English translation: detachment of masses/volumes from muscles and skeleton
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15:05 Oct 20, 2011
Italian to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting / painting
Italian term or phrase:alla licenza delle masse
Does this mean something along the lines of 'free rendering' - a kind of artistic licence in rendering the elements described. All comments welcome!
Context: essay on the works of Giacomo Manzoni - sculpture and paintings. The phrase in question appears in the final sentence:assieme alla licenza delle masse da muscoli e ossatura e al gioco di sproporzioni, asimmetrie e sbilanciamenti
Paragraph:
Rispetto al proprio referente, inoltre, Manzù si manteneva fedele al dettaglio scultoreo. Particolari come gli occhi, i capelli, la pelle animale della veste e le unghie delle mani erano stati realizzati incidendo la superficie in terracotta come fosse un disegno, con un fine descrittivo e narrativo, noncurante di potenziare la geometria ideale della scultura né di sublimarne lo statuto materico. Tutti elementi, questi, che assieme alla licenza delle masse da muscoli e ossatura e al gioco di sproporzioni, asimmetrie e sbilanciamenti, tradiscono un debito consumatosi nel raggio della scultura coeva e più precisamente nel cono d’ombra di Arturo Martini.
To me, 'licenza' needs to be read as 'freedom', i.e. the creativity is freed from the constraints imposed by volumes (the 'massa') of bodies as such, made of bones and muscles. Something that A. Martini did in his work.
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Answers
2 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
detachment of masses/volumes from muscles and skeleton
Explanation: "licenza" is = freedom, here evidently indicating indipendence (as instead it would be natural) from body structure
Pompeo Lattanzi Italy Local time: 01:52 Works in field Native speaker of: Italian PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thanks for your suggestion and thanks too to Barbara, Lofthouse, and Luskie for their comments.
Explanation: "his license with muscle and bone masses"
"license" is freedom just as in "artistic license" so I can see no reason to use any other term for it.
Similarly "massa" is "mass" and art of sculpture is the art of where to put the space and where to put the mass:
Art Elements: Space www.studiocodex.com/space01.html
“Closed composition” refers to a sculpture that is seen as a solid overall form—when the mass has little or no penetration by space or “volume.” In an “open ...
Lesson Two: Mass and Space - Arizona State University
mati.eas.asu.edu/ChicanArte/unit2/lesson2.html
Students view a variety of sculptures analyzing how space and mass interact in each ... 2. explain how a sculptor's use of mass and space can express meaning. ...
The Aesthetics of Space in Architecture, Sculpture, and City Planning www.jstor.org/stable/426254
by P Zucker - 1945 - Cited by 5 - Related articles
Architecture: Shaped space and formed masses, giving rise to inextricably fused spatial and plastic sensations. 2. Sculpture: Formed masses and spaces ...
going to move to Seychelles soon, but unfortunately I'll have to take my laptop with me;-)
James (Jim) Davis Italy Local time: 01:52 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 145
Notes to answerer
Asker: Having thought about it, I think you are right. Unfortunately I selected the other answer by mistake, which although valid, didn't fit the sentence so well. Sorry. Don't know how I can undo this.
Asker: .....you could retire to the Bahamas with your laptop. Now wouldn't that be grand! ;-)
The translation workplace 
