Italy's most beloved grandmother, aboard her ever-present magic broom, stopped on the beach of Platamona. On the coast of Sorso, her image sculpted in the sand went viral on the web before reaching the children to give them sweets, ash and coal. It is the latest work by artist Nicola Urru who wanted to pay homage to Befana, on the day of Epiphany, the celebration linked to the first meeting of the Three Wise Men with Baby Jesus to whom they gave gold, incense and myrrh, a date set in the Gregorian calendar 12 days after Christmas. A grim witch, dressed in rags, wearing glasses, as described by popular imagination, so grumpy as to distinguish the good from the bad. An all-Italian tradition that then spread to other countries.
An ancient legend tells that, on that freezing night, the Three Wise Men, Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchior, not finding the way to Bethlehem, asked the old lady for information. The woman showed them the way, but refused to accompany them on their long journey, so when the three wise men walked away, the old lady regretted it. She then decided to fill a basket with sweets, left the house to look for them, but she couldn't. So she knocked on every door leaving a gift to every child she met, in the hope that one of them was Jesus.
