L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 I taly and Italians wouldn't be the same without bells. Let's start with their very name, campane, tied to the region where legend says they were born during the high Middle Ages, when the bishop of Nola, Saint Paulinus (409-431), supported the production of vasa campana, the vases of Campania. The quality of the region's bronze was already known to the Romans: Pliny the Elder (23-79 DC) praised its qualities, especially its sonority. Speaking about sounds, we should mention there are various ways to play bells, and they depend on where you are in Italy: in the North, you'll find the Ambrosiano style, where alternating strokes remain always distinct and never overlap. Then, there is the Sistema Bolognese, characterized by the bell's quick swinging which produces, again, fast sequences of alternating strokes. The Sistema Umbro is the most popular in the Centre: here, a larger bell reaches the "up" position, while the others are played "carillon style." In the South, a swinging style, where the clapper hits the bell at high speed while the instrument oscillates, is favored. Bells are truly everywhere, so much so theme tours could be organized: Rome is the city with the highest number of them, the Basilica of Loreto has nine, Parma Cathedral six (the oldest dating back to 1558), each with its own name. The Duomo of Milan has the heaviest, 150 quintals, followed by Saint Peter's campanone (cast in 1786, it weights 140 quintals), the bell of the Campidoglio (87 quintals, made in 1803) and that of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence (85 quintals). If bells' history starts in Nola, and one of the most ancient - adorned by two embossed crosses and dating to the 7th century - has been found in Canino, near Viterbo, the tradition of bell making was born in the Frosinone area, where Nicodemo Campanarus Marinelli came from. Since 1339, the year of Nicodemo's first works, the Marinelli family, a true dynasty of casters, has been working using the same medieval methods and techniques, to challenge today's fast-paced world and remain faithful to tradition. Following their work means to take a long voyage through Il Bel A one-of-a-kind Made in Italy, where progress and technologies have no use From the director Paese: from the Tower of Pisa to Saint Peter's Basilica, from San Giovanni Rotondo to the Santuario di Pompei, all the way to Montecassino Cathedral. And the voyage continues through the world: from Agnone, come finely decorated and delicately sounding exemplars playing in Cape North and Jerusalem, Hiroshima and Buenos Aires and, of course, in the United States, where you can find Marinelli bells in New York, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Denver and Botega Bay. Back in Agnone, the museum attached to the Marinelli Foundry is home to the largest collection of religious bronze instruments, including the extremely precious Campana dell'anno Mille, a rare example of gothic bell, believed to have been cast one thousand years ago in Agnone, where the art of metal working had arrived in the 11th century with Venetian merchants, and prospered thanks to the many monasteries of the area. Thanks to this, foundries had become a fixture by the 16th century. Earlier, casters travelled around and would work directly near the belfries and churches they had to make bells for. Indeed, learning about the Marinelli family is also a way to tell the story of a country suspended between past and present, innovation and tradition, art and spirituality, art and crafts. Moreover, bellfounding is a rare and unique example of Made in Italy, a centuries-old, complex craft that still uses the lost wax technique, where molten bronze is poured through a small hole into an underground mold. The Marinelli Foundry, true expression of how an ancient art can survive through time, is also mirror to a country living thanks to almost forgotten crafts and professions that survive only in name of the enormous skills supporting them. A country living thanks to a type of knowledge that brings us back in time and allows us to save the strength, beauty and relevance of local traditions. When thinking of this, it becomes adamant Italy cannot be without such an immense historical and cultural heritage, without such craftsmanship. Knowing there are different styles to play bells, knowing about Campanari and bell casters, realizing there isn't a church or palace in the country without its own bell and recognizing a craft such as bellfounding has been passed on, generation after generation, without interruptions, means understanding we are nothing without our history. Italy and Italians must preserve their past. And, just as it happens in front of a work of art, sometimes we should realize perfection belongs to it and that, for once, progress and technology cannot improve anything. Simone Schiavinato, Director NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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