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Saturday Dec 16. Wandering. Ravenna and then on to Ferrara.

 Spent an easy day in Ravenna.  Started with the rather dull National Museum, in an old convent next to San Vitale. Then a fairly quick visit to several places in memory of Dante who died in Ravenna on 1321. Little is known about his life, and there wasn’t much of interest at his 18th century tomb, his house(which wasn’t a house) or his museum (essentially just readings from the “Divine Comedy”). Finally, and by far the best, a visit to the Ravenna Art Museum.  So from this day I’ve chosen some modern mosaics to show you. Ravenna has an Institute that supports the art of mosaics and also hosts occasional international shows of mosaics.


First, an illustration of the traditional way of making a mosaic. The artist makes a cartoon, the exact size as what the finished mosaic will be. Then mosaic expert artisans make the mosaic. Notice how the mosaic brings the image to life. The tiles are not all equally flat, so they add texture and capture light in different ways.

Giuseppe Santomaso (Venice) (artist who did the cartoon) and Romolo Pappa (Ravenna) (artisan who made the mosaic).  Il Muro del Pescatore (the Fisherman’s Wall). 1956. 


Contemporary artists tend to make their own mosaics. Georges Mathieu (France) led the way. This mosaic was assembled by artisans in Ravenna, but Mathieu actively picked the tiles and large three dimensional additions.

Georges Mathieu (France). Omaggio a Odoacre. 1959.

Texture becomes increasingly important.

Matylda Tracewska (Poland). No title. 2013.


And the mosaics leave the walls.

Francesco Fabbri (Bologna, Italy). Il prigione (the prisoner). 2009.



Here are two entries in this year’s international show.

Marie-Andrée Allison (Canada). Ozone. 2023. (Close-up detail).


Monica Brinkmanship (Canada). Papillon de Nuit. (Moth) 2023.


I found an exhibit of Emily Miller’s work particularly moving.

Emily Miller (Ukraine). Grief. 2023. Mosaic on a board from a Russian munitions case.


And Ravenna has lots of street signs enlivened with mosaics.



Comments

  1. LindaDecember 17, 2023 at 8:29 PM

    You are still in Italy! When do you head to Paris? I am enjoying reading your posts.

    ReplyDelete

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