L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano KENNETH SCAMBRAY T he history of ceram- ics goes back thou- sands of years into prehistory. Intrepid travelers know that archeological museums through- out the world display in their cases everything from curious votive clay figurines to beautiful ceramic vessels used for every- thing from décor to functional purposes, such as food storage and preparation to table ware. It's these later ceramic pots, plates, vases, and large storage vessels that begin to mark the origins of civilization, the devel- opment of culture, art, and trade among tribes and nations. Renowned Prof. David Abulafia in his study of the history of the Mediterranean, The Great Sea, relies heavily on the dissemina- tion of pottery to chart the devel- opment of culture and the inter- actions among various civilizations throughout the Mediterranean. We owe much of what we know about the his- tory of civilization to those sim- ple original potters, who discov- ered that if they molded moist clay into a form and heated it, they could make a durable ves- sel. What they didn't realize at the time is that their product would also make a permanent record of their culture and, when traded, a record of its dispersal to other parts of the Mediter- ranean. I find it interesting that such a simple and even primitive process could have produced such an important legacy for future generations. I feel espe- cially close to it because as an undergraduate at Fresno State I took a pottery class from one of America's most renowned ceramicists, Austrian immigrant Adolf Odorfer (1902-1995). As a professor of art at Fresno State, beginning in the mid1930s, he became a renowned ceramicist. During that semester under Prof. Odorfer's direction, I learned an appreciation of ceramics, as he instilled in me a life-long appre- ciation of ceramics. I even went on to take an advanced course in ceramics in which I proudly, after nearly a semester of trying, was the first in class to throw a thirty-six-inch cylinder on the potter's wheel. This is why in our most recent sojourn in Italy this January, while directing our six- teenth student cultural trip from the University of La Verne, Car- ole and I traveled to the small and relatively obscure town of Montelupo Fiorentino, just fif- teen minutes by train from Flo- rence. As we have found count- less times, some of Italy's most enjoyable but unvisited towns are only minutes from major cities. Only recently, in 1973, did workers accidentally find in a long abandoned and forgotten well an enormous quantity of dis- carded ceramics deposited more than one thousand years ago. This discovery shed new light on Montelupo's history as an impor- tant ceramic center. Upon the discovery of the site, the com- mune went right to work careful- ly excavating it and documenting every fragment and piece unearthed. The end product of their excavation is a small well- organized museum of more than 5, 550 pieces from 1200 to the end of 1700 outlining the devel- opment of ceramics in Mon- telupo. What is more, your ticket to the museum allows you to enter free twenty other small- town Tuscan museums, known collectively as Empolese Valdel- sa Diffused Museum. The card that you receive is a map of twenty other small-town sites, most of which are not on the tourist-bus route. Each room in the Museo della Ceramica is organized around a specific theme. Room one begins with some of the more advanced pieces reflecting the rise of a rul- ing class, tableware. Room two contains fragments from the well displaying some of Montelupo's potters' most elaborate designs; room three is a fascinating dis- play of the early potter's work- shop, with his foot-driven pot- ter's wheel. This primitive wheel reminded me of the foot-driven delicate marble saws in another seldom visited but remarkable museum, Florence's Opificio delle Pietre Dure, dedicated to the production of Renaissance inlay marble. We could only marvel at how those early crafts- men could produce such timeless works of art on such primitive devices. Suddenly, my accom- plishment on the wheel at Fresno State was diminished. Mine was electric. Room four, The Masterpieces, contains some of Montelupo's potters' capolavori. The intricate designs and beautiful colors on their harmoniously shaped pieces reflect the height of the develop- ment of both Renaissance culture and Montelupo's place in the broader cultural development at the time. The glazes were the adroit marriage between art and science, between skilled artists and informed chemists who knew what formula of materials to mix and at what temperature the glaze and clay should be fired. The Pharmacy is yet another fascinating insight into Renais- sance culture, capturing the era's growing scientific awareness through the merging of folk med- icine and the scientific process in the cure of ailments. Pottery became essential in both the preparation and the storage of herbal and other concoctions. The viewer has to wonder, did they have a cure for the common cold and flu that has now been lost to us? Carole and I could have benefitted this year in Flo- rence from such a discovery. There is a room dedicated to Gli Stemmi, the Coat of Arms. Royalty always took command of the arts. Ceramics were no exception. What better way for royalty to announce their power and presence in society than through beautifully and elabo- rately glazed and decorated plates and vases. By exporting them, royal families could announce their power and wealth throughout the entire Mediter- ranean world. Appropriately, there is a room entitled The Exports, where Montelupo takes its rightful place in the dissemi- nation of its ceramic products and, along with them, its culture to the rest of the Mediterranean world. As Prof. Abulafia explained in his fascinating study, we can see the role that the humble but consummately skilled potter played in the cross fertil- ization of cultures throughout the Mediterranean. Needless to say, after hours in a museum in Italy, the reward is always found in a local restaurant for lunch or dinner. We stopped at the local tourist office in the center of Montelupo, spoke with a helpful young staff member and located a restaurant. Google is never a good idea when travel- ing. It is better to speak to a per- son, to engage the culture around you in your best Italian, even it is flawed. Why, after all, are you there? After a shared plate of gnocchi, by Carole's estimate the best ever, and a heaping platter of wood fire-roasted steak, pork, and rabbit, not to mention a bot- tle of the local wine, we took our fifteen minute ride back to Flo- rence. Oh, the restaurant's name? I forgot. The fun is always in the search, as long as you ask some- one in your best Italian. (Ken Scambray's most recent book is Queen Calafia's Paradise: Cali- fornia and the Italian American Novel). Pottery is not only beautiful and useful, but it has allowed us to know more about our ancestors ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES Montelupo Fiorentino: ceramics and history

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