lorenzo Bartolini e i suoi modelli

Here he is, my David. Here, in the shelter for over 140 years. Born for the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore. Then, as a symbol of the courage of the Florentine Republic. For 300 years on the labyrinth of Palazzo Vecchio. Invalidated by the bad weather and the... ...the pigeons. But then, thanks to you, my friend, in the shelter here, in the Gallery of the Academy. It was an honor for me, Master Michelangelo. But tell me, Lorenzo, what was the job of a sculptor in your time? I would like you to make me aware of your story, of your life. If you want, I'll tell you. In fact, I offer you a drink of great fashion in my time. Coffee. I was born here, in Tuscany. In Samignano, near Prato. Then, the events that happened beyond the Alps, in the Kingdom of France, captured me. There was a great revolution. The heads of nobles and kings roared throughout the fatigue. Are you serious? Have you ever heard of Napoleon Bonaparte? A small corporal who went from Corsica to Paris at the age of nine. He became first general and then emperor of half of Europe. When I was young, I was enthusiastic about him. So I enrolled in the French army. So much so that I settled in Paris. For a thousand bombings. Paris must be beautiful. And then there is the Notre Dame Cathedral. Keep going, please. At the age of 22, I entered the studio of the famous painter David. In that kitchen of great artists, I met Engle and the Englishman Fluxman. At the Prix de Rome sculpture competition, I was also awarded. This success brought me many commissions, such as the commission of a bronze bust of Napoleon for the Louvre Museum. I entered the grace of Napoleon also thanks to my sister, Elisa Baciocchi. She was the one who called me to the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara. Carrara! I remember my trips there to look for marble blocks. Unfortunately, with the defeat of Napoleon, the wind of history changed. And things also changed for me. I had to take refuge in Florence, even if they saw me with bad eyes as a Bonapartist. In Carrara they restored all the works of my studio. Who were your commissioners, Lorenzo? Abbots? Bishops? Princes? No, Michelangelo. In the early 1800s, the Italian peninsula became the target of rich visitors. Nobles and bourgeois from all over Europe. The so-called Grand Tour. Mother of God, what did these gentlemen come to do? To see the natural beauties and works of man, like those of Renaissance artists. Like you. Indeed. Of course, they could not buy the works of the museums. Then they commissioned me portraits on portraits. There are of them scattered all over the world. In my studio, the plaster models remained, the ones you see here in my gypsophagus. Your way of working was different from mine. You used plaster models to reproduce the marble. Of course, it is useful to make a portrait. For busts, funeral monuments ... Well, they are genres of works that must be faithful to the real person to remember it, immortalize it. Yes, my artistic conception was purist, imitation of reality. I did not create idealized figures like during Neoclassicism. You mean like Antonio Canova did? Exactly, just like that. Think that when I was a sculpture teacher here at the Academy of Florence, I brought unconventional human models, such as a gobbo. And now, irony of fate, fate wanted your models to come here to the place where you taught. Yes, after my departure, the Italian State acquired the plaster models and placed them in the convent of San Salvi. You know that that area remained flooded by the terrible flood of 1966. Many plaster models were damaged. But not all evils are born. Indeed, my dear, in this way they were rediscovered, restored and rightly placed here at the Gallery of the Academy of Florence. I have a lot of good company and I have rearranged the places as it was my studio.