The Cult

Madonna delle Grazie in Putignano, Madonna of the pomegranate.

 

An image preserved in the church of the Convent shows the Madonna in whose right hand she holds a ripe pomegranate. A historiographical and anthropological research, digging into past centuries, into religion and popular beliefs has shown that the sculptures that reproduce the Madonna of the pomegranate are not many.

 

The symbol of this fruit takes on an important religious meaning, that of asking for the Graces of fertility, productivity and abundance for crops, up to the extension of a symbol of immortality in the afterlife. Mary Most Holy is the One who brings Grace par excellence, that is, her son Jesus, therefore She is the "Mother of Divine Grace", Mary is the Queen of all Graces, it is She who, interceding for us with God ("Our Advocate" ), causes him to grant us believers and sinners any grace. According to Catholic belief it is believed that God denies nothing to the Blessed Virgin.

Interesting are some images, such as the 1403/6 sculpture of Jacopo della quercia, present in museo della cattedrale duomo of Ferrara o la Madonna del Granato di Capaccio near Salerno, whose cult dates back to the fourteenth century, o Maria delle Grazie di Scafati always near Salerno.