Madonna Dell' Arco, 1985 Digital

Shows the figure of a swooning woman with long flowing red hair, above her is the church and sanctuary of the Madonna Dell'Arco near Naples, the volcano of Mount Vesuvius and the boats in the Bay of Naples. The drawing depicts the festival and pilgrimage of Madonna Dell'Arco.

Described by Gianni Menichetti in 'Notes about Vali's drawings in this book' (YMS 16336, Box 6/3): For the yearly festival of Madonna dell'Arco, near Naples, on Easter Monday huge crowds of people come from all the surrounding region. The religious celebration of today used to be in the old pagan days the festival of Cybele. Once inside the scautary the people go wild: they cry and scream, howl, faint and fall in a trance as if possessed. Around the figure of a swooning gril we can see the volcano, Mount Vesuvius, the Sanctuary of Madonna Dell'Arco and the Bay of Naples.