N.033 - La Ruota degli esposti

The Ruota degli Esposti was created within the monumental complex of the Annunziata, in a 14th-century Forcella marked by crime and prostitution, giving rise to one of Naples’ most common surnames, Esposito. A powerful symbol of Neapolitan pietas, here honored by Lorenzo Tomacelli, this system consisted of a rotating wooden wheel that allowed mothers unable to care for their children to entrust their newborns to the nuns of the Annunziata, saving them from the cold and the dangers of the neighborhood. In the foreground of the illustration, a sorrowful female figure, a tear running down her cheek and wrapped in a dark veil, holds a newborn in her arms. In the background, a stone wall with visible brickwork frames a dark wooden door. On either side of the doorway, two arms extend outward to place the child into the wheel. Above the door, a niche houses a softly lit statue of the Madonna and Child.