ROMANITY, SO MUCH ROMANITY THERE IS IN THIS UNIQUE PIECE WITH A NEOCLASSICAL BREATH.
AND SO MUCH, VERY FINE, QUALITY, BOTH OF DESIGN AND SCULPTURAL ACHIEVEMENT.
The Romanity lies in the Roman Lucerna carved in the center of the front and in the beams that make up the legs.
The Lucerna is linked to the symbolism of light and fire.
Light illuminates darkness and guides the steps of men.
Fire purifies and, by producing smoke that rises upward, connects the earthly world with the divine world.
The beam, on the other hand, was a symbol of power and command for the Romans while today, for us men of the third millennium who have come close to fascism, it is a symbol of wars and violence.
But what was it, the fascism, in the nineteenth century, that is, when our fireplace was wanted and conceived!
It may seem strange to you (it was strange to me, too, heh) but the men of the nineteenth century had quite a different regard for this Roman symbol...
By way of example (and what an example!!) the fasces symbol in America can also be found on statues of George Washington and other historical figures, on coins, on coats of arms of federal agencies, on the walls of courthouses, even on the Lincoln Memorial, where America's greatest president is depicted with his arms resting on two fasces placed on either side of his seat.
Originally for Americans, fasces were a symbol of ancient republican Rome, to whose ideals the Founding Fathers aspired.
The bundle emblem of light birch wood rods, bound by a leather strap, accompanied by an axe and surrounded by laurel symbolized (and still symbolizes) the union of the United States, whose motto is “E pluribus unum.” (From all, one).
All these little stories to mitigate, sweeten, make more acceptable a noble decoration that recent history has made nefarious, hellish, the bearer of human disasters.
Even in the physiognomy, the hairstyle and the seriousness of the profile of the two faces depicted in the cameos at the top of the legs, there is Romanity, pure elegant Romanity.
I THINK THERE ARE FEW CAMEOS THAT EXPRESS SUCH A FEELING OF FINESSE, AND I HOPE THAT THOSE INTERESTED IN THIS FIREPLACE MANTEL WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE IT DE VISU, THEY WILL NOT FAIL TO BE IMPRESSED.
PROVENANCE FLORENCE (ITALY), SECOND EMPIRE PERIOD, PERFECT PRESERVATION.
STUPIDITIES (TRUE) ON THE SIDE:
Did you know that the beam was created by the Etruscans! During excavations in the necropolis of Vitulonia (acity in Etruria) a tomb from 600 B.C. was opened and in that tomb a bundle was found, complete with iron rods and a “bitaglio” blade at the top. That find therefore dates back 200 years before the Roman bundle appeared in the hands of the Lictors (the soldiers, very sturdy, who carried it in front of the marching army).
The Etruscan one was 60 cm high while the Roman one was about 150 cm high , but the design was still the same.
WHICH MEANS THE ROMANS COPIED IT-“VERBATIM”!!!
MAYBE A LITTLE BIGGER FOR DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR BUT COMPLETELY IDENTICAL, THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF ERROR....
WHAT COPYCATS THESE ROMANS!!!
IF MUSSOLINI LEARNS IT, HE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU, WHO HAS MADE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF MONUMENTS, HOUSES, SCHOOLS, BARRACKS, ALTARS OF THE FATHERLAND, ETC. WITH THIS FASCIO...
ONLY TO LEARN THAT IT WAS THE ETRUSCANS (WHOM CAVALIER BENITO DID NOT EVEN THINK WERE ARYANS, A “DISCARDED” POPULATION...) WHO INVENTED HIS ELECTORAL SYMBOL.
