Page 13 - A Homage to Giovanni Boccaccio by Petru Rusu
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illustrated all the tales on 100 plates two years later. He printed the edition of   Artistic Interpretations of
             10 impressions per plate himself. Initially, he worked with finely drawn black
             lines and brown-toned aquatint, printing 3 to 5 impressions of each plate in   Boccaccio’s Decameron
             these subdued colors. As he continued working, he started adding stronger    Exploring the Visual Legacy of
             colors in aquatint.
                                                                                          Boccaccio’s Masterpiece.
             Russu preferred using iron plates for illustrating the Decameron, believing
             iron was more suitable than copper or zinc. Zinc plates are often used by

             printmakers for etching intaglio prints, while Plexiglas or similar material is
                                                                                          Sandro Botticelli, the renowned Italian Quattrocento painter, created
             preferred for engravings. Petru explained that the edges of his plates were
                                                                                          several works illustrating stories from the Decameron. His depiction
             intentionally irregular and crooked to simulate the condition and appearance
                                                                                          of Nastagio degli Onesti is particularly praised. This series illustrates
             of an original edition of the tales. He envisioned they would have been
                                                                                          the fifth story of the Fourth Day (the Hell of Cruel Lovers), where a
             printed on vellum or early handmade paper without even, ruler-straight
                                                                                          young man, unrequited in his love for a lady, witnesses a gentleman
             edges. The broad, deeply bitten lines in the plate that sit massively on
                                                                                          and two mastiffs chasing another young man, who ultimately offers
             the paper’s surface result from repeatedly dipping the prepared plate into
                                                                                          his heart to feed the dogs. These paintings were created in 1483
             sulfuric acid.
                                                                                          using mixed media on wood and are part of the Florentine school.
                                                                                          They are currently housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
             Over time, Petru Russu also changed his technique. Early plates featured fine,
             nervously vibrating lines that crisscrossed the plate or ran parallel. Gradually,   Other prominent artists, such as Pisanello, Pesellino, Signorelli,
             these sensitive lines gave way to single, strong cords, solidly incised into the   Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, and Carpaccio, have also reinterpreted
             plate and solidly stacked on the paper, surrounding the aquatinted areas like   the Decameron in their works. Their interpretations highlight the
             a wall.                                                                      enduring appeal and influence of Boccaccio’s stories across different
                                                                                          artistic mediums and generations. One notable modern interpretation
             Deciphering the eroticism of the iconography was challenging. One might      is John William Waterhouse’s famous painting, A Tale from the
             even be tempted to reread Boccaccio’s tales. Petru Russu provides an image   Decameron. Additionally, frescoes depicting scenes from the
             of 14th-century Italian life by weaving certain artifacts into his graphic tale.   Decameron adorn rooms in ancient Italian castles, exterior walls of
             Checkerboard tablecloths, wine glasses, rigged sailing vessels, horsemen     houses in Stein am Rhein in Canton Schaffhausen, and Renaissance
             and horsewomen, and period headgear appear throughout the prints in          furniture. Over the centuries, numerous illustrated editions of the
             various forms. Men and women are barely humanoid; heads, torsos, and         Decameron have been produced, such as the magnificent collection
             limbs float in space, disconnected yet making sense and fitting together.    by Celedonio Perellón, featuring over one hundred etchings and
             Banquet tables with checkered tablecloths are overturned, wine glasses       illustrations.
             have fallen down unbroken, and wine flows out, a real orgy. One head with
             a Cocteau-like profile is barely connected to a 20th-century necktie. Limbs   Contemporary artists like Salvador Dalí, Giacomo Manzù, Renato
             terminate in stumps, clumps, or geometric finials. The anthropomorphic       Guttuso, Marc Chagall, Masuo Ikeda, and Petru Russu have drawn
             shapes in prehistoric caves come to mind.                                    inspiration from the Decameron to create some of their compositions.
                                                                                          These modern interpretations continue to explore and celebrate
             Petru Russu, the printmaker, forces viewers to return to his prints and try   the timeless themes and stories of Boccaccio’s masterpiece. The
             to interpret the meaning of their iconography. While they are immediately    Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, paired with the enchanting
             attractive visually, they demand more attention in the long run.             illustrations by Petru Russu and other artists, offers a rich visual
                                                                                          and literary experience. It stands as a must-see and must-read for
             An analysis of Boccaccio’s Decameron and an examination of Enrico Crispolti (Italian art critic,   anyone interested in the Italian Renaissance and the enduring power
             curator and art historian) and Ingrid Rose, (The Washington Print Club, Washington DC), critical
             essays, published for the opening of Petru Russu’s exhibition interpreting Giovanni Boccaccio’s   of storytelling.
              Decameron in 100 engravings (The Romanian Academy in Rome, Italy 1986).                                               13
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