Borgo Museo | Casa Paloscia 1975 – 2021
Biography
Giuseppe Gavazzi was born in Marcoussis, France, in 1936 to Tuscan emigrant parents. In 1940 he returned to Pistoia, and ten years later he entered the “Policarpo Petrocchi” Art Institute where he studied until 1954. As a good Tuscan he founded his art in the practice of drawing, demonstrating a strong ability to give expressiveness and naturalness to the figurations. His artistic activity di lui soon obtained favourable feedback, both in Italy and abroad, where he participated in important art exhibitions such as those in Basel, Zurich and the exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris. Over time he specialised in mural painting and developing this technique with passion, he began his activity as a restorer in Leonetto Tintori’s workshop, undertaking a demanding career that led him to be considered one of the most respected specialists in the sector. Among his most important interventions by him we remember those on the cycle of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, on the Majesty by Simone Martini and on Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. In parallel with the complex restoration work, he never stops producing his works of art.
Philosophy
At the same time as his professional growth as a restorer, Gavazzi continued to practice the art of painting and more: from the mid-1950s he also tried his hand at sculpture, in particular using stone to perform bas-relief figurations and statues in the round. He then moved on to carving wooden figures, always presented with accurate patinations, and in the mid-1960s he also came to shape clay, to obtain works in terracotta, the first of which ended only with monochromatic colours while later he takes greater care of the finish with naturalistic colours, finding in this technique the most congenial means of expression. He also obtains results of equal intensity with the modelling of strong stucco and with wood carving, to which he returns frequently since the late 1980s. Finally, he also experiments with the technique of marble and bronze, as well as cultivating engraving. His rich and prolific career demonstrates how his entire and intense life was completely dedicated to art.
Artwork in Castagno
With the skilful fresco technique of which he is masterfully a master, Gavazzi created a particular version of the sundial on the facade of Casa Paloscia in La Vigna, right above the entrance to the house. The image chosen is clearly a tribute to the town of Chestnut: in the center we find the representation of a tree that recalls the expanded and rounded crown of Castanea Sativa, or the European Chestnut. A symbol rich in history and meaning for the territory but not only: according to a widespread popular tradition, the chestnut is also a symbol of protection, since all human beings find shelter (and food) around it. And chestnuts know it very well, as it is told in the Guide Book Castagno di Piteccio – the museum village of Pistoia: the chestnut tree has been for a long time a fundamental resource for the survival of every family in the town. As in many other Apennine parts of Italy, here too it was “the bread tree”. Represented in this way, as a sundial, above the entrance to the house, it therefore seems to be an almost apotropaic element of protection towards its inhabitants.
By Gavazzi in Castagno there are two other works in the village: the Febbraio (February) fresco and the famous sculptural composition entitled Maternità e il gattino (Maternity and the kitten) that looks out from the windows of “the old restaurant” onto the small square in the heart of the village. Find out more by reading the related sheets.