The author of this summary of Italian
history writes that he made this book out of love and frustration.
His love of Italy was constantly coming up against the huge wall of
history, the history of western civilization and even earlier, that
eluded him. Every Italophile knows what he means!
Remnants of that history sit side by
side, eras next to and on top of other eras, throughout Italy. Every
tourist to Italy has felt at a certain point that dizziness that hits
when the brain struggles to grasp all the eye sees. This book aims
to help Italophiles have a better background understanding of Italy's
long history.
Despite the claim that this is a
simple, non-academic book, there are references to other ancient
peoples and to literature and events that assume a basis of knowledge
that not all readers will have. The author's prose is lovely, and
his vocabulary rich, which might send some readers to their
dictionaries. And a map of Italy would be a good accompaniment to
the book.
I enjoyed how the author showed the
continuity of history. Readers will also surely note a continuity
with the present: class struggles, economic rivalries and alliances,
barbarous warfare, power struggles and the rule of law, and the human
flaws of greed, megalomania, misogyny and brutal slavery. Human
history is not pretty nor for the faint of heart.
Other common occurrences throughout
Italy's history that are shared with all humanity through all time
are migration, invasion, occupation and integration issues. For
those interested in reading more history after this book, there are
plenty of names, events, places mentioned to choose from, each
covered in books of their own.
As with all books about Italy's history
that attempt to tackle large time frames (this one aims to cover 3000
years! broken into 19 eras/chapters from the Greeks and Etruscans to
Mussolini), about one third of the way in I started to feel swamped
with names, places, battles, alliances, traitors... I suggest you
take your time with the book, and perhaps take breaks to read up on
bits and pieces along the way in other sources. All in all, this is
a wonderful overview broken down by era, for the true
Italophile-Amateur Historian.
From the book's description:
3,000
years of Italy.
Over one and a half million people
visit Italy every year from Great Britain alone, many to see the
countless treasures of her past. But only a few have had the time or
chance to study this past in detail, and the majority must often have
felt the need for a simple overall guide to Italian history —
whether in their reading, in their appreciation of art and music, or
in their enjoyment of an Italian holiday.
Treating of the
whole gamut of Italian experience from Etruscan and Roman times to
the present day, Mr Trease writes with enthusiasm and a fine eye for
compression. The ancient world; the Dark Ages; the Renaissance;
French, Spanish and Austrian domination; Risorgimento; the rise and
fall of Mussolini — The Italian Story is an absorbing
‘serial’ covering 3000 years, in which Mr Trease has used his
skill as a novelist to give full value to colourful characters and
dramatic incidents, without losing sight of social and economic
factors or the main political outlines.
The result is a book
sound enough for the student and compulsively readable for the
layman.
Lou Del Bianco's first-person account
of his grandfather's work on the Mr. Rushmore presidential carvings,
as Chief Carver, is entertaining, personable and very interesting.
The conversational tone and lightly self-deprecating humor, combined
with family photos, made this reader feel like I was an audience of
one, enjoying a command performance by the author.
The story of Italian immigrant Luigi
Del Bianco's work on Mt. Rushmore takes up roughly two-thirds of the
book. The other third is the frustrating and heartbreaking struggle
the Del Bianco family (mainly Lou and his aunt and uncle) waged for
25+ years (YES! Sadly, it took that long!) to get the U.S. Parks
Service to recognize the Chief Carver's role in the creation of the
Mr. Rushmore presidential monument, and to commemorate that at Mt.
Rushmore.
For those who don't know, Gutzon
Borglum, a master-carver (and amazing self-promoter), artist and
engineer, designed the memorial in South Dakota and convinced the
U.S. government to foot the bill. He brought to the project expert
carvers from his studio, all accomplished artists in their own right,
to do the most delicate parts of the work. Chief among those artists
was Luigi Del Bianco.
Luigi Del Bianco was designated the
Chief Carver by Borglum, and was tasked with not only training the
unskilled miners who were hired locally, but with finishing the
granite faces of the presidents so they came to life with rich
expressions and amazing likenesses to the former presidents. Del
Bianco was the only carver Borglum, who was too old to hang for long
periods of time off the side of a mountain, trusted to do this
delicate work in his stead, and entrusted to make the delicate
repairs needed periodically in the friable mountain face.
Luigi Del Biano working on Mt. Rushmore.
The really amazing part of the story
is that for decades Luigi Del Bianco was written out of the Mt.
Rushmore monument's story, at least by the official historians. His
community in Port Chester, New York, knew of their local son's
talents and accomplishments, and regularly honored him in their
press. But for the world at large, the Italian immigrant with the
broken English was “officially” just one of the four hundred or
so “workers” who did Borglum's bidding.
Part of the reason for this was likely
the out-sized ego of Borglum who saw the monument as his claim to
fame. He died during its creation, and biographers liked to focus
solely on the larger than life artist when discussing the larger than
life presidential carvings.
Luigi Del Bianco worked on the marble fireplaces in Kykuit, John D. Rochafeller's Pocantico Hills home in New York, some pictured here.
Another part of the reason for Luigi
Del Bianco's being kept in the shadows was certainly the contempt
that immigrants were held in during the 1920s and 1930s, the time of
the monument's creation, especially immigrants from Italy, who were
also unfortunately Catholics arriving in a predominantly Protestant
country. That bigotry was so intense in the U.S. at the time that it
brought the Klan back to life in the Southern states, and gave it
fresh ground to grow in the Western states. Oddly, Borglum was a
supporter of the new Klan.
Luigi Del Bianco suffered from that
bigotry during the project, with docked wages, disrespect,
shunning... all sorts of indignities, and was repeatedly defended by
Borglum. The grandson doesn't go into the details in this book
because he tries to focus on his grandfather's accomplishments rather
than paint the man as a victim. Luigi Del Bianco didn't see himself
as a victim; of all the hard work he did in his adopted country, he
was proudest of his work creating a truly American iconic monument:
I'd do it again even knowing all
the hardships involved.
Luigi Del Bianco made plinths for monuments in and around his New York area. Here is one he made, with one of his three sons and late-life-gift daughter seated before it.
That's how this book becomes
more than a biography of one Italian immigrant who helped create a
modern masterpiece of monumental patriotic art. It becomes an iconic
story of how an immigrant to America contributed to the country with
his unique skills, hark work, and determination to succeed, supported
by a community of immigrants who helped pull each other up, and by
those open-minded Americans who recognized the rich talent that
immigrants could contribute to the country.
I suspect that for Luigi Del Bianco's
New York community, a monument as great as Mt. Rushmore was certainly
their local cemetery, decorated with over five hundred memorials to
loved ones, carved with skill, talent and heart by their local,
celebrated artisan. Immigrant, son, daughter and grandson join
together in this book to tell a timeless tale of familial love, pride
and the life of newcomers and their descendants. I highly recommend
this book.
From the book's description:
Sometimes history does not tell
you the whole story. When 8-year-old Lou Del Bianco finds out
that his Grandpa Luigi was the Chief Carver on Mount Rushmore, his
young life is instantly changed. Follow Lou’s journey as he and his
Uncle Caesar make the painful discovery that Luigi is not even
mentioned in the most definitive book on Rushmore. Cheer them on as
you read the historic documents they unearth from the Library of
Congress that not only tell Luigi’s story but also prove his great
importance. Finally, ride the roller-coaster of the 25 year journey
to get Luigi the recognition he deserves. Out of Rushmore’s
Shadow is the dramatic and touching story of Luigi’s legacy and
the immigrant’s struggle.
Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com where it is available in paperback and as an e-book:
The Black Hills monument in South Dakota during the work, which involved blasters removing initial layers of rock, pointers marking the carving parameters based on the scale model in a nearby studio, drillers removing more stone, and carvers doing the final work to get the faces just right under the guidance of the Chief Carver, Luigi Del Bianco, who did the most delicate work himself.
The subtitle of this book is: Travels on Three Continents in the
Footsteps of a Hero. Looking for Garibaldi is this
US-American writing couple's second travel memoir. The first, Not in
a Tuscan Villa, provides lots of details about their one year living
in Italy. At times I felt inundated by details while reading that
book. That is not the case with Looking for Garibaldi. I feel they
have achieved the right balance with this one, between a vicarious
travel book and a spot of history for casual readers.
Giuseppe Garibaldi was a complex man
with a complex life. I've always thought that the many history books
dedicated to his story appear to struggle to present a coherent
narrative. So I approve of the Petralias' choice to not write a
history book, but instead a travel memoir in which they describe some
of their experiences while crisscrossing the Atlantic, just as
Garibaldi did, while visiting points of interest from Garibaldi's
story.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
If readers are later drawn to learn
more about the Italian freedom-fighter (from Spanish colonialism) and
Italian unification military leader (of the famous Red Shirts) I
think that's wonderful. When traveling in Italy and many parts of
Latin America, one can't help but encounter squares, streets and
parks named for Garibaldi. Gaining greater understanding of why that
is, can only help one appreciate Italy and Italians better.
Italy is a relatively young country,
formed of very different regions with different histories, languages
and values. The Petralias describe these contrasts well in their
earlier book, and touch on them again in this memoir as they move
from the north to the center, then to the south of Italy. Once
again, the personal connections they make as they travel are the most
memorable parts for me, and the connections to John Petralia's
Italian-immigrant family that come up during their travels are very
moving.
Monument to the man in New York's Washington Square
In this book we encounter the loving
couple as they deal with the difficulties of aging combined with the
difficulties of travel, which many readers will find understandable.
We also get some interesting recollections from John and Nancy's
childhoods in the States. Fans of the couple will get to know them
better. Be warned, some of John's chapters (they alternate chapters)
contain vulgarities, politics, controversial economic theories, some
coarseness, and punctuation that purists may find distracting.
I enjoyed my vicarious travel with the
couple. For those of us who can't, for whatever reason, hop on a
plane to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, France, Italy, or the east coast
of the U.S., this travel memoir could help fill the void for
excitement, risk, human contact and sensory stimulation. Their
writing brings people and places alive. I wish them success and good
health.
Garibaldi-Meucci House Museum, Staten Island, NY
Here is the book's description:
Can following the footsteps of one of history’s most colorful figures
lead to an unusual travel adventure? Absolutely. Giuseppe Garibaldi led
freedom fighters on two continents, unified Italy, and almost headed
America’s Union Army. His statues stand in cities around the world. So
what do people today think of his accomplishments?
In Looking for
Garibaldi, John and Nancy Petralia discover that answer and more as they
explore, often in hilarious ways, the places Garibaldi lived and
fought, and how their lives parallel his. In stories of gun wielding
gauchos, Italian family roots, nautical Christmas displays, historic
battles, young lovers, old soldiers, tango missteps and travel with
friends, the Petralias remind us that life’s most memorable moments
often begin by taking a chance.
Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:
Here is the description of their other travelogue, Not in a Tuscan Villa:
What happens if you decide to make a dream come true? Newly retired and
looking for more than a vacation, John and Nancy Petralia intrepidly
pack a few suitcases and head to the "perfect" Italian city. Within days
their dream becomes a nightmare.
After residing in two Italian cities,
negotiating the roads and healthcare, discovering art, friends, food,
and customs, the Petralias learn more than they anticipate--about Italy,
themselves, what it means to be American, and what's important in life.
Part memoir, part commentary, quirky and sincere, Not in a Tuscan Villa
is about having the courage to step out of your comfort zone and do
something challenging in later life.
The adventure recaptures the
Petralias' youth, rekindles their romance--and changes their lives
forever.
In the Name of Gucci is a heartfelt recounting of several
lives and one iconic business through the lens of Patricia Gucci, the daughter
of the family-firm Gucci's powerhouse behind the company's growth into an
international luxury goods firm, Aldo Gucci.
Aldo Gucci's daughter by his second wife Bruna, Patricia is now a
mature woman with a mature understanding of human nature, and is informed by
her mother's strong memories.The author
sets out to do three things:to honor
her father, to honor her mother, and:
to give my children a unique and truthful
memento
There are some omissions to spare feelings, and to avoid
lawsuits, no doubt, and there is spin on things that could be viewed from a
very different, unsympathetic perspective.If you set those things aside, the book is highly readable, often
fascinating, fluidly written, and gives the reader a close-up view of people
who filled the newspapers for decades.That
many members of the Gucci clan would not be out of place in a recent book about
psychopaths in boardrooms, makes the book compelling reading.
The spinning in the book generally relates to 53 year-old
Aldo Gucci's sexual harassment of a 20 year-old employee.What makes the egotistical assault by the
old-man-with-an-infatuation on the young woman most damning is that the young
woman was very immature, and emotionally and psychologically weak and
vulnerable.Hounded into a relationship
with a married man old enough to be her grandfather, left the fragile woman
scared for life.She is the author's
long-suffering mother.
Other spinning in the book involves the disgusting wealth
that went to the Gucci family from their luxury goods business, rather than to
their employees or the tax authorities, to the former for their hard work and
long hours and having to put up with the vicious abusive tantrums of the
company's owners, and to the latter what was their due by law.The conspicuous consumption, of especially
the 1980s, turned this reader's stomach.
If you are someone who prefers non-fiction reading to
fiction reading, like me, you'll enjoy every word in the book.Truth is stranger than fiction, and the truth
of the Gucci family is especially strange.
From the book's description:
The gripping family drama—and never-before-told love
story—surrounding the rise and fall of the late Aldo Gucci, the man responsible
for making the legendary fashion label the powerhouse it is today, as told by
his daughter.
Patricia Gucci was born a secret: the lovechild whose birth could have spelled
ruination for her father, Aldo Gucci. It was the early 1960s, the halcyon days
for Gucci—the must-have brand of Hollywood and royalty—but also a time when
having a child out of wedlock was illegal in Italy. Aldo couldn't afford a
public scandal, nor could he resist his feelings for Patricia's mother, Bruna,
the paramour he met when she worked in the first Gucci store in Rome. To avoid
controversy, he sent Bruna to London after she became pregnant, and then
discretely whisked her back to Rome with her newborn hidden from the Italian
authorities, the media, and the Gucci family.
The author, a highly respected biblical scholar, describes
in this book "40 Biblical Mistranslations, Misconceptions, and other
Misunderstandings".
Considering the
age of the Bible texts, and the complications of translation, and the very
foreign cultures that produced the Bible, there are many more than 40 items the
author could have addressed in his book.He's picked the ones that come up most often in modern society.
The author also highlights five reasons only linguistic,
history and theology scholars should interpret the Bible, not lay persons;
these are also the five reasons there are so many mistaken meanings given to
biblical passages:
1. Deep ignorance of biblical and Hebrew history, as well as
the history of language and the translations of the Bible.
2. Many believe the results of historical accidents and the
popular spread of misinterpretations, assuming they are in the Bible.
3. A cultural gap between the people who wrote the Bible and
the people reading it today, especially concerning obscure history and
language, and the allegorical stories, numerological flourishes, rhetorical
tricks, and the poetry of the Bible being taken literally by some modern
readers.
4. Meanings obscured by mistranslations and poetic license
by translators.
5. Selective quotation and quoting out of context too often
used to misrepresent biblical meanings to further a personal agenda, ignoring
the many contradictions in the Bible.
Since I've always understood that the Bible is a book of poetry,
allegory, philosophy, religious tracts, and some history dressed up with
rhetorical flourishes, this book preaches to the choir in my case.He tries to warn people to not tale the Bible
literally since it was never intended to be taken literally.
The scholarly author's heart and mind are in the right
place, considering how many arguments in the public debate stem from religious
misinterpretations, but I suspect his prose is too dense, to the point of
gibberish at times, for the average lay reader.
One thought continued to run through my head as I waded
through the forty cases:the medieval
Church was probably right to ban vernacular translations of the Bible, since
the translations have led to such bloody strife based on mistranslations and
misinterpretations that continue to this day.
I suspect that the author's attempt to contribute
intelligent, reasonable and moderate views into public religious and social
debates will only end up in the hands of people open to rational thought and
scholarly input, and will not get into the hands of people who cherry-pick from
the Bible to support views that are biased and mean.
From the book's description:
The Bible Doesn't Say That explores what the Bible meant
before it was misinterpreted over the past 2,000 years.Acclaimed translator and biblical scholar Dr.
Joel M. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations,
misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible.
What does the Bible say about violence? About the Rapture? About keeping kosher? About marriage and
divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all
of these and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers
came to be misunderstood.
In forty short, straightforward chapters, he covers morality,
lifestyle, theology, and biblical imagery.
156 color photographs make this art and social history book about
the 1400s in Italy a real treasure.Large print runs allow the publisher to sell this quality hardback book
at a very reasonable price.If you have
a friend or relative who is an amateur Italian Rinascimento art historian, then you've just discovered their
perfect gift at a price that won't break the bank.
The subtitle of the book is "Art, Pleasure and
Power" because the focus is on how the Renaissance's powerful elite
commissioned art for two main reasons:for their own and their family's pleasure, and as a display of their
power to their subjects and to other power players.
The illustrations on this page are from a Book of Hours (Prayer Book) that was commissioned by Isabella d'Este (Aragon), which was recently auctioned off for over 300,000 dollars.
The text is scholarly.The images fit the text very well.I would have liked the image caption text to be larger and darker.If you love history and art, and you're
traveling to the places covered in this book, or have recently traveled there,
you should enjoy this book very much.
The displays of power and wealth by the rulers in Italy
during the 1400s included much more than the paintings and sculptures one sees
in museums when touring Italy.The
author discusses all that the city-state Princes and the minor royals of
Duchies, and the Popes commissioned:
buildings and city-renovation projects,
public parades and religious and secular festivals,
plays and musical compositions,
churches and religious community buildings,
commemorative medallions to give as gifts,
decorative arts like jewelry and glass and ivory carvings
and tapestries, and
illuminated works of literature.
The 1400s power centers studied in this book include:
Naples under Alphonse of Aragon
Urbino under Federico da Montefeltro
Ferrara under the Este family
Mantua under the Gonzaga family
Milan-Pavia under Ludovico "Il Moro"
These power centers were actually military dictatorships run
by either tyrants or benevolent Princes, along with a few so-called Republics
which were in reality oligarchies.
Foremost in their thoughts when commissioning art was their
own validation and aggrandizement in the eyes of everyone from their rival
family members, rival Princes, the Pope, their subjects and the Holy Roman
Emperor.
Family histories that purported to link the leader to
historical greats were popular commissions from writers. It is amusing to note that narcissistic,
wealthy people today emulate many of the commissions of the Renaissance (Rinascimento in Italian) elite.
Illumination art that included the family in monumental
historical and religious events was common.It reminds me of the reproduction paintings wealthy people can
commission today with the rich person's family members' faces replacing the
original faces.
Ancient Roman style commemorative medallions attempted to
show the link to the Roman Empire, with families often claiming to be descended
from the ancient elite.
Behind all the pomp and self-serving commissions there was
also pure pleasure as the author points out:
Against the backdrop of constant warfare, factional
rivalry, popular unrest, arbitrary violence, devastating plague epidemics and a
litany of everyday concerns, there were real pleasure, spiritual nourishment
and consolation to be found in the arts and scholarship that the courts
commissioned and consumed.
This is a quality scholarly book sold at an insanely
reasonable price.
From the book's description:
In this fascinating study, Alison Cole explores the
distinctive uses of art at the five great secular courts of Naples, Urbino,
Ferrara, Mantua, and Milan. The princes who ruled these city-states, vying with
each other and with the great European courts, relied on artistic patronage to
promote their legitimacy and authority. Major artists and architects, from
Mantegna and Pisanello to Bramante and Leonardo da Vinci, were commissioned to
design, paint, and sculpt, but also to oversee the court's building projects
and entertainments.
The courtly styles that emerged from this intricate landscape are examined in
detail, as are the complex motivations of ruling lords, consorts, nobles, and
their artists. Drawing on the most recent scholarship, Cole presents a vivid
picture of the art of this extraordinary period.
Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com, where it is
only available in the quality hardback edition:
Please visit the publisher's website for more information on
the subject in their "Associated Materials" section, and follow them on Facebook.
Ever wonder what it was like to live in Italy before and
during WWII?This book gives the best
idea I've come across, probably because the author based it all on her own
family's experiences and accounts of other people they knew personally.
Francesco's Song is only lightly fictionalized, so the truth
shines through about the author's father, Francesco, and her mother,
Francesca.They were children near Bari
in Italy's south when Mussolini and his black shirted Fascists came to power.
The brainwashing of the children began early, and the
Fascists worked hard to build a cult around their leader, Benito
Mussolini.It is interesting to see that
the older people were often more skeptical of the political bombast.
By 1929, when Italy was having its love affair with Il
Duce, Francesco was eight years old.
Because the story follows her parents, and Italy, from 1928
through to the post war era, we get to see how the children grew up to see the
harsh reality of their leaders' militarism.They were left with great skepticism of any political leadership and any
-ism.
Francesco is the main person we follow from a Fascism
inculcated childhood in a household run most of the time by his mother, a white
widow, as the neighbors called a woman whose husband spent most of the year
abroad to earn a living.
So many men in town had left.Some had gone to South America, to cities in
Argentina and Brazil, but Francesco's father had gone, like so many others, to
New York City.
We go with Francesco to young adulthood when he falls in
love with Francesca.That is when we
pick up her story, and learn that she struggles more under the paternalistic
traditions of Italy, and especially of southern Italy.As her mother says:
You'll get married and you'll have a family.What do you need school for?
Marriage comes young for a woman in that sort of society.
At eighteen years of age, Francesca had already
received marriage proposals from several suitors who had sent go-betweens to
her mother's house.
Then comes Francesco's required military service.Like all clever young men, he chose his
branch of the military just before getting drafted, so he served in the
prestigious Carabinieri Reali.
That brought him to Dobrovna, Yugoslavia, where fought and
suffered from the violence, with traces of that suffering trailing him all his
life long.The life of the soldier is
well described.The author makes good
use of her father's letters to his fidanzata in this section of the book.
The post war period is interesting for the cultural
frustration Francesco suffered when he returned to the very socially and
religiously repressive south of Italy.Like all people who've spent time away from a repressive society, or who
enjoyed some relief from it, like Francesca during the difficult war years, it
was impossible to be happy back in that environment.
Once away from the small universe of his childhood,
his eyes had been opened and now he was not so quick to accept what had once
seemed carved in stone.This was true
especially regarding the church...
That's when the choice came to go either to the north of
Italy, or abroad.Since both of them had
fathers and even a sibling in the United States already for years, their
emigration to America was simpler than trying to find a good job anywhere in
Italy.
The description of how looking for work in Italy operated in
the 1950srings true with my experiences
when living there in the 1980s.Exams,
competitions, recommendations, friends of friends needed, political
juice...What I hear from friends in
Italy, the situation has still not improved much, and it still pushes talented
young Italian to emigrate.
The story is told in the classic omniscient narrative style,
but it is done with a light touch, and at times the author limits the point of
view of the narration to just one character.It is a wonderful choice for this story.It lets us get to know so many interesting people intimately.
Don't worry if you are not up on your WWII history.The author fills the reader in on what he needs
to know along the way.The result is a
very personal story that also has a wide appeal.
Francesco and Francesca's story is theirs, and it is also
the story of thousands of other Italians who chose to leave Italy after
WWII.If you have relatives among the
Italian diaspora of that era and age, reading this book is a good way of
connecting with their experiences.
From the book's description:
Set amidst the drama of Fascist Italy, Francesco’s Song is
the gripping story of one man’s struggle to survive. Based on family history, C.M. Furio tells the
poignant story of young Francesco as he grows up in the small seaside town of
Mola di Bari. The saga of birth, love
and death in rural southern Italy unfolds as Italy becomes involved in the
cataclysm of world events.
Francesco’s carefree youth ends when the oratory of
Mussolini and the false sense of patriotism seduces him and he joins the
military police of the Italian armed forces, the Carabinieri Reali. Stationed in Yugoslavia and later in Milan,
everything he treasures is threatened as he confronts events during the war and
witnesses firsthand the destruction of his homeland.
Fleeing from the occupying Nazi, Francesco is sheltered by
sympathizers of a growing resistance movement. He enters the darkest period of his life where
his only dream is to be reunited with his family and the love of his life,
Francesca.
Based on letters and war-time documents found in the
author’s family home Francesco’s Song is a moving portrayal of the struggles of
the Italian people during the war years and the customs that bound them. It is the story of an immigrant who never lost
the love for his homeland and who valued family above all else.
Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:
Mola di Bari, Francesco's hometown is seen here from above, today:
The subtitle of this non-fiction book is The Untold Story of
Luigi Del Bianco.The journalist-author
sets out to "correct an egregious injustice" and to get for the
Italian-American stonemason/sculptor, who was the Chief Carver on the Mt.
Rushmore project from 1933-40, the "kudos" which he "rightfully
and richly" deserves.
It is a commendable goal, and the story of that struggle by
the author and the man's family continues beyond this book, with progress being
made each day.
The author presents his case well, with help from the Del
Bianco family's research among the papers of Gutzon Borglum, the Master
Sculptor of the Mr. Rushmore project, in the Library of Congress, where Borglum
praises his Chief Carver above all the other people on the project, stressing
Luigi Del Bianco's importance to the project's artistic success.
Many fascinating interviews, correspondence, facts and
varied background information collected by the author provide a broad picture
for the reader of who Luigi Del Bianco was, what he did, and why he and other Chief
Carvers have not been included in the story of Mr. Rushmore written by other
authors and the park service, which manages the site.
Luigi Del Bianco
Like many Italian immigrants who contributed significantly
to their new countries, Luigi Del Bianco is recognized in his hometown in
Italy.The story of Italian stonemasons
and sculptors who emigrated to America could fill a whole book by itself.
The author does a good job telling the reader about where those
men came from in Italy, where they often went to in America, and what they
accomplished in their new country.An
immigrant journey to a new life is, as always, a fascinating one.
"History has not treated Luigi Del Bianco very kindly."
No, it hasn't.
So, why have the Chief Carvers of Mt. Rushmore been put in
the back seat very far behind the Master Carver Gutzon Borglum?There are many reasons, mainly valid ones,
for that, since the Master (Maestro) Artisan always takes full credit for art
created with the help of apprentices.
Why has Luigi Del Bianco been written out of the history of
Mt. Rushmore, even in books purporting to be about the team behind the Master
Carver?There are more complex reasons
for that, into which the author bravely delves.
Luigi Del Bianco on Mt. Rushmore
Real history is usually ugly, and for that reason people
tend to clean it up for modern consumption, through the romanticization of it,
the editing of it, and even the obliteration of it.There is much ugliness in the real history of
the Mt. Rushmore project.The
romanticization, editing and erasure of history has happened there by the wagon-load.
The carved mountain face was conceived by the Ku Klux Klan
leader Borglum to be a piece of monumental art dedicated to the Manifest Destiny
nonsense U.S. politicians and businessmen invented to validate their greedy
push to take all the territory between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Borglum fought to have Teddy Roosevelt included on the rock
face, because Roosevelt was a hero for many greedy businessmen, who saw
President Roosevelt as a man who would extend U.S. Manifest Destiny to lands
beyond the North American continent, to create a U.S. Empire.
Gutzon Borglum
The Mt. Rushmore project began in South Dakota just when the
Klan, which had been revived to fight immigration, especially of Catholics, and
even more specifically of Italian Catholics, had been elected to offices
throughout the western states.
Luigi Del Bianco, a U.S. citizen since 1928, and his family,
moved there at precisely that time, and they suffered bigotry and ostracism
from the white local residents and many of the local workmen on the Mt.
Rushmore project.
As you can imagine, many locals wouldn't want to wash their
dirty linen in public, especially when that linen contained a pointed
hood.If they were to give Luigi Del
Bianco his due in the project, the evil, bullying treatment he and his family
received would have to be recognized as well, along with the Klan's history in
South Dakota.
The Del Biancos found friends in the local Native Americans,
who welcomed the family who was ostracized just as they were.That too would have to be recognized if Luigi
Del Bianco were written back into the history of Mt. Rushmore.
Of course, that would bring up the upsetting history of Mt.
Rushmore being a holy site for the Natives, that was cruelly defaced with the
representations of four people who symbolically represented the centuries long
massacre of Native Americans.
From the late 1400s to the late 1800s, 20 million Native Americans
died from disease, war and starvation.If that were put in modern terms, in relation to the population at the
time of the massacre, it would be as if 92 million people were killed today to
free up land.
As a side note, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which
occurred over the same period, took 18 million lives, which in today's terms
would be 83 million lives.That is an
awful lot of death for one nation to have on its conscience, so it is no wonder
that the ugly truths of that history have so often been romanticized, edited,
and obliterated.
Some strides have been taken very recently to put the real
history back into the flag-waving, rah-rah monument, the so-called Shrine to
Democracy, that Mt. Rushmore was made into for the modern car-tourism era,
obliterating some ugly history so the locals and the Federal Government could
earn some money.That is
commendable.
The author of this book aims to have more strides made, more
quickly, and that is commendable too.With the family's help, and the help of many Italian-American
organizations, and with some politicians, and some park service employees, it
may come to happen.This book is part of
that effort.
On another level, the book presents an intelligent study of
the three forms of human response to threats of change to their romanticized,
edited and obliterated histories:
wonderfully enlightened cooperation,
self-serving co-opting of the issue, and
dogged obstructionism involving passive ostracism and active
hostility.
Three Books
Here are the descriptions and Amazon links for three books
that together present an intelligent image of Mt. Rushmore and Luigi Del Bianco,
with as little historical romanticization, editing and obliteration as possible.
Carving a Niche for Himself by Douglas J. Gladstone
Luigi Del Bianco may not be a household name to many historians, but he should be. He played an integral role in the creation of Mount Rushmore, specifically, that of chief carver. Was Del Bianco slighted due to his Italian heritage? Gladstone more than suggests he was. This book will be an inspiration to Italian Americans everywhere, and sheds new light on the role of Italians in America's history.
In the Shadow of the Mountain: Luigi's Story by Lou Del Bianco and Camille Cribari-Linen
The year is 1935. Italian immigrant Luigi Del Bianco, a classically trained artist, is the chief carver on Mount Rushmore. Luigi brings his wife Nicoletta and his three small sons out to South Dakota to live with him while he assists sculptor Gutzon Borglum do what has never been done before: carve a mountain. As “Bianco” climbs 500 feet in the air to bring “refinement of expression” to the faces, he is met with nothing but resistance and resentment from the powers that be on the project.
His pay is withheld for weeks and in the words of Borglum, Luigi has had “chronic sabotage” directed against him by the office staff in Rapid City. When Luigi quits the work, all carving on the faces comes to a halt. Borglum persuades Luigi to stay because “he is worth more than any 3 men in America for this kind of work”. Luigi’s family fares no better. His sons are ridiculed for being “greaseballs” by the local bullies and Nicoletta finds herself a stranger in the far reaches of her own country.
“In the Shadow of the Mountain” gives Luigi Del Bianco long overdue recognition for his invaluable contribution to our nation’s most iconic memorial. Co- authors Lou Del Bianco (Luigi's grandson) and Camille Cribari-Linen tell a story about fulfilling a dream; dealing with intolerance; forming unlikely friendships and family connections. It’s a story emerging from of the shadow of the mountain …Luigi’s story.
Great White Fathers by John Tagliaferro
Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, hoped
that ten thousand years from now, when archaeologists came upon the four
sixty-foot presidential heads carved in the Black Hills of South
Dakota, they would have a clear and graphic understanding of American
civilization.
Borglum, the child of Mormon polygamists, had an
almost Ahab-like obsession with Colossalism--a scale that matched his
ego and the era. He learned how to be a celebrity from Auguste Rodin;
how to be a political bully from Teddy Roosevelt. He ran with the Ku
Klux Klan and mingled with the rich and famous from Wall Street to
Washington. Mount Rushmore was to be his crowning achievement, the
newest wonder of the world, the greatest piece of public art since
Phidias carved the Parthenon.
But like so many episodes in the
saga of the American West, what began as a personal dream had to be
bailed out by the federal government, a compromise that nearly drove
Borglum mad. Nor in the end could he control how his masterpiece would
be received. Nor its devastating impact on the Lakota Sioux and the
remote Black Hills of South Dakota.
Great White Fathers is at
once the biography of a man and the biography of a place, told through
travelogue, interviews, and investigation of the unusual records that
one odd American visionary left behind. It proves that the best American
stories are not simple; they are complex and contradictory, at times
humorous, at other times tragic.
Some Interesting Links
Luigi Del Bianco's family has a wonderful website dedicated
to their relative.
A man in South Dakota did find a pointed hood in the family
linen, literally, and that led to his digging up some of the buried ugly
history in his state about the Klan and his family and his neighbors' families
involvement with it.Here is an article about that man.
Gutzon Borglum was a brown-nosing, fame-seeking, ego-driven
man, who associated with some very nasty types to get his name in the history
books.His other attempt at a monumental
piece of art carved into the side of a mountain, was in Atlanta, Georgia, to
commemorate the Confederate leaders who fought to keep slavery, and to commemorate
the Klan who succeeded in keeping the freed slaves subservient during
Reconstruction.The Klan was resurrected
again during the Civil Rights Era when their Reconstruction Era efforts were
overturned.Here is an article of interest about the Klan's involvement in the Stone Mountain Monument.
Stephen Pinker, of Harvard University, is the author of the
study comparing deathly events from history in terms of the population at the
time of the deaths.Here is an interesting article.
Mt. Rushmore is the subject of quite a few documentaries and
books.Here is a link to the PBS documentary
that you can view on-line.
