tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post605450414825786369..comments2024-03-28T07:52:07.647-04:00Comments on venezia blog: Pagans, Paduans, Soviets & "The Most Beautiful Painting in Venice"Steven Varni, aka Sig. Nonlosohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066672605318740533noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post-18827200770775416492012-12-30T15:18:14.802-05:002012-12-30T15:18:14.802-05:00Sasha, I love your account of the history of Festa...Sasha, I love your account of the history of Festa delle Marie. As Thomas Mann's poor von Aschenbach would also learn while here in Venice, sometimes (as you say) it's impossible to figure out--or be honest with yourself about--exactly what urges Beauty is inspiring within you.<br /><br />And is the fruit of any orchard ever more desirable than that which is enclosed behind a fence? Steven Varni, aka Sig. Nonlosohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10066672605318740533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post-84615970095788211642012-12-29T02:38:57.654-05:002012-12-29T02:38:57.654-05:00Since Madonna has become one of the principal figu...Since Madonna has become one of the principal figures in the religious art her image is adjusted in many forms. There are Brown Madonna of Mexico and Madonna of the Andes whose skirt forms the image of the Holy Mountain enabling new Christian converts pray to the mother of Christ and their aboriginal deity at the same time – to name just a couple examples.<br /><br />And there was always an ambiguity about who and what is praised during the prayer to her. The focal point of controversy was Madonna’s beauty. Ideally it should reflect the supreme harmony of Heaven but beauty is also used to tempt. How to distinguish between these? Kenneth Clark in his “Civilization” said that reading medieval romances one wonders very often whether a knight addresses The Holy Virgin or a lady that arouses him in a different plane.<br /><br />Festa delle Marie was abolished in Venice in 1379 – these 12 poor girls chosen because of their beauty to be “a Mary” were the winners of what was in fact a beauty pageant, not unlike the present day events of such kind where sponsors want to move well beyond the confines of pure admiration. 12 poor beauties were provided 12 dowries to enable them to marry but obviously the funds came with the strings attached, and the religious feast soon acquired a very unholy connotations. <br /><br />The public was more fascinated with the carnal beauty of the girls than with what it was supposed to symbolize. To purify this enterprise the city officials decided to replace (during the processions) the contest’s winners with wooden figurines but the crowds were so dissed by the switch that vegetables and such were thrown at the statues. <br /><br />To end this ugly display of preference for the things of flesh above the sublime the festa was banned. <br /><br />Antonio da Negroponte’s Madonna sits in what seems to be a Closed Garden (the medieval symbol of chastity) but she is so beautiful and young, the fruit is so abundant and ripe that The Father (with the dove, The Holy Spirit) looking from the hole in the sky seems to be a bit disapproving of what he sees below.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com