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Video: How Italian masters managed to create the finest veils from marble
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The veil in sculpture has amazed those who see this miracle for centuries. The sculptors managed to convey in a solid marble block the tenderness and airiness of the finest fabric, which, as it seems, can move from the slightest breath of the breeze. It takes a lot of skill to create this amazing “veil effect”. And only a few sculptors managed to achieve perfection in this complex technique.
"Marble Veil" in the 18th century
The very technique of the "veil effect" in sculpture has been known since the days of Ancient Greece, but its peak of popularity came in the 1700s. The first sculptor to revive the marble veil was the Neapolitan master Antonio Corradini.
His most famous sculpture with a "veil effect" is "Chastity" (Pudizia), which is a tombstone for the mother of Prince Raimondo, who gave him life at the cost of her own life - who died soon after giving birth.
The sculpture represents the figure of a woman, dressed from head to toe in the finest transparent fabric. The author succeeded in the impossible - to reliably and accurately display in the stone every fold of transparent fabric, through which the outlines of the woman's face and body shine through. The work is recognized as a masterpiece of world sculpture and is considered the crown of creativity of the very founder of the "veil effect".
Corradini's authorship belongs to several more works, made using the same technique of "marble veil".
It is a fragment of the famous statue "a", bought in Venice for Peter the Great. Was in the Statue, which was located first in the Summer Garden, and then in the St. George Hall of the Winter Palace, suffered in a fire in 1837. After restoration, its upper part was placed in the garden of the Tsaritsyn pavilion in Peterhof.
However, the sculptor himself planned to bring his skill to perfection in his work "Christ under the Shroud" for the San Severo Chapel in Naples, commissioned by Prince Raimondo. But starting to fulfill the order, he managed to create only a clay model of the sculpture, at the age of 64 his life was cut short, but this tragic situation revealed to the world another talented sculptor, also from Naples - the young and hitherto unknown Giuseppe Sammartino, who was entrusted to embody in marble the plan of the great Antonio Corradini.
Even the great master, Antonio Canova, upon seeing this sculpture, exclaimed: "". The sculpture "Christ under the Shroud" became the crown of creativity of Giuseppe Sammartino, he could not create anything more majestic.
"Marble Veil" in the 19th century
After the great Antonio Corradini and his follower Giuseppe Sammartino, for almost a century, sculptors did not turn to this very effective and, at the same time, the most complicated technique. Only at the beginning of the 19th century, talented masters appeared again who managed to master it. In the mid-19th century, sculptor Giovanni Strazza sculpted a bust of the Virgin Mary using the same veil effect.
Also, the magnificent sculpture "Rebecca under the Veil", the author of which was the sculptor Giovanni Maria Benzoni, has survived to this day. Each fold of the garment is made very meticulously, creating an amazing effect of its layering.
Unfortunately, no other similar works by these masters have survived.
Raphael Monti
But the most famous sculptor-"veil" of the 19th century, who managed to achieve perfection in his skill, is rightfully considered Raphael Monti (1818-1881).
Monty's finest enamels seem almost weightless, ready to flutter from the slightest breeze.
His most famous sculptural work depicts the figures of several girls bowing their heads under the finest veil.
The sculptures depict the veiled priestess of Vesta - the vestal. Vesta is the Roman goddess-keeper of the sacred fire.
Their thinnest veil is made so skillfully that even the light is transmitted.
In addition to the fact that Rafael Monti created several unique sculptures under a veil, he also revealed the secrets of the most complex technology for their creation. In his work, the master used a special type of marble, which has two layers with different densities. The upper layer of this marble is less dense than the lower one. The finest processing of the top layer allowed the master to create the effect of transparency of the veil. Uniquely, all the work of processing this marble was done by a master by hand, without the use of automated techniques. Earlier craftsmen probably also used marble with a similar structure. The rarity of the material and the complexity of manufacturing can be explained by the small number of sculptures with a marble veil.
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