AH AH AH... TODAY, ON THE NEWS WAKING ME UP AFTER MY NAP, I HEARD A NEWS THAT, BESIDES MAKING ME LAUGH OUT LOUD, PUT ME IN A GOOD MOOD:
IN VENICE (OR AT ANY RATE IN VENETO, PARDON THE INACCURACY, BUT... I WAS RECOVERING FROM MY POST-PRANDIUM DROWSINESS) IN VENICE, I WAS SAYING, A GOLDSMITH HAD DISPLAYED, IN ORDER TO ADVERTISE HIS BUSINESS, A MODERN “WORK” IN FRONT OF HIS STORE.... THIS “MODERNITY ” CONSISTED OF A HEADLESS PAPIER-MÂCHÉ HORSE.... ALL A SIGNIFICATION, TO HEAR THE EXHIBITOR, OF THOSE TO BE ENRAPTURED BY, OF THOSE THAT MAKE YOU SAY, TOWARDS THE “MASTER SCULPTOR” ... “THANK YOU FOR EXISTING!!!” ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT IN MY OPINION, ANY OF THOSE GROUPS OF VIAREGGIO CARNIVAL ENTHUSIASTS THAT HORSE WOULD HAVE DONE IT BETTER, IT HAPPENS THAT THE UNFORTUNATE EQUINE “TESTAMOZZA” (ALREADY UNHINGED IN ITS OWN RIGHT, SO ..) WAS FORGOTTEN IN THE OPEN BY ITS EXHIBITOR BETWEEN THE EVENING CLOSING TIME AND THE MORNING OPENING TIME . AND SO, THE VENETIAN GARBAGE COMPACTOR TRUCK, AT ABOUT SIX O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, PUT AN END TO THE TRAGICOMIC LIFE OF THAT POOR HORSE....
IT COST ( ACCORDING TO THE DESPERATE GOLDSMITH OWNER...) AT LEAST 15,000 EUROS...
NOW, APART FROM THE FACT THAT IN MY OPINION ONLY A FOOL COULD HAVE BOUGHT IT FOR THAT AMOUNT, APART FROM THE FACT THAT IF IT COSTS THAT MUCH MONEY IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT IS “WORTH” THAT PRICE, APART FROM THE FACT THAT A WORK OF ART OF THAT SIZE YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE IT OUT IN THE OPEN ALL NIGHT (IT'S PAPIER-MÂCHÉ, WHAT IF IT RAINS ?!), I WONDER AND SAY:
BUT IN YOUR OPINION, IS IT MORE DEFINABLE AS A “WORK OF ART” THE “BOUDIN HAUT” FIREPLACE PRESENTED HERE, DESIGNED BY AN ARCHITECT WHO KNEW THE RULES OF HARMONY, REALLY SCULPTED WITH SKILL AND SWEAT BY A REAL SCULPTOR WORKING IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY... OR THAT PAPER HORSE BY NAME AND IN FACT “TESTAMOZZA” ?!
IN MY OPINION, THE SCAVENGERS DID WELL TO “COMPACT” IT, GOING ON LIKE THIS, YOU RISK LOSING THE TRUE SENSE OF ART (WHICH IS STUDY, MANUAL SKILL AND ALMOST DIVINE SPIRIT, OTHER THAN PAPER MACHE HORSES, THOSE, LET'S LEAVE THEM TO THE RIO CARNIVAL!!).
THE FIREPLACE PRESENTED HERE COMES FROM BURGUNDY, AND FROM THAT LAND ALSO COMES THE “BURGUNDY RED” (WHICH HAS THE WARM COLOR OF BRICK..) WITH WHICH IT WAS BUILT. THE FIREPLACE IS, CLEARLY, THE WORK OF THE MYTHICAL BOUDIN, AND IT REPRESENTS THE ONLY “MODEL” OF “RETOUR D'EGYPTE” FIREPLACE IN THE WORLD (AS OPPOSED TO THE FURNITURE OF THAT ERA, IN WHICH THERE WAS A GREAT VARIETY OF “RETOUR D'EGYPTE.” IN ESSENCE, THIS FIREPLACE IS NOTHING BUT A TRIBUTE TO NAPOLEON (THE REAL ONE..).
THE AGE OF CARVING OF THIS MANTEL IS DATABLE TO THE MID-19TH CENTURY, ITS PRESERVATION DEFINABLE AS “GOOD” (WE WILL HAVE TO DO ONLY A RESTORATION TO THE PLINTHS...).
