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German to English: Trompe L'Oeil General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Source text - German Warum Italien?
Italien ist ein zentrales Thema der Illusionsmalerei – vielleicht sogar das wichtigste.
Jeder, der sich mit Italien, seiner Kulturgeschichte, seiner Natur und Lebensart beschäftigt, erhält unerschöpflich viele Anregungen, doch speziell für Illusionsmaler gibt es geradezu zwingende Gründe, sich mit italienischen Motiven zu beschäftigen:
Brennpunkt der Kulturgeschichte Europas
Italien nimmt in der Kulturgeschichte Europas eine herausragende Stellung ein. Seine Entwicklung über die Jahrtausende hinweg spiegelt sich nicht nur in den Baudenkmälern aus der Zeit der Etrusker und des antiken Griechenlands. Ab dem ausgehenden Mittelalter waren Städte wie Florenz, Venedig, Siena, Neapel und Rom maßgebliche Zentren der europäischen Kunst. Die Renaissance entwickelte sich im 15. Jahrhundert im Umkreis von Florentiner Künstlern und Gelehrten. Viele bedeutende Künstler Europas reisten seither nach Italien, um sich fortzubilden und inspirieren zu lassen. Architektur und Bildhauerei, Dichtung und Musik, Theater, Oper und natürlich die (Wand-)Malerei – wer sich heute mit diesen Künsten beschäftigt, wird immer wieder auf Italien verwiesen. Die Auseinandersetzung mit Italien vor dem Hintergrund seiner Kulturgeschichte ist ein großes Thema, hier ist nicht der Ort, sie zu führen. Dennoch: Dieser unermessliche kulturelle Reichtum ist als Hintergrund immer anwesend, wenn man italienische Motive malerisch umsetzt.
Das Land der Sehnsucht
Italien ist von jeher ein Land der Sehnsucht, ein Land der Träume – und mit Träumen und Sehnsüchten hat es Illusionsmalerei oft zu tun. Ein italienisches, "mediterranes" Ambiente eignet sich häufig dazu, auch vagen, unbestimmten Sehnsüchten eines Betrachters Form zu geben, sie zu fokussieren. Ob die malerische Toskana mit ihren Landhäusern, Zypressenalleen und Olivenhainen, ob Venedig mit seinen märchenhaften Palästen, Kanälen und Gondolieri, ob Amalfiküste, Tempelruinen oder Lago Maggiore … – in Italien ist es immer etwas schöner, verwunschener, romantischer, idealer als anderswo.
Auch der in der griechischen Mythologie zum Ort des "Goldenen Zeitalters" verklärte Landstrich Arkadien im zentralen Peloponnes wurde von lateinischen Autoren zuweilen nach Sizilien verlegt – ein Zeichen dafür, dass die ideale Landschaft, in der glückliche Hirten in unbeschwerter Harmonie mit der Natur und sich selbst leben, genauso gut in Italien wie in Griechenland vermutet werden kann.
Goethe schreibt 1792 rückblickend: "Das Ziel meiner innigsten Sehnsucht, deren Qual mein ganzes Inneres erfüllte, war Italien, dessen Bild und Gleichnis mir viele Jahre vergebens vorschwebte, bis ich endlich durch kühnen Entschluß die wirkliche Gegenwart zu fassen mich erdreistete." (Kampagne in Frankreich 1792, Zwischenrede, in: Artemis Gedenkausgabe der Werke, Briefe und Gespräche, Zürich, Stuttgart, 1948 ff, Band 12, Seite 367
In "Wilhelm Meisters Theatralische Sendung" finden sich in Mignons Lied die bekannten sehnsuchtsvollen Zeilen:
Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn,
Im dunkeln Laub die Gold-Orangen glühn,
Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht,
Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht?
Kennst du es wohl?
Dahin! Dahin
Möcht' ich mit dir, o mein Geliebter, zieh’n.
Translation - English Why ItalY?
Italy is of major importance in Europe’s cultural history. Its development over the millennia is reflected in its monuments dating back to Etruscan times and ancient Greece. From the end of the Middle-Ages, cities like Florence, Venice, Siena, Naples and Rome have been leading centers of European art. In the 15th Century, Florentine artists and scholars brought us the Renaissance. Since then many important European artists have traveled to Italy for education and inspiration. If we study architecture, sculpture, poetry, music, theater, opera and (mural) painting today, we have to refer to Italy. Although an examination of Italy’s cultural history is an important matter, this is not the place to engage in it. Nevertheless, Italy’s immense cultural heritage is always present in the background whenever we transfer Italian motifs to painting.
Italy has always been the country of longing, the country of dreams. Trompe l’oeil paintings often express these longings and dreams. An Italian Mediterranean ambiance lends itself to shape and direct the vague shapeless yearnings of its viewer. Tuscany’s picturesque cottages, its cypress lined roads and olive groves, Venice with its fairy-tale palaces, canals and gondoliers, the Amalfi coast, the temple ruins of the Lago Maggiore - Italy is always more beautiful, enchanting, romantic, and more ideal than other places. At times, Latin writers have moved Arcadia in the Central Peloponnesus, glorified as belonging to the “Golden Age,” to Sicily. This indicates that the ideal landscape, the happy shepherds untroubled and in harmony with nature and themselves, could have lived just as well in Italy as in Greece.
In 1792, Goethe, looking back, wrote:
The goal of my innermost yearning, the pain it caused to my entire being, was Italy. I envisioned its likeness and parable in vain for many years until I made a bold decision and dared to seize its real presence. (Campaign in France 1792 in: Artemis Gedenkausgabe der Werke, Zürich, Stuttgart, 1948ff., page 367)
In “Wilhelm Meister’s Theatrical Mission” Mignon’s song expresses words full of longing:
Do you know the land where the lemon-trees bloom,
The golden oranges glow amidst dark leafage,
A gentle wind blows from the blue sky,
The myrtle stands calm, and the laurel tall,
Do you know it, indeed? There! There
I would like to go with you, O my beloved.
Italy: Beloved All Over the World
Since the Mid-18th Century, wealthy Europeans and among them mostly English nobility, have been drawn to the legendary land of vast art treasures and famous ruins. The archeological excavation sites in Pompeii and Herculaneum were tourist attractions in their own time. The ancient murals and cultural artifacts influenced the style of European classicism. To furnish one’s home in the Herculaneum style was once a new design craze.
Today many people think of Italy as a place where nature and culture converge.
6 Not only the landscape is enticing – all of Italy is an open air museum of monuments. The Pantheon stands in the center of Rome since 2000 years….
BP 9
In Italy we can take a vacation on the beach or we can go on an educational excursion into the center of European art history. We can hike and ski, visit the opera, the Vatican, eat and drink remarkably well and enjoy life to the fullest. We can shop in Milan, spend our honeymoon in Venice or rent a Tuscan cottage to forget our troubles and to enjoy sweet idleness.
The air is sweeter, purer, the sky bluer and less cloudy; the faces are open, friendly and smiling; the bodies are more regular and more enticing. Even the green of the meadows and trees are not as cold and dead, but higher, brighter, and richer than in the north. Pleasure invites us; nature and art walk hand in hand. (Goethe, J.D. Falk, 7.17. 1792)
. 7 …..with a gigantic cupola resting on powerful marble pedestals
BP 10
The boundary between legend and reality surely is different today than in the 18th Century. The pure air Goethe described is not the same we find in Rome today. When we spend time in the historic city centers that attract millions of visitors, we might ask why the art of the constructed environment has become mostly a thing of the past. Tuscany’s eroding slopes and the eroding morals of today’s politicians do not agree with Goethe’s lines. But the discrepancy of the present becomes minimal when we stand in front of the overwhelming evidence of the past, when we feel enchanted by Italy’s countryside and end our day on a lively piazza. Life becomes a dream. The border between the modern, often sobering present and the grand idealized past disappears. Many of us cherish the beautiful memories of our journey to Italy. The right trompe l’oeil painting can keep these memories alive.
8 In Italy trompe l’oeil painters find motifs for their murals everywhere. This one is from the Fontana del Nettuno at Rome’s Piazza Navona. With the unfocused background, we can see the sculpture better.
9 The heavy drapes of a café in Venice’s Piazza San Marco are first rate painting templates. Never leave your house without a camera or sketch book when you are in Italy.
BP 13
10 to 12 Roman villas and parks: nature and architecture converge
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A Way of Life
Italy is more than a country. It’s a way of life, a love of life. Italy is sensual and social. We enjoy life as a group, in a family or in a circle of friends so much more than alone. Wine and food are superb, the clothes are sensual, and the cars are racy. Art infuses all of life. More than 100,000 significant monuments turn the entire country into an open air museum. The marble we find in other parts of the world in mansions is used here for sidewalks. Life happens outside, in the open air, the warm sunshine, on market squares, in the streets, next to churches and fountains built centuries ago. The Italians don’t necessarily need to meet in the Campo of Siena, St. Mark’s Square or in front of the Pantheon (this two thousand year old fossil and wonderful oasis in the heart of Rome). Each village has its own public square. People are more social and talkative here than elsewhere. To foreigners, these lively squares evoke memories of days gone by. A self-confident, modern, stylish Italy enjoys itself in the monumental backdrop setting of a luscious, majestic past. Who would not want to be part of it? Via painting we can - at least partly - export this way of life. Rooms meant to provide relaxation and well being, like spas and wellness centers, restaurants, dining rooms and winter gardens, are predestined for Italian motifs. We might call such refuges of the Italian way of life “stress free zones.”
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Years of experience: 21. Registered at ProZ.com: Sep 2008.