Choti
I didn’t get a chance to send you the happy special
day email J bit late but there you go. I thought of sending
you something about sculptures. First, you should read this article
You get to see amazing sculptures in museums and it
has been a fascinating journey for me. It started with, of coruse, reading the
agony and the ecstacy by irvine stone, the story of michelangelo. We have a
copy at home and you should read it. It is not quite a biography but it reads
very well indeed. Loved how his life was described. Anyway, you saw David when
you went to Florence and you can read the story behind it in the book about how
he managed to carve it. But before that, you need to see what Donatello did
with his David. Michelangelo’s works are brilliant anyway and do take a look at
his works. We have the Pieta hanging on our wall above your desk. Just gaze at
it and think about how wonderfully he put that together.
The other most amazing sculptor that I love is
Canova. He did some extraordinary work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Canova.
His Psyche Revived by Cupid’s kiss is such an amazing piece of tender loving
care. His three graces is also exquisite.
And then the final one for you to think about is the Veiled
Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veiled_Christ
This is perhaps the most amazing piece of sculpture which
exists in my mind. Mamma might be able to tell you about the veiled sculpture
called as the Veiled Rebekah which was in Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad. One
of the biggest and most amazing collections by one single person in that
museum. We will go there one day. Similar in concept to the veiled Christ, you
can see it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veiled_Rebecca
When I first saw Rebekah, I was taken aback but the Veiled
Christ is absolutely amazing. The work which has been done is extraordinary. I
am useless at art, so whenever I see this kind of work, I am stunned at the way
somebody can literally convert stone to living flesh, show expressions and come
up with emotions.
The next one that I really really love and adore is the bust
of Nefertiti. We don’t know who made this but its one of the most famous
Ancient Egyptian works of art, copied and painted and shared all over the
world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nefertiti_Bust
such an amazingly beautiful piece of art, look at that neck, that patrician
nose, that regal expression. Amazing!
Another really really fascinating, at least to me, is
Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_Saint_Teresa
nothing other than her face. Just that religious ecstasy is mindbogglingly
amazing, Choti. The quote is best: I saw in his hand a long
spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He
appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very
entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me
all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me
moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I
could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less
than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share
in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the
soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may
think that I am lying.
Still, I would say Canova wins for me hands
down, Bernini and Michelangelo are also rans J but its just exquisite work. Once I grow up, I will learn
how to sculpt but I doubt that I have that kind of an innate skill or even
patience to do something like this. As for the modern sculptures, meh, bleah
and puke!
Love you choti, missing you terribly.
Baba
No comments:
Post a Comment