A very rare fossil coral used for jewels 4000 years ago, was believed to be a protection against witches. The goldsmiths of jewellery Verna Oro reconstructed the jewel, called Stregonia, in the form of a heart inside a silver frame. The witches are said to be afraid of silver, and to be hypnotized by the stars formed in the coral stone.

Painter Polidoro from Lanciano worked in the 16th century in Venice and some of his works are in the Louvre (in the same room as Mona Lisa), Berlin, Dresden, London, New York. Vincenzo Mancini, the author of themonography, follows Polidoro's development from the shop of his father (mastro Renzo) in 1515 to Venice.