This content was automatically translated. View the original text.
The Great Mother of Nemi: the face that unites Diana, the Virgin and Caligula
In Nemi, a great bronze face gazes out across the landscape. This is the Statua della Grande Madre Terra (Statue of the Great Mother), the last work donated by artist Luciano Mastrolorenzi in 2012. This sculpture creates an ideal bridge between past and present, connecting the goddess Diana, Our Lady of Versacarro and Caligula’s famous ships, found on the bed of Lake Nemi.
Inspired by imperial ships
The idea for the sculpture stems from a single detail. The artist drew inspiration from the bronze decorations found on the ends of the beams of the two imperial vessels commissioned by Emperor Caligula that were recovered from the bottom of the lake between 1928 and 1932. A piece of archaeology brought back to life through art.
A message between the sacred and the pagan
Beneath the sculpture, an inscription in runic characters evokes the mythological origins of the site. Yet the work does not look only to the pagan past. It is a tribute that unites devotion to Diana Nemorensis with the more recent veneration of the Madonna of Versacarro. Two female figures, two cults bound together by popular faith across the centuries.
The sculpture is located in Via del Plebiscito, in the historic centre of Nemi, and is freely accessible.
