A very ancient fair that this year even celebrates 600 years of history, and the world’s largest gathering of madonnari, who have been animating the fair for 51 years. We are talking about theAntichissima Fiera delle Grazie, which this year takes place from August 14 to 17 in the village of Grazie di Curtatone, on the outskirts of Mantua, counted among the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy. This year’s is a historic edition of its most representative event: the Antichissima Fiera delle Grazie, born in 1425 at the behest of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga on the occasion of the Feast of the Assumption, in fact turns six hundred years old as mentioned and celebrates them with a program that weaves spirituality, art and popular tradition, in an atmosphere suspended between the sacred and the profane.
The centerpiece of the event is, as every year, theNational Meeting of Madonnari, this is the official name, now in its 51st edition and considered the most important international event dedicated to this art form. From 7 a.m. on Aug. 14 to 4 p.m. on Aug. 15, 118 artists, including 28 from abroad, transformed the churchyard of the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Grace into an open-air gallery, creating ephemeral works of sacred inspiration. The theme chosen for this year is By Grace Received. The Madonnas of the World in Graces, a symbolic journey that crosses continents and recounts Marian devotion in its many expressions.
The artistic journey begins in the Americas, with the famous Our Lady of Guadalupe and shrines in North, Central and South America, continues in Africa with places of worship in Egypt, the Ivory Coast and Algeria, and arrives in Oceania with images venerated in Sydney and Canugra. Asia is represented by Ephesus, Nagasaki and the Philippines, while Europe is touched on at the main sites of Marian apparitions, from Lourdes to Medjugorje, to Italy with Santa Maria Maggiore, Loreto, Pompeii and Taurianova. The journey ends in the Mantua area, with Our Lady of the Comuna, the Possenta, St. Catherine in the Cathedral, and the Madonna of Mantua featured in Prague.
That of the Madonnari is considered a popular form of street art in every sense, since it comes from the street and speaks to everyone, with its intense lines and colors. However, it is also an ephemeral art: the images made with colored chalk and no adhesives are destined to vanish with the first rain. But this very fragility makes each work unique, an unrepeatable gesture, dense with intensity and dedication. It is also an art that connects to many ephemeral ritual expressions found in different cultures: from Christian flower displays to Indian kolams, from Tibetan mandalas to Navajo ceremonial paintings. Madonnari drawings are part of the Christian sacred art tradition: they are manifestations of faith, rooted in collective memory. Grazie is internationally recognized as the capital of madonnara art.
The works will be judged by a jury of experts whose honorary chairman this year will be historian and essayist Giordano Bruno Guerri, president of the Il Vittoriale degli Italiani Foundation. Alongside the competing creations, the special work Ianua Coeli, a project commissioned by the City of Curtatone on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Fair and the Jubilee 2025, will be on display. Conceived by art historians Paola Artoni and Paolo Bertelli and developed in collaboration with Kurt Wenner, a U.S. artist and pioneer of 3D perspective street art, the work will be created by a group of Master Madonnari who won first prize in their respective categories. The large choral painting, inspired by an original sketch by Wenner, pays homage to the Blessed Virgin of Grace and evokes the history of the Gonzaga family, the pontiffs who visited the shrine, the city of Mantua and the Mincio Park.
Ianua Coeli, which recalls the Lauretan litanies and identifies Mary as the “gate of heaven,” will be designed to be passed through by pilgrims, thus taking on the value of a Jubilee Holy Door. The central scene will be framed by two side wings depicting the wooden scaffolding of the shrine, symbolically completed by the interaction of visitors. Thanks to the collaboration with the Mantua High School of Art, those who wish may add an ex voto, inspired by the wax ones kept in the shrine, as a gesture of prayer.
The symbolic image of the 600th edition of the Antichissima Fiera and the National Meeting of Madonnari is signed by Michela Bogoni, master madonnara Veronese winner 2024 in the “Paradise” category. The work depicts three Marian faces of different ethnicities, framed by the shrine and its symbolic crocodile - emblem of evil - in a visual embrace that evokes humanity, sacredness and hope. At the center is Our Lady of Grace, flanked by references to Our Lady of Guadalupe and African Marian depictions, testifying to a devotion that crosses continents. A powerful and multicultural sacred image, chosen as the official face of the 2025 campaign.
The Fair opened on August 13 with a musical preview: at 9 p.m. in the Sanctuary, the orchestra of the Teatro Verdi of Buscoldo performed Vivaldi’s Magnificat. On August 14, at 8:30 a.m., the traditional blessing of chalk was held , followed at 6 p.m. by the official opening with the authorities. In the evening, at 8:30 p.m., the Rosary in music animated by the Scholae Cantorum of the Diocese of Mantua and, at 9:15 p.m., the Marian prayer “Mira il tuo popolo o bella Signora” led by Bishop Marco Busca. It closed the day with a concert by the Campiani Jazz Ensemble at 10 p.m.
On Aug. 15, at 5 p.m., a meeting explored Marian devotion in different cultures with the participation of priests and religious from various backgrounds, moderated by journalist Monica Bottura. In the evening, at 8:30 p.m., Mariastella Gelmini received the Fior di Loto Prize, an event followed at 9 p.m. by the awarding of the winners of the Madonnari competition and, at 10 p.m., by journalist Giacomo Cecchin’s talk with stories of pilgrimages related to the shrine.
On Aug. 16, at 7 p.m., the book I Madonnari diping la Divina Commedia by Italo Scaietta will be presented. The evening will continue at 9 p.m. with the fourth edition of the InCanto Grazie 2025 Song Festival, hosted by Chiara Squaglia and Gianluca Federici, which will feature the awarding of a special prize in memory of Claudia Arvati.
On Aug. 17, at 6:30 p.m., art historians Paola Artoni and Paolo Bertelli will present the volume Il Santuario della B.V. Maria delle Grazie di Curtatone, published by ZeL. At 9 p.m., the concert Qualcosa rimane. A Tribute to Italian Songwriters with Lalo Cibelli and band will anticipate the grand finale with a pyromusical show at 11 p.m., followed by a DJ set until late at night.
Throughout the four days, the village will come alive with stalls, historical re-enactments with musicians and flag-wavers, street performers, the Horse Village and children’s activities curated by the CSI. The Youth Area will offer concerts and live music every night. There will be no shortage of local food specialties, including the traditional cotechino sandwich served at every hour. With its interweaving of faith, art and popular culture, the 600th edition of the Antichissima Fiera delle Grazie confirms itself as a unique event capable of attracting thousands of visitors, pilgrims and curious people from all over Italy and abroad.
Finally, a visit to the Madonnari Museum, dedicated to the protection and enhancement of an ephemeral art that comes alive every year with the National Meeting of Madonnari, on August 14 and 15, in the churchyard of the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Grace, cannot be missed. The exhibition includes original works and illustrative panels that trace the history of the madonnara tradition: from the pioneers of plaster to contemporary creations oriented toward illusionistic techniques and anamorphisms. There are also original clay tiles mixed with straw, treated with egg white and painted according to traditional methods that recall the historical origins of madonnara art (for information on opening hours tel. 0376 1473060, email infopoint@curtatone.it).
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| Near Mantua there is a fair that is 600 years old, and has been gathering madonnarians from around the world for 51 |
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