Photo Essay: Laundry Italian Style

It’s not surprising history buffs and art lovers the world over are drawn to Italy. Etruscan and Roman architecture and artifacts and those of the Italian Middle-Ages and Renaissance adorn the streets of Italy. Not only do both enrich the avenues and back streets of bustling and colorful cities, like Rome, but the quiet lanes of tiny walled medieval hamlets, such as Filetto in Tuscany. What’s surprising to the uninitiated is the history and art that can be found in laundry scenes along the streets of Italy. There are those depicting the uplifting, like clothing playing in the wind above a cobblestone lane in Orte and that appearing to embrace morning light in Rome. Other laundry images look like paintings where clothing comes across as a touch of humanity, as well as compliments and accentuates the colors and textures of ancient walls and windows. And then there are the uncanny laundry scenes that blatantly speak of history, like the stone face laundry image I spotted in Bomarzo, a medieval village known for Bosco dei Mostri (Monsters Wood), a puzzling and fascinating 16th century park.