Friday, April 30, 2010

Torino and the Shroud of Turin

Last week's couple of days in Torino/Turin was a real treat. Its only about a 3 hour drive from home, which was in itself a real pleasure.

We travelled north along the Napoleonic route through France, along the edge of the Alps and the Mercantor National Park to the Italian border, passing through numerous small villages and towns and absolutely stunning scenery - great craggy outcrops, snow covered peaks, rivers tumbling along, full with melted snow, and very winding roads, although none as narrow as I had feared! The tunnels, as always, amazed me - long, high and in fierce terrain. How do they get there? What challenges must have been experienced to build them.

And dotted along the road from time to time small Shrines, usually a painted statue with flowers - plastic or occasionally fresh, placed by a local resident or passing traveller.

After crossing into Italy, I really enjoyed the flatness of the area around Cuneo, but was surprised by the very sudden transition from mountains to plains - none of the undulating hills of NSW! The country was lush and green with spring growth, market gardens and crops thriving - so very different from the very rocky Mediterranean coast where even a small patch of lawn is a rarity! I loved espaliered fruit orchards, and the lack of fences, the colours and smells of 'country'. I was disappointed that animals were obviously kept in sheds - barns, hay stacks and muck piles were the tell tale signs - we saw one 'mob' of sheep grazing, tended by a shepherd with several dogs but very little other livestock. I was consistently frustrated by the Italian crash barriers which seemed to be exactly at my eye level and which very effectively blocked my appreciation of the passing scenery, so I may have missed significant info!

On to Torino - where we managed to get lost a couple of times with the usual allegations about my inability to read maps and his inability to follow simple directions. We finally found the lovely piazza vittorio veneto (where we knew there were vacant parking spaces because a website keeps a live track of parking across the city!) and were able to locate our landlady and our cute little apartment a couple of blocks away - conveniently positioned between the river and the centre of town.

The main purpose of our visit was to see The Shroud, on display for just 6 weeks for the first time in 12 years, and we had a reservation for 9am the following morning. We spent the early afternoon orienting ourselves, locating the Duomo and having a look at the Shroud from the 'general public' viewing space in the main part of the cathedral. Pretty amazing to see an object of such interest and controversy, although we found it difficult to exactly identify what we were viewing! More research before the close up visit tomorrow!

We moved on to the Egyptian museum - supposedly one of the best collections of Egyptian artifacts outside Egypt, and we were certainly impressed. I am always gobsmacked by the incredible age of things - to think we were looking at objects made thousands of years BC. I wonder whether having been brought up in a country only recently settled by white people gives one a sense of 'nothing much before 1770'? The whole concept of 'Tomb Raiders' amused us - the museum's descriptions of the lengths people went to secure tombs were elaborate and in some cases quite judgmental about such scurrilous activity as raiding, yet the museum featured the contents of at least two tombs!

Our Shroud visit the next morning was excellent. We had booked our 15 minute slot early hoping to avoid queues and on arrival walked straight through to a theatre where a brief video described its features - the shadows of the body, thorn wounds, nail

wounds and chest wound. No comment on its authenticity! Then into the Duomo, where viewing platforms had been set up on 3 levels. A prayer was read while we viewed the 14 feet length of linen, carefully protected behind glass and suspended high above us. The features identified were all faintly visible when we knew where to look, and we spent the next hours and days joining the millions in debating whether we felt it was real or the 13th or 14th Century fake many claim. Who am I to know? I can only say it was a privilege to see a relic of such religious significance - and its significance is clearly demonstrated by the enormous numbers of people queuing for a glimpse.



Torino is a lovely town and we spent the rest of our time exploring - churches on almost every corner, museums, galleries and markets - not to mention fabulous frescos, promenades, and piazzas. We were especially impressed by the Palazzo Madama in the piazza Castello and the 'Holy Shroud Frescos in the Open Air' - an exhibition of photos of frescos of the Shroud from all over Piemonte and dating back to the 1650's. Fascinating.




Unfortunately, time came to return home - and along with it rain, so farewell Alice and Torino - we will return!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

And they gave thanks for miracles in Laghet

This week we visited Laghet, a tiny village about 15 minutes from home to discover the most extraordinary shrine dating back to the 15th Century, site of the most amazing church and one with a delightfully colourful history as it was impacted by the various changes in allegiance between France and Italy, and especially the French Revolution.

The story goes back to 1628 when a priest from nearby Eze restored the oratory of the church at Laghet 'in honour of God and of the Virgin Mary'. In 1652 the miracles of the healing of a leper, the freeing of a prisoner and the liberation of a possessed man were witnessed, attributed to the spiritual presence of Mary. This led the people of Eze to donate the Figheriera wooden statue of Our Lady to the church Laghet.

They made a procession with the statue to Laghet from Eze in June 1652, where it is still in place in the chapel, having survived the ravages of the revolution when the church was occupied by French soldiers and much was destroyed. It has also survived many restorations. The donation of the statue and its significance is marked annually by a pilgrimage from the parish of Eze to Laghet.

Immediately after this donation, miracles increased a hundredfold and pilgrims came to pray and give thanks. To demonstrate their thanks pilgrims bring votive offerings - small pictures or marble plaques, in memory of the event in which there was divine intervention. The pictures and tapestries vary in style and quality but generally have in common three characteristics - that they depict scenes of accidents, illness or difficulties during which 'grace visited the person'; they indicate the presence of the Virgin Mary, normally depicted in a cloud; and they have a signature and date.

The pictures and plaques cover the walls of the rebuilt chapel and cloisters and make for a fascinating study of societal change, although paintings from before the revolution (1792) were destroyed. Accidents from horses and carriages are replaced in more recent times by cars and bikes, falls are less likely to be from timber bearers with no scaffolding! Of course, many of the gifts are marble plaques, which simply record thanks.

All in all, an extraordinary experience - and a delight to discover such a treasure so close to home!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Finishing things.......


I have had a great week trying to finish mountains of projects that have been 'work in progress' for ages - they somehow just keep accumulating on my desk so I decided it was time to make a significant impact on half done pieces. As I was running out of space to fit in anything new, I decided my desk must be at least 'almost' cleared before starting anything new - and I'm still dying to try cuttlefish casting so that has been a great motivator - 'temporarily delayed' in the interest of creating some space!!


I am so glad I did! I persevered, I slogged and I slaved...... even
denied myself sitting in the sun at lunch (hey, we had some sun!) to rush back to the workshop....

The result - I have finished about 20 pieces, including a whole bundle I am shipping to friend Terry in Laughlintown PA (USA) on Monday. And I think there are some gems in the output, so I am really happy.

I think I have always worked better under pressure, but I now understand how much harder it is to pressure oneself! Easy when someone else is setting the agenda and breathing down one's neck, much harder when one must be self reliant.

An interesting change for me, and I take my hat off to all those, especially friends and family, who have been doing it successfully this way for years! Fortunately I have a generous dose of 'wasp' work ethic, but in thinking about some of those motivational seminars from various workplaces I recognise my need to balance process with outcomes - and don't seem to ever it get it exactly right!



So, today is about outcomes - and a couple of photos to show newly finished earrings. More will be on my facebook page and in my etsy shop soon.






Sunday, April 4, 2010

Good Friday Procession - Roquebrune Village





One of the treats of living in Europe, and in our village, is that there are lots of historical events, and one of my favourites is the street procession on the night of Good Friday. The procession re-enacts the taking of Christ's body to the Holy Sephulchre.

Local villagers play the leading roles, and the 'crowd', villagers and tourists alike, follow.

The procession traverses through the village which is decorated with thousands of lights - some of which are our familiar tea-lights, but the majority are snail shells, which have been given a wick and filled with oil.

These light the path to the church, where mass is celebrated, but they also decorate homes and streets. Lights, especially in the form of crosses - on window sills, doorways, and in sidestreets - magic!


Thursday, April 1, 2010

OOPs!

I just can't believe that having started blogging with such good intentions, its now been more than a month and not a thing has been written! Who said I have turned procrastination into an art form? (Probably Himself, and he may well be right.....)

But today is the beginning of a new month, and some warmer and drier weather has lifted the spirits and so a new resolution is made.

So much has happened - Menton Lemon Festival, The Mimosa Trail, trip to London, and lots of interesting pieces of jewellery created - and I wanted to talk about it all! So, we'll have to wait until next year for the reports of festivals but I just must make note of K's earrings - I love them so I hope she does too!



They are based on a design I have made previously but they are half the size - and what a challenge to create 'small' but they are so cute and a great feeling of satisfaction that they worked - I only made one pair! They are rectangles of silver riveted onto titanium which has been oxidised to an even blue - hung from hand made sterling silver earwires. Cute, and the photo doesn't really do them justice.

Today I'm planning to venture into some new territory - cuttlefish casting. I have the cuttlefish, lots of silver scraps, and the idea for the design so now just to implement - will keep you posted!

A bientôt.