Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Sometimes it is difficult to know what is the right thing to do. I have a lot (well, too many) well-intended friends who ask me why I insist on returning to Italy “without a real reason.” Sometimes they will go as far as saying that I have no business going on such a trip and would do better to create art in my American home.

I try most of the time to be polite to these people with my responses, but really there are times in which I want to scream something like, “Are you NUTS? I know what I need more than most people would.” Maybe I will not be enchanted forever by Italy, Florence in particular. Maybe I will stop learning what the Renaissance City has to teach an artist. But right now, I am fascinated. And it is the right choice for my continued growth. And it is rarely important to me if anyone “gets” that.

On the other hand, once people see that you have done this “dangerous” or “risky” thing and not only has nothing bad happened, but life is actually been good, all seems right with the world.

I recently published one of my art newsletters in which I posted some images in order to share some of the reasons that I continue to find Florence so hypnotizing. Check them out by clicking here.


Then I thought I would add a few more here on this blog. I love this image of a woman (with a great gesture!) who stopped in the road to actually answer her phone! This image just struck me as so typical, and yet … funny.

The second image just goes to show you how illusive and wonderful light can be around the buildings in Florence, Italy. I have only seen the light do this one time! It was if the skies were approving of sculpture. Wonderful really.


And these last two images are dedicated to my Aunt Carole (who is also my Godmother), who celebrates her birthday today in Minnesota. Aunt Carole is also one of my coolest supporters. Both images were taken at Gilli’s – a famous store/bar on the corner of Piazza della Repubblica. I got such a kick out of the white chocolate copy of Michelangelo’s “David.” Florence really seems to enjoy chocolate as much as art and various types of coffee. And do not get me started on leather goods . . .

Happy Birthday, Aunt Carole!

Florence Italy Favorites

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I wanted to share some random fun images from Florence, Italy, while I am on the go and not writing as much as I normally do.

These images are from the market (il mercato ambrogio), a florentine lion wants David’s head, another image from the “Found Objects” series, and one of the many of Florence’s lovely sunsets.

Enjoy and thank you for reading and viewing!

Michelangelo and David – Italy Florence

Cari Amici,

And I am still being humbled. I had a big setback last Saturday after thinking that I was better and could work in the studio and afterwards visit a friend outside the city. And I have spent most of the time since then sleeping or being fed. I do not think I have ever felt this tired for this long. And my friend Eduardo just sent me a message inviting me to another costume party this weekend . . . Was missing Hélène’s cross-dressing party not enough? I am still sick, but anxious to get back to my life here in Florence.

But, all whining aside, I have finally published my latest art newsletter!
And some of it is not even a repeat of this blog! (click on the link to read the news)

And so, now, while I crawl back to sleep some more, I leave you with this image I took in a store window in Florence. Back in the States, it is popular to create a generic fiberglass sculpture edition, usually of some subject that is important to a specific community and ask many artists to paint one of the edition in whichever way they please. Michelangelo’s “David” has suffered no less. Here he is in some of his glory. Enjoy!

PS Happy Birthday (Buon Compleanno!) to Rudy and John.

http://www.borsheimarts.com/news/2008_05.htm

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!

Moving David from Florence Italy

Arguably the most famous sculpture in the world, Michelangelo’s ‘David’ may be moving. While Florence is trying to manage high traffic in her central historical district, there are some people considering whether or not to move the large tourist attraction outside of the Accademia and the city center. (Pictured here is the fake ‘David’ that is exhibited in Piazza della Signoria.) Read more at:

http://theflorentine.net/
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2008/01/davids_home_is_in_florence.html

Another article I found via artsjournal.com discussed Michelangelo’s drive to be the best and conceal his efforts while becoming this (by burning most of his drawings). It is a good article, and here are a few of my favorite highlights:

The critic Waldemar Januszczak, who had the chance to scrutinise the [Sistine] ceiling from close quarters from the top of a television scaffold, wrote: "I could see the bristles from his brushes caught in the paint, and the mucky thumbprints he'd left along the margins. The first thing that impressed me was his speed. Michelangelo worked at Schumacher pace. Adam's famous little penis was captured with a single brushstroke: a flick of the wrist, and the first man had his manhood."

. . .
Before he dipped the brush in the paint and set to work on his God and Christ, his Adam and Mary and all the rest, how did Michelangelo prepare himself? We know that, unlike his peers and predecessors, he did not use cartoons to transfer existing designs directly on to the wet plaster, because there are no the telltale peg marks left in the plaster's surface. We know that in some cases he worked from small drawings because a grid can be discerned over the finished work, indicating that he upscaled from a smaller sketch.

But what the norm for his preparation was we simply don't know – because Michelangelo didn't want us to know. Throughout his life he hated showing drawings to outsiders. Vasari claimed that this was because they revealed the endless effort he expended in reaching the perfection at which he aimed. Though he was dependent, like all Renaissance artists, on the patronage of the powerful, even men like Cosimo I were unable to get him to part with a single drawing. Before moving from Rome to Florence in 1518, he burned all the drawings in his house in Rome. Another terrible bonfire took place, on his instructions, at his death. Even Michelangelo's closest friends possessed only a tiny number of drawings, all of them highly finished.

. . .
Then, even while the agonies of the tragic tomb continued to pile up, [Pope] Julius threw another amazing job at Michelangelo. The walls of the Sistine Chapel, the private chapel of the papal household, were already adorned with works by 15th-century masters including Botticelli and Perugino. The ceiling was painted blue, dotted with gold stars. The chapel had long been in disuse because of a large crack in the ceiling. Now Julius wanted it to be drastically renovated, and commanded him to paint 12 large figures of the Apostles on the ceiling.

Imagine the Sistine Chapel ceiling looking like a child’s bedroom of blue and gold heavens !!!

Read more:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art-and-architecture/features/the-sistine-chapel-was-created-500-years-ago-by-michelangeloor-was-it-773079.html

Protecting Artwork During War - Florence, Italy

This past weekend (29-30 Settembre) was European Heritage Weekend. This meant, in Firenze anyway, that the state museums were free to enter. While I spent my Saturday morning at Steve Armes' landscape workshop in Fiesole and the afternoon painting in my room, I was up rather early on Sunday morning to stand in line at the famous Galleria d'Uffizi.

There was a photography exhibit on the first floor from World War II. On June 10, 1940, Italy entered the war and
immediately began to make plans to protect its artworks. The first step was to move all that could be moved out of the
city of Florence into the neighboring countryside areas that were considered to be less of a target. What was not able to be moved were artworks such as frescoes in churches, carved portals, fountains, tombs, and, of course, large sculptures, such as Michelangelo's 'David.'

The exhibit was titled "Protezione dell opere d'arte" (opera = work, singular; opere d'arte = works of art). There were originally more than 5000 black and white photographs taken from 1940 to 1945 by the personnel of the Gabinetto Fotografico. However, many of them were lost in the great flood of 1966. (Markers showing the water levels that November can be seen in various points around the Renaissance city.)

I was especially intrigued by a photograph labeled "Firenze Galleria dell' Accademia. Lavori di protezione antiaerea del David di Michelangelo 25 gennaio 1943" In January of 1943,'David' was first wrapped up in place at the Accademia and then enclosed in a tall brick cylinder with a continuous dome cap (almost shaped like a grain storage "bullet" you see on American farms). This same "false wall" system was used to fully surround frescoe paintings and other substantial works of art in Florence.

On 30 July 1944, an evacuation of the city of Firenze / Florence around the bridges over the Arno River was ordered. But on the morning (night) of 4 August, the Germans bombed and destroyed all bridges, except the Ponte Vecchio. Liberation came later that month. However, there were four sculptures on the Ponte di Santa Trinita, representing each of the seasons, that were destroyed in the bombings. While most of the sculpture parts were found relatively quickly and restored, it was not until 7 October 1961 that the head of "Spring" (primavera) was finally found at the bottom on the Arno during some river maintenance!

(ponte = bridge; vecchio = old)

If you would like to read about the flood of 1966, please visit:
4 November 2006 Newsletter