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

Pescia Italy Gipsoteca Libero Andreotti Sculpture

Dear Art Lover,

     Last spring while still in Italy, I house-hunted a lot.  I asked all of my Italian friends for information and visited several in order to see potential homes for my fall return.  In the process, I got to visit some nearby cities in which I had spent little or no time.  Pescia was one such town.  Pescia lies in Tuscany, halfway between Pistoia and Lucca.  It is about an hour and ten minutes by train from Florence.

     My friends and I found a parking space, crossed the River Pescia and walked pretty much straight into the Piazza del Palagio, which houses the Palazzo del Podestà.  Inside, one will discover the Gipsoteca, a collection of plaster sculptures from the studio of the late Libero Andreotti.  The building dates back to the 12^th century, but the renovation is well done and the plaster sculptures feel right at home there.
     The lower level is used for changing exhibitions and we were fortunate enough to see “Passio XTI – la Fede rappresentata”  There were thirty three works of art (2-d and a few 3-d), representing the passion of the Christ.  I must say that I was very surprised to see this small town and museum have TWO xylography works (woodcuts) by Albrecht Dürer!  There were many other lovely Christian works there, but I have so many images to share today of the sculpture …

Albrecht Dürer from 1519

Albrecht Dürer from 1503

     Allora, there was so much sculpture to see that, really, I was thrilled by this surprise.  As we entered the top floor via the staircase, I saw this portrait bust of a young boy… hung from a shelf attached to the ceiling!  What a greeting!


     I really enjoy the movement in the greyhound dogs.  The work of Libero Andreotti feels very human to me and captures simple, but often profound, moments in our lives.

     Bas relief sculpture is so difficult to do well.  I have found and show my students that the lighting during one’s work is necessary for success.  Relief sculpture is not just “puffy painting” (as I once told my workshop instructor Eugene Daub).  It is compressed form.  But even that will not work, if the lighting is not well done and specific in the creation and exhibition.  Eugene knows this better than most:  he carved coins and such, as well as many other sculptures.

   
     However, I was charmed by bas relief when I saw the story-telling applications possible.  I especially enjoy mixed relief levels, such as on the Gates of Paradise in Florence:  Flatter, more coin-like levels (true bas [low] relief) and as the foreground advances, it becomes more high relief.  Sometimes the figures in front are totally realized in the round!  But, I digress . . . as I do.  I hope you enjoy these images and can go see this collection in Pescia.  There is so much more than I was able to show here.

For more information, including open hours, visit:
http://www.comune.pescia.pt.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/63
[There is an English section if you scroll down the page.]


     I am not above taking a donation.  Even five bucks is a help, if you enjoy what you read about and see in my images here on this blog.  Thank you.  [You may make a donation via the PayPal links on the side bar on the blog site:  http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com ]

Peace,
Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

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.