Fresco Ha Finito!

I do declare that as of this Tuesday, my fresco is finished. And yes, I'm double-blogging.

I actually finished a few days ago but am blogging this today since this morning I visited La Galleria dell'Academia, which houses Boticelli's original Madonna dal Mare, the painting on which I based my fresco. It was absolutely incredible to see in person. Of course, I had to sneak in an illegal photo of the original ;-P I used my slick Asian ninja skills to pull this one off...Praise raise for camera phones, y'all!!

The Original

The Calendar Copy

My Fresco Foray

To explain why each day has a separate part, fresco painting requires fresh plaster every day. Painting on already dried plaster gives the painting a very temporal and poor quality; however, since wet plaster absorbs the paint the finished product is much more permanent and has brighter colors. Whatever's not painted onto the plaster surface, moreover, is cut off and thrown away. So each new portion of the painting has to be re-plastered, and only then can it be painted upon. Since plaster usually takes 2-3 hours to dry, one must work quickly and confidently. Thus the artist must know his/her capabilities for that small time frame. With that explanation, you can see the daily portions, or le giornate, of my fresco journey!

Day 1: Mary's face only. Much, much meticulous shading.

Day 2: Added Mary's body

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Day 3: Jesus' face finished! The shading for his chubby cheeks took the longest...Zoom in to see!

Day 4: Jesus' body finished. Legs are a little thinner than the original. So, Jesus on a diet!

Day 5: Mary's hands have arrived! And the rest of her clothes.

Day 6: The backdrop is finished here and I ad-libbed her knees...those can always get cut out ;)

In the words of Jesus, "It is finished."

A long day along the Arno

Today was a very long day. I'm actually slightly spent; thus I'll keep this short and keep you fans waiting with bated breath for more pictures.

Anyway, today's shake-down:

This morning at 8am our Art Restoration class traveled to a private Villa in Tuscany to restore an 126-year-old fresco. That sounds old writing it out, but we've restored other frescos and objects much, much older (read: 7th century, 16th-17th century). We used tempera and gouache on the dry fresco to repair the damage and imitate the original scene yet make it perfectly imperfect (the spirit of restoration, truly).

For some reason I decided painting the blank door would be a grand idea. Whoops. I cannot believe my teacher and the villa's owner, who by the way used to be the Director of the Palazzo Pitti, would let me near a fresco nearly six times my age. Anyway, afterwards, they treated us to a home-cooked, country-style Italian lunch replete with wine and olive oil straight from their vineyard and grove.

Later that evening, I also went on a boat tour of the Arno River with my school. We rode in one of the last ten existing work boats of Firenze. Apparently, prior to WWII these boats were plentiful and were used to ship sand and marble into the city for construction. Moreso, it was used for travelling from neighboring cities since the narrow, hilly streets of Firenze were havens for pick-pocketers and petty crime thefts. The boat we were on actually sunk many years earlier and had been underwater for two years. Fortunately, they recovered and restored it--and it now proudly serves as a tourist commodity! **I highly recommend the Arno Boat tour if you are ever in the area. It serves multi purposes: learn the Florentine boating history, enjoy the romantic and serene atmosphere, and have the perfect backdrop for a phenomenal facebook profile photo.

Enjoy the eye candy...should be good after a long, long, long day.

PS. The day was much longer since it included a lengthy visit to the doctor's. I have been wheezing and coughing much lately and thought it might be an upper respiratory infection. Medical school makes me paranoid. Truth.com. Anyway, turns out it was my asthma acting up. Probably from all the plaster I've been snorting.

--PICS!--

Fresco Restoration

Our lanky teacher evaluating the frescoes

Before (note: no trees, but only blobs of color)

After: more trees, more leaves, some background definition. It took a while to match the colors!

Villa-style Tuscan Lunch

Stovetop espresso after gelato

Arno Boat Tour

La Mia Giornata

Though I came to Firenze expecting to learn solely Art Restoration, specifically in fresco restoration and church pieces, this course also includes the art of fresco painting. As I learned how to mix sand and lime properly to yield the correct proportions for laying a smooth fresco foundation, I was struck by a term which resonates within me still: La Giornata.

"Giornata is an art term, originating from an Italian word which means "a day's work." The term is used in Buon fresco mural painting and describes how much painting can be done in a single day of painting. Knowing how much can be painted in a day is crucial in the Buon fresco technique, because in this technique a watercolor paint, without binder, is applied to wet lime plaster which binds the paint into the surface of the plaster when it dries, making for an extremely durable painting. An experienced fresco painter knows how much surface can be painted in a day, and wet plaster is applied to the wall in the right amount needed for each day's work. That amount is the giornata."

Painting like this, portion-by-portion, reminds me particularly on this Sunday how God has given me my daily portion. Every day I depend upon Him to get strength, creativity, inspiration, and hope for the day. It's a relationship built upon reliance, trust, and faith. One a beautiful Sunday like today in Firenze, I reflect upon these facts and encourage you to do the same! You may not be religious or even believe in God, but what do you need renewed daily: what is your daily portion?

My Fresco Painting Process:

La Madonna del Mare

(Come back for more updates, too, on my giornata!)

Note: I won't be updating for this entire week. The class is heading out to Chianti region in Tuscany to restore an alter fresco at La Chiesa di Santa Maria in San Gusme'. We all figured we'll be in a pretty rural area so most likely no interwebs, running water, or processed foods. ;)

Until then, Aivivaderci!