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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Tragic Fate of a Masterpiece: When the Flood came to Florence (1966)
The Crucifixion by Cimabue (1265) before the flood
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On the morning of November 4, 1966, the world got the news that the city of Florence was under water.
Heavy rains had begun in September, and increased in October. On November 2 alone, seventeen inches of rain fell in twenty-four hours. The snow on the mountains melted, and slushy rivers headed toward Florence. The Arno River submerged Florence's city center under 18 billion gallons of water, mud, heating oil and filth. When the waters began receding, the city lay in waste.
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The art world was stunned and aghast.
Ted Kennedy, attending a conference in Geneva, flew to Florence immediately to view the damage. Jackie Kennedy quickly marshaled financial help from her network of wealthy friends and agreed to chair the U.S. Committee to Rescue Italian Art. Former Monuments Man Frederick Hartt left his classroom lecturn at the University of Pennsylvania and dashed to the scene to save the art in the city he loved and had helped save 21 years earlier. While the city struggled to provide clean water, food, medical services and to restore electricity, volunteers came in droves from around the world to help rescue the city's treasures. Wearing rubber boots, working 10 to 14 hours a day, these volunteers were called the angeli del fango, the angels of the mud. Pablo Picasso auctioned one of his paintings to donate the proceeds for rescue efforts. Franco Zefferelli arrived the next day from Rome and started filming what would become a documentary about the dire situation (narrated by Richard Burton), which premiered in London in front of Queen Elizabeth and raised $25m.
Even Pope Paul VI came to Florence to say midnight mass at Christmas. He asked to be taken to the crocifisso, by then under restoration in the Pitti Palace, knelt by it, prayed...and softly wept...
Hardest hit was the Santa Croce section, which lay in the lowest elevation of the city.The greatest loss was the Crucifixion by Giovanni Cimabue, the Father of Florentine Painting, in the Santa Croce Museum. The water there rose thirteen feet and when it receded the masterpiece was ruined.
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Cimabue, an artist from the 13th century, shows us his remarkable departure from the earlier depictions in the tradition of a rather stoic, emotionless dying Savior. This artwork was important for opening the doorway to a new way of seeing and depicting the divine.
This crucified Christ is both graceful -- lyrical even, almost balletic -- and agonized, embodying the Christus Patiens (suffering christ) imagery style of presenting the crucified Christ, rather than the earlier ideal of Christus Triumphans (Christ Triumphant). In November 1966, the devastating and irreparable damage to the Cimabue would become the most iconic symbol of the Florence flood. The image of the suffering, dying Christ was itself now suffering and dying.
A decision had to be made whether or not to even attempt a restoration. As the water rose in the Museum, Franciscan monks had waded in with little strainers and pliers, an effort -- in vain --to salvage and then re-attach the tiny bits of paint to the original work. But the bits were just too minuscule. A different plan would have to be considered.
Some art scholars in and out of Florence argued to let it be. About 60% of the paint on the original was now lost. The traditional Italian belief in restoration of art and architecture -- dovera, comera (where it was, as it was) -- simply could not happen. Bringing in an artist who would copy from a color photograph was never considered -- it could never be reproduced as it was, because then it would not be a work by the hand of its creator. And, in fact, the rationale for most of the art of Cimabues time had not been aesthetic in the first place, but devotional and liturgical. In particular, a crucifix would be in his mind an aid to meditation and worship.
An argument could also be made that the heavily damaged spots were now something lived by the work itself. It was a loss but in another sense it became part of the artwork the way that a scar does a body, a part of its actual history, if not its original essence. To fill in those gaps would be to falsify that history.
An Italian art historian/restorer had an idea which she pitched to the director of the restoration committee. She would employ tratteggio, a hatching technique applied with a fine brush. Using huesyellow, red, and green with blackas well as lines corresponding with the flow from the surviving image surrounding them. This chromatic abstraction would fill the gaps with both color and guided movements that would allow the eye to average out the image. Both the crucifixs devotional purpose and its aesthetic value would thus be served.
Today, this is what the visitor to the Santa Croce will see
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CTyankee
(63,926 posts)elleng
(131,370 posts)CTyankee
(63,926 posts)are going to be...SOON!
Also, can't wait to see your new 'do!
elleng
(131,370 posts)but did find a good do-er, so am pleased! Maybe pics tomorrow, @ the party!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,791 posts)What a fascinating and tragic story. I thought the solution that they came up with was really wonderful.
Thank you so much for this history and art lesson!
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)thanks for stopping by...I know how busy you have been with Chris and my best wishes go out to him and to you for helping...
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,791 posts)CTyankee
(63,926 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)CTyankee
(63,926 posts)it was sad...it's part of art history that I love...and I think more DUers would love if they knew about that history...
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)bookmarked them , or you had them in a journal. I LOVED them, you made me want to go back to Italy.
Thanks for the posts.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)My only trip to Italy was Florence and Siena. The old biblical tales on the walls of churches were a big factor in shaping the myths that shaped our society. It's facinating to see how gory some of the stories were. I went to the Palio in Siena for my birthday- quite memorable..
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)packed I get panicky...I had to escape St. Mark's Square in Venice...the crowd was oppressive and nobody had told me that in the springtime the Po River overflows and water starts rising...I had no intention of wading in water and pigeon poop...
You must tell us about the Palio experience...did you love it?
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)the town center, and they said I had to leave and started to fold up the tables and chairs, as did all the other businesses. Within a half hour, they had started a practice race. All over town there were little parties and parades going on for days. Some of the parades were people from one district going to the others singing fight songs and hurling insults, some medievil costumes, it was hilarious!
The morning of the race, each district has a blessing of the beast at the local church. The race itself is quick and crazy. jockeys and horses skidding to make the sharp curve of the track. When it's over, the winning district members pour in and grab the jockey and hoist him up, and then start another parade through town- carrying torches and singing the victory song. They bring him to the grand cathedral, and with thousands of people cheering and TV camera lights flashing the jockey crowd surfs and is tossed in the air as confetti fills the air. I hate crowds too, but it was pretty amazing.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)how did you ever get lodgings during the Palio?
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Frescos. Such amazing old architecture everywhere.
I got lucky I guess. I just booked a nice B and B about a month in advance, same as Florence. (I seem to end up a lot if places Rick Steve recs)
Funny thing when I showed pics to a friend of me and the view out my window, turns out she had stayed there too, and took an identical picture!
The only part that was overwhelming to me was the race itself. It was crowded and rowdy. But it was worth it.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)He has a piece every Sunday in the Hartford Courant that I read faithfully. My trip this past March to the Piero della Francesca Trail was my fifth trip to Italy...I hope Italy doesn't "outlive" me...I'm still trying...been to Sicily, Rome. Florence, the Piero Trail, northern Italy...(so it probably will outlive me, so what).
Before I fall apart and can't travel any more I plan trips to Spain and the South of France...
brer cat
(24,646 posts)I had never heard it, and it is fascinating, as well as sad.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)Dont be sad. Life happens...
I think it helps for those of us who want to plan our farewell moment...
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)but, as I pointed out, there were those Americans who did respond...all those aspirational kids, wanting to make a difference by going to Florence to muck through the mud for art...if it weren't for them, and others from so many other countries, what would have happened? Does western art civilization have to sink in the mud to get people's attention?
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)They were art students in Italy on some kind of exchange program.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)You never know who will be on hand to help, do you?
The outpouring of help was incredible. The mayor of Florence at one point had a real problem trying to find housing for all of the young people who came pouring into the city.
lindac007
(55 posts)This is a wonderful story!!!! I really appreciate it as I was in Florence a few years ago and was floored by the beautiful works of art. Is there a link to this story? I would love to share it.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)Robert Clark. Oddly enough, it was Frances Mayes, the author of Under the Tuscan Sun who told me about it. I was fortunate enough to be at the Random House booksigning for her latest book on Tuscany and I told her I had read Mary McCarthy's "The Stones of Florence." She said that book was quite old (indeed, it pre-dated the flood) and told me about Clark's book.
I remember Clark saying something interesting about Florence...he said that it is estimated that Italy is home to half the most important art works in the world and one half of that is in Florence. I don't know if that is true or whether or not he made it up. But I do know that I knocked myself out trying to see everything on my list when I was there. I even ran into a masterpiece unexpectedly, a Ghirlandaio in Santa Trinita church...it was such a joyous find...
When I was using Google to get the wonderful photography I used in this post I ran across some interesting websites. The photos I used here are largely by Nicholas Kraczyna. His book is "The Great Flood of Florence, 1966: A Photographic Essay" published in 2006.
For the most excellent literary reference, I would suggest "A Room With A View" by E.M. Forster. I recently went back and read it again and also saw the movie from the 1980s -- you can get the entire film on YouTube! It is an absolute masterpiece! Here is an unforgettable moment
KoKo
(84,711 posts)and thanks for the Mayes Rec of "Dark Water: Flood and Redemption in the City of Masterpieces" by
Robert Clark..(will check that out) and also am fan of Mayes Tuscan Books...so will definitely check out the Clark book.
Was a huge fan of Mary McCarthy's Books...& "Stones of Florence."
Don't know if she's stood the "test of time" but I think I will also revisit some of her books now that you've reminded!
It's SUMMER and time to Revisit, Refresh and go down familiar paths as well as those we haven't yet had a chance to travel. Thanks for such a refreshing post on DU.
's
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)The Clark book is really the hallmark. I don't know of another...
I really got into the Italian Renaissance when my husband was recovering from spinal surgery...he'd sleep in the afternoon and I'd go to the library to escape into a different world of art of the Italian Renaissance for about an hour or so...it became a virtual obsession with me...he got all better and I booked a trip to Florence...
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)I was fascinated when I read about how deeply people felt about the idea of "restoration." It struck me how serious the Italians are about their art. When I was in Florence for an art intensive, one of my Italian lecturers referred to Fra Angelico as "Beato." I finally figured out that this was very common in Florence...pretty cool actually...it would be somewhat pretentious for an American to use the term but damn, that woman could pull it off!
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)and how so many resources and people were so quickly marshaled to save the art. There was much local coverage (N. Florida) because of F.S.U.'s involvement. Yes, the Italians are quite serious about art.
I believe that the F.S.U./Florence program continues to this day.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)Florence is a popular destination. For an Italian major or an art major, it would be a fabulous opportunity. My grandson is in a public school in CA that offers study in Italian, German, French and Spanish. He started in kindergarten with 90% of his classes in Italian...full immersion with native Italian speakers teaching...and only one English class. The Fondazione Italia and the Italian Government cooperate with his school.
http://franklinmagnetschool.com/?cat=5
I hope he continues his Italian when he goes to middle school and beyond. Having a foreign language is a great asset, IMO.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)And yeah. We crucified the hell out of them.
Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)Now, students of Art can't view this piece and see the mind of the master, if not the hand. To see that they are left with photographs, which do little justice at all as time passes by.
Preservation means just that, preserving it for the future. So our grandchildren can go and view it. So the generations that come later can view it and see what the history was truly like as much as humanly possible. If part of the crucifix had fallen off, would we have left it like that? In another couple hundred years, will we merely have a few splinters of wood stuck to the wall as all that is left of the masterpiece?
The original is priceless. The half-assed vague shadowing is insulting. It's not a masterpiece anymore. It no longer represents either the mind of the master, nor the revolutionary art of the era. It represents fear, fear of somehow changing the art in subtle ways.
Look at the restoration of the Sistine Chapel.
On the left upper half, the before image, the lower right is the after. That effort preserved that art by a master for another two centuries with a little luck. For the next two hundred years, students and art lovers will be able to see the actual piece, and see the brilliance first hand, instead of viewing pictures and looking up in disappointment at the result. Letting nature take it's course is not a plan for preservation, it is the key element of atrophy.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)concerned about the whole project. These were people deeply involved in the restoration effort, not some out of towners who wanted to decide what was best for them and for history. As I have said, the Italians are very serious about their art. As an American, I would be very hesitant to tell them what they should have done with their art masterpieces...one thing I have learned in my five trips to Italy is that they are very serious about their art...
You are right to say that the photographs of what were are so important. I don't think that's what the people in Florence were saying about this particular work. They didn't want to expunge the past, but they wanted to honor the work of art itself. Do you really "preserve" an art work by having an artist come in and copy it as it was? Because with 60% (some say more) of its paint flaked off, what else can you do? Ignore it?
According to Robert Clark, this is what is known as an "authentic relic." And remember, we didn't lose the color photograph of the original...art students can still see it as it was...
Beacool
(30,254 posts)I read about Florence's flood, but didn't realize that it had done so much harm. I cringe when I hear of masterpieces being ruined. The arts are what one remembers from any culture and society. What a pity that it was damaged so much.
CTyankee
(63,926 posts)but wow...what a story that is...