“He Used to Call Me Pitturì � ”

Ona beautiful autumn day, I went to Florence to meet Antonio Ciccone. The sky was so clear; it felt like being in a painting. We decided to meet in his workshop in the center of Florence. It is a sunny attic full of paintings. Antonio is usually reluctant to talk about himself, but when I explained to him on the phone that I wanted to talk about Padre Pio, he did not hesitate. Antonio was born in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1939, and he is now a famous international artist. He was one of Pietro Annigoni’s students, and he put on more than two hundred personal exhibitions in Europe and in the United States, where he lived for almost fifteen years. Most of his works focus on Padre Pio. Many of them can be found at Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, in the monastery, and in different locations in San Giovanni Rotondo. Some of them belong to important collections in Great Britain and in the United States. Between 1986 and 1987, Antonio displayed his works on Padre Pio and on the nature of Gargano in the UK and Ireland. I was told that he had known Padre Pio very well when he was a child and that the friar was precisely the one who encouraged him to study art.

Once I got comfortable in a room with a big painting of Padre Pio holding the rosary, Antonio told me, “I owe him everything. Thanks to him I had the chance to study. When I was a child, I was a shepherd in San Giovanni Rotondo, but when I was seven years old, I discovered the joy of drawing. From that moment, all I wanted to do was to become an artist. However, my family did not have the means to support me, so I asked Padre Pio for advice. He smiled at me and said, ‘God’s Providence will help you soon.’ And it was true.”

Antonio wore a beret on his head, round glasses, and a green scarf around his neck. He had long hair. He watched me closely before sharing his story with me. I could not tell if he was interested in my face from an artistic point of view or if he was trying to understand something, such as if he could tell me about his childhood. His smile revealed his decision.

“Elvira Serritelli was my first and second grade teacher in elementary school. She was one of Padre Pio’s spiritual children. She took me to church early in the morning so that I could see the friar everybody was talking about. I began to confess to him. I remember that sometimes he was very sweet, while on other occasions, he was harsh and almost scary. One day, in the confessional, he frightened me by asking, ‘Were the cherries tasty?’ I felt so embarrassed. While I had been grazing the cows in the countryside, I had stolen several cherries, and I had eaten them. No one had noticed me, but Padre Pio knew everything.

“Then, drawing began to fascinate me. I was drawing all the time, everywhere, using different tools, such as pieces of charcoal or brick fragments. In the early 1950s, I started drawing portraits of Padre Pio. I used to spy on him during Mass. I observed his face when I confessed to him, and I would later depict him at home or in the stable, when I was with my donkey. I remember that once, I had not even knelt down yet when he sent me away.

He knew I was there merely to observe his face so that I could later draw it. I was fascinated by his face, his gaze, his bushy eyebrows, his beard. His face showed a strong personality. Even though I was just a child, I really wanted to portray his facial features. However, Padre Pio never posed. Therefore, I had to observe him closely, and I had to memorize all the details so that I could remember them later. Once I was so insistent that Padre Pio eventually decided to pose. He simply did me a favor, and he could not wait until I finished. One day, I gathered some of my drawings and sketches, as well as a few watercolors, and I brought them to him. I wanted to ask him for advice. I wished to study art, but my family could not afford it, and I wanted to find out Padre Pio’s opinion.

“One of my works that I was showing him was a copy of the crucifixion painting by Guercino. He looked at it intensely. Then, he put his hand on my hand and said, ‘Be patient; God’s Providence will help you soon. In the meantime, keep praying.’ A year went by. There was a parish priest in Florence, don Benedetto Ricci, who was from San Giovanni Rotondo. When he came back to his village, Padre Pio appointed him to take some of my drawings to Florence, in order to show them to a few experts. One of these works was a colorful portrayal of Padre Pio. Once in Florence, don Ricci kept my drawings on a table in his house. One day, the Fancelli couple, who were both Padre Pio’s spiritual children, stopped by don Ricci’s house. They noticed Padre Pio’s portrait on the table, and they were impressed. They asked don Ricci who the artist was, and he explained to them that it was a young man from San Giovanni Rotondo who really hoped to study art. The Fancelli couple suggested then to take my works to Pietro Annigoni, a great artist from Milan, who was already famous at that time, an actual mostro sacro. When Annigoni gave a look at my drawings, he said, ‘This young man has some potential, but he needs to forget everything and start all over again.’ The Fancelli couple were happy to hear his opinion, and somehow they also felt responsible for sponsoring me. For this reason, they decided to let me live with them in Florence so that I could study. However, they first talked with Padre Pio about it. He smiled and told them, ‘Of course! God bless you!’

“It was a dream come true. Florence was an artistic center; it was all I had wished for. Before leaving, I said goodbye to Padre Pio. I wanted to thank him because I knew he had prayed for me. He said ‘See? God’s Providence helped you. Go, and God bless you. Behave!’ It was 1954. I was about to start a new life. In Florence I even studied with Professor Nerina Simi, the daughter of the great painter Filadelfo Simi. She was also a superb artist. At the same time, I was welcomed to Annigoni’s workshop. It was a difficult but amazing school. In the 1960s, an art dealer from Palm Beach, Florida, got in touch with me. He took some of my works with him, and he noticed that the American audience appreciated them. He invited me to put on an exhibition in the United States, after which I became popular. When I told Padre Pio I was leaving for the United States, he blessed me and fatherly warned me: ‘Be careful! Do not make a bad impression!’

“I was always in touch with him. I visited him every year. He used to ask me, ‘How are you doing, pitturì (little painter)?’ Once, the friars of San Giovanni asked me to take care of some frescoes in the monastery. I remember a strange episode. I was working on the highest wall of a huge hall, on top of a scaffolding. All of a sudden, my foot was in the wrong position, and I lost my balance. I should have crashed into the ground, but something extraordinary took place. I felt confident, and I was not afraid. Like an acrobat, I nimbly stretched my arm, and I firmly grabbed the scaffolding. I did not understand how I had been able to do that. I looked below, and Padre Pio was there, staring at me. It all made sense then. I am sure he protected me. I have to admit that I always perceived his presence next to me. I could even smell his scent, even when I was far away in Florence or in the United States. When I felt discouraged or when I was going through a hard time, I immediately perceived his typical sweet scent, which made me believe in myself.

“When Padre Pio died, I was in Southampton, New York. I learned the news from the newspapers. It is still difficult to describe my feelings. I was clearly sad, but I truly believed that Padre Pio was there, next to me. I got goose bumps. Since his death, the way I paint and portray him has changed. My works are now more mature, more spiritual. Padre Pio is always next to me, and he guides me and encourages me with his Christian strength.”