A big orchestra of angels on an organ loft
Treasures in San Giulio d’Orta
Last week we enjoyed one day in Orta. Lake Orta is a lake in Piedmont, north of Italy, lesser known than Lake Maggiore or Lake of Como, but, quite surprisingly, in an area dense with art treasures.
When I was about 13, I did as an assignment for the art class a drawing of this sculpture, which is the detail of a pulpit from 1100 and was pictured in my art book as the perfect example of Romanesque art. I got the worst mark possible. For the next assignment, I drew the accompanying lion. Bad mark again. My mother got to speak with the teacher, and she said that my drawings had both dumb expressions! 🙄🤷♀️ That was the end of my drawing attempts until a couple of years ago, when I attended a cartooning course for no other reason than I wanted to discover if it’s true that it is not about talent, but about the teacher, as the sales page promises.
Since then, I have wanted to go to San Giulio d’Orta and see the original sculpture, but I didn’t find the occasion yet.
In Lake Orta, there is the isle of San Giulio, where the first hermitage was founded in the 4th century. Now you can visit the Basilica, built in the 12th century, which contains that fabulous Romanesque pulpit, frescoes everywhere dated from the XIV century to the baroque era, and an organ right above the pulpit. The organ was built in 2011 into the loft of a pre-existent one, of which we couldn’t find any news.
On this box, in front of the main console, there is a full orchestra of angels in small wooden carvings. Probably from the baroque era, we could take pics only from the church pavement below, as the balconate is accessible only from the cloister area, and this is a cloistered Benedictine nuns’ reserved area. The pics speak for themselves.
Opposite the organ, there’s a balconade with musical angels: three of them are playing string instruments: a small bass (they would call it a violoncello) played vertically, a large viola played vertically, and a tiny, tiny violin.
Updates from our workshop
This week we took it easy. We just needed it. We found that by taking it easy you enjoy your days more, and you may also be more productive than when you try too hard. Alessandro did a new set-up for his last Violoncello da Spalla, we both started a new one, and we also enjoyed playing together.
Taking time just to play, and play together, it’s fundamental to understanding if the set-up is good or not. How long does it take to adapt to the new setup? Does it match well with other instruments? Can I play freely, or do I have to control and correct the tone constantly? Is it naturally rich with colours, or do I have to carve them out?
We are now satisfied with the response we had to all these questions.
Featured video of the week
Enjoy this beautiful tune by Mark Wickersham, and, this weekend, relax and take it easy.
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