18 Conception, Birth and Infancy in 



ago a famous sanctuary of Diana on the shore of Lake Nemi was 

 much frequented by prospective mothers. Ex-votos of terra cotta 

 which have been found on its site represent women, some of 

 them pregnant, others holding their newborn infants. They are 

 offerings of gratitude from votaries who bore their bouncing babies 

 safely and gave the goddess the memorial which they had prom- 

 ised. The nymph Egeria also received sacrifices from pregnant 

 women who wished her aid during their confinement. 82 This 

 attests a feeling that even minor powers should not be ignored 

 when need for supernatural support could be so dire. 



Italians believe that among the saints it is Anna, the mother of 

 the Virgin, who takes especial care of a woman at her crucial hour. 83 

 The prospective mother may have the picture of this protectress 

 removed from the head of her bed and put near her where she can 

 see it readily at all times for her greater comfort. At her neck 

 she should wear a medal of the saint and perhaps also one of the 

 Madonna di Pompeii. Resting on her bosom she ought to have 

 prayers in printed form along with accounts of miracles which 

 Anna has performed, a source of confidence and courage, but also, 

 one may fancy, a suggestion to her helper of what she expects from 

 her at a crisis when the doctors may fail. Such narratives are to 

 be bought from the "story-singers", cantastorie. There are also 

 wandering peddlers who sell these modern sacra, the giramondi, 

 who frequent places where people gather on the days of festas and 

 fairs. 84 When persons enter the woman's bedchamber, they are 

 expected to say to her: S. Anna benedetta vi aiuti, "May Saint 

 Anna, the blessed, assist you", if they are to be truly welcome. 85 

 Words of good omen are important, and Italians have — so at least 

 I have always found — a special gift for doing and saying the in- 

 gratiating thing in all relations of life. 



At the crisis of her suffering a woman of Modica resorts in prayer 

 to a specific Madonna, Madonna della Catena, my Lady of the 

 Chain, to loose her from pain. 86 The idea that one may have her 

 own private Madonna, an, as it were, much particularized power, 

 is very general among Italians. The many epithets of the Holy 

 Virgin attest and further this attitude of the pious. 



The very multiplicity of Roman divinities of all degrees of power 

 was conducive to anxiety as to whether, in any given case, the 

 right one was being chosen for one's petitions and worship. Among 



