Dopo la Ruota: The Receiving Hands

This work is inspired by the history of Italy's Foundling Wheels, rotating devices once built into the walls of convents and hospitals to allow infants to be anonymously surrendered. Mothers unable to care for their children could place a baby within the wheel and turn it to the interior of the building, entrusting the child to the care of others while remaining unseen. The wheels eventually fell out of use, but buildings retained the decorative iron frameworks that concealed the openings they once occupied.
This piece depicts a nurse cradling a surrendered newborn capturing a moment that is rarely represented in historical accounts in the instant after the wheel has turned, when responsibility passes hands. The birth mother’s presence is felt only through the child she has entrusted to the unknown
The ornate framework resembles the metal decorative grilles installed over former foundling wheel openings after the practice was discontinued. Rather than serving as a barrier, the frame acts as a historical lens through which the viewer encounters the scene. Its geometric divisions fragment the image, suggesting the incomplete records and untold stories that characterize much of the history of foundling children.
The contrast between the rigid architecture and the tenderness of the nurse holding the infant highlights the intersection of institutional care and human compassion. While the wheel functioned as a mechanism of anonymity, the individuals who received the surrendered children transformed that mechanism into an act of protection and survival.
This work explores themes of absence, transition, and care. It acknowledges the difficult circumstances that led families to surrender children while honoring those who provided refuge to society's vulnerable members. By referencing both the physical remnants of the foundling wheel and the human relationships it shaped, the piece invites reflection on how history is remembered, and carried forward through generations.