N.078 - Quatt ’e Maggio

This expression is used to describe great chaos or disorder, recalling one of the most hectic days in Neapolitan tradition: May 4th, moving day. Its origins date back to the Spanish rule, when the viceroy Pedro Fernández de Castro decreed that all moves in Naples had to take place on a single day each year, and that by 6 pm one tenant had to leave and another take their place. On that day, the city was filled with carts piled high with suitcases, furniture, and belongings, pulled by donkeys, horses, and oxen. Families, often with their animals, moved through the streets, weighed down, searching for a new home. The illustration shows a man with an exhausted expression carrying an entire house on his back. Stacked behind him are various household objects: a teal sofa with a black cat, a dog, televisions, and lamps. A small vintage car, also teal, is packed with furniture, with someone resting inside.