Capitalismo in pezzi

Ogni sguardo che si avventuri oltre la finestra incontra, dall’altra parte della strada, l’insegna di un supermercato. Il suo nome, famoso in mezzo mondo, è una parola corta che suona buffa e vuota per la sua apparente assenza di significato. Le lettere che lo compongono ne attraversano il simbolo costituito da un ampio sole giallo, che si stacca dallo sfondo blu per il contorno rosso. È un sole immobile che esercita costantemente la sua pressione di luce al neon attraverso la nebbia e le foglie che cadono. Ed è in grado addirittura, sfruttando al massimo la sua carica artificiale, di guadagnarsi la capacità di diffondere calore nella monotonia di campiture di cemento armato e con l’inverno ormai alle porte. Eppure i corpi celesti di questa specie nascondono coi loro riflessi al neon, molto più di ciò che nelle vicinanze possono effettivamente rischiarare...

Da Luna e Gnac di Italo Calvino, Marcovaldo 1963 :

" La notte durava venti secondi, e venti secondi il GNAC. Per venti secondi si vedeva il cielo azzurro variegato di nuvole nere, la falce della luna crescente dorata, sottolineata da un impalpabile alone, e poi stelle che più le si guardava più infittivano la loro pungente piccolezza, fino allo spolverio della Via Lattea, tutto questo visto in fretta, ogni particolare su cui ci si fermava era qualcosa dell'insieme che si perdeva, perché i venti secondi finivano subito e cominciava il GNAC.

Il GNAC era una parte della scritta pubblicitaria SPAAK-COGNAC sul tetto di fronte, che stava venti secondi accesa e venti spenta, e quando era accesa non si vedeva nient'altro. La luna improvvisamente sbiadiva, il cielo diventava uniformemente nero e piatto, le stelle perdevano il brillio, e i gatti e le gatte che da dieci secondi lanciavano gnaulii d'amore muovendosi languidi uno incontro all'altro lungo le grondaie e le cimase, ora, col GNAC, s'acquattavano sulle tegole a pelo ritto, nella fosforescente luce al neon. 

 [...] 

- Ta-ta-tà... Hai visto, papà, che l'ho spenta con una sola raffica? - disse Filippetto, ma già, fuori della luce al neon, il suo fanatismo guerriero era svanito e gli occhi gli si riempivano di sonno.

- Magari! - scappò detto al padre, - andasse in pezzi! Vi farei vedere il Leone, i Gemelli...

- Il Leone! - Michelino fu preso d'entusiasmo. -Aspetta! - Gli era venuta un'idea. Prese la fionda, la caricò del ghiaino  ... "

Deconstructing Capitalism

Every morning, the first glance I throw out of my window meets a kind of sun. It does not matter if it is cloudy, rainy or foggy.. this sun always shines. Under this sun many other signs and advertisements keep their place in front and above my window. But this sun in particular, reminds me of the big eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg in the commercial panel mentioned in F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s novel, The Great Gatsby.

“I spoke to her,” he muttered, after a long silence. “I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the window.”— with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it ——” and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’” 

Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night. 

“God sees everything,” repeated Wilson. 

“That’s an advertisement,” Michaelis assured him. Something made him turn away from the window and look back into the room. But Wilson stood there a long time, his face close to the window pane, nodding into the twilight.

From The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1925

Half of a Whole

Pasolini interviews Ungaretti on Homosexuality

Comizi d'amore - Love Meetings (1965)

While looking for the right set for his film Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St Matthew, 1964), Pier Paolo Pasolini embarks on a journey throughout Italy and, driven by restless curiosity and a deep passion, he gives life to Comizi d'amore (Love Meetings).

Equipped only with his microphone, Pasolini explores the most diverse social environments, traveling the Peninsula from north to south, and asking for Italians' opinions about sexuality, love, eroticism: farmers, workers, students, housewives, actors, writers, nobody is spared. He thereby provides us with a photography of the Country at the beginning of the 1960s (it was 1963, the film-documentary will be released in 1965).

Galeb in Regensburg : a Walk Together

Today I post the pics of a restoring morning with my musician friend Galeb. Few days ago, due to several and complicated reasons, we met in Regensburg, a suggestive Bavarian town. 

We had a walk, a coffee, a chat and a few jokes.. Then once again, we said good bye... 

Who knows when will the next meeting be! 

Lukily any of us can keep track of his adventures by listening his ...

Free Music :   

https://soundcloud.com/galeb-and-the-seagull

Official Site:   

http://galebseagull.com/

See you Galeb !  

All other pics below ..

Music of Kalmykia: Okna Tsahan Zam

The Republic of Kalmykia is the only country in Europe whose main religion is Buddhism in its Tibetan way, due to ancient migration of peoples from the East. It is part of the Russian Federation and it is located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Its culture and traditions are still in vigour today and they conserve typical aspects of central Asia folklore. Among those, there is a particular method of singing through which it is possible to express multiple sounds simultaneously. Okna Tsahan Zam is an interpreter of this Art.

I thank my friend Andrea for letting me know the following video belonging to Tim Cope Journeys Channel.

Le Mani dei Primati

Certe volte mi viene da pensare che il modo in cui viviamo con il nostro corpo sia, come dire, fuorviante. Ho la strana sensazione per esempio, che i miei occhi non siano completamente atti al vedere. Non e’ colpa loro del resto, dato che hanno svolto un ottimo lavoro per 28 anni. Sono loro grato per come siano riusciti a superare con successo ore e ore trascorse al computer. Ma io? Posso dire di essere capace a sfruttare il loro potenziale?

La nostra vista può vedere un bersaglio a miglia di distanza, ma quante volte al giorno possiamo realmente alzare lo sguardo sopra l’orizzonte? Nella maggior parte dei casi, questa facoltà ci è addirittura del tutto inutile. Eppure l’antropologo C.L. Strauss scrisse di una tribù con un grande senso dell’orientamento perché era in grado di individuare nel cielo in pieno giorno il pianeta Venere. Lo stesso C.L. Strauss andò a vedersi vecchi trattati di navigazione e scoprì che la stessa cosa era possibile anche per antichi marinai della nostra civiltà. Non si può dire se il resto degli umani abbia perso questa abilità o si sia di dimenticato come usarla. (Claude Lévi-Strauss, Mito e Significato, 1978)

In parallelo, se il primo Homo Sapiens potesse fare una passeggiata nella nostra epoca, potrebbe compiere giusto qualche passo prima di soffocare. Egli non potrebbe vivere in un mondo con milioni di auto così come facciamo noi, anche se probabilmente poteva fare maggior affidamento sull'olfatto nel corso della sua normale vita quotidiana.

Così, dubbi sono avanzati in me riguardo le altre parti del corpo. Non sono più tanto sicuro che la bocca sia per mangiare e la lingua per assaporare il cibo. Non sono nemmeno sicuro che le mie mani afferrino correttamente le cose che sposto da una parte all’altra.

Al contrario, quando vedo degli scimpanzé alla televisione maneggiare delle pietre o dei bastoni, percepisco come essi veramente intendano le loro azioni mentre le compiono. Le loro mani sembrano avere un coscienza propria quando toccano ciò che presto sarà un attrezzo per pescare le formiche attraverso un buco nel terreno. Ho cominciato a credere che in questi momenti, le loro mani pelose, siano più mani delle mie.

Galeb and the Seagull - "The Letter"

One fine day Galeb (Goran Erjavec) decided that his goal in life was not mastering the art of classical guitar; on that very day he set aside his ten-years-long classical bildung and chose the lure of rock and roll, the rusticity of blues, the euphoria of funky.

Good friends and fair musicians accompanied him in his first steps, contributing to the realisation of his a first, genuinely felt EP.

This was but the beginning of a long (and ever longer) series of journeys.

His city had become too narrow for his creative flights, Galeb needed "an open space". Next stop: New Zealand! Six fruitful months, that brought him back with a lot of new ideas and the determination to dedicate himself to music.

From that moment on, the northern hemisphere of his art would be the faithful voice of his "room-neighbour" and life companion: Galeb's younger sister, the Seagull (Gaia Erjavec).

Galeb and the Seagull make a powerful duo, performing captivating “100% organic beach-music”... and warming up for the next departure together. A year in Australia full of adventures and meaningful experiences, that would see the fearless Galebs coming back home with new energy and creativity.

Even though separated for some time, following diverging paths, brother and sister would shortly meet again at home, Trieste, just in time to record "Sweet and Sour, Please!", their ticket for the next destination: the crazy streets of Berlin. 

And the right place for street musicians.

Listen to: "Sweet and Sour, Please!"

  

Here Galeb has the chance to share his experiences, emotions and passions directly with the people and get the best of the city's vibrations to cultivate with care the seeds of what will become "Picking Flowers". A sincere solo album, the result of the first six months busking in Berlin, with the Seagull and alone...

Listen to: "Picking Flowers"

… and the flowers are continuing to bloom! Soon, very soon, Galeb will share with us the impressions of the last months of experiences, meetings, travelling, and hard work!

Here's “The Letter”, a taste of “The Sailor, The Bird ans the Butterfly”, the new album.

  

Enjoy and share the music!

Where to next?

On Soundcloud, listen to Galeb and the Seagull's music and download it for free;

Watch the videos on the youtube channel;

Follow his flights on the constantly updated facebook page, never miss a gig!

The Hands of the Apes

Sometimes, the thought comes to my mind that the way we are living with our body is misleading. I get the strange feeling, for example, that my eyes are not entirely to see any more. It's not up to them, though. They have been doing an extraordinary job for 28 years and I am grateful to them for how they managed to overwhelm successfully hours spent in front of the laptop. But what about my part? Am I able to use my eyes up to their potential?

Our sight can spot target miles and miles away, but how many times during the day can we raise our eyes above the horizon? In most of the cases, this faculty is not of any use any more, even though the anthropologist C.L. Strauss wrote of a tribe with an extraordinary sense of orientation because they could spot Venus in the sky during day time. Then, he went to see old treaties of navigation and he found out that it was possible for old sailors of our civilisation as well, but we can not say if the rest of the humans lost this skill or simply forgot how to do it. (Claude Lévi-Strauss, Myth and Meaning, 1978)

In parallel, if the first Homo Sapiens could have a walk in our time, he would take just a few steps before suffocating. He could not live in a world with million of cars as we do, but probably he could rely much more on his nose for his every day life.

So, doubts raised on me about other parts of the body. I am not sure the mouth is for eating and the tongue to taste food. I am not even sure if my hands are grabbing correctly things I move from a place to another.

On the contrary, when I see Chimps on TV handling rocks or stick, I perceive they really mean those actions. Their hands seem to have a conscience on their own when they touch what soon will be a tool for fishing ants trough a hole in the ground. I started to believe that in these moments, their hairy hands are more hands than mines.

A Threatening Object

Its features make it resemble a Praying Mantis...

In the last few days, I have been feeling somehow uncomfortable when sitting at the computer for work. I feel observed and I cannot keep on typing like nothing is happening... It must be something nearby (but hidden!!) which is spreading anxiety... I just cannot play indifferent!

In its natural habitat, close to the usual companions:

sheets of paper and a ballpoint pen.

I get more and more distracted, but I continue my work. I just slow down a little bit, in a way to make it look like a short natural and disinterested brake on my rhythm... but I am actually monitoring the premises...and with the corner of my eye I try to see what lies next to me.... 

I got it! 

Free to roam on the white surface of the desk.

Close by, I eventually notice a small object: a staple remover!!! It has been left between a ream and a ballpoint pen for days and days.... In its inched-sized oblivion, it preserves its stillness even though its four teeth -looking more like fangs or claws- are somewhat intimidating.... :)

Ernst L. Kirchner: running on The Bridge

Die Zirkusreiterin

In 1905 few architecture students at the German university of Dresden chose the name “die Brücke” -The Bridge- to highlight the purpose of their entrance into the world of art as a united group. They were ready to start an ambitious journey, even though their restlessness did not make it seem so.

By means of bold brushstrokes, those students were to become the missing link between the medieval German masters such as Dürer and Grünewald, and what they believed to be the spirit of their time. Following the space-time coordinates of the history of art with large spans over the academic tradition, they wished besides to find a common point in the artistic expressions of Europe,tribal Africa and Oceania.

The rooms of Fritz Bleyl , Karl Schmidt- Rottluff , Erich Heckel, and in particular the one of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - an old butcher's shop in Dresden- became the settings for years of frantic research. The object of their investigations was the emotional impact given by the shapes constituting the material reality surrounding us. Through combinations of colours able to capture specific moments of the perception, they managed to cut the sensorial elaboration into infinite particular layers.

In a few years, due to the growing appreciation of the public and thanks to the favourable critics, the group moved to the capital, Berlin. There, Kirchner could deepen his analysis of the urban dimension by studying the atmospheres created by the neon lights. In his paintings the electrical power of these halos seems not to leave behind the dimly shaded loneliness of the metropolitan mass.

Rattling trams and desolate crossroads accompany the steps of the pedestrians whose faces appear like fish swimming in dark waters when suddenly caught by single rays of electrical light.

Attics, nightclubs and circus are notably the places where Kirchner widened his study of the human figure portrayed mostly indoors. Here, the subjects of his works seem to fall alternately in an apparent state of rest or in the excitement of a frenzy dance.

In 1913 the Bridge broke up. Probably, Kirchner’s self-centeredness in writing Chronik der Brücke , the Chronicles of the group , irritated his companions who didn’t recognized themselves in the text. After this event, each member attempted to diminish the experience of the Brücke, especially in regard to their individual artistic growth. A little bit of a paradox if you think about an artistic phenomenon whose creative energy contributed, in parallel with the movement of the Fauves in France, to the birth of Expressionism.

Self-portrait as a Soldier

With the outbreak of World War I Kirchner enlisted as a volunteer, but he was an emotional soldier who suffers from the discipline. Soon he was victim of a serious nervous breakdown that caused his reformation from the army. Explicit in this regard, Kirchner’s "Self-Portrait as a Soldier" where he portrayed himself in uniform and with a mutilated hand, even though he never suffered such physical accident.

Kirchner took refuge at a sanatorium in the Alpine resort of Davos in Switzerland. Under the supervision of the doctors, his conditions improved and he managed to ease his addiction to alcohol and morphine. The recovery was also an opportunity to come in close contact with the natural environment which resolved the last part of Kirchner’s artistic activity.

In a letter from Davos in 1913 Kirchner writes: "Van de Velde has written me today that I should go back to modern life. For me this is out of the question. And I do not even regret it ... The delights that the world provides are the same everywhere, differing only in their outer form. Here you can learn instead how to see further and go deeper than you can do in the "modern" life, which is generally much, much more superficial despite its wealth of outer forms."

Bathers on the Lawn

During the convalescence, Kirchner success grew further and in 1921 fifty of his works were on display at the Berliner Kronprinzenpalais. But many other exhibitions took place all over Germany and forced him to reconsider the possibility of a return to his homeland, where he finally went to work again at a relentless pace.

At the beginning of the 30’s Kirchner’s great versatility as a painter, wood engraver and sculptor gave him new opportunities and soon he was in charge of the decoration of the Hall of the Folkwang Museum in Essen. A job that, unfortunately, he was never able to complete due to the coming to power of the Nazi regime that seized the property and put Kirchner in the list of "degenerate artists".

Starting from 1933, Kirchner was continually opposed by Goebbels’ cultural reforms and soon he was forbidden to exhibit in Germany. Over six hundred of his works were confiscated from the museums to be destroyed or sold abroad.

Paar im Zimmer

Made even more fragile by the political circumstances and the ban on modern art, Kirchner committed suicide at his home in Davos, a year before the outbreak of the Second World War.

For an introduction to the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, I suggest to follow the links below which lead to two texts in pdf format.

1.Http://static.royalacademy.org.uk/files/kirchner-student-guide-13.pdf

2.Http://www.newyorkartworld.com/reviews/kirchner.html

Suddenly, across the road

Don't miss this signpost !

Calypso and Odysseus

Calypso's Isle, Herbert James Draper, 1897

Calypso is a nymph of the Ocean whose name comes from the Greek kalyptō which means "to hide ". In accordance to her name, she lives alone in a cave in Ogygia, a mysterious island located somewhere in the Western Mediterranean sea. Her eternal life, rather than going through the days and the seasons, seems to be a single instant far away from the rest of the world. A world, in any case, not able to understand Calipso’s charm and beauty.

One day, brought by the waves, the shipwrecked Odysseus lands to Ogygia. This does not seem real to Calipso: she takes care of him, she restores and charms him in that little corner of paradise in the middle of the sea. On the island there is abundance of any wealth: food, comfort, satisfaction and old age are not a nightmare to wash away with the water of an unobtainable spring. On this new land the decay does not occur.

Yet Odysseus eventually gets bored and all this comfort becomes dull and unbearable to his eyes. Some sources report how Calypso managed to keep the hero in Ogygia for seven years, other texts state less. But, as a matter of fact, Odysseus will at last go away, helped in this by the gods. Urged by Athena, Zeus sent the god’s messenger Hermes to Ogygia with the order for Calypso not to hinder the departure of Ithaca’s hero. On the contrary, the voice that comes from the Olympus is clear: Calypso shall collaborate!

The nymph does not disobey; she understands and helps by preparing the supplies and the barrels of wine for the voyage. She also shows to Odysseus where to take the wood to build his raft, so that the hero becomes suspicious and makes her swear that it is not a trap. There is no deception in the heart of the nymph and Calypso swears on the holy waters of the river Styx without resistance.

Once again Odysseus faces the waves, but differently from the past this time he is alone. Nevertheless, he will always bring with him the everlasting remembrance of his lost companions. Eternity has been rejected; flattery and ease have had the same response. Once again days will always bring something new and there will never be an end to discovery.

St. Michael Kirche, Göttingen

Ulisse e Calipso

Beckmann, Max, Odysseus and Calypso,1943

Calipso è una ninfa dell'Oceano il cui nome deriva da kalyptō che significa “nascondere”. In sintonia con il suo nome ella abita da sola in una grotta presso Ogigia, un’isola misteriosa da qualche parte nel Mediterraneo Occidentale. La sua vita eterna, più che svolgersi attraverso i giorni e le stagioni, sembra essere un punto istante lontano, fuori dalla portata del mondo. Un mondo comunque incapace di poter comprendere il suo fascino e la sua bellezza.

Ad Ogigia giunge portato dalle onde Ulisse naufrago e a Calipso non sembra esser vero. Lo cura, lo ristora e lo ammalia all’interno di quel piccolo paradiso terrestre in mezzo al mare. Sull’isola vi è ogni ricchezza: cibo, conforto, appagamento e la vecchiaia non è un’incubo da lavare con l’acqua di una fonte introvabile. La putrefazione non ha luogo.

Eppure ad Ulisse tutto questo diventa noioso, sordo, insopportabile. Alcune fonti riportano come Calipso sia riuscita a mantenere l’eroe ad Ogigia per sette anni, meno secondo altre. Sta di fatto che Ulisse se ne andrà, aiutato in questo dagli dei. Zeus infatti, su sollecitazione di Atena, avrebbe presto inviato ad Ogigia il messaggero Ermete per ordinare a Calipso di non ostacolare la partenza dell’itacese. Al contrario, la voce che giunge dall’Olimpo è chiara: che Calipso collabori!

La ninfa non disubbidisce, comprende e aiuta. Prepara per il viaggio le provviste e gli otri di vino e indica all’eroe dove prendere i legni per costruirsi la sua zattera, tanto che egli diventa sospettoso e la fa giurare che non si tratti di un tranello. Ma il cuore della ninfa non gli ordisce nessun inganno e Calipso giura senza trope resistenze sulle acque dello Stige.

Ulisse se ne va, affrontando nuovamente le onde senza i compagni ma recando con sè il loro imperituro ricordo. L’eternità è stata rifiutata, le lusinghe e l’agio hanno avuto uguale risposta. I giorni saranno sempre una novità. Non ci sarà mai fine alla scoperta.

Head-shaped Jug by Paul Gauguin

Gauguin, Van Gogh and the origin of a Self-Portrait

Van Gogh wished with all his heart that his friend Gauguin could reach him in the South of France where he had settled. Even though he was in need of money, Vincent was there to get to know how to sketch a Nature completely unfamiliar to him: olive trees, corn fields and cypresses were shining under a Mediterranean sun whose rays were a discovery he wanted to share with Paul by giving birth to an artistic friendship.

We can track this wish on many of Van Gogh’s missives addressed both to the French Painter and his brother Theo.

Dear Theo, 

I was thinking about Gauguin: if Gauguin wants to come over here, we should think about the travel and two beds or two mattresses which, in this case, we need to buy. But then, being Gauguin a guy who sorts it out, we will probably be up to prepare our food at home. And with the same amount of money that I spend for myself we will manage to live in two. You know that it seemed always foolish to me that painters live alone ... When you are isolated you always lose. […]

Finally, on a day of December 1888 Gauguin went to the Provencal town of Arles. Deplorably, the incompatibility of the two personalities made of his stay over the Flemish painter a 9 weeks period of fire and delirium. During this time they reached the point to face each other with a razor, the same object Van Gogh used afterwards to cut his left ear without any apparent reason. 

With the blood pouring fluently all over his neck, Vincent wrapped the piece of flesh in a newspaper and run to the brothel where he used to find relief whenever his pockets allowed it. Once there, he committed the ear to the hands of a girl, but not before making sure that she was going to take really care of it.

When Paul saw Vincent coming back home with his head all in blood, he got so scared that something in his soul -something located in between pride, understanding and bravery - trembled on its foundations. It was most probably because of this new frightening knowledge that a few days later, back in Paris, Gauguin attended the execution of Prado, old owner of Le Café des Artistes “Le Tambourin”, sentenced to death by guillotine for murder. I suppose that Gauguin was there because he was set on a particular kind of quest: he wanted to overcome the burning feeling of uncertainty unexpectedly disclosed to his inner self.

Unfortunately the execution didn’t go how it was supposed to go. At first the blade fell aslant and it cut only part of the face of the convict who stood up again with preternatural force. Only with the intervention of several guards it was possible to put the man back in position and perform the execution a second time. Eventually Prado’s head fell down.

We don’t know if Gauguin found what he was looking for, but following these events he carved the Head-shaped Jug (1889), a porcelain self-portrait today kept at Copenhagen Kunstindustrimuseet.   

A work of art that combines the Japanese style of painting and the crafting of glazed ceramic while realizing a concept typical of the Peruvian tradition: an object of everyday use fashioned in a human form. An object that, through the picture, doesn’t show the macabre energy it conveys when seen alive.

Cheshire Shoes

Heart of stone

A work of Art, be it ever so humble, is long lived; we never tire of it (...). All works of Art have the property of becoming venerable amidst decay: and reason good, for from the first there was a soul in them, the thought of man, which will be visible in them so long as the body exists in which they were implanted.

  W. Morris – Art and Socialism, 1884

Naumburg Master - Uta von Naumburg 

One cannot but agree with William Morris’ opinion about the fascination, the soul, which dwells within a work of art. A power that strikes even more when it comes out from a cold and hard stone that suddenly acquires known or knowable features and that, be it only for a moment, makes us stop and stare.

I don’t know how the statue of the margrave Uta von Ballenstedt, better known as Uta von Naumburg, actually looks like, but the charming power of her  soul can already be perceived through the numerous images of her that can often be seen. 

Walt Disney's Grimhilde

This figure, in fact, has become worldly famous after Walt Disney’s Snow White (1937), who took inspiration from Uta to give life to Queen Grimhilde, Snow White’s evil stepmother. 

If you want to see the statue, you should visit the cathedral of Naumburg, in the German Land of Saxony-Anhalt. The “magic” is owed to the unknown Naumburg Master, who decorated the choir screen, where the twelve statues of the founders of the cathedral can be found.

Living between 1000 and 1046, Uta is represented among the statues of the first customers of the original Romanesque cathedral*; at her side is the margrave Ekkehard von Meissen, who became her husband in 1026. Their marriage was with high probabilities based on political reasons, nevertheless the couple didn’t give birth to any successor.

Naumburg Master - Uta and Ekkehard

One cannot fail to notice the distance between the two figures. In a traditional pose, the valorous Ekkehardt brandishes his shield and his sword, firmly looking towards the horizon. Uta’s long cloak, instead, wraps her almost completely; she’s even covering part of her face with the collar in such a way that the perfect oval shape of her face, framed by the crown, stands out clearly. Therefore the viewer can only see Uta's face and one of the hands, as the other one is hidden under the cloak.

Concealing her is precisely what draws the viewer’s attention on the few but elegantly defined details. The fine features of her face, the natural manner in which she sustains her cloak, preventing it to fall down, her melancholic look directed towards an undefined space and time dimension. Few elements that nevertheless succeed in transmitting the nobility of the figure. 

A figure that in every epoch inspired and captured passionate viewers. Disney was in fact not the only one who felt Uta’s peculiar charm; Umberto Eco himself is said to have claimed that, should he have to date one of the most famous medieval female figures, he would without a doubt choose her.

The exploitation of this image reached an extreme peak during the Nazi period, when Uta became the icon of Aryan beauty and the prototype of “classic art”, as opposed to the so called “degenerate art”. The Naumburg Master wouldn’t have thought to go as far as that.

Giotto di Bondone - The Meeting at the Golden Gate (1303 - 1305)

To conclude, I would like to call your attention to another image, a figure from a fresco which dates back to 1303 – 1305, some decades after the creation of Uta’s statue. The scene is taken from one of Giotto’s masterpieces, namely the decoration of the ScrovegniChapel, in Padua. It represents one of the episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary, and in particular Joachim meets Anna at the Golden Gate.

 

 

Giotto di Bondone - The Meeting at the Golden Gate (particular)

The figure in the black cloak distracts the viewer’s attention from one of the earliest kisses of the history of art, does 

she remind us of someone? 

* Which had later been rebuilt, around 1250, in a more Gothic style, therefore representing an important proof of the transition between these two architectonic styles.