Gesso Portrait Cast Study Drawing Florence Italy

Cari Amici,

Here are some images of the man I will be thinking about most of this summer. I miss him already, but had to stop working on him so that the painting workshop with Martinho Correia could begin. My man is the (oh-so-) late banker for the famous Medici family and my mission (which I have chosen to accept) is to create a drawing of the gesso (plaster) copy of the portrait sculpture by Donatello. The original sculpture is a terra cotta with colored glazes in the Bargello, Florence, Italy’s beloved sculpture museum (and I understand a former prison). I have always been drawn to this work, but barely recognized it all in white gesso.

Here you can see my set up with my drawing next to the plaster cast. Shadows are created by hanging stuff between the light source and the art in a manner that gives desired or at least interesting results. I am using the sight-size method, which means, among other things, that I will be getting plenty of exercise. I stand away from my drawing at some specific point, usually around three times the depth of the original. I decide upon a “click-in” spot to help me view my work and the original from the same angle each time. From this vantagepoint, I look and study. I make relationships. Then I advance to make a mark on the paper. Retreating, I realign my stance and check this mark. A lot of pacing, but the results are great training for the eye.



This particular project seems sexier to me than my other charcoal drawings. This time I am using a grey Roma paper with not only black charcoals, but also white pastels. The image above shows the grey paper with only the black added. The image below shows the beginning of the addition of white. I am using a Rembrandt white pastel, since it is the whitest I have found thus far. This technique gives me a better tonal range possible in the drawing. Mmm mmm mmmmmm



The idea of using the grey paper is to incorporate more of the paper into the design. White and black should never meet. There should always be some grey between, no matter how little. Otherwise, I will get mud. Thus far, I am in love and I intend to feed that love until I can get back to him in September.

In the meantime, I am designing some sculptures. Stay tuned . . . same bat channel.

Restoration of Donatello’s David Florence Italy

Here in Firenze (Florence, Italy), the Museo Nazionale del Bargello is conducting a thorough cleaning and restoration of Donatello’s most famous sculpture “David” (of the Bible story with Goliath) and they are doing it right inside the museum for visitors to see! It is happening upstairs immediately next to the place where the “David” is normally exhibited. The “David,” a bronze measuring 158 cm high x 51 cm wide, is the most well-known and admired of works by Donatello and was created sometime between 1427 and 1443.




I hope you enjoy my little images of the restorer at work. Note the microscope. The restorer is also using a scalpel to scrape away encrusted materials on the bronze. To quote the brochure:

“The previous maintenance work [done more than 100 years ago] has been carried out using unsuitable methods and materials which have caused uneven and quite large encrustations, to be formed on the surface. This has been caused because of ‘waxings’ mineralized and mixed with dust, forming layers over the numerous dark glazes which it was customary to apply to sculpture during the 18th and 19th centuries.”

“. . . Furthermore, localized use of the special laser, constantly readjusted as necessary (by consultancy with scientific experts) will be made to clean the gilded parts.”

I saw the restorer scraping at the metal with a scalpel and then daubing a cotton ball dipped in what was labelled as “White Spirit.” [yes, in English] This laborious work is expected to take 18 months, from June 2007 through all of 2008.

My friends and I also visited the Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Museum of the Factory of the Hard Stone) on Via Alfani. One can see around town, especially near the Pitti Palace, images that look like paintings but in fact are a stone mosaic of sorts. In-laid stones of the most amazing colors and patterns and fantastically well done.

The most fascinating pieces to me were the flower petals with gradated colors. They were probably hand-chosen and very carefully cut. They make the subject (often flowers or birds) look surprisingly 3-dimensional. They also showed some landscapes and sea scapes, with people and animals. Our favorites were waves made of what looked like petrified wood with tails and other body parts of sea creatures penetrating the ocean’s surfaces.

I hope you enjoy these images – remember, there is no painting done on these and I never noticed any kind of rock filler. They are quite lovely to behold and I recommend everyone visit this museum when you can. One of my clear favorites was the table with the sea shell patterns. I cannot image the time an artisan would have taken to even choose the stone!

The Art Bar in Florence Italy

I missed the sculpture exhibit at the Florence Academy last night because my friend Lisa was leaving for the States this morning and she really wanted to visit The Art Bar. I had taken her there for happy hour one night last month before we attended an art history lecture at the Charles Cecil Studios.

We really had a fun night – three “Chi Chi’s” each as you see in the photos. I love this drink, if for no other reason than I enjoy another way to serve vodka – what a versatile beverage! I drank my first Chi Chi in Hawaii in a luau (loo-ow) in 1999 with my family living there. Not sure I wanted one actually since I discovered in Colorado ten years earlier that in Spanish, chi chi means ‘breast.’ And the drink looks like milk (because clear vodka + white coconut milk + perhaps other ingredients = chi chi). While I have never liked to drink milk, I do love a good chi chi -- very cool and refreshing. And The Art Bar here on Via del Moro in Florence tops theirs with a boatload of fresh fruit and mint!

Allora, we laughed a lot as you might imagine. And then went over to one of my favorite pizza places – Osteria del Gatto e la Volpe – near the Bargello (sculpture museum) on Via Ghibellina. Lisa is on her way to New York now and I hope she did not have a grand mal di testa this morning!

10 Dicembre: I just found my card for The Art Bar and their official name is:
Antico Caffè Del Moro "Cafè des Artistes" -- although I wonder if that accent is a misprint? Address = Via del Moro, 4/r - Tel. 055 287661