Magic Ingredients that make a Book - Mindful Hands at Cini Foundation |
(Venice, Italy) As an author, I am in awe of the written word. The mysterious way words pour out of one's mind and onto the page is, to me, a little miracle, originating from somewhere above. And then to have those words bound together to create a tangible book is like giving birth to an entire world. Contained between the covers of a book is a universe of possibilities.
Just as astonishing is the ability of human beings to read. The transformative act of reading books is like projecting private movies inside our minds, each one of us adding our own unique elements. We use our powerful imaginations to lift the words off the page and formulate new ideas, create characters and pull concepts out of the shadows. A book is a window into the cosmos.
Chanel - Ritz in Paris, 1937 - Photo: Jean Moral/Brigitte Moral |
The Woman Who Reads
Fashion icon Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (August 19, 1883 - January 10, 1971) was a voracious reader. The Woman Who Reads exhibition from Culture Chanel has whisked elements from her library in Paris here to the Ca' Pesaro palazzo, Venice's museum for modern art.
The Woman Who Reads - Chanel |
Chanel created many myths and legends about her past, so the details are foggy -- except for the details of her birth, which were recorded, so we do know that she was a Leo with a Capricorn ascendant and a Pisces moon. If you want more juicy details about how a poor orphan morphed into a wealthy fashion icon, here is an excerpt from "The Secret Life of Coco Chanel" by Justine Picardie, published by The Telegraph back in 2010.
The Woman Who Reads - Chanel |
"In her apartment at 31 rue Cambon, the book shelves square up to the Coromandel lacquer panels. The comforting presence of the writings would accompany her and inspire the construction of her own pieces.
The Woman Who Reads - Chanel
From the solitude of her years in the orphanage of Aubazine until the end of her life, books and their authors guided Gabrielle Chanel’s path. They nourished her imagination and responded to her mystical quest for the invisible, and showed her how, over time, her own view of the world might be set in place.
This dialogue through the ages, from antiquity to her contemporaries, is underlined in particular by the works of Homer, Plato, Virgil, Sophocles, Lucretius, Dante, Montaigne, Cervantes, Madame de Sévigné, Stéphane Mallarmé, and resonates with the writers she knew and admired like Pierre Reverdy, Max Jacob and Jean Cocteau. This diversity allowed her to find in her own vocabulary - that of fashion - a modernity that defied its own temporality and projected itself far beyond it.
In Venice, one of Gabrielle Chanel’s main sources of inspiration, the public will discover these works for the very first time."
The Woman Who Reads - Chanel |
Chanel carried a handwritten note inside her wallet, an excerpt from "The Sentimental Initiation” by Joséphin Péladan:
The life we lead always amounts to so little, the life we dream of, that's the great existence because it will continue beyond death.The Woman Who Reads (La Donna Che Legge) will run through January 8, 2017. You will be lost without the catalog, so bring your reading glasses for the tiny script, and definitely get the headset (included in the ticket price).
Mindful Hands - Cini Foundation |
Mindful Hands. Masterpieces of Illumination from the Fondazione Giorgio Cini
Meanwhile, over at the Giorgio Cini Foundation on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, there is another amazing book-related exhibition going on, Mindful Hands. Masterpieces of Illumination from the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
During the Mediaeval and Renaissance times, illuminated manuscripts were handwritten, hand-painted, and hand-bound, using a potpourri of natural ingredients. Silver and gold, peacock feathers, eggs, and precious stones like lapis lazuli were some of the components of the magical concoctions. Initials, borders and miniature illustrations supplemented religious text; as time went on secular topics were also illuminated. There was some serious alchemy going on.
The letter "C" - Mindful Hands |
The exhibition is deliberately staged to appeal to the general public, which is not that easy to do when displaying pages cut out of books. But the layout is fascinating, and it is so beautifully lit that it is like stepping into a Wonderland. I literally gasped when I entered the central room with its twinkling lights illuminating the illumination.
"Q" on loan from the Benedictines |
Upstairs is equally amazing. There is a riveting video, Cuttings, that documents the production of a parchment sheet, down to the lamb; how the pigments and colors are made from an assortment of precious stones and other elements; and how the whole thing is bound together.
Facsimile Book of Hours - Mindful Hands - Cini Foundation |
Original Book of Hours |
Ciao from Venezia,
#VeniceBooks
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog
As an author, I am in awe of the written word. The mysterious way words pour out of one's mind and onto the page is, to me, a little miracle, originating from somewhere above. And then to have those words bound together to create a tangible book is like giving birth to an entire world. Contained between the covers of a book is a universe of possibilities.
ReplyDelete!!!!!!!!!!! What a wonderful post! I wish I was there to see it.I am hoping to be in Venice in Feb and will try to meet with you for a drink.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed it, Theresa! I don't know about you, but if I am only consuming digital information it gives me a headache. I love books; I have always loved books, and think that after so many thousands of years, the gatekeepers of knowledge will always be around.
ReplyDeleteIf you do manage to land in Venice, I'm always around:-)