The Honorary Vice-Consul in St. Louis is appointed by the Consul General of Italy, located in Chicago, with the approval of the Italian Ambassador in Washington and ultimately the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome.  In this year’s presentation, Colagiovanni will speak on the recent Italian elections.  He will also answer any questions which members may have concerning the work of the Office of the Vice Consul in St. Louis.  Joseph Colagiovanni, Esq. is a partner in the firm of Bryan, Cave and is in charge of the firm’s international law practice.  He is an Adjunct Professor in the Washington University School of Law and Honorary Member of the Italian Club of St. Louis.

With her brilliant presentation Dr. Mann gave us an overview of the artist’s life and summarized three interpretive models that art historians have used in analyzing Gentileschi’s art, relating these models to the investigative process through which art historians and scholars determine the authors of paintings, and illustrating how this process works through specific examples from Artemisia Gentileschi’s oeuvre.  The result of these studies clearly indicates that Artemisia is a complicated artist whose work defies the simple characterization of any single model.

Dr. Mann introduced Artemisia by means of an engraving by Jerome David taken from a lost self-portrait painted in the 1620s.  She also showed a recently discovered self-portrait probably made by Artemisia when she was only 16, perhaps the earliest painting she ever made.  Dr. Mann’s presentation then proceeded, in a roughly chronological sequence, with a selection of Gentileschi’s major works, from an intriguing Susannah and the Elders, done in 1610 when she was only 17, through what is arguably her most famous work, the powerful and graphic Judith Decapitating Holofernes, done at the age of 20, and on through a series of paintings spanning her entire artistic career. 

The first interpretive model that has been used to examine Artemisia’s work, that of her role as a follower of the artist Caravaggio, is evident in her skillful use of his realistic chiaroscuro technique, that Dr. Mann illustrated by showing Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus and pointing out its stylistic similarity to Gentileschi’s own Judith Decapitating Holofernes.  Our speaker noted that many art historians consider this aspect of her art the most important and let it guide them in understanding her paintings and in determining whether they were actually made by her.  So strongly was she associated with the Caravaggesque style, that some scholars have not attributed one of her works (another Susanna and the Elders) to her, despite the fact that it is signed and dated 1622, simply because it is painted in a different style (bolognese) rather than in her characteristic Caravaggesque manner. 

The second interpretive model for Artemisia, that of rape victim, is often used to explain psychological motivation underlying Gentileschi’s choice of subject and approach.  When she was 18, Artemisia was sexually assaulted by her art instructor, Agostino Tassi, who, in 1612, was tried for the crime, found guilty, and sentenced to exile from Rome; the sentence, however, was never carried out and was revoked the following year.  Some see this rape as the pivotal factor in Gentileschi’s life attributing to revenge the psychological driver of Judith Decapitating Holofernes.  This highly realistic work shows the virtuous Judith and her maidservant in the act of slicing off the head of the Assyrian general with his own sword.  It is one of at least five paintings by Artemisia of this biblical story. 

The third interpretive model, that of Artemisia Gentileschi as a feminist, is based partly on the fact that strong, forceful, brave females were such favorite subjects of hers.  In addition to the Judith and two Susannas, she also painted Mary Magdalen, Lucretia, Esther, the wily nymph Corisca, and Bathsheba, women who were understood as strong and complicated.  So strongly was Artemisia associated with this feminist bent, perhaps erroneously based on her preference for strong female subjects, that one of her paintings (Virgin and Child with the Rosary), even though signed by her and specifically mentioned in a letter, has not been accepted by some writers simply because it portrays a rather conventional image of a not very forceful woman. 

Next year The St. Louis Art Museum will feature a very important Gentileschi exhibit.  The Gentileschi:  Father and Daughter opens in Rome on October 15 of this year, will travel to the MET in New York, and will be in St. Louis from June 15 to September 15, 2002.  The exhibit includes both Artemisia and her father, Orazio, who trained her.  Although the influence of her father is evident in her earliest paintings, Artemisia later developed a style of her own and the exhibit documents the artistic development of both father and daughter.  Approximately 80 paintings, most of their masterworks, will be shown.  The paintings come from museums in Europe and the United States, and include several works that have never been exhibited outside of their permanent location.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Laura Morante, who plays the mother, explained in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Moretti wanted to tell a story of pain that doesn't reunite but separates and to show how everyone goes his or her own way in order to survive. 

The film tells the story of a close family in a small northern Italian city:  the father, Giovanni, the mother, Paola and their two teenage children:  Irene and Andrea. 

Giovanni is a psychoanalyst.  In his consulting-room next to his flat, his patients confide their neurosis to him, contrasting strongly with his own quiet existence.  One Sunday morning, Giovanni is called by a patient for an emergency and is not able to go jogging with his son as planned.  Andrea leaves to go scuba diving with friends and never returns….

Also shown at the festival was Ermanno Olmi's Il mestiere delle armi (The Profession of Arms), a period drama set in 16th century Italy.  The film portrays young Giovanni de Medici, captain of the Papal army, in the campaign against Charles V Lanschenets, Emperor of the Germans.  Giovanni was a living myth, fought over by princes for his great experience in the profession of arms, smiled on by fortune, and desired by women.  His downfall will come with the introduction of firearms. 

Of his film, which depicts the “noble art of war”, Olmi says: “It tells of a time when man was himself, in his body, a ‘war machine'.  His power lay solely in the strength of his muscles and his dueling ability.  Today, a soldier usually doesn't see whom he is killing. 

Our wars are wars of machines and technology, which 'progress' makes ever more impersonal and deadly.”

Il mestiere delle armi is the 69-year-old director's 12th feature.  His other films include Il posto (1961), L’albero degli zoccoli (1978, Palm d’or), and Lunga vita alla signora (1987).

31.  Giovanni Prati nacque nel Trentino nel 1814 e morì a Roma nel 1884.  Nel 1876 divenne senatore del nuovo Regno d’Italia.  La poesia Incantesimo fa parte della raccolta di liriche intitolata Iside, l’ultima opera del Prati, pubblicata a Roma nel 1878.  Questo gruppo di liriche contiene la figura di Azzarelina, una creatura fantastica da cui il poeta immagina di essere stato trasformato in un essere grande quanto un granello di pepe.  L’atmosfera è magica e fiabesca, con immagini derivate dal folclore trentino.

 

Incantesimo
di Giovanni Prati

 Ascolta, Azzarelina:
la scienza è dolore,
la speranza è ruina,
la gloria è roseo nugolo¹,
la bellezza è divina ombra d’un fiore.
 Così la vita è un forte
licor ch’ebbri ci rende,
un sonno alto è la morte;
e il mondo un gran Fantasima²
che danza con la Sorte e il fine attende.
 Vieni ed amiam.  L’aurora
non spunta ancor; gli steli
ancor son curvi; ancora
il focherel di Venere
malinconico infiora i glauchi cieli³.
 Vieni ed amiam.  Chi vive,
naturalmente guada
alle tenarie rive⁴:
ma chi è prigion nel circolo⁵
che la tua man descrive a ciò non bada.
   (vv. 101-120)
 

¹ rosea nuvola.  ² spettro.  ³ la tenue luce che emana Venere abbellisce il cielo azzurro.  ⁴ l’inferno, nel quale cui si entra dal promontorio Tenario. 
⁵ il circolo magico tracciato da Azzalina che separa il mondo terreno da quello ultraterreno, la magia dalla realtà. 

 

23.  Vespasiano (9 – 79)  (Imperatore 69 - 79).  Tito Flavio Vespasiano, il fondatore della stirpe Flavia,  fu il primo imperatore di origine plebea.  Durante la sua infanzia i suoi genitori si assentarono spesso per accudire ai loro affari lasciandolo alle cure di Tertulla, la nonna paterna.  La sua educazione fu diretta verso la carriera politica e militare: fu tribuno in Tracia, questore in Creta, edile, pretore e senatore.  Sposò Flavia Domitilla e da lei ebbe tre figli, due maschi, i futuri  imperatori Tito e Domiziano, e una femmina, chiamata anche lei Flavia Domitilla, che fu più tardi deificata.  Le due Domitille morirono prima che Vespasiano diventasse imperatore, perciò dopo la morte della moglie egli riprese a vivere con Caene, che era stata la sua amante prima del suo matrimonio. 

Nel 69 Vespasiano era stato proclamato imperatore in Galilea dai suoi alleati, ma giunto a Roma si rese conto dell’importanza di essere accettato dal senato e dai cittadini romani perciò saggiamente impiegò subito i suoi sforzi per raggiungere questo scopo.  Come prima cosa si propose di ricostruire il Campidoglio e il Tempio Capitolino, simbolo dell'impero, e di edificare nuovi edifici, tra i quali il Colosseo (sul luogo della Domus Aurea di Nerone) e un tempio in onore dell’imperatore Claudio sul monte Celio per distanziarsi da Nerone ed essere considerato l’erede di Claudio.  Per legittimare la sua posizione usò inoltre auspici divini e predizioni, stabilì i diritti inerenti alla carica di imperatore con la famosa lex de imperio Vespasiani, e proclamò la dinastia Flavia, presentando i due figli come suoi degni successori. 

Durante il suo impero ebbe luogo la distruzione di Gerusalemme nell’anno 70 per mano del figlio Tito, che Vespasiano, alla sua partenza per Roma, aveva lasciato in carica in Palestina.  Alcuni ebrei si rifugiarono a Masada dove resistettero fino all'aprile del 73 ma poi furono sopraffatti e molti si suicidarono.  I superstiti fuggirono all'estero dando inizio alla diaspora.  Altri successi militari furono ottenuti nella Germania, nella Gallia e nella Scozia. 

A differenza dei suoi predecessori, Vespasiano era un uomo di semplici costumi ma astuto e ambizioso che si sforzò di restaurare le antiche virtù romane, restabilire la disciplina nell’esercito, controllare le finanze e riformare il Senato.  Per colmare il deficit incorso da Nerone, Vespasiano aumentò le tasse, talvolta raddoppiandole, per cui fu spesso accusato di avarizia.  In complesso però fu amato dal popolo, pose fine alle guerre civili, e procurò circa nove anni di pace, come viene messo in evidenza dalla parola pax nelle monete coniate in suo onore.  Inoltre si interessò alla cultura e aiutò uomini di lettere e insegnanti con elargizioni annuali, creando cattedre di insegnamento persino nelle più remote province. 

Fu sempre di forte costituzione, ma nella primavera del 79 si ammalò e morì.  Le sue ultime parole furono “Vae, puto deus fio” (“ahimé, credo di star diventando un dio”).  Era lo stesso stesso anno dell’eruzione del Vesuvio che distrusse Pompei e Ercolano.