Italia turrita

Italia turrita (iˈtaːlja turˈriːta; "Turreted Italy") is the national personification or allegory of Italy, in the appearance of a young woman with her head surrounded by a mural crown completed by towers (hence turrita or "with towers" in Italian). It is often accompanied by the Stella d'Italia ("Star of Italy"), from which the so-called Italia turrita e stellata ("turreted and stellate Italy"), and by other additional attributes, the most common of which is the cornucopia. The allegorical representation with the towers, which draws its origins from ancient Rome, is typical of Italian civic heraldry, so much so that the wall crown is also the symbol of the cities of Italy. Italia turrita, which is one of the national symbols of Italy, has been widely depicted for centuries in the fields of art, politics and literature. Its most classic aspect, which derives from the primordial myth of the Great Mediterranean Mother and which was definitively specified at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries by Cesare Ripa, wants to symbolically convey the royalty and nobility of Italian cities (thanks to the presence of crown turrita), the abundance of agricultural crops of the Italian peninsula (represented by the cornucopia) and the shining destiny of Italy (symbolized by the Stella d'Italia). The personification of Italy is generally depicted as a woman with a rather luxuriant body, with typical Mediterranean attributes, such as colored complexion and dark hair. Throughout history it has repeatedly changed the attributes with which it is characterized: a bunch of wheat ears in hand (symbol of fertility and reference to the agricultural economy of the Italian peninsula), a sword or a scale, metaphors of justice, or a cornucopia, allegory of abundance; during fascism it also supported one of the symbols of this political movement, the fasces. After the birth of the Italian flag, which occurred in 1797, it is frequently shown with a green, white and red dress.