Читать книгу The Museo Vincenzo Vela in Ligornetto - Marc-Joachim Wasmer - Страница 9

1856 saw the solemn inauguration of the Monument commemorating Cesare Balbo, the first ever executed for a citizen of Turin. The statesman of noble birth is portrayed seated, in a pose that is not at all aristocratic: Vela has ‘fixed‘ the moment photographically, precisely at a time when photography was becoming an established medium, capturing the sitter in a typical position. Not only was this the first of an important group of works, it also gave rise to an actual cult of monuments, which began in France (where it was known as statuomanie) and spread to the whole of Europe in the name of democratization. Squares and public spaces were no longer to be embellished solely with statues honouring princes and saints, but also with those dedicated to the contemporary heroes striving for Italian unification. Politicians and generals, but also philosophers, scientists and benefactors, physicians, industrialists, teachers, artists, poets and adventurers were immortalized in marble and placed on a pedestal as models of modern society. By establishing a dialogue with the new commissioners – mainly committees for monuments that had sprung up, which administered a fund created through subscriptions – Vela and his statues actively and symbolically illustrated the idea of a liberal, middle-class national state, which was still a vague, abstract notion for many.

Vincenzo Vela, Spartacus, 1847–1849, plaster original.

Vincenzo Vela, Portrait of Giovanni d’Adda, 1859, plaster original.

Vincenzo Vela, Portrait of Ballerina Amina Boschetti of Milan, c. 1853, plaster original.

Works by the master were soon followed by those of his pupils and his competitors. In the second half of the century, as many as fifty monuments were erected in Turin alone. It was a unique period, a golden era for sculptors, during which art and politics entered into strict symbiosis. This is exemplified by Vela’s Flag-Bearer (1857–1859, I, ill. p. 11, plinth relief see ill. p. 48) located in Piazza Castello, opposite Palazzo Madama, which actually functions as a manifesto. Donated by Milanese exiles to express their thanks to the Sardinian army for their assistance in 1848 during the first campaign against Austria, in 1859 the newly-inaugurated monument spurred the army that was once again marching against the enemy to unite Italy. Meanwhile, in Lombardy, the adversaries swore that the Flag-Bearer would be the first statue to be knocked off its pedestal when they entered the Piedmont capital.