Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
Today marks the last day of Cultural Week, when all of the state-run museums in Italy are free to enter. Because I have not slowed down since my exhibit opened ten days ago, I did not find out about this until it was already happening. I have delayed most of my schedule so that I could visit as many museums in Florence as possible.
I wanted to head over to the Boboli Gardens (having spent over five hours in the Palazzo Pitti two or three days ago), but it is raining now. Work calls and my laptop is full, so I cannot download more images until I remove lots from my files.
So, I will just leave you with a little bit of humor. This first image I took of a painting of walleyed boobs. I often tell my anatomy students that breasts do NOT consist of a grapefruit cut in half and glued onto the body. And they are NOT headlights, beaming straight ahead, since they lie on the curving egg-shaped form of the rib cage. So, perhaps you can see why I would enjoy this image of an artist taking the opposite extreme.
This painting titled “Portrait of a Woman” is housed in the Accademia in Florence, Italy, not too far from the famous “David” marble sculpture by Michelangelo. The label says something about Ghirlandaio, Michelangelo’s original teacher, but I cannot make it out and it could be from his school, not the maestro himself.
Or how about this one titled “Sant’Agata” by the Scuola Fiorentina, Del Sec. XVII and currently on exhibit in the Pitti Palace? I do not know the story of this particular saint, but “Boobs on a Platter” would be a working title for me. And who said that everything has already been done before? Hmmmm.
La Galleria dell’Accademia also houses many of Florence’s original plaster (gesso) sculptures that were later translated into marble. I love the expression of sorrow of this next artwork and decided that she was perfect for this blog post as she intently gazes forward (towards the “Portrait of a Woman”?) with much . . . empathy.
I was thrilled when a man asked me if I spoke French and could explain to him what the black dots on all of these gessos were. They are, in fact, measuring points. You will see them on all of the high points in a sculpture. The original gesso is placed on a board that corresponds to the proportions of the marble block to be carved. From a fixed point (such as a corner), the artisans will measure height, width, and depth to the black dot on the plaster sculpture and drill into the marble just short of the corresponding position. Once most of the marble is removed, the sculptor can recreate the art with better accuracy.
More about my museum experiences later. A dopo . . .
4 comments:
You mean breasts like these? http://www.jeannerhea.com/eb/gourd2.jpg Interesting post and gave me a chuckle.
ha ha = great work and image. thanks so much for sharing.
Most likely, Agata was a Christian martyr whose breasts were cut off as part of her torture before she died. It was common in the depiction of saints for them to hold the implements with which they were tortured and/or the body part itself. Hence, in Michelangelo's Last Judgment, Saint Bartholomew holds both the knife and his own flayed skin (the face of the skin being a self-portrait of Michelangelo).
To our eyes, it seems bizarre but made perfect sense to those people in that time and place.
rewagMost likely, Agata was a Christian martyr whose breasts were cut off as part of her torture before she died. It was common in the depiction of saints for them to hold the implements with which they were tortured and/or the body part itself. Hence, in Michelangelo's Last Judgment, Saint Bartholomew holds both the knife and his own flayed skin (the face of the skin being a self-portrait of Michelangelo).
To our eyes, it seems bizarre but made perfect sense to those people in that time and place.
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