Francesca Cirilli

CITTÀ DI G. OVVERO GIORGIONESCA (2019)

How can art history interact with our contemporary world? What would it be a better way of having art into life of common people?

The project was realized in the frame of Beauty artist residency for OMNE–Osservatorio Mobile Nord Est, curated by S. Rossl and M. Sordi, in Castelfranco Veneto.
It is part of Beauty publication, edited by Skinnerboox.

He appears to us more myth-like than human. The destiny of no poet on earth is comparable to his. All concerning his life is unknown; some even go so far as to deny his existence.
G. D'annunzio, The Flame (1907)

The most accurate reality about Giorgione is his unreality. The only certainty we have about him is that nothing about him is certain. In this sense, he belongs to that category of artists who verge on figures of heroes.

V. Lilli, Mito e laicismo di Giorgione, in L'opera completa di Giorgione. Rizzoli Art Classics. (1st ed. 1968)

He is a central figure in 16th century Venetian painting and art history in general, but the life and work of Giorgio da Castelfranco, better known as Giorgione, are shrouded in mystery. While research into his life and the attribution of many works to him is still in progress, there is no doubt that Giorgione actually existed and in some way or another he still does today.

In Castelfranco, he exists in depictions, places and in a name. He has become an identity symbol, an historical and literary myth (and as such bears the burden of meanings that are attributed to him far from historical facts and sometimes incorrectly), and a hallmark. The figure of the artist and his works have spilled out from the art world to the realm of local history, the creation of a citizen identity and local marketing.
By reading them through the filter of his poetics, his production, and certain pieces of his work, this series examines the way in which the figure of Giorgione and his work are being transformed into a topical subject and absorbed into public imagination and the city of today.

Cartiera Giorgione (Giorgione Paper Mill)

Castelfranco Veneto, historic city centre

"Giorgione" tramezzino sandwich, Bistrò San Giustino, Castelfranco Veneto.

Reproduction of Castelfranco altarpiece by Giorgione in Silver Caffé, Castelfranco Veneto.

Castelfranco Veneto, a derelict area.
The Giorgione sculpture has become a symbol of the city of Castelfranco and has been reproduced in many different ways. Apart from being used in the promotion of the local area and in official communication, it is also used repeatedly as a stylized image by many business (e.g. on the signs and logos of a driving school, a butcher's shop, a pizzeria, a ski club, on restaurant menus, and so on).

Historical postcards and photographs of Castelfranco with the Giorgione monument at the foot of the city walls. The statue was raised in 1878, to celebrate the fourth centenary of the painter's birth. During the Risorgimento (Italy's reunification) period, the Giorgione figure became a "genius loci", an example of the new, self-made man thanks only to his own intelligence and will. The rhetoric accompanying the inauguration ceremony echoed the self-help ethic "that was spreas among the working classes in those years by virtue of a rich reading aimed at persuating workers that the only means for social climbing was the commitment to work, according to the slogan "where there'a will there's a way". (L. Urettini, Storia di Castelfranco). To date, virtually every study concurs in the fact that, despite being an illegitimate son, Giorgione had his origins in a wealthy, educated family.

The skate park at the Giorgione shopping centre.

Giorgione Musical High School.

A old lady's hand holding a burse.
After Giorgione's "La Vecchia".

Breakfast at the Bar Giorgione.

Portrait of a youngster. A volleyball player playing for Giorgione Volleyball.

Detail of a reproduction of Castelfranco altarpiece: St. Nicasio, supposed autoportrait of the author.

Painting class at "Carlo Rosselli" Art School, Castelfranco Veneto.

Portrait of a youngster. A volleyball player playing for Giorgione Volleyball.

A flyer from Castelfranco Week local newspaper, October 2018.

From the library at "Carlo Rosselli" Art School, Castelfranco Veneto.

Detail from a reproduction of the Liberal and Mechanical Arts frieze (western wall, not attributed to Giorgione), in a window of the Bar Giorgione, Piazza Giorgione, Castelfranco Veneto.

Detail from a reproduction of the monochrome Liberal and Mechanical Arts frieze in the main hall of the Casa Pellizzari, today the Casa Giorgione Museum. Apart from being a celebration of humanistic culture through science, the western wall, the only one that can be attributed to Giorgione, turns into a frightening forecast for the artist's contemporaries. Influenced by the astronomic/astrological theories of the time, it depicts the conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in 1503-1504 and the disruption of the cosmic order this brought about. Consequently, it bears witness to the spirit of the society of that time but more so its fears. In the fourth section of this frieze are two tablets placed side by side. The first reads "If you wish to be wise turn your gaze to things of the future". The second is empty: in the present, bearing the marks of celestial rage, there could be no place for hope or consolation.