Salvatore Grita

Salvatore Grita and The Vow Against Nature

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Salvatore Grita was born in Caltagirone on 15th March 1828.

Son of a very young mother, as a child Grita grew up in an orphanage entrusted to cloistered nuns.

Later in 1854, his natural father, a carpenter called Giovanni and his wife Marianna, took him in.

Salvatore was, by this time already 26 years old.

His first contact with sculpture, took place in the workshop of the Catania marble worker Pasquale Privitera.

Subsequently he earned a living by giving lessons to other artists, and making busts.

In 1849, thanks to a subsidy from the Municipality, Grita moved to Catania, to receive a more qualified artistic education.

One of his best known sculptures, whose inspiration has its roots in Grita's troubled childhood, was 'The Vow Against Nature'

Made between 1860 and 1870,t he scuplture is thought to be the representation of his contempt and pain, against the custom of the time, of interned single mothers in a convent.

It has also been speculised that it could be a young pregnant nun, hidden in a corner in a deep state of despair, almost as if she were a prisoner.

There is a dedication engraved in the base of the sculpture:

''To the protectors and supporters of the vote against nature''

A real cry against those who favored the practice of convents for pregnant girls.

The environment around the woman is miserable and squalid, to underline the sadness and importence of the subject.

The Sicilian sculptor who had the courage to denounce one of the many injustices suffered by women, and others, died in Rome in 1912.

The 'Vow Against Nature' is currently on display at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Florence, inside the majestic Palazzo Pitti.

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https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/salvatore-grita

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders