Florence Accademia Lorenzo Bartolini

Dear Art Lover,

    

     Having lived for many years in Firenze, Italia (translated to Florence, Italy), I have passed many a time and admired the Demidoff Monument by sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini.  My favorite of the marble allegorical sculptures is a mother holding her sick or perhaps dead child across her lap, in a not unlike the famous Pietà pose by Michelangelo.

     My brother Steve was recently visiting me here in Italia for the first time and we traveled around quite a lot to give him a brief taste of this country.  Naturally, while in Firenze, we went to the Medici Chapel (my favorite place) and the Accademia. 

     Besides housing Michelangelo’s famous “David,” the Accademia also houses his marvelous unfinished slaves, many more paintings and then..the gesso museum… a true delight.  This is where many of the plaster sculptures used to create a copy or copies into marble (with a point-up system) are stored.  Many will still contain the little black dots on the surface of the plaster.  These mark the high points in an area of each sculpture and help in the roughing out of the stone, so as not to remove too much material from any given area. 

“Love, Vice, and Wisdom” by Bartolini

      Lorenzo Bartolini (Prato 1777 - Firenze 1850) is one of the artist with many sculptures here to admire.  One of my favorites is a composition of three children.  It is unusual in that it is mostly horizontal.  Sculptors often create vertical compositions that read well from a distance.  “L’Amore, Il Vizio e la Saggezza” (“Love, Vice, and Wisdom”) is dated as “before 1845,” five years at least before the artist died. The three children are arranged in overlapping reclining poses, a bit triangular on a round base.  It reminds me of Giambologna’s “Il Ratto delle Sabine” {“The Abduction of the Sabine Women”) in which the sculptor was seeking a perfect composition that enticed the viewer to walk around to see all sides.  [Note that the title of Giambologna’s composition was given by someone else AFTER the work was done, based on a popular theme in art at the time.]

     Shown here is the plaster model from which was carved the marble sculpture for the Metropolitan Museum.  I apologize that my images are not so clear nor show all the views.  My main camera died in my second fall where I reinjured my knee back in March.  Then this smaller camera I bought from a friend years ago and only used for backups died during my brother’s vacation.  My neighbors were probably relieved that I was not sporting a camera during our recent dinners together.  Another one has been ordered in anticipation of my first trip to Sicily soon.  Enjoy… and see the Accademia when in Firenze.  There is also a small set of rooms for the study of music.  They have many unique and/or antique musical instruments there, as well as a handful of research computers.

For more information on sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini, click here:

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Bartolini

http://www.scultura-italiana.com/Biografie/Bartolini.htm

http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/bartolini/

Peace,

Kelly

http://BorsheimArts.com

P.S.  Welcome Home, little Levi! 

“Love, Vice, and Wisdom” by Bartolini

Gesso Museo - Plaster Sculpture Museum-Accademia

Siena, Italy - Art Exhibit of European 'Purismo'

Yesterday, I went with my friend Hafiza to Siena, a popular town in Tuscany, Italy. We went to see the mostra (exhibit) titled
"Nel segno di Ingres [in the sign/mark of Ingres]
Luigi Mussini e l'Accademia in Europa nell'Ottocento"

It was held at the Complesso Muscale in the Santa Maria della Scala (Saint Mary of the Stairs), right across from the "Zebra Castle" as my friend Michael Graziano once referred to the alternating dark green and white bars of marble that make up Siena's Duomo.

The exhibit wanted to show the influence of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres on the work of Senese painter Luigi Mussini and other artists, as well as depict some of the dialogue between 'purism' and 'naturalism' in European art during this time period. It is quite good. Here is a list of my favorite works in questa mostra (please realize that these titles are in Italian and you may know their titles by other names):

*"Abele Morente" 1842 by Giovanni Dupré
Disegno su carta (drawing on paper).
This work is absolutely fantastic! Subtle white pencil marks in this drawing on a mid-toned paper of the reclining arched figure of the dying Abel made one want to reach out and touch the figure.
Property of the Uffizi in Firenze.

*“Ulisse riconosciuto dalla sua Nutrice” 1849 by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
(‘Ulysses recognized by his nurse’, upon his return from Troy)
If I could have located an image of this incredible painting that is on loan from La Rochelle Musée des Beaux Arts de La Rochelle (I assume in France), I would explain to you how intelligent and magnificent the composition is! Can anyone locate an image of this artwork "Ulysses Recognized by his Nurse" by Bouguereau for me?

*“La Riconoscenza” 1853-4; marble sculpture by Giovanni Dupré
riconoscere = to recognize or to admit, acknowledge
Private collection – a beautiful seated woman holding a broken chain in front of her knees. Delicate and shown with lovely lighting!

*“La carità educatrice” 1817-1835; marble sculpture by Lorenzo Bartolini
This sculpture depicts a mother with one child standing by her feet while she holds a baby against her body. The way the baby’s cheek is pushed against her shoulder, with his fingers close by and while one foot dangles away from her lower arm are just two examples of how magnificently carved this sculpture is.

*“Amore in agguato” 1854-58; marble sculpture by Lorenzo Bartolini
The title of this marble of a seated and resting Cupid figure was translated into “Love Lying in Wait” for the exhibit, but my dictionary says that agguato means a more daring ‘trap’ or ‘ambush.’

And I enjoyed the dramatic lighting on two paintings: Alessandro Franchi’s “Trasporto di Santo Stefano” 1864-8 and Cesare Maccari’s “Un episodio della vita di Fabiola” 1870.

Here is a link to the site of La Rochelle Musée des Beaux Arts de La Rochelle (but it only shows the painting in a bizarre, highly foreshortened view):

http://perso.orange.fr/musees-la-rochelle/b-arts/a/expo_1.htm

Thank you also to my friend, geologist Dr. Fabio Biselli who explained to me that mostro means 'monster.' Ah the difference one vowel can make! However, it is my spoken confusion around kind people that enables me to refine my Italian vocabulary and grammar. Trying is learning.

Oh – this exhibit “ Nel segno di Ingres” continues through to 6 January 2008. I highly recommend it – and relaxing Siena.

To learn more about this exhibit (although the text is in Italian, you may click on the Babelfish link on the top right of this page to attempt a translation), click here:

http://www.comune.siena.it/news.asp?id=17619