Arlecchino
Newsletter
Vol. 3
Issue n. 14
September 01, 2001
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~~~ ARLECCHINO NEWSLETTER
~~~
~~~ A free bi-weekly newsletter of 285 subscribers
~~~ on the discussion of topics related to
~~~ the made-in-Italy products, to the Italian way of life
~~~ and more generally to the Italian style.
~~~
~~~ supported by Studiosoft at http://www.studiosoft.it
~~~
~~~ Marco Piazzalunga, Publisher
~~~ ArlecchinoPublisher@studiosoft.it
~~~
~~~ Vol. 3, issue #14, September 01, 2001
~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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IN THIS ISSUE
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New Topics on Fine Arts in Italy/Europe (2)
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1) Renaissance in Rome
by Enit
2) Naples aims for museum crowds in 2001
by Marco Piazzalunga
New Topics on Italian style (2)
-------------------------------------
1) An Italian architect in the UN
by Wayin
2) Ferrari: the lady in red
by Fausto Cardinetti
New Topics on Italian handicraft works of art (2)
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1) The terracotta’s art in Tuscany: Impruneta
by CeramicOnline
2) VicenzaOro 2 Fair
by Manuela Cardinetti
New Topics on Italian/European antiques & collectibles (2)
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1) Quimper pottery
by Adela Meadows
2) Storage and Handling of Ivory
by Megan Springate
-----====(* FINE ARTS IN ITALY & EUROPE *)====-----
Subject: Renaissance in Rome
ROME Italy, August 9, 2001 - The most important masterpieces from the most significant
period of artistic creativity in Italy will be brought together in the exhibit on
Renaissance art in Italy at the Scuderie Papali gallery at Rome's Quirinale palace.
The exhibit, 'Il Rinascimento in Italia: la Civilta' nelle Corti e Nelle Citta', will open
in Rome in early September and run through January 2002. It will include 160 works from 60
Italian museum.
Key developments during the period will be highlighted by the works of Michelangelo,
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Luca Della Robbia and Piero
della Francesca, among others. The display will highlight certain geographical areas that
played key roles, like Urbino, Florence and the Veneto area and also trace the development
and maturity of Renaissance art, beginning with the use of perspective in the 1400's by
such masters as Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Donatello.
The exhibit has been drawing crowds in Tokyo, where 600,000 visitors have seen the works
and purchased 60,000 catalogs.
http://www.scuderiepapali.it/en/default.html
http://www.thais.it/scultura/michelan.htm
http://www.mos.org/leonardo/
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/titian.html
http://www.thais.it/scultura/robbluca.htm
http://www.pierodellafrancesca.it/piero_gb/index.html
http://www.italian-fine-art.com
Enit
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Subject: Naples aims for museum crowds in 2001
ROME Italy, August 17, 2001 - The Capodimonte Museum, Villa Floridiana and the San Martino
Museum are central to a plan to put Naples' great museums back in the cultural spotlight.
The museums already house extraordinary permanent collections, but overall, they are not
well known by the public. Culture Minister Vittorio Sgarbi wants to create a management
committee that would promote their collections while the local governments focus on
spiffing up city facilities to prepare for larger crowds by next year.
Capodimonte has a major collection of Bourbon art, whose display was recently reworked in
a 70-billion lire project. San Martino has an extensive collection of paintings,
sculptures and elaborate creches, while the Museo Duca di Martina boasts of an impressive
collection of porcelain and other ceramics.
http://capodimonte.selfin.net/capodim/home.htm
http://www.vomero.it/floridiana/
http://www.cib.na.cnr.it/remuna/smart/indice.html
Marco Piazzalunga
-------=======(* ITALIAN STYLE *)=======-------
Subject: An Italian architect in the UN
MILAN Italy, August 28, 2001 - An Italian architect, Renato Sarno, and his studio will
lead the team of professionals that was been commissioned to design the renovation of the
UN Headquarters in New York.
The announcement was given by the United Nations. The Milanese architecture study, beating
37 competitors of 10 different countries, has obtained a contract worth 6,3 million
dollars.
According to what the UN has declared, this is just the beginning. Wide refurbishing and
extension works are planned for the United Nations Building. The plan anticipates six
years of works and is worth an overall 96,4 million dollars.
Before starting, the project will have to obtain approval by the 189 countries that are
part of the UN’s General Assembly.
The great building complex facing the East River, was built at the end of the Second World
War and architects arriving from 11 nations carried out the project.
The famous Glass Building and the Assembly hall, where the offices of the secretary and
the Security Council are housed, were completed in 1952.
http://www.un.org/Overview/Tours/UNHQ/
Wayin
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Subject: Ferrari: the lady in red
BOLOGNA Italy, August 25, 2001 - We cannot speak of the Ferrari, an Italian legend that
has become a symbol in the whole world, without feeling a little awe. A legend whose
history is tied into the name of a man - Enzo Ferrari - to his passion for engines and for
his sports competitions. Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena the 18th of February 1898. In
1919 he started as a pilot in the Parma-Berceto. In 1920 he becomes a technical
collaborator of Alfa Romeo. He is a tester, a pilot, trade collaborator and finally
manager of the Alfa-Races department.
The Società Anonima Scuderia Ferrari Modena was founded on the 16th November of 1929 in
Bologna; among members there are Augusto and Alfredo Caniato, Mario Tadini, Ferruccio
Testa and Enzo Ferrari. Enzo at this point is Regional Representative for Alfa Romeo.
From 1934 he starts to manage the Alfa Romeo department for GP, after the withdrawal of
the parent company. His cars are distinguished by a shield in a yellow background with the
Italian tricolour on top and a rampant horse, a symbol of Francesco Baracca and presented
to Ferrari in 1923 by the aviator's mother.
At the end of the 30's he leaves Alfa Romeo altogether; Ferrari wants to become a
constructor, but because of a clause in his contract that prevents him for the next 5
years to make cars which bear his name, he calls the first car Auto Avio Costruzioni 815.
In 1947 the first 125S Sport is launched, which conquers the first victory of the
constructor in Rome the 25th of May of the same year; the following year he debuts the 5th
of September in Turin in the Italian GP, the first F.1 from Maranello.
There is no championship or prestigious race where a Ferrari hasn't raced: F.1, F.2,
Mountain European, World Marche, Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Mille Miglia, Targa Florio,
Giro di Sicilia, IMSA, Carrera Panamericana. Whereas all other constructors have arrived,
dominated and then withdrawn satisfied, the Maranello car has always been active, for
every season since 1930.
In 1969 FIAT acquires the Ferrari stable. After the triumph of the 1972 season in the
World Marche and the terrible results in F.1, the "Drake" decided to concentrate
all his energies on the GP's, leaving in any case a possibility to privates who wanted to
take their cars on to the race.
http://www.ferrari.it/
Fausto Cardinetti
------=====(* ITALIAN HANDICRAFT WORKS OF ART *)=====------
Subject: The terracotta’s art in Tuscany: Impruneta
FLORENCE Italy, August 17, 2001 - The fragility and the perishebility of terracotta, with
the small value don’t tickle the conservation, this is the reason because there are
little surviving materials. The earthernware of 300 and 400 was lost; was kept a big
number of pitchers of that period; this is caused by the improper use. This was used on
the filling of architecture vault. A big number of this pitchers was recently found;
sometimes they were used as containers, sometimes they were destined to architecture for
imperfection of production.
The manifactures of Impruneta’s area broughts, until Renaissance, the
terracotta’s manufacturing to an high quality; so the commercial relationship with
Florence became more intense. All this happen because of the clay’s quality, very
strong, the art of artisans, and the town’s placement located in the way between
Florence and Arezzo, way that linked up the most important commercial centers. A document
of 1308 tells us that in the area of S. Maria Impruneta was done a corporation of
"terracotta’s teachers" pitchers.
Terracotta’s art achieved the best results in renassance period; vases, little
colums, trophys, armorial bearings became always more used in equipement of gardens and
villas. Then there are a lot of Maria’s devotional tabernacles located in way’s
crossing; their manifacture was one of the best artistic activity of Impruneta’ s
teachers.
http://www.antiquetuscany.com/english/terrecotte_ing.htm
http://www.impruneta.com/terracotta/terracotta-factories-eng.htm
http://www.ceramic-art-shop.com
CeramicOnline
---------------
Subject: VicenzaOro 2 Fair
VICENZA Italy, August 2, 2001 - Multiplicities, contrasts and combinations for jewelry,
which even in its simplest and most obvious forms is colourful, festive and sparkling. At
Vicenzaoro2, the event that just ended at the Vicenza Fair, the desire to drown the global
economic worries in a sea of precious stones and yellow gold was extremely prominent: a
clear and joyful response by the manufacturers to the consumer’s craving for luxury.
The need to keep prices down has also stimulated research into new techniques and
solutions for reducing the use of the precious raw material while increasing its volume
effect. This is a challenge that some brands have taken up and won with particular
creativity.
From the point of view of numbers, Vicenzaoro2 of 2001 has held firm with figures that are
not thrilling but undoubtedly positive for the current gold and jewelry scenario. Over
16,000 trade visitors, with 27% more foreigners from 108 countries is not bad considering
falling foreign markets and the more or less stagnant domestic one. «Our basic task» -
comments the secretary general of the fair, Andrea Turcato - «is to let the demand meet
the supply, and in this sense we’ve achieved our goal. The turnover achieved during
the six days of the event has been less brilliant than the previous year, but this is due
to the general slowdown in the world’s economy, and especially in the US, during the
first quarter».
http://www.vicenzafiera.it/uk/index.html
http://www.italian-jewelry-online.com
Manuela Cardinetti
-----===(* ITALIAN/EUROPEAN ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES *)===-----
Subject: Quimper pottery
LONDON, August 22, 2001 - Quimper (pronounced kem-pair), located in northwestern France in
the province of Brittany, has been a pottery town since the days when the area was part of
the Roman Empire. Eventually settled by Celts from what is now Wales, Brittany did not
officially become part of France until 1532, relatively late by European standards, and
thus, it has retained its Celtic heritage. Today, the town has become virtually synonymous
with its pottery.
The current history of Quimper pottery begins in 1690 with the arrival of Jean-Baptiste
Bousquet. Originally from the environs of Marseille in southern France, Bousquet started
his factory in the section of Quimper known as Loc-Maria. He specialized in the production
of utilitarian pottery such as tablewares and clay pipes for smoking tobacco.
Situated in close proximity to four rivers, Quimper was an ideal place to be a potter.
(The town's name is derived from the Gaelic "kemper," meaning a confluence of
rivers). The riverbanks provided clay as well as a mode of transportation for the finished
product, abundant nearby forests meant plenty of fuel for the kilns, and at that time the
closest potteries were days away in the towns of Nantes and Rennes.
By 1708, Jean-Baptiste's son, Pierre Bousquet, took over the firm, moved it to a new
imposing location, and expanded operations. In addition to stoneware, known as grès in
French, the factory made eight different types of tobacco pipes as well as decorative
wares, including faience.
It was a great time to be a faience maker in France. With the country's treasury reserves
depleted due to the cost of the on-going wars and the extraordinary lavishness of his
Court, Louis XIV sought to fill his coffers in every imaginable manner. Knowing that the
elite of France ate and drank from plates and vessels crafted of silver and gold, the King
issued orders calling for the confiscation of all such precious metal goods.
Lesser folk, accustomed to using wood or pewter tablewares, were not affected, but the
rich, their dishes suddenly seized, sought to replenish their shelves and sideboards.
Porcelain, made only in far-off China, could not be quickly obtained by French noblemen,
who were soon clamoring for faience as a more immediate replacement.
Faienceries (factories that make faience), began to spring up all over France. With the
enormous amount of fuel that was necessary to operate the kilns, it wasn't long before the
French government began to intervene. Concerned that forests were being depleted,
restrictions were implemented and, in some areas, pottery activities were curtailed.
http://www.antiquesjournal.com/Pages/quimperpottery.html
http://www.oldquimper.com/
Adela Meadows
---------------
Subject: Storage and Handling of Ivory
PHILADELPHIA, August 11, 2001 - Ivory is very sensitive to heat and light, as well as to
moisture. When examining ivory, beware of heat from lamps, photo lights, and even your
hands, especially if the ivory is thin (i.e. a veneer, or piano key). Ivory must be kept
away from direct sun, heat, external walls (because of the danger of moisture
condensation), cold windows, and any other source of moisture (i.e. the basement, or
attic). This extreme sensitivity of ivory to changing relative humidity should be taken
into consideration when it is being transported -- i.e. sudden changes from a dry climate
to a humid climate, or transportation by air where there are sudden temperature changes.
If ivory is kept in an environment where the relative humidity is 70% plus, you can get
mold and mildew damage, including black spots and etching of the surfaces.
Ivory yellows with age, and when kept in the dark (this is why the bottom of an ivory
object is often darker than the surfaces exposed to light). Ivory will also turn
yellow/orange when exposed to sulphur, and must therefore not be stored with keratin-based
objects such as tortoiseshell (keratin contains sulphur). Also, watch out for sulpher in
adhesives, building materials, rubber, paints, etc. An activated charcoal scavenger may be
helpful (sew a small bag out of unbleached cotton. Fill with the activated charcoal sold
for fish tank filters, and sew closed. The activated charcoal absorbs sulphur and other
impurities).
For storage, ivory should be wrapped in acid-free tissue or cotton, and stored in a
polyethylene bag (i.e. a Ziplock) or a closed container (i.e. Tupperware). If necessary,
enclose an activated charcoal bag. By storing ivory in these closed containers, changes in
relative humidity will be moderated. Make sure that any display or storage materials are
colourfast! Ivory is porous, and easily picks up colour, salts, and oils (i.e. from our
hands -- cotton gloves are recommended when handling ivory); metal corrosion can also
stain ivory.
Note that ivory becomes more brittle with age, and should be handled with care.
http://www.si.edu/scmre/ivory.html
http://www.adamas.it/adamas/stativoe.htm
http://www.antique-shop-online.com
Megan Springate
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