PURITY MADE FIREPLACE
We are two years away from the fiftieth birthday of Artis, our small company dealing with such a great as fascinating “article” as the antique fireplace, and it is understandable that our customers should think that we should, in half a century of “studies” on ONE article, have seen EVERYTHING there was to see, discover, know, know in the sphere of this UNIQUE item treated by us...
Nothing could be more wrong, fortunately, otherwise our work would become boring.... Instead, the opposite is true: I do not say “every day,” but more often than you might imagine, we are happily amazed by some particular fireplace, perhaps by an unusual and fascinating decorative element of it or by a marble of superlative refinement or... or... or...
The case of the mantel I am presenting here is illustrative of what I have stated above.
“And where will it be, Maurizio”, you may ask, in what will all the BEAUTY of this mantel consist!
Well, premised that to better understand and enjoy it, this fireplace should be seen in person and not through the medium of a few photographs, I will tell you right away that its secret lies in the union of two of its basically “simple” characteristics: THE UNION BETWEEN A WANTED PURITY OF LINES AND AN, ALSO WANTED, CHOICE OF ITS PARTICULAR MARBLE.
This mantel does not have ONE overtly decorative carving, what do I know, a flower, an olive branch, a curl etc.. Yet, if and when you see it in person, you will be impressed by its HARMONY and even surprised that you are falling in love with it, despite the fact that this mantel does not show on its surfaces any jeweled sculpture!!!
The solution is this: THE ARCHITECT who designed it had a sensitivity that only pencil geniuses possess. HEenvisioned that the union of a “clean”, “artistically SIMPLE”, basically almost “BASIC” structure with an equally “CLEAN” marble such as this splendid PAONAZZETTO, would create a fascinating and attractive WHOLE precisely by dispensing entirely with added decorations...
The only “VEIL” that might suggest a decoration, is the insertion, at the base of each column, of a series of “Pompeian flutes”, simple “pencils” (that's what those noble historical flutes are called TODAY) also considered as “BASIC”.
This fireplace is in perfect condition, dates from the Belle Epoque period (late 1800s, early 1900s) and was recovered by us in Saint Denis, a very old (it was born in the 1600s AD) town, very close to Paris, a town that all art lovers should visit both for its ancient architecture but also and for its “new” Art Nouveau district. Visiting Sain Denis is enjoyable because, as you walk around it, you have the impression of absorbing its Beauty, indeed its Harmony..
