Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch)

Easter lunch, Christmas lunch or Italy's mid-August holiday lunch.

Easter lunch, Christmas lunch or Italy's mid-August holiday lunch. But the one

that really everybody enjoys – black and white people, believers and

apostates, the young and the elderly – is the Sunday lunch. A legacy of what

Italy was and the changes it is capable of: places, dishes and companies.

Each to their own, as long as you sit around a table or its simulacra—new

connectors of communities. Bare-chested or all dressed-up, under a statue of

the Virgin Mary or on the beach, on a boat or in the park, on vacation or at

workplaces—old and new Italians break their bread and pour their wine every

Sunday, again and always together in the moment of communion. A

communion that is not biblical or liturgical, but literal. From Northern to

Southern Italy, indoors or outdoors, with the poor and the rich—photographer

Niccolò Rastrelli dusted off the collective imagination about the value of the

most enduring of Italian rituals, to put it back into a multifaceted reality. The

1960s day trip driving a FIAT 500 has been replaced by a gondola ride; the

family lunch with a meal with friends. Grandparents no longer serve lasagne,

and now they have no choice but to be served (much worse food) by nurses

in a retirement home—another sign of the passage of time. His pictures are a

light-hearted, multidimensional journey exploring how dynamics and

relationships in family and society changed, but also how traditional Italy

adjusted and enlarged in the past decades—every Sunday, you will find

communities of Filipino immigrants sitting on the grass in the park; Ethiopians

sharing a meat dish in the restaurants where they once were clients and are

now owners; friars welcoming curious onlookers and needy people to their

soup kitchen. Around lavishly set or simply prepared tables, the Sunday lunch

celebrates a value that still endures, even when it is not so clear to its own,

unconscious bearers—the sense of community

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday June 22, 2014 – Florence Lunch at the Cascine Park Menu: chicharrón (fried meat) with corn, rice and vegetables, purple potatoes

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday June 8, 2014 – Signa (Florence) Lunch in a retirement home Menu: pasta with tuna sauce, meatballs with potatoes and cauliflower gratin, baked pears.

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday December 21, 2014 – Firenze Lunch in private house Menù: cornmeal croutons with lard, cannelloni with meat sauce, capon stuffed, roast potatoes, white Christmas dessert (cake with white chocolate)

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday December 14, 2014 – Ruoti (PZ) Lunch in private house Menù: homemade pasta with tomato sauce, mixed roast meat, mixed cheese (mozzarella, provola, pecorino), roasted chestnuts, ciambella with icing dessert

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday December 7, 2014 – Mosceta (LU) Lunch at the Freo shelter Menù: barbecue of sausage and wuster, panini with finocchiona, panini with salami, panettone (christmas cake)

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday November 9, 2014 – Settimo Torinese (Turin) Lunch in the canteen (Pirelli factory) Menu: spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilli, minestrone soup, roast turkey breast, pizza with different toppings, selection of hot side dishes, fresh fruit, dessert.

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday September 28, 2014 – Florence Lunch on a boat on the river Arno Menu: panini with prosciutto, mortadella and salami, fruit.

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Sunday July 20, 2014 – Milan Lunch in Ethiopian restaurant (owners) Menu: zigni with injera
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Sunday July 20, 2014 – Milan Lunch in Ethiopian restaurant (owners) Menu: zigni with injera

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Sunday June 01, 2014 – Settignano (FI) Lunch in a private house Menù: stuffed zuccini, potatoe and zucchini pie
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Sunday June 01, 2014 – Settignano (FI) Lunch in a private house Menù: stuffed zuccini, potatoe and zucchini pie

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday June 29, 2014 – Puntala (Grosseto) Lunch in the pine forest Menu: rice salad, spelt salad, mixed salad, frittata, prosciutto

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday August 10, 2014 – Ugento (Lecce) Lunch in the pine forest Menu: malloreddus pasticciati (pasta bake with tomato sauce and cheese)

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
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Sunday November 16, 2014 – Monte San Savino (Arezzo) Lunch of the Franciscan Fraternity of Bethany Menu: pasta with tomato sauce, selection of roast meats and salad, apple pie.

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Sunday June 15, 2014 – Milan Lunch in private house Menu: pasta with sausage sauce, boiled eggs, salami and cheese
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Sunday June 15, 2014 – Milan Lunch in private house Menu: pasta with sausage sauce, boiled eggs, salami and cheese

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Sunday September 21, 2014 – San Mauro a Signa (Florence) Lunch in private house Menu: chilli con carne
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Sunday September 21, 2014 – San Mauro a Signa (Florence) Lunch in private house Menu: chilli con carne

© Niccolò Rastrelli - Image from the Il pranzo della Domenica (Sunday lunch) photography project
i

Sunday August 17, 2014 – Ugento (Lecce) Lunch on the beach Menu: frise (circular dried bread slices) with olive oil and tomatoes, eggplants and chilli flakes.

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