Dana's Art Gallery
As I sorted through my photos, I found that I took many pictures of art featuring women with children, including the statue from the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. I suppose I was drawn to such works because I was missing my kids, but I was also struck by the paradox of a cold, hard marble sculpture expressing such warmth and softness. The image of the Madonna and Child is everywhere in Italy—not surprising in a predominantly Roman Catholic country.
In fact, the Virgin Mary is the only female figure whose presence can compete with the artistic representations of male deities, artists, writers, and other prominent men from Italian history. I’ve included one example here: a statue of Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect of the dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (“The Duomo”) in Florence. In Florence, especially, I enjoyed the celebration of writers and artists, both in the presence of the works of those artists in public spaces and in the statues and other tributes to the artists themselves. The statue of Brunelleschi sits next to the statue of Arnolfo di Cambio, the original designer of the Duomo. Both statues gaze at their respective contributions to the breathtakingly beautiful building: Arnolfo di Cambio studying the main structure, and Filippo Brunelleschi looking up at the dome. These statues are representative, I think, of the national pride in not just the beautiful architecture one can find in Italy, but also the creative minds that produced such art.
The final two pieces represent the less visible art that can be found, if one only looks. In Verona, we encountered many artisans at work in the town square, including a woman embroidering what appears to be a leather belt. The speed with which she handled the multiple threads was dazzling, as was the artist’s ability to pick up where she left off while conversing with interested passers-by. In Venice, a small group of us took a walk to il Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, the historically Jewish neighborhood and the first ghetto (established in 1516). Venetian Jews (though not a homogenous group) were forced to live separately in “Il Ghetto” until 1797 (Jewish Museum of Venice website). Because we were there on a Saturday, everything was closed, but we were able to see the sharp contrast between the sumptuous architecture of the center of Venice and the sparse appearance of the buildings and courtyard of the Ghetto Nuovo. This neighborhood continues to be an important space for the Jewish community in Venice, and the only public art in the courtyard were Holocaust memorials. I’ve include an up-close view of the largest piece, a bronze bas-relief by Lebanese artist, Arbit Blatas, called “The Last Train.”