first show they were healthy enough to be allowed into the country.
We can thank these courageous people for bringing their customs (and food) to other countries. They worked hard and contributed much to the communities they moved to.
The museum has excellent archives and may be able to help trace family members from the area. www.fondazionepaolocresci.it
I was part of a tour guided by the director of the museum.
It was organised to be part of a digital event happening all over Italy. People were invited to attend and report via facebook, twitter and other social media. www.invasionidigitali.it. I don’t tweet, so my contribution is my blog post.
I was invited by Paola Moschini, a delightful young woman from Ponte a Serraglio who has just begun working as a tour guide in our area. Please look at her site www.inandoutlucca.com and if you are in the area contact her to show you gorgeous Lucca and surrounds. She speaks excellent English and knows lots about this fabulous part of Italy.
