Cimitero Staglieno: Monument Calcagno

Dear readers,

this post is a bit on the educational side since i'd like to show you one of the more famous tombs at the Staglieno Cemetery in Genoa. Calgacagno's Monument was made by the famous Adolfo Apolloni and it is a very fine piece of art. I happen to own a book that was printed around 1910 and i'd like to share with you what it says about it:

"This most valued bronze masterpiece by the sculptor Apollonio, dedicated to the Calcagno family is to be seen at the Pontasso above the monumental Arcades. The statue lying on the steps, deposing a last flower on the grave, is the personification of Sorrow."

(I left the mistakes in the text since it is a quote... However it's not bad english compared to the german translations in the book. They are plain hilarious.....)

Interestingly the artist was the major of Rome (from June 1919 to November 1920). But before that he lived in the U.S. and he did a famous grave there, too.

The Bones Chapel in Faro, Portugal

This post is again not about a cemetery. It is about a church in Faro, Portugal, or, to be more precise it's about the bone chapel i've visited there about 4 years ago.

The chapel wallls are covered with the bones and skulls of thousands. And it is a bit unclear where they took them from. Someone told me  that they are victims of the black plague and they couldn't find a decent place to bury them. Sadly though, i wasn't able to confirm this and so -at least for me- it remains a mystery.

Still, it's a creepy location but thanks to the authorities there you can't get there unnoticed anymore so the looting of bones has stopped. There was a time when it was unguarded and some sickos really had nothing better to do as to vandalize it and to nick the bones they could get hold of.

Here are the pictures:

The Church from outside.

One of the walls. The Chapel can be reached thrugh the church itself. It's outside in a courtyard.

Detail

The skulls are slowly disentegrating... makes them even more sinister..

Heavy Metal Standard Cover Art

Escorted to Heaven: The dead and the angels...

This Post is all about the belief that you're not going alone to heaven.

I've seen some fine examples at the Staglieno in Genoa and here's a seletion of the finest ones.

The first two photographs show one of my absolute favourite sculpture. It's the Monument Rocco Piaggo by Sculptur Fabiani. The level of detailling is absolutely astonishing: Just note the draping...

Odd and slightly scary: Cimitero Monumentale Milano

This is another post that isn't about beauty but strangeness. At the Cimitero Monumentale in Milano were not only beautiful sculptures and not everything was about grieving and mourning.

These examples here left me gaping and quite speechless since i didn't (and still don't) work out what they exactly mean. And they left me astonished because they are -even if they appear to be ugly, scary or even downright mental- fine pieces of art. At least in my view.

Two famished blokes.

This piece of modern art appears to be leathal if accidently bumped in. However it's a bit bonkers to have it on your grave, isn't it?

The last example however is the oddest of them all. As far as i understand it' the grave of an aircraft pilot. But that still doesn't explain the Medusa. 

Bad Picture. I've cut off the foot. Again.

This one's slightly better. At least the foot is complete.

Here's a wideshot of that incredible grave. 

Detail of the Medusa. This is genuinely scary.

Veiled Beauties

To celebrate the beginning of Spring i'd like to treat you with some pictures i've made over the last years. They have one theme in common: Veiled faces.

These sculptures are quite rare but they are often very beautiful and stunning pieces of art. They were however quite popular in France and Italy in the mid-19th century and the artists regarded it as a challenge to do it as realistic as possible.

But see for yourself:

Cemetery Prazeres, Lisboa, 2009. 

Cimitero Monumentale, Milano, 2010

Cimitero Staglieno, Genoa, 2010. Note also the world in her right hand and the snake in her left. 

Cimitero Staglieno, Genoa, 2010. Detail of the sculpture above. 

Cimitero Monumentale, Milano, 2010. Not excactly a beauty but at least veiled. It is a tiny miniature (about  2-3 inches tall) and it was sheer luck to spot her.

Cimitero Staglieno, Genoa, 2010. One of my favourites at Staglieno. And again my headline is a bit misleading here. The beauty on the picture isn't veiled. And the veiled bloke isn't that handsome. Still, at least veiled and beauty fits. In a way.

One last sentence to my introduction. After proofreading this entry i've found nothing even remotely about spring. Nothing whatsoever. Sorry.

Jesus-Special in Brugge

My -presumably- last post for April is all about Jesus. This fits because easter is still in my mind. And easter is all about Jesus, isn't it?

It even fits better because i've revisited the Cemetery in Brugge again. As i mentioned before the last time i was there more than two years ago. It was January and obviously it was quite cold, grey and gloomy.

This year however it was unbelievably sunny and warm; spring was all about and though it was a cemetery it was literally buzzing with life.

This time we strolled around much more intense (we were geocaching there as well) and after 10 minutes on the Cemetery it was plain to see that this Cemetery has a main focus on Jesus. Enough of the words, here are the Pictures:

More or less "standard Jesus on the cross". There were plenty of them....

A detail of an odd iron cross rusting away slowly. There are hundreds of them there.

Bronze. Face. Even with tears.

This Jesus is unique. And it gives me the reason to tag "Angels" as wel...

Many Jesus-Miniatures are just laying on the stone Grave Lid and when they are made out of concrete they decay in a very gloomy way.

This is an example of a porcelain-Jesus. They don't decay, but they are obviously not indistructable. I seriously wonder who did this and what he felt when he did this. 

Another fine example. 

This was actually taken 1 day before good friday, so it was a fairly good timing.

Another example of mass production? 

Another porcelain miniature.

The last Jesus for today. 

Brugge Cemetery 2011

I just came back from Belgium and i'd like to share 2 pictures with you:

Brugge Cemetery, spring 2011

Brugge Cemetery, Spring 2011

We had incredible luck regarding the weather this year, so the light and the shadows were absolutely phantastic. And (at least in my opinion) my ability as a photographer improved significantly if you compare it with the pictures i've made 2 years ago on the same cemetery.

Happy easter to all of you!