The Neapolitan cornetto: history of the coral good-luck horn
Horn of plenty, coral from Torre del Greco and rules handed down by word of mouth: the history and meanings of the cornetto, the lucky charm of Naples.
Red, glossy, pointed and slightly curved, the cornetto is perhaps the most recognisable of Italian lucky charms. It can be seen hanging from car mirrors, on key rings, in the shop windows of the historic centre of Naples, around the necks of newborn babies. In Naples and throughout the South it is considered a defence against the evil eye and jettatura, and its history weaves together ancient symbols, coral craftsmanship and a good dose of popular irony.
The horn, an ancient symbol
The shape of the horn has a long symbolic history behind it. In Mediterranean cultures the horns of the bull, ram and goat represented strength, virility and abundance, as the cornucopia shows, the horn overflowing with fruit associated with the goddess Fortuna and other deities of prosperity. Some scholars have seen in the cornetto an heir of the Roman fascinum, made less explicit; others stress its link with the crescent moon. These are plausible readings, but they cannot be proved with precise documents.
Coral and Torre del Greco
The traditional material is red coral, considered protective for centuries. Pliny already mentions its use as an amulet for children, and Ovid, in the Metamorphoses, tells that coral was born when Perseus laid the head of Medusa on seaweed, which turned the sea plants to stone. This mythical origin, linked to a monster able to kill with its gaze, made coral especially suitable, in the ancient and modern imagination, for repelling harmful eyes.
In the Bay of Naples coral working has its centre at Torre del Greco, where coral fishing and carving have been practised for centuries and underwent great development in the nineteenth century. Today, alongside coral horns, there are examples in silver, gold, ceramic and red plastic, produced in large quantities. The colour red nevertheless remains essential, because it too is traditionally regarded as a defence against envy, from cradle ribbons to threads tied around the wrist.
Rules handed down by word of mouth
Around the cornetto Neapolitan oral tradition has developed a small code. According to a popular saying, to work it must be red, hollow, pointed, handmade and above all received as a gift: buying one for oneself would cancel its power. These rules, passed on more as a game than as doctrine, show well the character of the Neapolitan belief in fortune, poised between faith and self-irony, which the theatre has often staged with affection.
The cornetto also has a social dimension. Giving one to a friend who is leaving, to a newborn baby, to someone opening a business, means sharing in their good fortune and openly declaring that one is not envious. In this sense the amulet works as a message: the giver takes the side of the receiver, and the gesture strengthens the bonds between families, neighbours and colleagues, precisely where envy might crack them.
The cornetto is a good example of how an ancient symbol can become an everyday object without entirely losing its meaning. Giving one still means wishing protection and good luck, even when the giver smiles at the belief. In this balance between seriousness and jest lies perhaps the secret of its long success, which has made it an emblem of Naples known all over the world.