Borgo Museo | Sculture 1976 – 2004
Biography
Mauro Vaccai is an artist who’s very close to Castagno. Born in 1954 in the neighbouring village of Piteccio (Pistoia) where, between travels, he still lives and works as a sculpture in his home studio. After finishing his diploma as Geometra, encouraged by his friends he enrolled at the University of Florence to study Forestry Science, however he never completed the degree course, distracted by his true passion: art. During his time at university, rather than studying, he spent his time drawing, painting and sculpting. He explains that he’s always done what he wanted to do, and in the end he’s done many different things. Having worked in the army for several years, he then made a name for himself in the fashion world. He opened several shops in Japan before he was forced to inturrupt his business in 1990 due to the Gulf War. He returned home at 35 years old and so began his career as a “spaccapietre” as he chooses to call himself: almost a quarry worker rather than a sculptor. Guided by his friend Gianni Borsari (art enthusiast), he exhibited his works in some Modenese galleries including Galleria Modena Art. Since then he’s never stopped scuplting stone and today his works are spread around the world from New York to Moscow, from Paris to Guangzhou. The Italian Navy commissioned an 800kg marble sculpture from him in 2017 for the port of Lampedusa, to honour the efforts of the islanders in helping the migrants arriving there; the sculpture was blessed in the Vatican City by Pope Francesco himself.
Philosophy
According to Vaccai, sculpture is “a battle with marble, inert, but to be respected since it is so much older than us”. The self-taught artist began by reproducing paintings by grand artists, but then progressed to dedicating himself almost exclusively to sculpture. Mauro works by hand from the very beginning to the very end of the process, through drafting to carving, chiselling and polishing to transform a block of marble into a work of art. He uses a hammer and chisel in the same classic way that has been used since the times of Michelangelo to sculpt the precious “pietra splendente”. Just like Michelangelo, Mauro personally chooses the raw materials to work with: he chooses his blocks of white marble from the Carrara quarries of the Apuan Alps which are universally known as those with the most valuable marble in the world; likewise he collects stones from the Ombrone River that flows through the valley between Piteccio and Castagno. Then, before starting any new sculpture, he makes the sign of the cross, a ritual gesture he uses to concentrate and find inspiration.
Artwork in Castagno
Having been invited by the Pro Loco to create a work of art, Mauro Vaccai donated a stone scuplture for the open air museum of Castagno in 2004.The preference for stone over his beloved marble was down to the context within the village of stone houses.Entitled “Ricomposizione” (Recomposition), it is located in front of the Pro Loco building and was the last artwork to be inaugurated in the presence of the art critic Tommaso Paloscia as well as being the last to be added to the Castagno collection until 2019 (when the Borgo Museo began artistic production again).The sculpture depicts four hands held up towards the sky in a symbol of prayer, united to support a pyramidal structure, a symbol not only of the eternal tomb but also of light and rebirth.Of the various artistic funeral monuments that have evolved over the ages, it resembles in particular the structure of a cenotaph (from the Greek “empty tomb”, a burial monument in honour of someone that is buried elsewhere): however, this artwork is not dedicated to anyone specific, rather it represents a wider, universal meaning as a prayer for humanity.