SAYING HELLO TO DAVID - MICHELANGELO'S MOST FAMOUS SCULPTURE

I'm sitting here in my Lincolnshire study thinking about a talk I'm preparing for a trip to the States at the end of the month, but I've suddently become distracted by a tiny 3 inches by 3 inches fridge magnet calendar I bought in Florence last year. I have it fastened to the side of the filing cabinet which adjoins my desk. The image for the month of March is of the famous Michelangelo statue of David and its an iconic and alluring work I've been meaning to blog about for ages.

Only a few weeks ago, when Jon and I were in Florence, we'd renewed out acquaintance with it and said "hello" to David as we saw him on his pedestal outside the main entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio.

THE "DAVID" STATUE OUTSIDE THE PALAZZO DELLA SIGNORIA, FLORENCE

I first came across David in another context years ago at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London long before I'd become seriously interested in the history of art. Strolling along one of the ground floor corridors, not really knowing much about what I was looking at, I came across an entrance to a huge galleried room and from my viewpoint all I could see was what looked like a massive 14 foot tall marble statue of a handsome and nude young man. Curious to discover more (who could resist such a challenge?) I ventured in to explore this amazing and colossal work of art.

VICTORIAN PLASTER CAST OF MICHELANGELO'S "DAVID"
IN THE CAST COURTS AT THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM IN LONDON

There's something about sculpture which draws me to it like no other art form and I think it must be its three dimensionality - enabling as it does viewings from multiple angles. Today, be it a Henry Moore a Tingueley or a Michelangelo - I'm always enthralled and as I think back to that day at the V and A - I realize the viewing of David was a singular step in my growing attraction for Renaissance art.Years later I would find myself taking student groups to see it and we would sit on fold-up stools surrounding the sculpture and have the most engaging and wonderful discussions about what was in front of us and how it was to be interpreted and what people were experiencing as they looked at it. I can remember some of these sessions as if they took place yesterday and I've just thought of the fact that during one of them a young Prince William joined our viewing briefly whilst on a tour of the gallery with his art tutor from Eton College. I can hear you saying, however, "but David's in Florence" and indeed he is. The sculpture at the V and A is one of hundreds of accurately copied plaster casts of world famous works of art that were commissioned and collected by the museum in the second half of the 19th century and displayed in these Cast Courts to help students study and educate themselves about sculpture.  When you think about it this was a progressive and forward looking initiative for those unable to visit the sites where the originals were. Today these cast courts are gems of the museum and worthy of a visit at any time of year. The room where the David can be found has been recently restored to its original decorative scheme and the David statue has also been cleaned as can be seen in the illustration below.

CLEANING THE "DAVID" PLASTER CAST AT THE V & A

In the Spring of 1501 the 26 year old Michelangelo Buonarotti was working away from his native Florence in Rome when he received a message from friends to return to his home city to try for an important sculpture commission. A huge block of fine Carrara marble, which had been standing in the yard of the Office of Works of the cathedral for 40 years, was to be offered to an artist for an important sculpture commission to produce a statue that would stand high up on one of the Duomo's buttresses. The piece of marble was one Michelangelo had had his eye on for a while and it presented many challenges. The block had been quarried at Carrara near Pisa in about 1460 and taken to Florence and abandoned. One of the biggest challenges for an artist in 1501 was to sculpt a block which had first been used by another sculptor. The artist Antonio Rossellino, assistant to Donatello, had attempted the first blocking out stages of a figure of Hercules in the 1460's, made mistakes and then lacked the skills to put them right. The young Michelangelo was attracted to solving this problem as well as being drawn by the opportunity to produce a giant statue that would be seen by everyone in Florence, locals and visitors alike. In his home city the chance of improving his own and his family's good name was irresistable.

Michelangelo took the comission and agreed to complete the statue in two years and for the sum of 6 gold florins a month. The subject was to be a traditional Old Testamont one - the story of David, slayer of the Philestine giant Goliath. Within a month he'd completed the modellos for the piece and was ready to start work on the block. A secretive artist he ordered the block to be completely covered with a wooden screen and he would soon be working hard with hammer and chisel commenting "my task is to remove everything that is not David" - an insightful way of expressing how the sculpture was to be created. This technique of removing material from wood or stone by a carving process to reveal the sculpture is an awesome task. Once material has been removed it can't be replaced. To produce something like the David is mind boggling in its complexity of creativity and execution - particularly when the block was flawed to begin with. In reality - it would take almost twice as long to produce, despite the artist toiling ceaselessly day after day on the project. He was soon to discover that the great marble block was flawed in another way - in what was to be the area of David's legs, the marble was streaked with veins making the potential for breakage huge. What a daunting task!

The statue was virtually finished by the sumer of 1504 and what emerged from behind the screens was a 14 foot tall nude male Greek god like figure of David, the maximum height he could get out of the block. It had no drapery, an exaggerated head and huge hands. The artist was compensating for the fact people would view it high up on the parapet of the Duomo. First persion to see it was the Florentine Gonfalonier - Pier Soderini - who according to Vasari writing about the incident in 1568 - is noted as saying to the artist that David's nose was too thick. At least he wasn't commenting on another part of the statue's anatomy! Michelangelo is said to have climbed the scaffolding surrounding the statue, grabbing his chisel on the way and also collecting a handful of dust from one of the scaffold planks. When he reached the head level he struck the chisel on a piece of marble and allowed dust to fall through the scaffolding to the floor - in fact he hadn't touched the statue at all.
When he climbed down to the ground Soderini is noted to have said to Michelangelo."You have given it life!"

So impressed were the commissioners with the statue that the decision was soon taken not to place it high on the duomo and a committee was formed to consider other suitable sites. After much debate and disagreement, the decision was taken to place it on a pedestal outside the Palazzo Vecchio - the civic headquarters of Florence in the Piazza della Signoria. The statue was to be moved to its new place starting on the 14th May 1504 but even before the delicate operation began an incident occurred which shocked Michelangelo and the commissioners. Youths threw stones at the statue in the evening when it was  dark. Were they objecting to the statue's nudity or to its potential political symbolism? Nobody seems to have known. It took 4 days and 40 men to move the statue to the civic square. Finally, after great difficulty, it was hoisted on to its new pedestal on the 8th June and officially unveiled to the public on the 8th September 1504.

Such a huge and monumental classical statue had not been seen in Europe since antiquity. Many considered Michelangelo had achieved the impossible, producing such a magnficent and grandiose unique sculpture which would become the very symbol of the city itself. When I've taken students to see the David reproduction statue in London I've always tried to draw out of them what they see as being most important about what Michelangelo achieved when he created this beautiful object.

The artist, always more of a sculptor than a painter, had made the statue in the image of a beautiful Greek God and interpreted David as an "ideal" man embodying all the attributes of the finest specimens of the type. Yet at the same time David is represented as an individual and a man of the moment. Other earlier statues of David, the one undertaken by Donatello for example, show him victorious over his opponent, his foot on Goliath's head. Here the deed has not yet been committed and David is only moments away from firing his shot off against his opponent. Michelangelo's intimate knowledge of anatomy, gained by meticulous study and dissection of human bodies, show not only his ability to represent the male body accurately, but also to show the behaviour of muscles in tension as David gets ready to use his sling. Notice the tension in the huge hand hanging next to his leg. Similarly, if one looks at the head of David - the psychological angst is also evident; his expression is full of apprehension.

The subject of "David" was highly significant in relation to commission. In the Old Testament David had fought for the freedom of his people - an underling against a great giant of an opponent, but he came out victor. The message is clear - Florence is not to underestimated or messed with by its potential enemies or the consequences could be dire. David was the symbol of Florence's freedom and strength.

DAVID IN FLORENCE'S ACCADEMIA GALLERY

Michelangelo returned to Rome to work in 1505 and David remained on his pedestal outside the Palazzo Vecchio all the way through to 30th July 1873. Following the Unification of Italy the decision was taken, for conservation reasons, to remove the original to Galleria dell Accademia and he arrived there on August 8th of that year. He was placed in a dedicated space in the Tribune Gallery and has remained there ever since, undergoing a major cleaning and restoration in 2004. A reproduction of the original was produced and placed on the original pedestal outside the Palazzo Vecchio and a rather pathetic bronze facsimile was also erected in the Piazza Michelangelo high above the city. David remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in Florence and every year thousands flock to see him in the Galleria. Some days the queues wind all the way round the block.

Oh - and two final things. When a visit to the Cast Courts at the South Kensington Museum was proposed for Queen Victoria the powers that be decreed that she might be offended by David's nudity. A specially designed plaster fig leaf was produced to cover the statue's modesty and there is still a hook for this at the rear of the statue above his bottom. It is shown below. The other point is amusing. So iconic has the David become in modern society that it has been used for all sorts of paraphernalia. I've seen table lamps sculpted from plastic of the David's head with different coloured light bulbs inside, fridge magnets of David with assortments of 'cool' clothes to dress him in and adverts like the one below for designer underpants. Is this a travesty? - I don't know the answer to that question - you can make your own minde up about that one!!

Ciao & KBO
Ian

FRIDGE MAGNET ART - AN EARLY VIEW OF FLORENCE - COMPARE IT WITH THE FLORENCE OF TODAY

Visit any tourist location in Italy, or in any other part of the world on the visitor trail for that matter, and you are likely to come across shops selling fridge magnets; they are usually displayed on suspended boards at the entrance to a retail outlet to catch the eye and entice the prospective shopper to purchase one when entering or leaving the establishment. They are the perfect item for the would be souvenir hunter for they cost little and when you get home and stick one on the fridge you have a permanent reminder of a visit made to a favourite place and the opportunity to reminisce about it.

I don't think they make the ideal gift though, for give one to a friend and you run the risk of incurring jealosy if they think you are rubbing it in about your visit to a  particular spot they haven't been to, or they may not like the image anyway. I have friends who consider fridge magnets to be the height of naffness. Personally I view my collection  as a pleasing permanent record of enjoyable places I've been to, or of buildings and art objects I've seen.

PART OF MY COLLECTION OF FRIDGE MAGNETS

I also know I don't want to add other peoples destinations and paraphenalia to it. I find it fascinating that friends think that because you collect fridge magnets - any old magnet you haven't already got will do. A few weeks ago one good friend gave me a magnet from Gizza in Eygypt showing an arab bloke on a camel with a pyramid in the background. He's one of the rare species of being who has dared to venture down the Nile in a cruise boat in recent times, but even this didn't dispose me to treasure it. I threw it in the bin when he'd gone home! I just hope he doesn't go looking for it next time he comes round, but I have a strong suspicion that he will!

Italian fridge magnets come in a variety of shapes and sizes and I have a distinct preference for the type I like best and know the ones I hate most. Most of my magnets are simple straightforward photographic images which have been stretched over board and then had a strip magnet applied to the back. The ones I really dislike are the plastic moulded variety that attempt a bas relief impression of a place or building. These are usually ghastly as far as aesthetics go and they never get my attention. I also eschew the ones which have a clear plastic frame to which an image has been stuck from behind. In England the National Trust have gone in for these and I can't understand what possessed them to do so.

Whilst travelling round Italy since Jon and I bought our apartment in Umbria a couple of years ago I've had plenty of time to build up an extensive collection of magnets on a small budget. Rarely have they cost me more than 3 euros each. What has been even more fun is choosing ones that appeal  to me aesthetically or perhaps those that arouse some sort of academic curiosity. I've been impressed by the fact that these days many don't just show the usual standard image of a place from the most popular viewpoint (St Mark's Square comes to mind) but show an unusual aspect or perhaps a detail from a work of art. I've got very interested in these and will share some of them with you in later postings.

FRIDGE MAGENT SHOWING A DETAIL FROM THE MASACCIO'S FRESCO
SERIES IN THE BRANCACCI CHAPEL, FLORENCE

In short I like to think of myself as a budding Italian fridge magnet connoisseur - now there's ambition! What I like most about my Italian fridge magnet collection however, is that I am the sole creator of it. Just like a museum curator I'm responsible for acquisitions, research, cataloguing the collection, display and interpretation and sometimes I even organize themed exhibitions on part of the fridge based round particular topics if I feel the urge to make links or explore ideas. The side of my large American style fridge is my very own gallery space and I control every aspect of it. In the quiet world of retirement these notions have proved to be an extraordinarily powerful fantasy as well as inspiring creativity. They always say you should try and keep the brain cells active in impending old age and its struck me that this is one interesting way to do it. I've decided the first one I will write about will be one of  many I have collected whilst in Florence.

The Italian city of Florence, which I visited again for a few days only last week, has always had a special place in my heart. I first visited it getting on 50 years ago when I was in the 6th form doing my A levels. My mum was friendly with the wife of the Head of Modern Languages at the local Girl's High School in Skipton and I had the good fortune to be invited to accompany Mr and Mrs Taggart on a school trip to Italy in 1967. We stayed in Rimini for a week and to this day I can vividly recall the visit we made to Florence.

I remember the first stop was the Piazza Michelangelo to see the wonderful vista over medieval Florence and that experience can still raise hairs on my neck today. Later I would get the opportunity to have an hour on my own exploring the narrow passage ways between the Ponte Vecchio and the Piazza della Signoria and as I write this blog, for a brief moment, I'm walking out into Florence's main civic square for the first time and marvelling once again at its scale and beauty. In more recent times my partner Jon and I chose Florence as our Christmas holiday destination the year after my mum died and now  that we have our own place in Umbria we are  regular visitors to the Tuscan capital. I bought the fridge magnet I'm introducing today on our Christmas visit in 2011 and it has pride of place in my display. I find myself being surprised at how powerful a simple tourist souvenir like this one can be - acting as it has done as a trigger for a bit of  Italian "mindfulness" and generating vivid visual memories which have been stored in my subconscious all these years.

ENLARGED VIEW SHOWING RAFAELLO'S
"VEDUTA DELLA CATENA" OF 1887

The magnet shows a wide view of Florence in the late 15th century. It's actually an image of a painting in the museum of the Palazzo Vecchio (the main civic building in the Piazza della Signoria) done by an artist named Rafaello Petrini in 1887 who was reproducing a woodcut cut in the workshops of the early cartographer Piero del Massaio in 1472. The artist was Francesco de Lorenzo and original prints from his block are now in the Vatican Museums and in a museum in Berlin. For the first time Florence is depicted in its entirety and the view includes many of the city's important landmark buildings of the time.

ORIGINAL WOODCUT - VIEW OF FLORENCE
BY FRANCESCO DI LORENZO ROSSELLI c1472

When examined closely the original and the reproduction present a lively view of the city with a huge amount of detail. In the foreground to the right there's a young man sketching the city and on the left a dead beast being picked over by carrion. There's lots of activity on the river including fishermen and men on a scaffold perched above a weir. It's the overall highly accurate depiction of the city however which is fascinating. By the 1470's despite a smaller population after the 14th century Black Death, Florence is flourishing as an independent city state, its wealth based on luxury textiles production and banking. Arnolfo's magnificent walls - encircling the urban development on both sides of the river, remind us of the city's vulnerability to attack from rival city's both near and far.The city's organisation and powerful institutions are expressed in the imposing buildings which reflect different aspects of it's social structure. Almost in the middle of the view is the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore complete with Brunelleschi's recently completed amazing dome and the campanile is visible too. To the right of it and no less important is Florence's most important civic building, the Palazzo della Signoria - the city hall and military garrison - complete with its iconic crenellated tower. Florence's aristrocracy - patricians of wealth and derived from the mercantile and banking communities are well represented in the Palazzo Pitti visible on the right bank on the Via Romana. The Palazzo de Medici by Michelozzo can also be spotted complete with its own church, San Lorenzo and monastery at San Marco. Other major religous institutions of the time can be seen at Santa Croce and Santa Maria. And don't forget to note at least four of the city's medieval bridges including the famous Ponte Vecchio! Notice on this video clip that when you see them enlarged the buildings are named!

There are two more points of interest. I'm captivated by the notion that at the time the original woodcut was constructed a young Michelangelo was growing up in the city - his home was near Santa Croce and he would have walked the streets and known the buildings we can see in this view of Florence. The other point concerns the fact that when you visit Florence today the central area is well preserved and though much of the city wall has disappeared, within its original boundaries the layout of the streets and the positioning and survival of all the major buildings is largely as it was in the late 15th century.This final video shows just how little the city has changed over the last 500 or so years.! Amazing.

I visited quite a few places whilst in Florence last week so look out for new postings in the coming days; I've rather got the blogging bug again whilst its all fresh in my mind! There will be one on Florence's most famous statue, another on a fabulous recently renovated church cross and a further one on Florentine paper crafts. Don't miss them.

Ciao & KBO
Ian

BELLA FIGURA, ARMANI, DAVID BECKHAM & A CURIOUS LADY IN YELLOW

At the time of writing my Italian blog is two years old!! Happy birthday Italian blog!

Until we bought our home in Italy a couple of years ago I don't think I was aware of the term "bella figura" at all, though I guess I've always known that the Italians, both men and women, are mightily into cutting the right appearance when out in public, either at work or when at leisure. Take a stroll down the main street in any Italian community during the late afternoon "passeggiata" and the locals will parade in their finest - conscious of the need to impress their friends and neighbours with their choice of clothing, shoes, hairstyle and general appearance. The other thing that always amuses me is that Italians, when at work, must also look "appropriate and proper" in relation to their occupational roles. A policeman must look like a policeman - a tennis coach must be dressed in the latest sports gear appropriate to the coaching tasks in hand. A pair of baggy shorts and a worn out pair of trainers is not an option. Our bank manager in Citta della Pieve, Fabio, always makes us smile with his sharply cut suits and beautifully razored sideburns which must take an age to perfect every morning. Lately he's taken to wearing those fashionable drainpipe trousers that are all the rage amongst European males which I must admit I don't have a preference for myself! Outside in the square the local caribiniere parade up and down in their well tailored blue uniforms with red ribbons down each trouser leg. It must be a pain keeping the creases so well pressed but they always look perfect to me.

 A wonderful example of this "bella figura"is given to me every time I play virtual tennis on my ipad when I'm travelling on a train or plane or just passing an idle half hour at home. The game is extremely realistic and forces one to compete against a selection of male and female players and they differ in age, sex and background. They are wonderfully stereotyped with names to match and whenever I select the tennis court based on the Colusseum in Rome (the court is in the middle of a virtual Roman amphitheatre!) inevitably I will be required to play against Giatta - a sexily mature Italian brunette, not unlike Sophia Loren, with formidable skills on the tennis court.

GIATTA CORVO IS A FORMIDABLE VIRTUAL TENNIS OPONENT
BUT SHE ALWAYS LOOKS GOOD

Before the game starts she appears as a cartoon figure, her amply rounded body tightly clad in a tailored and well cut pink dress complete with fashionable accessories; she has a designer hand bag over her left arm. A blob from her mouth sometimes informs me when we compete "I like to look good when I'm playing". Invariably she beats me! It's a carefully constructed image and a brilliant take on the concept I've been trying to outline in this posting.

Today the sharply cut suit typical of the output of Giorgio Armani is another reminder that bella figura is as important as ever to the modern Italian male and its an image that's promoted their wares well on world markets for years.

THE SHARPY CUT ARMANI SUIT MAKES
BELLA FIGURA EASIER TO ACHIEVE FOR MANY MEN

And if looking good in the bedroom is important - well Armani can entice you to wear their designer underwear as well. The advertisements featuring the legendary footballer David Beckham have done wonders for the sale of Armani underpants.

DAVID BECKHAM AND THE ARMANI UNDERPANT ADS

Bella figura is deeply rooted in Italian society and I love to think about it in relation to some of my favourite Renaissance paintings dating from the 15th century. There's a portrait in the National Gallery, London which comes to mind. Entitled "Portrait of a Lady in Yellow" it was puchased by the gallery not long after its foundation in 1866. It's by a Florentine artist called Alesso Baldovinetti and was probably painted in tempera and oil on panel in about 1465.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY IN YELLOW
by Alesso Baldovinetti C1465

The incorporation of oil paint in to the painting medium, a relatively new innovation for the date, has enabled the painter to produce a work of accomplished refinement and elegance. The dark blue background emphasises the person to be contemplated and studied and the representation of the sitter in half profile reflects the fashion for the antique at the time - there was considerable interest in portrait heads in profile to be found on rediscovered Roman coins. The oil pant has enabled the painter to represent great detail in every aspect of the lady's "bella figura" - in the fabric and patterning of the dress, in the details of her hairdressing and in the jewellery she wears. Who she is remains a mystery, but there is one aspect of the composition we are drawn to focus on - the stand out black patterning on the sleeve.

Sleeves were highly important features of the camura (dress) of a lady in Italian society in the second half of the 15th century. They were often made separately and affixed to the dress they were to be worn with by knotted laces called points. Sometimes the camicia undergarment would be pulled through to provide a decorative ruffle at the joining though that is not the case here. We know from documents surviving from the time that the sleeves were often more valuable in monetary terms than the rest of the dress. Here the visible sleeve is embroidered in black silk with three stylised palm leaves tied together with a ribbon. Almost certainly they represent a heraldic device related to her family or perhaps to the family she was to be married in to. They are a fundamental part of her "bella figura" and an expression of her status as an elegant if not beautiful Florentine noblewoman.

So if I had to make a choice between a poster of David Beckham in his underpants or a portrait of a Renaissance lady in a fine outfit which would it be I can hear you asking? Well - there is no choice really is there? - it would be the Renaissance painting every time!!

Ciao & KBO
Ian

Look up my other Italian blog - ITALIANFRIDGEMAGNETS.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK if you are interested in more Italian stuff.

A PERUGINO PAINTING - "VIRGIN & CHILD WITH FOUR SAINTS" THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF UMBRIA, PERUGIA

ITALIAN ART OBJECT OF THE MONTH - DECEMBER 2015

"MOTHER AND CHILD WITH FOUR SAINTS"
Pietro Vannucci - known as Perugino
Oil on Wood
(158cms x 182cms)
Date c1500
National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia.

The year is almost at an end and its time to select another art object. I'm feeling a sense of achievement as I do this at having met the deadline for my postings every single month. In my semi-retirement it's good to have things that impose a bit of discipline on one's life and I've enjoyed making the choices of object, doing the research and collecting images for each one and finally writing them up and publishing them at the end of every month in the blog. From the bits and pieces of feedback I've had they've been well-received and I take great satisfaction from that. I would recommend blog writing as an excellent retirement hobby and one with a practical outlet - being one's own publisher. How good is that? I'm coming up with my last selection for 2015 early because I'm leaving the country for central America in early December and won't be back until early January. In making the choice I decided to remain very traditional and stick with a painting with a theme which relates to Christmas

The picture is a traditonal Renaissance Madonna and Child painted by Perugino and the reason I've chosen it I can hear you asking? - well Perugino is a significant Italian artist of the later 15th early 16th centuries and he was born in the little town of Citta della Pieve - the place where we bought our apartment two and a half years ago. And I also went to see the picture at Umbria's National Gallery in Perugia earlier in the year. Not only did I enjoy seeing this work and others by the artist, but I was also impressed by the high standard of the collection generally. It's a "must see" among many if you ever come to this wonderful city.

Mother & Child with four Saints - Perugino - 1500

 THE ARTIST
Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci, better known as Perugino (a nickname which implied he was from Perugia), was born in the fortified Umbrian hill top town of Citta della Pieve in 1445 and came from a reputable, wealthy family. Little is known about his early life in the town but the property where he was born, in the town square opposite the cathedral, is today marked with a sculptural relief and plaque on the wall. Many of Perugino's admirers come to see it and photograph it.

The double arched property to the left of the black drain pipe is the one where
Perugino was born. It's possible to see the commemorative plaque directly anove
the first arch on the left.

 He probably trained as an arist in the nearby city of Perugia, a flourishing urban centre at the end of the 15th century. Art historians tell us that Perugia was an important centre for the arts at this time with a lot of money being spent on both public and private commissions. Artist's were resident in the city from Florence, Siena and Orvieto and many of them had apprentices.Whilst training in the city there would have been good opportunities for the young artist to imbibe such artistic innovations as a realistic use of light and mathematical perspective. He then seems to have moved to Florence to complete his apprenticeship in the workshops of Antonio Verrochio - a true Renaissance man as he was an accomplished goldsmith, sculpltor and painter of considerable repute. In Florence Perugino would have met Leonardo da Vinci, Ghirlandaio, Lippi and Botticelli and there is evidence to suggest that it was here he learned to refine his drawing skills from life studies taking an interest also in the new art's pre-occupation with issues relating to the movement and expression of individuals in compositions.

Portrait of Pietro Perugino the artist

In 1472 his long apprenticeship appears to have ended when he became a member of the Compagnia di San Luca, an organisation set up in 1439 to promote artists' interests and its from that point onwards that he set out as an artist in his own right. His considerable talent enabled him to take commissions in Florence, Venice, Perugia and Rome and some of his most important works were completed in the Vatican for the Pope. His most famous fresco is probably "The Delivery of the Keys to St Peter" of 1481-1482 which is in the Sistine Chapel.

 An efficient businessman, Perugino also ran two studios, one in Florence which he opened in the 1470's and another in Perugia which started in 1501. It would be in his Florentine workshop that he would teach the young artist Raphael the skills of a painter! Overall, he produced many paintings and examples of his work can be seen not only in museums and galleries throughout Italy, but also in many of the world's most imporant museums.

THE COMMISSION
The painting I have chosen is also known as THE TEZI ALTARPIECE as it was commissioned for placement above an altar in the TEZI family chapel in the church of Sant' Agonstino in Perugia. It seems to have been associated with a predella (a smaller strip like painting underneath the main work) which depicted The Last Supper. This turned up in Frankfurt in 1833 and was sold to the Staatliche Museum in Berlin where it is now. Its the inscriptions on the predella in Berlin that reveal information related to the commission indicating that a man called Bernadino di ser Agostino (by the 18th century this family were known as Tezi) commissioned the work from Perugino for his family chapel in Sant' Agostino.

Front elevation of Sant Agostino Church in Perugia - the lower part of which
dates from the middle of the 13th century. The church was completely rebuilt
in the 18th century. 

THE PAINTING
The picture is an oil painting on an oak wooden panel. By this time oil paint was the preferred painting medium in Italy and egg tempera had long gone out of fashion, The oil technique dried slowly, allowed layers of paint to be built up including glazes and delivered an amazing amount of detail when required. The oak panel would have been carefully prepared and sized to fill the grain of the wood before painting began.

The panel depicts the Madonna and Child on a cloud above a landscape  and surrounded by four saints. These can be identified as Saint Nocholas of Tolentino left of the Virgin, Saint Bernadino of Siena to her right. Below and to the left is the kneeling figure of Saint Jerome with his attribute of a lion lying just behind him and to the right is the kneeling figure of  a partially clad Saint Sebastian complete with arrows piercing his body. In the centre is the shape of what looks like a grave stone but it represents the position of the opening to a tabernacle which would have housed the holy sacrament.
Its these balanced elements which give the picture a great sense of harmony and serenity - a characteristic of most High Renaissance paintings of this period. The techniques are used by Peruginoe's pupil, Raphael in many of his compositions with same effects.

Madonna of the Consolation - Perugino - 1498

Art historians have shown that Perugino used the same cartoon for the Madonna that he'd used in another of his paintings the "Madonna of the Consolation" which dates from a couple of years before the Perugia one. The composition is harmonious and balanced in terms of how the artist has constructed it top to bottom and side to side. The figures are well modelled and look realistic. The landscape adds a dimension of depth to the composition. These are all devices typically used by Perugino is his compositions at this date There is another work of a Madonna and Child with Saints above the altar of the cathedral in his home town of Citta which shows similar compositional devices. The interesting thing however, is that until relatively recently, art historians believed the colour usage in the painting was not typical of the Master when compared with the other works of the period. An opinion formed that the work probably came from his studio, but that it was largely the result of his workshop assistants with the master only responsible for parts of it. Recent restoration of the work by the experts at the art gallery in Perugia has produced a revised opinion based on the true quality of the picture exposed after the cleaning.

The picture can be seen in the series of rooms 22-28 at the Galleria Nazionale in Perugia.

Perugino died in 1523 having caught bubonic plague whilst back in his home area of Umbria in the small town of Folignano. He was evidently buried in an open field there but if you visit there's a little chapel near the side of the road which remembers the great artist. There's usually a notice pinned to the door suggesting you ring a telephone number of one of a number of local villagers who will come out and unlock it so you can have a peek inside!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year when they finally arrive.

Ciao and KBO

THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS AT PAESTUM - MODELLED IN CORK!!

OBJECT OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER 2015

A CORK MODEL OF THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS AT PAESTUM

I'm late in posting my monthly object feature and I apologize for that. It's all due to the fact I was travelling for most of October and unable to get down to producing a posting on time. However, I hope you will enjoy reading about what I've chosen as its a corker (forgive the pun)!!

Firstly I have to confess that in contrast to all the other things I've written about this year, I have not seen it. An article about it appeared in the October 2nd issue of the Antiques Trade Gazette which I read every week and I was immediately taken with what I saw - it had to be my object of the month for November!

CORK MODEL OF THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS AT PAESTUM c1820
SOLD AT AUCTION IN LONDON FOR £51,700 IN SEPTEMBER 2015
(2'2"x12"x10")

The article featured an early 19th century model of one of the three, well-preserved Greek temples to be found at Paestum in present day Campania, Italy. The model had been placed in a local auction house at Hampstead in North London with a pre-sale estimate of £5000-£8000. The vendor's great, great grandfather interestingly had connections with Naples; he'd been a tailor there to the Neapolitcan royal family! When sold the buyers, furniture dealers Thomas Coulbourn & Sons based in the West Midlands, paid the significant sum £44,000 pounds for it plus buyer's commission - producing a grand total of £51,700!!

Details of the Padiglione cork model of the Temple at Paestum

Models like this one were made in response to demand from British Grand Tourists staying in Italy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries for easily transportable souvenirs. Many of them visited key archaeological sites like Paestum with their tutors and often produced accurately scaled and measured drawings to take home with them and remember there were no cameras available then! Models were a great souvenir and could be used for all sorts of purposes back home including display, inspiration for architectural projects and even teaching students in some cases. A thriving model industry flourished in Naples to satsify this demand and the workshop of Dominic Padiglione, who is thought to have made this model, was one of the most important in the city.

Peastum was an important Greek settlement on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea in what was then known as Magna Graecia. It was founded by Greek colonists and named Poseidonia and it would be the Roman who later named it Paestum. The Greeks built three temples there which have survived through to the present day in excellent condition - particularly compared with the Parthenon in Athens. They all date from the first half of the 6th century BC and were constructed in the doric order. The model represents an accurate representation of the second temple, originally dedicated to Hera and Poseidon, but also used for the worship of Zeus as well.

The Second Temple at Paestum - 460-450BC.

Cork from southern European oaks started to be used for model making in Italy in the late 18th century and being pliable and porous, as well as taking carving well (precision was deemed very important) - it suited model making. Domenico Padilglione was an official model maker for the Royal Museum in Naples in the early 19th century contributing work to the Gallery of Models of ancient monuments in the royal Museum. He made additional income from making models for Grand Tourists and probably used scale drawings to produce the three dimensional structures. His wife and children were also involved in the business. His models were known for their accuracy and  quality and highly desirable.

Sir John Soane, the Regency architect to the Bank of England, renowned today for his house and collection open to the public in Lincoln's Inn, was an avid collector of models and used them in his teaching. Today the model room at Lincoln's Inn has been restored and it's once again open to the public. Models similar to the one sold at auction in September can be seen there and I'd recommend a visit next time you are in London.

The restored model room at Sir John Soane's Lincoln's Inn house.

It won't be long before it's time to introduce my last object for 2015 and I've chosen a painting with a suitable theme for the month of December. I hope you will come back then.

Ciao & KBO

Ian