Back to the origins

A very meaningful part of the exhibition IL CINQUECENTO A FIRENZE

Yesterday I was in Florence to visit the exhibition about the Italian Renaissance with a friend of mine, Annette.

What a great opportunity to be back writing on my blog. Indeed from February to October this year, I have been busy with a project for a shopping center here in my area.

I would like to explain that my studies about the Italian Renaissance and my visits to places in Italy have a very practical aim: creating something new in the arts & crafts industry with regards to services and products for the travelers. Therefore beyond any results, my break time was well spent. I am getting there!

Tickets to the exhibition IL CINQUECENTO A FIRENZE cost 12.00 euros. I had a reduction to 9.50 euros as I showed the admission desk my COOP member card. The exhibition will be open until January 21st, 2018.

What struck me about the 70 paintings and sculptures at The Cinquecento in Florence was the paintings' colors: lively and common to each other. Several paintings were restored for the occasion by the Friends of Florence. I particularly like the name Friends of Florence as I think of you, the Friends of Cama.

The CHIUSI-CHIANCIANO
TERME train station 

The so-called 'Porcellino' (sweet pig) is actually
a...wild boar! 

Annette and I, we went to Florence by train leaving from the Chiusi train station at 09:09am and took the 07:13pm train back home.

The rest of the day in Florence we visited the Medici-Riccardi palace with the marvelous Benozzo Gozzoli chapel.

Then we attended a conference about Botticelli and Dante at the palace that is located in front of it, the seat of the Region of Tuscany. It's called Palazzo del Pegaso.

Lastly, we paid a visit to the Mercato del Porcellino and touched the wild boar nose!

A famous detail from the Benozzo Gozzoli chapel at Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. It took the artist 20 years to paint one of the most beautiful chapels in the world. What an amazing place to visit! 

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Finding A Link

Peter Paul Rubens, Centaur Nessus abducting Dejanira and Hercules chasing him,
1636, private collection (temporarily at the Galleria Civica in Jesi, Italy)

Visiting museums and art galleries is an opportunity to find out more about the origins of Italian expressions we use every day. I mention Italian and other romanesque languages because they come straight from Latin and Greek, passing through Latin and Greek mythology. I think of this process of etymology awareness as a way to go beyond our limits. By going through this process we can explore the world of poetry. We can go past the horizon of words.

Based on this introduction, I would like to share my latest discovery with you, surfing through the mythological origins of an expression in particular witnessing the poetry of words which means: dreaming.

Peter Paul Rubens, Centaur Nessus abducting Dejanira and Hercules chasing him,
1636, private collection (temporarily at the Galleria Civica in Jesi, Italy)  

I was in Jesi in the Le Marche region a few weeks ago. I visited the town for the first time. The painting gallery was one of the highlights of my trip. Here is one of the wonderful rooms of Palazzo Pianetti I noticed a painting telling the story of the centaur Nessus, in Italian Nesso. So when I read the story of centaur Nessus, the first thing that came to my mind was the Italian expression: "trovare il nesso", in English: finding a link. English makes things easier for its users by selecting 'link' instead of 'nexus' for 'Nessus', 'nesso'. Italian is a little more complicated in expressing the same concept. However, in Italian, we get to appreciate mythology through our language as Nessus was the centaur who was the ferryman of river Eveno. Therefore from now on when I think of finding a link between two things or making a connection between two concepts, I will think of centaur Nessus carrying me from one side to the other of the river Eveno.

An angel is watching over our journey
Peter Paul Rubens, Centaur Nexus kidnapping Deianira and Hercules chasing him,
1636, private collection

Isn't that cool or what? I have always tried to figure out what mythology was there for. No one taught me it exactly. I am learning it in recent years by myself by experiencing the function of art and art history in a revival process such as Cama's journey.
After all the above description, it would be fun to know that in English you use the same expression: finding a nexus, literally 'finding a ferryman'. I am curious to know the answer to this question. Your feedback is welcome!

               

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Gioie di Testa - Renaissance Hat Badges

Pinturicchio, Libreria Piccolomini, Wedding scene, Cathedral of Siena: men are
wearing hat badges 

"Gioie di Testa" is a very appropriate Italian description for the jewels that men wore on their hats in Renaissance paintings. This name is most fitting to the cultural paintings' level and the men who are wearing them.

"Gioie di Testa" in Italian literally means "Head jewels", "Jewels of the head".  In the beginning, I called these jewels by the name of brooches. I also described the meaning of these symbols for the men who were wearing them: brooches were representing the triumph of Virtue. Virtue was sealed by a luxury brooch.

I wrote two blog posts about this subject on this blog a few years ago. Blog posts were called: Brooches and the Art of Virtuosity (2012) and  Time for Action! (2013). I have always kept in mind how much I liked these jewels. The most talented artist who could paint "Gioie di Testa" is Pinturicchio, the Italian Renaissance artist who was born in Perugia. He was known as the artist of little things, of details. He was not as famous as Perugino, however, highly inspired the arts & crafts industry in the centuries to follow.

Jeweled gondola. This is the first time
I learned about such a usage of the word: jewel
(from the English teaching book I edited) 

What happens is that only a few days ago I found out what the perfect translation for "Gioie di Testa" could be. I would translate it: "Jewelled hat badges". How did I learn about the words ' jeweled' and 'hat badges'? By interacting with new friends of mine with whom I share my passion for the Italian Renaissance and the history of art.

The term 'jeweled' in particular was used in an Engish teaching book I recently did proofreading of and sent the corrections to the publisher.  'Hat badge' I learned from my friend Rosemary who used it as a description for a piece that is housed in one of my favorite museums in the world, the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

This is a simple example of how the learning process works when applied to something we truly enjoy and by interacting with friends who share interests with us. I find this process extremely interesting and I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed my blog post.

More about the jeweled gondola in the image on the left: Giovan Battista Scolari, jeweled gondola, 1568, Palazzo Pitti, Florence  Enameled gold, three pearls, three rubies, five (black) diamonds, two emeralds. Curiosity: diamonds were black because they were raw. They still didn't know how to cut diamonds!

A "Gioie di Testa" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Partly enameled gold set with diamonds and pearls, c. 1460-80. It represents St. John the Baptist in a Landscape. In English, it's called a hat badge and in French an "Enseigne" (a sign). Evidently, hat badges were worn by French Renaissance men as well.

(Last image description by my friend Rosemary who posted it on the dedicated  Facebook Renaissance art event where you can find more information, images, and curiosities)

(to be continued...will post more when I find hat badges closeups from famous paintings. Could not find much online)

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Gioie di Testa

Pinturicchio, Libreria Piccolomini, Wedding scene, Cathedral of Siena: men are
wearing hat badges 

"Gioie di Testa" is a very appropriate Italian description for the jewels that men wore on their hats in Renaissance paintings. This name is most fitting to the cultural paintings' level and the men who are wearing them.

"Gioie di Testa" in Italian literally means "Head jewels", "Jewels of the head".  In the beginning, I called these jewels by the name of brooches. I also described the meaning of these symbols for the men who were wearing them: brooches were representing the triumph of Virtue. Virtue was sealed by a luxury brooch.

I wrote two blog posts about this subject on this blog a few years ago. Blog posts were called: Brooches and the Art of Virtuosity (2012) and  Time for Action! (2013). I have always kept in mind how much I liked these jewels. The most talented artist who could paint "Gioie di Testa" is Pinturicchio, the Italian Renaissance artist who was born in Perugia. He was known as the artist of little things, of details. He was not as famous as Perugino, however, highly inspired the arts & crafts industry in the centuries to follow.

Jeweled gondola. This is the first time
I learned about such a usage of the word: jewel
(from the English teaching book I edited) 

What happens is that only a few days ago I found out what the perfect translation for "Gioie di Testa" could be. I would translate it: "Jewelled hat badges". How did I learn about the words ' jeweled' and 'hat badges'? By interacting with new friends of mine with whom I share my passion for the Italian Renaissance and the history of art.

The term 'jeweled' in particular was used in an Engish teaching book I recently did proofreading of and sent the corrections to the publisher.  'Hat badge' I learned from my friend Rosemary who used it as a description for a piece that is housed in one of my favorite museums in the world, the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

This is a simple example of how the learning process works when applied to something we truly enjoy and by interacting with friends who share interests with us. I find this process extremely interesting and I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed my blog post.

More about the jeweled gondola in the image on the left: Giovan Battista Scolari, jeweled gondola, 1568, Palazzo Pitti, Florence  Enameled gold, three pearls, three rubies, five (black) diamonds, two emeralds. Curiosity: diamonds were black because they were raw. They still didn't know how to cut diamonds!

A Gioie di Testa from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Partly enameled gold set with diamonds and pearls, c. 1460-80. It represents St. John the Baptist in a Landscape. In English, it's called a hat badge and in French an "Enseigne" (a sign). Evidently, hat badges were worn by French Renaissance men as well.

(Last image description by my friend Rosemary who posted it on the dedicated  Facebook Renaissance art event where you can find more information, images, and curiosities)

(to be continued...will post more when I find hat badges closeups from famous paintings. Could not find much online)

Cama® is a cultural brand

FRIENDS OF CAMA's Blog

Renaissance Art Curiosities in Times of Rebirth   

Cama® is a cultural brand inspired by the Italian Renaissance. Like and share our page to join our online events & receive blog posts. 

NEW! Free Italian arts & crafts consulting by sending a message on the Friends of Cama page. 

St. Mama's Prayer: Paleographist for a Day

The detail from an Italian Renaissance painting piqued my curiosity.
What does the book say? 

The other day I was a paleographist for one day. My dear friend Rosemary posted a painting on Facebook by an artist I did not know, Francesco dei Franceschi. His San Mamante, St. Mama's is housed in the civic museum in Verona. I can't wait to see this painting in person as my Daniele has decided that our next trip to Italy is going to be to Verona and Mantova. It may happen soon. So I have an extra good reason to visit. 

The painting by Francesco dei Franceschi depicts San Mamante with a lion on his right side. The saint is holding a book in his left hand. The book's writing is gothic style with many syncopes. Syncopes are expressed by little signs over single words. They indicate that there is a letter or more missing in a word. At first sight, I could tell the original writing was much longer than what was on the painting:  the writing was full of syncopes. From the few words I had read, the writing was in Latin: 

I definitely wanted to decipher what the book said. It was a curiosity my new Facebook friend Laura had expressed to be fulfilled in one of her comments to the painting. She had piqued my curiosity, too! 

The first thing I did was enlarge the image that was posted on Facebook (see above). On the internet, there was no better resolution. Then I found out that by using my cellular touch phone I could obtain the best enlargements. In the beginning, despite I had enlarged the image, I could not see the writing clearly. So I was almost giving up. I was also tempted to write to the civic museum in Verona. I had marked down their email address already. Then what happened is that the next morning I woke up and said to myself I should have a bigger picture of St. Mama's painting. So I opened my computer and stood back enough to see the image better. I thought at that point I could read more than the few Latin words I had spotted in the beginning. "Deo vivo qui...[...] Deus meus" was about all I could read that made sense. Not much). 

So I looked for a St. Mama's prayer on the internet and my research took me to the gospel of St. Luc, where it says that God is the God of the living (St. Luc: 20,27.34-38). No way the book writing and St. Luc's gospel matched. 

The magic happened when I stood back in front of the writing and continued reading: «Deo vivo qui REGNAT...[...] servio et...[...] me [...] deus meus »  With these additional words in mind I went and redo my research on the internet and...I found the original book from which the writing came. I found it on Google books!                

So the solution is that St. Mama's book repeats a sentence from a book called: Acta Sanctorum, containing the history of saints by the saint's day. In particular, it is a sentence that is part of the chapter dedicated to Saint Magnus martyr: The writing goes: « DEO VIVO, QUI REGNAT IN CAELIS, FERVIO, ET NUMQUAM ME DERELINQUET DOMINUS DEUS MEUS »

(English translation: "The living God, who reigns in heaven, I serve, O Lord my God, and he will never abandon me." - Source: Acta Sanctorum. Die decima nona Augusti page 719- paragraph  6.

Collectore Petro Calo Dominicano. San Magno Martire Caesarea in Cappadocia ) 

Francesco dei Franceschi, San Mamante (st. Mama's),
circa 1450, civic museum, Verona, Italy 

At that point, all words were matching except for fervio-servio. What Francesco dei Franceschi wrote on the painting is the verb: servio. It starts with the letter that we currently use in Italian: it's the verb 'to serve' with initial "S": servire, to serve same as in English. This change from fervio to servio is for a professional paleographist to explain. There must have been a consonant rotation from the time the original book was written and the painting that belongs to the 15th century was created. Or maybe it was just an error that the painter made because servio starting with 'S' was more familiar to Francesco de Franceschi. In any case, the artist should have been faithful to the original Latin sentence. 

I hope you enjoyed my discovery. I love doing this as I am very curious. When I visit Verona, I will look for a book with the book's saying interpretation by a real paleographist!

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The Story of Three Ceramic Urns from Montelupo Fiorentino

The first urn is from the Cini Gallery in Venice 

I have never been to the ceramic museum of Montelupo Fiorentino. I would like to go sometime in the future as I have always been in love with their ceramics and now I have a story to tell.

Montelupo Fiorentino was considered as the furnace of Florence in times past. This is where the ceramic tradition started at the end of the 13th century and flourished in the Renaissance period. Montelupo's ceramic style is unmistakable and you can spot it immediately. You can see it a lot in stores in Orvieto, Siena and of course in Florence. Its patterns are very warm, colorful and the background glaze is off-white. They are rich in fruits, floral swirls, and leaves. 

Many beautiful antique pieces from Montelupo Fiorentino are in museums in Italy and abroad. Last year I saw a couple of beautiful urns from the 16th century at the Cini Gallery in Venice. A similar urn was on display at an exhibition in Florence a few years before and I thought they look like belonging to the same batch. They actually did.

So in my mind, these three urns were together again for one day!  

The reason why I do not visit museums or do things just for the sake of it is that I must have an important reason for doing things. What you read here that I am doing or writing about comes from real interactions with friends, contacts, and acquaintances whom I know in person or I have met on Facebook.

The second urn is from the Cini Gallery in Venice

Interactions with others truly pique my interest and make my creativity come to life. I think it comes from the fact that the first thing I have learned as a little girl at my family's ceramic workshop was serving customers. If customers were not there, there was nothing for me to do except wrap things for them, paint or talk to the artists. I was still doing something for customers, however, my task was welcoming them at the factory. Well, of course in the beginning I was my father's assistant. I have learned to serve customers from my dad who is the sweetest man of all. I will always be thankful to him for teaching me the secrets to best serve our customers.    

The third urn is from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

I have promised my father I will bring those days back in a different way. Whatever time it takes I had him promise on his turn to wait for the change to happen. He said he will live to be nearly 100 years old like our great-grandfather. So that gives me more time indeed. Thank you, Grazie!

So what happens is that these past years have given me the opportunity of interacting with my beloved customers on a different level: I am sharing the same interests in Italy with friends who are in love with Italy. It all started by accident and little by little I discovered that these friends are the same customers who visited our workshop. I could still interact with them by exchanging interests: Italian art, Italian cooking and everything beautiful there is in Italy. I can still meet them ideally outside the workshop and see them in action. Sometimes former customers visit me in Italy and that is the greatest gift of all: they are the famous, unique Friends of Cama.

The ceramic urns from the Cini Gallery collection and the urn with the Medici's coat of arms from the Uffizi Gallery (seen at the exhibition: L'Alchimia e le Arti, Florence, 2012) are part of an apothecary production setting the time of the pieces to the second half of the 16th century.

These ceramic containers were used to preserve farmaceutical medications often based on a sugar base. The three urns all look the same size as described in the exhibition catalog that I brought in Florence four years ago and related to the urn with the Medici coat of arms. Dimensions are: 33,5 cm high and 11,5 cm is the foot diameter which in inches is: 13 1/4" by 4 1/2" (foot diameter).

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My Note about Yesterday's Earthquake in Central Italy

The tortoise as a lucky charm   

The Cathedral of Norcia before after the earthquake that shook central Italy on October 30th around 7.40am

The cathedral of Norcia that collapsed yesterday under the earthquake broke my heart. Sacred places are the most ancient tradition we are carrying on in Italy. These places are like our identity card. They make us feel we belong to Italy.

The population of Norcia and its surroundings is safe and they have reached the Adriatic coast by bus organized by the Italian government. Some of our fellow citizens have arrived also here at the Trasimeno lake.

The people of Norcia, Castelluccio, Amatrice and other lovely small boroughs in the area between Umbria and Le Marche have left behind their homes, their belongings and everything they treasured.

I know what it feels like to lose everything. When you lock the door for the last time. That's how my blog started and why I am writing on this page. My family and I, we have lost everything we had: our workshop was our life.

Good luck to Norcia

However, there is much we can do if we are still alive. Our body becomes our home. We can think of ourselves as tortoises. That's actually what we become by getting stronger: tortoises. The warmth that we can spread through our body and mind is great. Life is sacred within us that we want to keep alive by praying in sacred places if we feel like it. For sure churches in Italy are inspiring thanks to their art. Art is for everybody to enjoy. It is not a matter of religion.

So I am sending out to the people of Norcia and surroundings all my best wishes for a safe recovery. You can never guess what is waiting for you if you accept your destiny, fight, hold on and rely on your resilience.

Current priorities regarding rebuilding the areas destroyed by the earthquake according to the government are 1. people, 2. churches 3. businesses. I agree with these priorities. Identity comes first. That is exactly what my priorities have been in reviving Cama. Of course, for me, the list of priorities came in by accident. I have discovered my destiny by the go.

Good fortune everybody in Norcia and let the tortoise be your lucky charm. An invitation to read my blog post about the meaning of Cosimo I de Medici's tortoise, Cosimo's favorite symbol.  I have written a few blog posts about the tortoise topic. The monks in Norcia will apologize to me for mixing sacred and profane. However, the profane bring some cheerfulness in relieving tragedies. This is also part of our traditions in Italy: we mix sacred and profane. It's one of our best gifts!

If you wish to make a donation to rebuild the cathedral of Norcia, herewith follows the direct link to the Benedictine monks. This is the newsletter the monks of Norcia sent out yesterday.

The monks of Norcia are on Twitter at this address: @monksofnorcia - We are now following them on Twitter!

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A New Take on an Old Story

PINNED POST FROM ROBERTA'S DESK 

The Friends of Cama's story: it's all about a creative journey! 

Who are the Friends of Cama? 

The friends of Cama are the loyal customers I have served for many years at my family's workshop in Italy and who are following me on this blog, on the Facebook page, and on Twitter. 

Cama's story 

In 2011 Cama ran out of business and in that year I started a revival journey that has changed my life. In the beginning, it was a matter of finding ways to get the business restarted. None of the business solutions where I counted on others would work. No way I could merge with other workshops in my town. Other attempts failed. So I found myself forced to count on myself. My close friends, my brother and the thought of my beloved customers were still there.

The Friends of Cama: the biggest gift of all

What happened is that the previous year a group of customers had gathered in the United States to support Cama and they touched my heart. They called themselves: Friends of Cama. This is why I am so fond of this name.

But what could I do by myself? Almost nothing was related to ceramics. The workshop's production had soon been replaced by another supplier. We were out of the game.

So what could I do that was not already available in the market? I said to myself I would come up with something different and eventually present the ceramic collections in the future. Eventually.

The Friends of Cama blog 

A couple of years earlier I had started a blog where I wrote about Italian Renaissance art curiosities. I had been inspired by my family's traditional patterns that date back to the Renaissance period in Italy. So by way of art, I got interested to see the works of art in person. I started going to places in Italy. New horizons were opening up like never in the past.

Discovering Italy through my customers' eyes is still an amazing experience: I have seen places in Italy I had never visited before and even got interested in Italian cooking: the two things customers did during their stay in Italy when they visited us in Deruta. Shopping at our workshop was part of their activities.

My first approach with a cooking class: a disaster

I am amazed in got interested in Italian cooking as I am more a good fork, we say in Italy: Una buona forchetta. My approach to my first Italian cooking lesson was a disaster. However, cooking was meant to be a part of my journey with Cama. Indeed my family's workshop was specialized in dinnerware. I can always say, that I resumed my career by washing those dishes that we used to make! 

My Odyssey: distractions taking me away from my mission

Since 2011 my journey for Cama went through several interruptions due to the fact that I got distracted by many things around me. In the meantime, my vision of Cama grew stronger and stronger. What were only scattered visions, in the beginning, seem like falling into place? It takes a long time to make a dream come true. So I now know for sure that reviving Cama is my biggest life challenge. I am putting my heart and soul to make my dream happen and I am inviting you to follow my story on the Facebook page.

Do you like my story? Are you fond of life stories?

For everybody else who is not fond of life stories, the Friends of Cama Facebook page is an opportunity to armchair travel in Italy. I am on Facebook every day with new posts and blog updates. Forwarding posts to Twitter. Therefore I would be very happy if you shared my page with your friends.

New friends and my fiancé have joined me on my journey in the last couple of years. We are now a team. So I am pleased to welcome you and your friends to armchair traveling with us on the most amazing experience in my life!  - Roberta

            

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MANDORLA: an Italian Art Renaissance Curiosity

Pietro Perugino (Italian painter, 1446–1524), Virgin and Child in a Mandorla with Cherubim
c  1480- 1500 National Gallery, London 

MANDORLA is the second Italian art history word I run into based on my art discussions with my friend Rosemary. 

Mandorla is an Italian word that we lent to the English language as is. Same as LOGGIA that describes a typical Renaissance architectural patio attached to a church (like in the Spoleto's cathedral) or a belltower (like in Venice) or to a palace such as in Siena (seen in the Piazza del Campo). Therefore when we say 'Loggia' we know what we mean without translating it. Loggia is the first word I shared with Rosemary upon our art armchair traveling on Facebook. 

The same popularity should apply to the word MANDOLA,  however, this latter is less known than Loggia. So we have to translate it to be understood. Translating the word "Mandorla" is easy to do though. It is only one step away. 'Mandola' means almond. In art history terms 'Mandorla' is also known as "almond-shaped aureole". Here is a Mandola longer description from the National Gallery's glossary: 

------------------------------------

Mandorla

Mandorla is the Italian word for almond. In painting or sculpture, the term is used to describe the almond-shaped enclosure which is sometimes depicted around Christ or the Virgin Mary. For example, the Virgin and Child are represented in a Mandorla in Crivelli's version of 'The Vision of the Blessed Gabriele', and 'The Trinity' is represented within one in Barnaba da Modena's panel.

Mandorlas are most often depicted in the context of Christ's Ascension and the Virgin's Assumption.

------------------------------------

I have seen several Mandorlas in Italian paintings in the churches I have visited these past years. There are several descriptions about the origins of such an almond-shaped aureole coming both from mythology as well as from the Christian tradition. Among all theories, the one I prefer is that the almond is linked to the almond tree and to fertility. 

The traditional almond candies from Sulmona, Italy - We call them CONFETTI

That was indeed the first thing that came to my mind: the almond candies we use in Italy for weddings share the same origin as the Mandola in religious paintings! 

As a memory of a wedding or special celebrations such as baptism and graduation in Italy, we give guests a favor containing 5 almond candies as a sign of prosperity. 

The most important production place of almond candies in Italy is SULMONA in the Abruzzi region. It is where the candy tradition started in Italy. I was in Sulmona for the first time in 2000 and I liked Sulmona very much. There are all sorts of almond candies there, anything you can think of. In Sulmona, producers have highly specialized in the field of almond candies and they are still the best in Italy. 

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