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| The chameleon is the symbol of air, one of the four elements of the universe for Francesco I de' Medici |
I truly like the chameleon because it is the first animal I thought of as a mascot of my family's workshop. In Italian the word "Camaleonte" includes "Cama" and the pronunciation is similar in both languages [engl. kəˈmiːlɪən].
I like the Chamaleon because it is part of the Renaissance concept of the world. I started my research about Italian Renaissance curiosities in January 2009 because patterns in Deruta are inspired by the Renaissance. I have now fallen in love with the Italian Renaissance as a source of inspiration and rebirth for myself and for my family's workshop.
I first met a chameleon represented on a fresco in the studio of Francesco I de' Medici in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence which I invite to visit, upon the appointment of a museum guide only, the visit goes under the name of "Secret Rooms in Palazzo Vecchio".
In Deruta Renaissance works of art of famous Italian artists, paintings and frescoes (the noble art) were repeated on ceramics pieces used for serving at the table, for important gifts, and to embellish homes and chapels with colorful floor tiles for centuries with wellness for the single families and the workers but depriving the community of unity, encouraging competition and separation.
Rebirth will be possible in Deruta only and if ceramicists decide to help each other as if they were all poor like our ancestors did for their neighbors in the countryside in times of poverty. It is difficult to handle help when there is money involved and with it facing the risk of opportunists, games of power, fear, and failure but we should all find a reason for cooperating with mutual respect. It is important for Deruta to find a common field where everybody is the same and where people can think of the future within a united way of doing business as a friends-and-family experience: sharing, giving, working together for everybody's benefit, doing the contrary of which they have been doing for decades. Change is not something impossible, change is fun!
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Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -
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