A small linen tablecloth manifactured in Sardinia (end of the XVII-first half of the XIX century), preserved in Museo Nazionale "Giovanni Antonio Sanna", Sassari (Sardinia).
This is a very rare object: experts think it may be and example of imparaticcio, a canva used by begginners in order to learn the art of embroidery. The decorations recall the natural world, enriching the piece of linen with lots of flowers, leaves and small animals. However, the most fascinating aspect resides in the words written in old Sardinian. The two sentences, written at the top and at the bottom of the tablecloth, reveal a powerful curse:
“MACHI PROVAS SU INFERRU NO FES LA GLORIA IES DE SEMPRE ETERNU NO PASAS AgONIA CON LA VIRGEN MARIA TIENgO DE CONTRATTARI NO TE LAMES GAdONI MUNDANU E TRAITORI TE PUEDES LAMARE [“But may you experience hell not give you the glory of Jesus (IESus) of eternal rest, (may you have) an interminable agony (may the agony have no rest), with the Virgin Mary I must negotiate, your name is not Gadoni, you can call yourself worldly and traitor”] FLAMASA TIENES DE PROVARE NO TELAMES GADONI MUNDANE E TRAITORI TEPUEDES OVITORIA PALMA CHI GADONI SE LAMA A dS NO LO AMAS DE SU FERRU IS. [You must experience the flames, your name is not Gadoni Gadoni, you may call yourself a worldly and traitor. O Vitoria Palma, who calls himself Gadoni, you do not love him, DS, he is made of iron (hell). On the other two edges, "AS [repeated several times] AA [repeated several times] IDETI."
"[...] The object constitutes an important ethnographic testimony to the importance given, in the magic of traditional cultures, to the spoken word, considered an effective force. Even more, writing something means invoking the power of the word. Various sources attest, for example, to the ability commonly attributed to clergymen to use sacred scriptures for magical purposes in cultures such as Sardinia, where the majority are largely illiterate. In Sardinia, the writing of magical formulas is found in amulets known as breves or pungas, which often contain prayers, invocations, or magical formulas. Embroidering, as in this case, a curse is equivalent to making it eternal." (source: https://www.toscanalibri.it/scritto-dautore/dalla-materia-al-racconto-gli-oggetti-hanno-un-anima_3053/)
