Porta de Sangra (The Blood Door) | Italian Historical Oil Painting | Liliya Muglia

Porta de Sangra (The Blood Door) is an original oil painting on panel measuring 8 × 10 inches (20 × 25 cm), created as part of the Italia Series and rooted in the history of Guardia Piemontese, Calabria. The work frames a quiet mountain landscape through a stone threshold, drawing the viewer into a space where beauty and tragedy coexist.

The title references a local legend tied to the 1561 massacre, in which the blood of the victims was said to have mingled with rainfall, staining the town’s gate and giving rise to the name Porta de Sangra. Rather than depicting violence directly, the painting focuses on the aftermath—an open passageway that bears silent witness to loss, endurance, and collective memory.

Architectural weight and softened natural light guide the composition, allowing the doorway to function as both a literal and symbolic threshold: between past and present, suffering and survival, history and landscape. The distant hills beyond the gate suggest continuity and renewal, honoring the Italian families who rebuilt the town and whose descendants remain there today.

The original artwork remains in the artist’s private collection and is available for acquisition. Fine art print options are also offered for collectors seeking a carefully produced reproduction that preserves the depth, color, and symbolic detail of the original work.