Si avvicina l'Epifania ed ecco come Wikipedia la definisce:
L'Epifania è una festa cristiana celebrata il 6 gennaio (cioè dodici giorni dopo il Natale), che ricorda la visita dei re Magi a Gesù bambino. [...] Nella Chiesa cattolica è una delle massime solennità celebrate, assieme alla Pasqua, il Natale, la Pentecoste e l'Ascensione, ed è quindi istituita come festa di precetto (giorno in cui «i fedeli sono tenuti all'obbligo di partecipare alla Messa; si astengano inoltre, da quei lavori e da quegli affari che impediscono di rendere culto a Dio e turbano la letizia propria del giorno del Signore o il dovuto riposo della mente e del corpo.»
Quindi, spegnete il computer e andate a messa! In tema di re Magi, ecco, in alto, la bella copertina a collage di The Economist di questo mese che raffigura, oltre ad un Tony Blair santificato, alla Statua della Libertà, a un tacchino, cavallo e maialino, anche L'adorazione dei Magi di Gentile da Fabriano. La rivista dedica ai re Magi anche un articolo molto interessante di Ann Wroe che potete leggere qui o in basso, preceduto da un'intervista audio, sempre di The Economist, all'autrice dell'artcolo:
The rule of three: What those magical, royal wanderers through the desert really signify
Nell'articolo sui re Magi, Ann Wroe menziona Ravenna e ne approfittiamo per fare una piccola digressione per "visitare" la bellissima città di Ravenna che è poco conosciuta all'estero, ma che vale davvero la pena visitare. Ecco quindi una bella introduzione alla città tratta dal programma della SBS, Global Village, andato in onda nel 2011, e presentato dall'inimitabile Silvio Rivier:
Tornando alla copertina di The Economist, vogliamo soffermarci sulla tavola dipinta da Gentile da Fabriano, L'adorazione dei Magi, nota anche come la Pala Strozzi ("pala" in inglese significa "shovel" ma può significare anche "alterpiece", e Strozzi è il cognome del committente che si chiamava, guarda caso, Palla - doppia "l" – Strozzi). La pala è famosissima: la si vede riprodotta nei biglietti di auguri di Natale, su francobolli, su oggetti di cartoleria; è una delle grandi attrazioni della galleria degli Uffizi, dove è esposta; ed è uno dei grandi capolavori dello stile gotico internazionale "italiano". Ma che cos'è lo stile gotico internazionale? Ecco due brani – il primo tratto da Storia dell'Arte Italiana, di Bertelli, Briganti, e Giuliano; il secondo, da Art: The Whole Story, di Stephen Farthing – che ce lo spiegano (abbiamo messo in risalto le parti del testo che si riferiscono ai temi che verranno sviluppati in seguito):
Il dominio del gotico internazionale in tutta Europa International Gothic emerged as a style of art in Europe at the end of the 14th century. It was characterized by strong narrative and courtly elegance, coupled with exact naturalistic detail, decorative refinement, surface realism and rich decorative colouring. The style was neglected by historians until the end of the 19th century, when Louis Courajod, a professor at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, first pointed out its international character – international because of the similarity between stylistic trends and techniques that appeared in geographically distant European centres. Artists from France, Italy, Austria, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and England developed an artistic style that intensified elements of the Gothic during its last flourish, and that became a prelude to the Early Renaissance. Religious figures and scenes were the period's predominant subject matter. In the Annunciation (above) by Lorenzo Monaco (c. 1370 -1425), the painter's emotional intensity and subtlety of feeling are evident and the work displays a particularly graceful flow of line. These qualities also appear in his panels titled The Flight into Egypt (c. 1405) and The Coronation of the Virgin (1413). Some artists set themselves apart from their Gothic predecessors, however, by the close observation of nature and lavish craftsmanship that characterized their work. One of the period's most memorable paintings is the Wilton Diptych (below). This devotional masterpiece is an icon of Catholic heritage, yet the artist has never been identified – art historians cannot even agree on the artist's country of origin, such is the international nature of the style. The altarpiece was most likely commissioned by the English king, Richard II, whose coat of arms and white hart appear on the diptych's exterior. Hinged like a book so that it is portable for use in prayer, the interior shows the king being presented to the Virgin Mary. The succession of wars and the terrible cost of the Hundred Years' War between England and France, that lasted from 1337 to 1453, dramatically changed the social and political landscape of Europe and further influenced the development of its art. The tapestry Offering of the Heart (below) expresses a nostalgia that members of the old order felt for the court's feudal values, outdated chivalry, extravagance and splendour. Economic crisis and civil strife had undermined the position of the aristocracy and produced an increasingly powerful and sizeable middle class of merchants and bankers. The tapestry is therefore an indirect expression of the struggle for power between them and the merchants. The bourgeoisie, meanwhile, were gaining increasing influence and were perhaps more attracted to some of the ruling class's venal excesses than to the courtly customs that sometimes masked them. The elegance and emotional exaggeration of the International Gothic style combined with a new kind of humanism, which found its way into the artistic depiction of figures and themes. At the Castello della Manta in Saluzzo, Italy, a student of Giacomo Jaquerio (c. 1375-1455), known only as the 'Master of Manta', painted frescoes on the walls around the baronial hall, including the scene called 'The Fountain of Youth' (detail below). It shows elderly people entering the miraculous waters to be rejuvenated, and the work is full of lively detail and strong colours. The artist was one of many painters associated with the International Gothic who were highly sensitive to the sense of movement underlying the composition. Further examples of the International Gothic aesthetic are La Grande Pietà Ronde (c. 1400) by Jean Malouel (c. 1360-1415), which is characterized by intense emotion and a soft, dream-like pictorial quality, and The Road to Calvary (1440) by Jaquerio, a crowded canvas in which the sharp angles of innumerable spears suggest shared suffering, the scene realized with a religious intensity and remarkably elegant composition. Pisanello (c. 1394-1455) was a very competent draughtsman and many of his works feature animals. The representation of animals, vegetables, architecture and artefacts within the decorative landscape is achieved with the same attention to detail and harmony as that given to the figures. In Madonna with the Quail (below), the quail at the Virgin's feet, the other birds, the leafy wreath and the fruits blend into an idealized portrait of the Madonna and Child. The illumination of Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (c. 1413-89; see Winter below) by the Flemish Limbourg brothers (a.1402-16), completed after their deaths by Jean Colombe, is replete with animals, vegetables and wide landscapes, peopled by both aristocratic and peasant figures. While the art of the past had represented the ideal with much recourse to imagery from the imagination, the International Gothic style produced a synthesis of the ideal – in the sense of a nostalgic looking back to the glory of the past – with a descriptive and detailed realism. The Adoration oj the Magi (below) by Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1370-1427) exemplifies the fusion of these two artistic impulses and represents the peak of the artistic movement. The altarpiece was painted for the Cappella Strozzi, in the Santa Trinita church in Florence (now the sacristy) and has a strong sense of narrative that is typical of International Gothic. The artist depicts the complete story of the adoration of the Magi as told in the Bible, with a vast array of lavishly attired figures. The larger figures in the foreground, nearest to the Madonna and Child, represent the chivalrous tradition of honour and servitude, and the more animated procession of knights and huntsmen, winding its way to a turreted castle in the distant hills in the background, includes more plebeian figures. Behind the youthful king in the centre is the Florentine banker Palla Strozzi, who is included in recognition of his commission of the work. There is a notable aura of meditation and purpose in the most important works of the International Gothic style, even within the context of its close detail and occasional extravagance. Many of the miniatures were portable so that the viewer could easily use the work of art for private contemplation. The artistic aim was always to familiarize the viewer with the myriad details of the pictorial landscape and the individual characters of the figures. While fully appreciating the realistically presented figures in all their finery and glory, the viewer was at the same time exposed to the light and space that surrounded them-an experience designed to lift and expand the spirit.
Ancora due piccole digressioni: su YouTube abbiamo trovato un bellissimo documentario dedicato a Les Tres Riches Heures, dipinto dai fratelli Limbourg per il duca di Berry, menzionato nel brano sopra tratto da Art: The Whole Story – non c'entra nulla con l'Italia ma c'entra molto con il gotico internazionale; inoltre, vi proponiamo una "visita" al Castello del Buonconsiglio di Trento – un'altra bellissima città italiana situata nella regione del Trentino-Alto Adige (in giallo, nella cartina in basso), dalla forte impronta mitteleuropea, praticamente sconosciuta qui in Australia – in compagnia del grande Marco Hagge. Nel Castello del Buonconsiglio, c'è un ciclo di affreschi, il celebre Ciclo dei Mesi, in stile gotico internazionale, assolutamente straordinario e assolutamente da visitare:
Ritornando al discorso della Pala Strozzi, nel brano tratto da Storia dell'Arte Italiana, di Bertelli, Briganti, e Giuliano, che abbiamo riportato sopra, viene menzionato Giotto. Ma chi era Giotto? Per spiegarcelo, ecco un documentario assolutamente straordinario di Andrew Graham-Dixon, del 2007, The Art of Eternity. Il documentario è dedicato all'arte bizantina (abbiamo parlato di Bizanzio e dell'impero bizantino in un articolo di blog precedente dedicato a Venezia) ed è costituito di tre puntate. La puntata che ci interessa in modo particolare è la terza, When East Meets West, perché in questa puntata lo straordinario Andrew Graham-Dixon parla non soltanto di Giotto ma del ruolo fondamentale che il movimento francescano ebbe sull'arte figurativa italiana, ma vi proponiamo tutte e tre le puntate perché vale davvero la pena vedere tutta la serie – il signor Graham-Dixon esamina i mosaici di Ravenna nella seconda puntata. Inoltre vi proponiamo anche un documentario molto interessante, dedicato a Giotto, tratto dalla bella serie The Great Artists, di Tim Marlow.
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AuthorAt Italia 500 we've been offering Italian courses, in Sydney, since 1995 and one of the most beautiful aspects of learning Italian is that it opens the door to a culture of unrivalled richness and diversity. In this blog we'll be sharing some of our favourite books, movies, places in Italy to visit, music, links to podcasts, information about local and international Italian themed events, and the odd "personal" view, in the hope that it will encourage you to delve further into a culture which continues to inspire us and millions of people all over the world. Archives
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