The White Lotus Season 2: Unpacking the Symbolism of Those Head-Shaped Vases

Like the other recurring motifs in the show, such as Renaissance-style paintings and bird imagery, the Testa di Moro also illuminates the influence of folklore on art and architecture in Sicilian culture. Sicilian-American artist and designer Gabriella Picone, whose work incorporates iconography as a means for storytelling, points to the prevalence of the motif in design today. “In the villa where my family’s from, there’s a wall that has all these Testa di Moros embedded in it. You can find them at any tourist shop; vintage ones, cheap ones, salt and pepper shakers—they’re everywhere,” the Idda Studio founder says. “They’re a natural part of the Sicilian story. There are probably four or five in my parents’ house, with plants growing out of them in the garden.” (Pieces are also sold by retailers like 1stDibs and Moda Operandi.)

The vases around the hotel in the show facilitate the narrative of infidelity and betrayal beyond the initial scene. Often placed in the guests’ hotel rooms facing their beds, they warn the characters against reliving the legend as they get sucked into Sicilian reveries. For example, when Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) is sleeping with her husband Greg (Jon Gries), she makes eye contact with the Testa di Moro in her bedroom—suddenly, she grabs Greg’s head, screaming, and pushes him off of her onto the ground, later explaining that she experienced disassociation. 

Meanwhile, when Harper suggests to her husband that Cameron had sexual motives with her and Ethan quickly dismisses it, she—disturbed by her husband’s competitiveness and performative nature with Cameron—turns away from him, and he stares into the vessel’s eyes. 

From the opening scene of the season, we know at least one person, likely more, will be killed by the end of Sunday’s season finale. The sexual hedonism imbued in each relationship begs us to wonder who will fall victim to the legacy of the Testa di Moro.