San Lucio, patron saint of cheese-makers and sellers, gives cheese to a poor boy. Medieval fresco preserved on black Olcio stone in the 1100s Chiesa di Santa Maria del Tiglio, at Gravedona, Lombardy, Italy. Lucio was an 1100s shepherd and cheese-maker in the Val Cavargna, southwest of Gravedona, who became popular for giving cheese to the poor. Over time his cult spread and the cheese-makers of Parma used his image on their licenses and documents from the 1600s to the 1800s.
Gravedona, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy: San Lucio, a northern Italian shepherd who became the patron saint of cheesemakers, gives a slice from a truckle of cheese to a ragged young pauper, in this remnant of a charming medieval fresco in the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Tiglio, a 12th century Romanesque church on the northwest shores of the Lago di Como. The wall-painting, preserved on black Olcio stone, is among many images of the saint in churches throughout northern Italy’s alpine region. According to tradition, Lucio was a humble 12th century shepherd and cheesemaker who minded his master’s herds in the Val Cavargna, southwest of Gravedona. He became popular for giving ricotta cheese he made from whey left by the cheesemaking process to the poor. Lucio’s master, angered by his goodness and charity, threw him out. Lucio began working for a new master and brought prosperity to that family as their flock multiplied and they were able to make more cheese than ever before. Consumed by envy and rage, the first master stabbed Lucio to death, throwing his body into a pond on a mountain ridge. On 12 July, Lucio’s feast day and date of his martyrdom, the waters of the alpine lake are said to turn red, which his followers see as a sign of his sacrifice. Lucio became the patron saint and protector of herdsmen, cheesemakers and cheese sellers. An alpine oratory dedicated to him, first mentioned in 1358, was built on the mountain pass connecting the Val Cavargna to the Val Colla in Switzerland. Over time, his cult spread far beyond his home valley, to cities such as Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, Milan and Pavia, and also to the cheesemakers of Parma, who used his image on their licenses and documents from the 17th to the 19th century.
Size: 2789px × 2789px
Location: Gravedona, Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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