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  • Calvino On Uccello

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    sathis_nsk
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    Paolo Uccello was known for populating his paintings with many birds, earning him the nickname "Uccello" which means "bird". However, in his most famous surviving works, the skies are empty of birds. The soldiers depicted have likely scared the birds away with their weapons and clashes. It is speculated that Uccello may have painted earlier scenes filled with birds that have since been lost, as well as later scenes where the birds counterattack and overwhelm the soldiers, transforming the battle into an avian assault where the lines between man and bird become blurred.

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    Paolo Uccello was known for populating his paintings with many birds, earning him the nickname "Uccello" which means "bird". However, in his most famous surviving works, the skies are empty of birds. The soldiers depicted have likely scared the birds away with their weapons and clashes. It is speculated that Uccello may have painted earlier scenes filled with birds that have since been lost, as well as later scenes where the birds counterattack and overwhelm the soldiers, transforming the battle into an avian assault where the lines between man and bird become blurred.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Descărcați ca PDF, TXT sau citiți online pe Scribd
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    178 vizualizări2 pagini

    Calvino On Uccello

    Încărcat de

    sathis_nsk
    Paolo Uccello was known for populating his paintings with many birds, earning him the nickname "Uccello" which means "bird". However, in his most famous surviving works, the skies are empty of birds. The soldiers depicted have likely scared the birds away with their weapons and clashes. It is speculated that Uccello may have painted earlier scenes filled with birds that have since been lost, as well as later scenes where the birds counterattack and overwhelm the soldiers, transforming the battle into an avian assault where the lines between man and bird become blurred.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Descărcați ca PDF, TXT sau citiți online pe Scribd
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    din 2

    ITALO CALVINO

    Paolo Uccello (c. 1397-1475): NiccoloMuruzi da Tolentino at the Ba ttle ofSan Romano,
    71'/'" XI "26". National Gallery, London.
    TheBirdsofPaolo Uccello
    We see in the paintings of Paolo Uccello. In aU his teeming world the skies
    are One looks up in hope, and sees no feathered creatures in flight or
    perched on branches of trees. Lowering one's eyes onto a tranquil landscape
    peopled discern, at the most, a pair of wading birds and three
    swans.
    What has become of the birds that according to Vasari once studded his can-
    vases, so much so as to earn him his nickname of Uccello? Who has scared them
    away? Most certainly it is the soldiers, who render the highways of the air impass-
    able with their spears, and with the clash of weaponry silence trillin!!:s and chir-
    rupings.
    Fled from the colored surfaces, the birds are hiding or fluttering invisibly out-
    side the borders of the paintings. They are waiting for the right moment to make a
    comeback and occupy the canvas. Following the Vasari tradition, Giovanni Pas-
    c.oli in a narrative poem and Marcel Schwob in one of his Vies imaginaires have
    depicted the aged painter surrounded by birds born ofhis brush. But what we our-
    selves can testify to is exactly the opposite. In Paolo's most famous surviving works
    what catches the attention is the absence of birds, an absence that lies heavy on the
    air, alarming, menacing and ominous.
    The mostfrequently depicted scenes of Paolo Uccello that are still to be seen to-
    day presuppose others, which he may have painted but which have since been lost:
    scenes that precede the above-a world aU trillings and peckings and beating
    I
    wings, taken by surprise and scattered to the winds by the invasion of the warriors-
    ~
    ItaloCalvino
    4
    andotherscenesthatfollow them:thecounteroffensiveofthebirds, whoswoop
    downinserriedflocksandperchonhelmets,shoulderplatesandelbowguards.
    Arecrowsandvulturesthereattheendofthebattle?Notatall. It hasalready
    beenobservedthatinallPaoloU ccello'sbattlescenesweseeonlyonedeadmanon
    theground;andevenhemightonlyhavefainted. Everymanon thefield isstill
    alivewhentheskydarkensandtheairistroubledbyagreatbeatingofwings.The
    horsesbecomerestive, utteringneighsofterror.
    Thebattlebetweenthetwoarmiesistransformedintoabattleagainstthebirds,
    theswordsraiseeddiesoffeathers,thelancesareshakentoridthemofgraspingtal-
    ons,whiletheblowsofbeaksraindownonshields.Toputahorseoutofactionis
    theworkofamoment:amagpiestealsitsglitteringstuddedblinkers, akestrelrips
    offitsgirth,ringdovesremovethesaddledoth.Soyoufindyourselfonfoot,witha
    crow's wings wedged twixt salletandchin strap, acapercailliepeckingoffyour
    throat-piece,ahoopoeperchedonyourcrest. Yourmouthfillsupwithjay'sfeath-
    ers,andbynowYOll nolongerknowhowmuchofyouisarmor,isman,isbird.
    Youhollerforhelp. Herecomesanotherwarrior, nomatterwhetherfriendor
    foe:weareallalliesnowagainstthebirds.Thewarriorliftshisvizorandoutpopthe
    beakandtworoundeyesofanowl.Youcastaroundforashieldtoprotectyourself
    andfindyourselfgraspingawingwithfeathersspread. Aswordisraisedtoprotect
    you-butno,itiswieldedbythetalonofabirdofprey,anddownitcrashesonyou.
    Pointedorfan-shapedtailssproutunderyourflanchards,yourgreavesencom-
    passslendershanks, whilebreastplatesputforth feathers and thetrumpetsemit
    shrillbirdcries,twitteringsandchirrupings.Therefollowsachain-reactionmeta-
    morphosisofmanintobirdandbirdintoman.Orrather,oncloserconsideration,
    andseeingthatmenhavealreadytransformedthemselvesintocrustaceansbydon-
    ningtheirarmor,it isbetweencrustaceansandbirdsthatthemetamorphosistakes
    place;anexchangeinwhichyoudonotknowwhere-andif-manstillexists.
    1985
    Translated from the Italian by Patrick Creagh
    ": .
    .&

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