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Boccaccio’ s Women

One hundred paintings inspired by the Tales of Boccaccio by Jenny McIntosh, Scottish transplant to Bagni di Lucca, are on exhibit in Lucca at Corte dell’Angelo, via Roma this week beginning on November 5th (see What’s On). Her discov- ery of Boccaccio is a tale within a tale in- volving Franklin Samuel Stych, “Sam” as he is known to all. Humanist scholar and bib- liographer, Sam Stych has been researching Boccaccio for 30 years, and continued even after moving to Bagni di Lucca in 1977.

Sam’s mind is remarkably sharp despite his age. When we visited him (and Alessio his cat) a few weeks ago he directed Jenny and me to several books from his shelves: his bibliographical work on Boccaccio pub- lished by Greenwood Press, the monograph he authored for the Pinocchio Foundation entitled Pinocchio in England, and his 430-page Ph.D. dissertation for the University of Sheffield on Lucchese novelle by Nicolao Grannucci (1521-1603).

Jenny’s weekly visits to 95-year-old Sam have been an occasion to share a glass of wine while talking about literature, history and life. She learned that the Decameron, a collection of 100 novellas written be- tween 1349 and 1351 – shortly after the plague had decimated Florence and driven many people to country retreats – was sur- prisingly complex in its approach to women. As she read the tales and talked with Sam, she found herself painting her way into the psyches of women like Griselda, Alibech, Madonna Agnesa, Monna Sismonda, Belcolore, and also of the seven women narrators who spent their time swapping tales with their three male companions before returning to their tra- ditional life and roles in Florence.

The countryside, then as now, offers an es- cape from ordained behavior into a bucolic and sometimes barnyard world where codi- fied rules are loosened and natural expres- sion is enhanced. Many of the women in the tales trick and cuckold their husbands. But the Decameron ends with a twist, Boccaccio’s famous story of the “patient Griselda”, a young wife taught to “tow the line” by her older husband Gualtieri, a law- yer. Dioneo, the narrator of this tale, warns his companions, and by extension we the readers, that his tale is descriptive and by no means a prescription for good behavior. Indeed, Gualtieri is not only a misogynist, he is even sadistic in enforcing his moral les- sons of obedience and patience on his wife. Savonarola and the Inquisition, although 150 years in the future, might even come to mind! We are reminded that the young peo- ple are about to return to Florence, their idyll coming to an end.

Sam’s life offers a remote parallel to the Decameron. He and a group of friends working in Florence (headed up by Ian Greenlees, then head of the British Institute) began coming to Bagni di Lucca on weekends, enjoying conversations, wine and a retreat from urbanity. Sam still lives in Via del Bagno, next door to the house of Montaigne – whose plaque reads: “In the summer of 1581, Michel de Montaigne lived in this house for 74 days, and wrote about it in his Journal du voyage”. The Fondazione Michel de Montaigne, estab- lished in 2007, continues to promote cul- tural initiatives in Bagni di Lucca.

Boccaccio’s Decameron, presenting women as they might have lived in medi- eval Tuscany, is no manifesto. Jenny’s clear-eyed, vibrant women gazing thoughtfully from their portraits may also reflect other women known to Boccaccio. Having completed the Decameron, he went on to write De claris mulieribus (On Famous Women), about 106 women from Eve to Giovanna I Queen of Naples. If you want to understand women, these two very different books might be a good read. For those who find Italian, or especially Latin, heavy going (and don’t we all?), De claris mulieribus is now, finally, available in English from Italica Press (translation by Guido A. Guarino, 2011).

Italian style

Help save the Church of Santa Caterina in LUCCA – Italian style
There is still time to record your vote to help save and restore one of Lucca’s most beautiful churches. FAI (the Fondo Ambiente Italiano) is a not-forprofit organisation modelled one the UK’s National Trust. It exists to raise funds to support the restoration and care of Italy’s national heritage, whether it be buildings or areas of natural interest, and to raise awareness and improve access to these sites for the benefit of all.
Every other year, it conducts a major survey among Italian residents of the places they would most like to see restored and preserved for future generations.

This project is called I Luoghi del Cuore (places of heart) and FAI uses its results to raise awareness of deserving projects with local and national organisations, and to lobby for their restoration, with the financial support of the bank.
This year, high on the list of potential restoration projects is the Chiesa di Santa Caterina in Lucca, The church sits at the angle of Via del Crocifisso and Via Vittorio Emanuele II, opposite the former cigar factory, the Manifattura Tabacchi, itself scheduled for development by the Comune di Lucca. The unusually ovalshaped church, which dates from the mid 18th century, is regarded as one of the finest surviving examples of the high baroque style.

Yet for over 20 years it has been closed, and is now in need of considerable repair. FAI was instrumental in having it opened briefly in May so that luchesi could get a glimpse of its extraordinary interior. If you are registered resident in Italy, and wiuld like to record your support for this architectural gem, here’s what you do. The process is slightly laborious, but only to deter dirty tricks, as this one prize worth winning.

. Go to the project website: www.iluoghidelcuore.it
. Hit the button Segnala il tuo luogo del cuore
. In the pop up screen enter your provincia and Comune, and select Chiesa di Santa Caterina from the choices offered to you (yes there are other deserving projects in Lucca, but the Church of Santa Caterina currently has the best chance of wining funds)
. Add additional comments or photographs if you wish but thi is optional.
. Complete the security test ( a simple addition of numbers)
. Finally press the Completa la segnalazione button, which takes you to the registration page, where you will need to enter your name, address, e-mail address etc.
. You will then receive confirmation that an e-mail has ben sent to you from I luoghi del cuore
. Open the e-mail and hit the Attiva button to confirm your vote (satisfyingly, you will then see the total number of votes cast for your choice increase by one on the I Luoghi del cuore website).
It costs nothing, so please do your bit. Final results will be announced by FAI after voting closes on 30 September.

Exceptionally, the church will be open from 5pm to 8 pm each Saturday and Sunday during the month of September. FAI petitions can be signed at the church while visiting.

Exhibitions in Lucca

Immagini del suono (images of Sound)
A series of visual experience to accompany the Summer Festival pop concets. All shows are free.

VILLA BOTTINI
Immagini che suonano bene (great sounding images). Upstairs: photos, paintings, drawings, rock’n roll portraits, installations by Lou Reed, David Byrne, Patti Smith, Anton Corbijn etc.
Downstairs: videos.
Reckless Road Marc Canter’s photos of Guns N’Roses.
Open tuesday to sunday 10.00-13.00 and 16.00-19.00 till 29 August.

MUSEO VILLA GUINIGI (the Casermetta)
Via della Quarquonia, 4 tel. 0583 496033.
Love me Fender
Photos, drawings, memorabilia dedicated to Fender guitar. Open tuesday to sunday 10.00-13.00 and 16.00-19.00, till 29 August

GALLERIA 38 Via del Battistero
Wonderful Tonight photographic exhibition.
Shots of the Beatles in India, Jeff Beck, Rolling Stones etc. taken by Pattie Boyd. Open monday to saturday 10.00-13.00 and 16.00 to 19.30, till 29 August.

PALAZZO GUINIGI
Divas: fro the Dolce Vita to the latest scoop photos from a lifetime’s work by Rino Barillari the King of Paparazzi. Open monday to thursday 10.00-13.00 and 17.00-20.00; same hours and also 21.00-23.00 on friday, saturday, sunday. Till 22 August.

Lu.C.C.A Lucca center of Contemporary Art, Via della Fratta 36.
Steve Mc Curry and Pieatro Gilardi Time after Time. Giuliano Ghelli Le vie del tempo. Otto minuti al sole, un minuto dalla luna. Videoart. Closed mondays. Till 5 September.

VIAREGGIO
Centro Matteucci per l’Arte Moderna
Da Fattori a Casorati. Capolavori dalla collezione Ojetti. Experts have meticulously re-assembled the 19th and 20th century Italian masterpiece collection dispersed when the Florentine home of the writer and art critic Ugo Ojetti was turned into a Hotel. Tuesday – saturday 15.30-19.30 Sunday 14.30-20.00 Closed Mondays. Till 12 September.

Tuscan books

Australian author Lisa Clifford’s Death in the Mountains is a true story about the murder of a peasant farmer in the mountains of Casentino in north eastern Tuscany. The murder took place in the winter of 1907, it happened to the great-grandfather of Lisa’s Italian husband and it was never solved – until now.
Detailing the crime, Death in the Mountains also looks at what life was like a hundred years ago. The story paints a very real picture of the struggles, the poverty and the mezzadria farming system that engulfed seventy percent of the Tuscan farming community. Back then, families had to give half of everything they produced to the land’s owners.

The other half was barely enough food for survival. Only one or two generations ago, peasants lived in grinding poverty.
Clifford describes the stark living conditions, snow blowing through roof tiles into bedrooms, the backbreaking nature of the daily work, the lottery of good or bad weather for crop and ultimately family survival. Only one or two generations ago, peasants lived in grinding poverty.
Clifford describes the stark living conditions, snow blowing through roof tiles into bedrooms, the back breaking nature of the daily work, the lottery of good or bad weather for crop and ultimately family survival. The reader feels the cold, the damp and grimness of everyday existence, but also the determination and spirit of that generation.
The quest to solve this murder opens Lisa’s eyes and ultimately our eyes to how people thought back then. A murder was something to be ashmed of not for the murder but for the family of the person murdered. There is much insight into the culture, superstitions, religion and taboos of the times.

After three years of research Lisa solves the murder. She discovers a cousin who holds the key to the mistery and reveals the killer and why it happened. he gives his permission to write the book on the proviso that all the names be changed.
About writing the book, Clifford says, “In an emotional sense, writing Death in the Mountains gave more than I had bargained for. The killing of Grandpa Artemio was a big event in the family village… When I talked to the old people, cousins, and the ederly farmer folk who still live nearby, they recalled with great clarity what their past relatives had said about the famous murder of Artemio Bruni.
In 1907, almost everyone who worked the land was illiterate, so there was a lot of gossip, but no letters or journals to refer to. It was only by talking with people that I could figure out what happened in the onths leading up the murder”.

Death in the Mountains (2009) is published by Pan Macmillin Australia.
It’s available in Florence at the Paperback Exchange for 15,00 euro – www.papex.it, on www.amazon.com

Tuscan traditions

Tuscan traditions

An example of local history: history of Lucca economy.
At hte end of the middle ages, and at the beginning of modern era, the Lucca economy was founded in large measure on the production and trade in silk cloth, business in which Lucca had long been one of the most important centres in western Europe.
Around the provincial capital, the mostly flat stretch of land which broadned to form to so called “Six Miles” was among the most fertile and intensively cultivated areas in Tuscany, with wide grain fields bordered by rows of grapevines and occasionally interspersed with jasmine, olives and fruit trees.

Also the hilly areas and, above all the lower slopes of the Pizzorne mountains were characterised by vines and olive trees, to which began to be added chestnut trees which became more established and largely dominant in the steeper areas-such as the Garfagnana, where the difficult environmental conditions limited cereal crop production, and it was the chestnut woods (along with sheep and pigs) which became the mainstay of local food production.
The economy based on woodland and fields fed a modest local craft industry and, in the larger towns of the Serchio Valley, metal working was also practised.

The only relevant transformations to this structure occurred between the 19th and 20th centuries with the set up of the spun cotton industry in Lucca, Bagni di Lucca, Massarosa, Gallicano (sewing thread for domestic and industrial use and knitwear), and with the creation of a tobacco industry in Lucca.
The industrialisation process is continuos, broadening its territorial base in the first half of 20th century, to the point where already in 1951 the secondary sector became the most noticeable in the province with installations (apart from those in Lucca) in the municipalities of Massarosa, Altopascio, Capannori, Seravezza, Villa Basilica, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Barga and Porcari.