Italy, the beautiful, Part III

Grandeur revisited,

and life goes on in the small town of Suvereto

and in the large metropolis of Livorno by the sea.  

Where the Grand Hotel Palazzo provides just the right amount of old world glamour and luxury. 

Where old and new live happily side by side.

And where a stroll along the promenade at evening time, takes advantage of the gentle evening breezes.  

Two days of splendor and luxury is just about right for I gladly give it up for a visit to Maestro Mario's factory. 

I asked the Maestro if he would paint an Arlecchini for me.
He let me select the design.  Maestro Mario begins by transferring the design on to a plate by brushing charcoal through tiny holes.  

Martina, Mario's daughter, who is also a fine ceramist, tells the story of the Arlecchini in her blog post of 2013. 
See below:

http://ceramichemori.blogspot.com/2013/01/arlecchini-from-montelupo.html

 No trip to Italy is complete without my taking a few painting lessons.... there is so much to learn.  

  

The designs are painted with powder pigments mixed with water.  
They have a chalky appearance.  

Mario in his studio when I visited with him in 20014

http://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/2014/11/it-doesnt-get-any-better_1.html

Maestro Mario paints with pigments first and then completes his design by outlining it with a very fine brush.   

Once the designs have been fired in his large kilns the colors become vibrant and permanent.  

Montelupo is only a 30 minute drive west of Florence.  It has a very fine Museum of ceramics with a large collection of Arlecchini.  

 http://ceramichemori.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-pottery-museum-of-montelupo.html

The Maestro tells me that this particular design, the Arlecchini (Harlequin), is his favorite subject to paint.  He has designed more than 500 different scenarios. 

The Mario workshop is one of the only studious left who still produce the Arlecchini designs.  

Maestro Mario loves his art.  He even goes to his shop on Sundays. where he happily works by himself on whatever pleases him. 


Thank you for stopping by.  

Have a great remainder of the week, dear friends.  

Gina  

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

It doesn't get any better.

I'm in (was in) Motelupo Fiorentino, Italy.

Montelupo is located about 12 miles southwest of Florence, Italy.

Mario and in the background, one of his very talented painters

And I painted  with Mario Mori of Ceramiche Mori, 

Strada della Ceramica, Montelupo Fiorentino. 

What an honor it is to sit with Maestro Mario and watch him paint. 

Picture of Mario and one of his young painters.

What a Gentleman!  He spent the day with me.  I learned so much.

 He also learned something from me.  It's actually a secret.  When I shared the secret with him he almost jumped out of his chair and he immediately translated it to his painters.  

In the 9th century, the Montelupo ceramic tradition was almost lost.

  A lucky discovery in 1977, from the "the well of wash", inside the town's castle, produced fragments of pottery from Montelupo's ancient kilns.  

In the beginning of the 14th century Montelupo workshops  produced world renown ceramics which can be seen in the finest museums of the world.

One of the distinguishing Montelupo ceramic designs can be easily identified by the "Arlecchini" (Harlequin) platters first painted in the 17th century. 

They originated from humorous theatrical presentations, also known as Italian comedy.  

The design was painted with quick and resolute brush strokes. 

When in Montelupo you must visit the newly opened Museum of Ceramics.

I have not been able to find a publication which features Montelupo's Museum collection of ceramics.

  For a ceramic painter as myself, visiting the museum was happiness overload.  

One of Maestro Mario's masterpieces displayed at the museum. 

We stayed at the Villa Vannucci on one of the Montelupo Hills. 

The rooms were beautifully painted in grisaille technique.  

They looked as if they had been painted yesterday.

The Villa was furnished with excellent period furniture.  

It also displayed many beautiful Maiolica pieces. 

Father and daughter were fine ceramic painters. 

The Villa was beautiful.

The rest of the story of our stay at the Villa can NOT be told.  

Hope all of YOUR stories are tell-able. 

Gina