Macchiaioli Traditional Cache
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The Macchiaioli Cache
Castiglioncello (Livorno) Italy -The “Macchiaioli” was a painters group active mainly in Tuscany in the years 1844-1870 and derivate their name from “macchia”, that means “blot”: a blots of colours, contrast of light and dark tones was their painting against the academy dictates, since a critic of the newspaper “La Gazzetta del Popolo” defined them depreciatively “Macchiaioli”. But “macchia” means also “bush”, the mediterranean bush. In fact the landscape of tuscan maritime coast was an important subject of their paintings. The term had also a negative meaning, in italian “darsi alla macchia – goin’ the bush” means “become bandits”. Their painting, not only on canvas, but also on poor matter as wooden boards, was misunderstood at the beginning, but they preceeded the Impressionist and only at the end of the XIX century their value was recognized.
Painters as Giovanni Fattori, Giuseppe Abbati, Telemaco Signorini, Giovanni Boldoni, Cristiano Banti, Odoardo Borrani, Adriano Cecioni, Raffaello Sernesi, Vito D'Ancona, Vicenzo Cabianca, Silvestro Lega, could signify their art thanks to their first fan: the critic Diego Martelli who had a summer house in Castiglioncello and gave them financial support and hospitality. Many of them were active in the “Risorgimento” the heroic movement to unite the italian peninsula in a state, some fighted with Garibaldi, Raffaello Sernesi died after a battle, Giuseppe Abbati lost a eye, many of the painters died moneyless.
From the high of the Medici Tower in Castiglioncello you can appreciate the landscape that inspired those heroic and unlucky artists (except the Solvay Chemical Plant!).
Great part of the paintings of Macchiaioli is in private collections, but in the the Giovanni Fattori Civic Museum - Villa Mimbelli - Via San Jacopo in Acquaviva 63, LIVORNO there is a significant part of the masterpieces of Macchiaioli.
The Tower was built between 1540 and 1570 by Cosimo II de’ Medicis with tasks of defence and surveillance. Along the coast there were a lot of towers, each one visible by other (the next is in Vada) for allow visual communications. Patrols of light cavalry connected the towers. The Tower is high 19 meters and presents a corner towards the sea to deviate cannon balls coming from the warships. It has been restored in 2002.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvp, puhepu.