Cellini Ponte Vecchio

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

When you visit Firenze, Italia (or Florence, Italy, if you prefer translated proper names), you will no doubt see the famous Ponte Vecchio (“old bridge” or, literally, “bridge old”). She was the only bridge over the River Arno in Florence that was not bombed during World War II.

And she has traditionally housed merchants and much later, the Vasari Corridor – the private passage built for the Medici family and designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1564-5. The corridor above all of the shops allowed the powerful rulers to move from one palace to the other across the river without actually mingling with the common folk. These days, for a not insignificant fee, you may pass through this corridor and see a portrait gallery along the walls with other artworks and feel what it might have been like for the Medici.

On the Ponte Vecchio herself, there is a very well done bronze portrait sculpture of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571). The son of a musician and instrument maker, Florence-born Cellini was also a musician [a flute player, like myself only much better, I am sure], and goldsmith, sculptor, painter, and soldier. The most famous and seen sculpture by Cellini must surely be his bronze “Perseus with the Head of Medusa” that is featured in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria in Florence. I must say I especially love the backside of this standing figure!



Like another Italian artist Caravaggio, Cellini killed people, also for emotional reasons more than justice or self defense. And no doubt his autobiography would be a racy read.

Built of stone and wood, the Ponte Vecchio has shops built along it, as was once common. First there were butchers, but today, jewelers occupy most of the spaces. The butchers were apparently asked to leave to enhance the prestige of the Vasari Corridor above them. Gold merchants quickly took over.

More tomorrow…

Portrait of a Banker - Donatello

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

The sculpture that always makes me stop and admire him in Florence’s Bargello Museum is “Niccolò da Uzzano” by Donatello. This portrait is a painted terra-cotta sculpture and he is simply arresting. He is regal in pose and execution. Niccolò was the banker of the Medici family, made famous during the time of the Renaissance for their incredible support of artists.

When I got the opportunity to create a charcoal drawing of a white gesso (plaster) copy of this artwork, I jumped at it. I referred to my drawing in an earlier blog entry before I left for Texas this summer, and am so happy that after returning to Italy, I can say he is finished and available for your viewing pleasure.

The type of drawing I am currently doing here in Florence, Italy, is very detailed and time-consuming. I have been working for many months on ‘Niccolò’, spending an average of twelve hours a week on him. I am using the sight-size method of drawing, which means that I am pacing the floor a lot as I view the work from about 3 meters away before advancing to make a mark on the paper.

This drawing is actually done on a light grey Roma-brand paper. I use Nitram charcoals for my darks and white Rembrandt pastels for anything lighter than the paper itself. The idea is that the white and the black will never need to mix. This makes for a more difficult tonal study since I cannot just smudge my tones around.

“Donatello's Portrait of Niccolò da Uzzano” is just over 64 x 46 cm. He is available for only $2600 (US). And I would be happy to ship him anywhere in the world for you. Simply contact me with a shipping address and I can get you a quote for everything.

Thank you for your interest in my work and thank you for telling others about it. And if you know any bankers who might like this original drawing for their offices . . .

Click here to see other original drawings in charcoal.

Leonardo da Vinci + San Gennaro Angel

Cari Amici,

This past Friday the 13th I attended a lecture on Leonardo da Vinci by the Maestro John Angel at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. Perhaps it is horrible for me to say, but Leonardo has not interested me too much before. So I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed this lecture!

In his opening statements, I thought that the Maestro was brilliant to illustrate his basic premise with a recipe by Leonardo: that the most famous Renaissance man was curious and creative, but that his ideas rarely seemed to pan out.

This gesso sealant (for a painting canvas) recipe is written in one of Leonardo da Vinci’s manuscripts in Paris and is cited by Richter (R628):

One coat of mastic in white turps
Three coats of grappa (acqua vitae) and arsenic
One liberal coat of boiled linseed oil
One thick coat of white varnish, applied with a stick
When dry, wash the whole with urine.

I must say that the grappa and arsenic amused me, especially after seeing how some people drink here! As master painter John Angel pointed out, “Arsenic is not harmful to gesso, just pointless and very harmful to the painter.” But this type of thinking just might explain why Leonardo’s “Last Supper” (in Italian, “Il Cenacolo” or “L'Ultima Cena”) was already in need of repair during the artist’s own lifetime.

It was surprising to me that for such a famous artist who produced so few finished works, I saw several art pieces in John Angel’s lecture than I had never before seen. One that particularly caught my eye is one that the Maestro said that not everyone acknowledges as done by Leonardo. It is the “San Gennaro Angel” (pictured here), a sculpture in terra-cotta in a church in San Gennaro, just outside of Florence, Italy. The Maestro later e-mailed me for clarification:

“However, it looks like a Leonardo (based on the style of the drapery, etc.), and it seems unlikely that anybody else would have borrowed the style of a young unknown artist (at that point, nobody would have known his style). Its date fits with Verrocchio's Pistoia altarpiece, placing Leonardo in the area at that time (the late 1470s), and gelling with the need for him to get out of Florence for a time, in order to let the "backside game" scandal die down a bit. I have attached a jpg of the sculpture. It was proposed as a Leonardo in the 1990s, I think.”

“Playing the backside game” was how Leonardo referred to his penchant for 10-year-old boys. The scandal refers to the time that Leonardo, along with three others, was accused of sodomy. The charges were later dropped, perhaps because one of the other three was part of a rather powerful family.

Anyway, another point worth noting: It is strange that Leonardo da Vinci is so often referred to as a scientist, when he discovered no scientific principles. He is, however, a champion of the empirical method, preferring to collect his data from pure observation of nature vs. a manipulation of variables or basing his ideas off of the work of others.

Another story that I found a bit . . . non lo so . . . disturbing, curious, perhaps simply the yin yang of human behaviour? Anyway, apparently Leonardo became a familiar face in hospitals, entertaining and spending many hours with the old and the sick. And then, after they died, he would claim their bodies and dismember them for his personal anatomy studies.
And on that note, I am off to sleep . . .

Ciao, ciao, ragazzi!
Kelly

PS Many special thanks to Maestro Michael John Angel for the lecture and for taking time to respond to my e-mail asking for clarification on a few points. And for sending me this image of Leonardo’s sculpted angel. Here is a link to the Angel Academy of Art:
Maestro John Angel at the Angel Academy of Art