The famous anthropologist Desmond Morris claimed that for human beings, hands are like the batons of an orchestra conductor, since they direct the rhythm and meaning of words. In this metaphoric sense, according to Morris, Italians are the best orchestra conductors in the world.

Meaningful hand gestures in Italian culture have very ancient roots, traceable to regions like Campania and Sicily. Many gestures that are still used today are legacies from the culture of ancient Greece. First practiced in the area of Naples, they spread throughout Italy, and some of them can still be recognized at the international level.