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wzhoyr-ter@yahoo.it — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:31:00 GMT

Tomb raiders' marbles feted in Rome

(ANSA) - Rome, January 5 - An extraordinarily rare collection of painted marble sculptures and vases dating to the 4th century BC and first uncovered by tomb raiders in southern Italy has gone on show in Rome.

The exhibition at Palazzo Massimo marks only the second time that the 11 marbles have been displayed together, after an investigation by art police connected two pieces recently returned to Italy by the Getty Museum in California with the rest of the hoard.

Many of the marbles still show clear traces of their original exquisitely painted details, the pigments having unusually survived over two millennia without wearing off.

''This exhibition is of great importance both on a scientific and symbolic level,'' said Stefano De Caro, the culture ministry's general director for antiquities.

Art police made the link between the marbles only after a tomb raider confessed that he had been involved in lucrative illegal digs during the 1970s at the ancient town of Ausculum, modern-day Ascoli Satriano, in Puglia.

The tomb raider said that while local finance police had confiscated some of the finds, a sculpted table base of two griffins feeding on a fawn has been sold to an American museum.

In 2006 police tracked down the seized marbles, which had been in storage for almost 30 years, and the following year the Getty returned the griffins as well as a large ceremonial basin, or podanipter, under an agreement with the Italian government on contested antiquities.

Lab analysis has since confirmed that all the objects were carved from the same variety of high-quality marble, which came from the famous Paros and Aphrodisias quarries in Greece and modern-day Turkey.

Although the exact dig site is still unknown, the marbles are thought to be furnishings from a chamber tomb belonging to an elite member of the local Dauni tribe and dated to the second half of the 4th century BC, when southern Italy was a Greek colony.

''Such an extraordinary store of vases and marble furnishings, some of which are unusually painted by what is certainly a Greek hand, has never been found anywhere except in this tomb,'' De Caro said.

The highlights of the Rome show remain the two pieces returned from the Getty.

The shallow podanipter is decorated with a stunning mythological scene in blues, oranges, yellows and purples showing Greek sea nymphs the Nereids riding sea monsters and carrying the weapons of Achilles, while on the sculpted table base traces of blue and orange can still be seen on the wings and crests of the griffins.

The remaining marbles are shaped like large wine vases and water pitchers but are not hollow, underlining their decorative function in the tomb.

De Caro said that after the Rome exhibition the marbles would make a definitive return to the Civic Museum of Ascoli Satriano.

''Perhaps (their return) will deprive tomb raiders of some of that code of silence or disinterest, without which they wouldn't be able to operate as unfortunately they have done and continue to do in Puglia and other regions of Italy,'' he said. The Secret of Marble: The Painted Marbles of Ascoli Satriano runs at Palazzo Massimo in Rome until April 18.

photo: sculpted table base of two griffins feeding on a fawn

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wzhoyr-ter@yahoo.it — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:02:00 GMT

Baroque spectacular in Naples

(ANSA) - Naples, December 23 - Naples is celebrating the Baroque movement with a sweeping initiative encompassing 13 exhibitions and hundreds of artistic and decorative masterpieces. Six of the southern city's museums are each hosting shows spanning a period of 150 years in total, starting with Caravaggio's arrival in Naples in 1606.

Over 350 items are on display in the exhibitions, many of which recently restored or rarely shown pieces. In addition to artwork, including paintings, drawings and sculpture, the initiative features jewellery, fabrics, furniture, ceramics and porcelain.

The centrepiece of the event is an exhibition at Naples' prestigious Capodimonte Museum, showcasing a selection of paintings by some of the most famous Baroque names, including Caravaggio, Luca Giordano and Francesco Solimena.

Covering the period 1606 to 1750, it includes works by artists operating in all the main strands of Baroque: Caravaggio-inspired naturalism, classical and Rococo.

The Capodimonte will also host a side event devoted entirely to drawings by famous Neapolitan painters of the era, with rarely shown pieces on loan from public and private collections, held both in Italy and abroad.

Castel Sant'Elmo is showing two exhibitions. The first of these features 17th-century paintings, sculptures and furniture from local churches and museums restored over the last decade but which, for various reasons, have not gone on show before. The second event spotlights images by contemporary photographer Luciano Pedicini, who has documented the Baroque aspects of Neapolitan architecture, from hidden decorative detail to the showily grandiose. The Certosa di San Martino complex is itself an architectural temple to Baroque, which is explored in the first of three initiatives on show there.

The second event is a series of paintings by Italian and international artists detailing the city's Baroque style, with work by Gaspar van Wittel, Didier Barra and Antonio Joli among others. A selection of sculptures by Francesco Celebrano and Giuseppe Sanmartino, on loan from churches around Naples, make up the third event The Duca di Martina National Ceramics Museum focuses on the decorative aspects of Baroque and their interplay, displaying painting, sculpture, applied art, furniture, porcelain and silverwork. The Pignatelli Museum spotlights Baroque's persistent links to still life, from its roots in naturalism, through its development into a full-blown exuberant movement, and then during its later transition towards neo-naturalism and rococo.

Luca Forte and Jacopo Nani are among the artists on show here. Palazzo Reale plays host to three exhibitions. The first comprises an array of maps, drawings and photography charting the development of the city, and examples of Baroque architecture over the centuries. The second carries visitors through rooms that were once royal apartments, with furniture, frescoes and wall hangings created by the greatest names of their day. The third event is a spectacular 210-figure nativity scene created in the 1700s by leading sculptors, while a selection of paintings from the same time recount the nativity story.

The initiative, Ritorno al Barocco (Return to Baroque) runs until April 11. For more information visit www.ritornoalbarocco.com. photo: Luca Giordano, The Rape of Europa.

Dos Santos Ingrigios Siempre

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