Italian Mural Features Tree Bearing Unusual Fruit

By Sylvia Poggioli

Published August 6, 2006 at 8:00 AM EDT

A medieval mural in the town of Massa Marittima in Tucany, Italy, is causing controversy and amusement: the 12th century fresco, first uncovered only a few years ago, depicts a tree whose "fruits" are very unusual: its branches are filled with phalluses; below, a group of women are stretching their arms up to pick them.

There are discordant theories on the meaning of the mural: a) a fertility symbol of pagan inspiration or b) the earliest example of a political poster by supporters of the papacy against supporters of the emperor.

Sylvia Poggioli

Sylvia Poggioli is senior European correspondent for NPR's International Desk covering political, economic, and cultural news in Italy, the Vatican, Western Europe, and the Balkans. Poggioli's on-air reporting and analysis have encompassed the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the turbulent civil war in the former Yugoslavia, and how immigration has transformed European societies.

See stories by Sylvia Poggioli

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