Between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, the Oriental world, both the African and the exotic one as well, becomes a land of inventions where set designers, as many artists of that time, mix their archeological knowledge with the ecleptism of imagination. And perhaps, it is easier to catch the features of Antonio Basoli's sensitivity in the events set out of Europe as well as the attention that he points out in the cultural incentives of his period and in the growing exoticism, meant to be an attraction carried out by a far away past which can, either for simile or opposition, become a pattern for the Western world. Basoli deeply feels the fascination of far away worlds by reading the sources, which will be searched out trough unpublished documents that where already circulating in Europe; however, this fascination reveals a strong ambivalence: it's the mind of a Western artist who interprets the Oriental artistic culture trough linguistic devices still bound to the rules of a prospective science, which is maybe unable to get a visual perception of time and space extremely different. As a matter of fact, in the panels that keep that memory of his exhibitions (The Temple od Osiris in Egypt, The Chinese Square, The Indian Pagoda, The Sidi-Ali menagerie in Algeri, The Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, etc.), you can appreciate the detailed attention he paid to research traditions, customs and monuments of the people and the countries where the stories he displays are set. In the meantime you can notice, however, how that never turns into philological practice, as imagination allows Basoli to choose among the iconographic sources he has at his disposal, in order to isolate some particularly meaningful features which will be understood as a deal of a specific environment. By identifying architectural elements which allow the visitor to recognize the physical place where the story is set, the set designer, although he isolates them through prospective binoculars, he ignores their anthropological space, risking therefore violating their identity.
Tra la fine del Settecento e gli inizi dell’Ottocento, il mondo orientale, africano o più esotico, diviene un terreno di invenzione in cui gli scenografi, come tanti artisti del tempo, mischiano le conoscenze archeologiche con l’ecclettismo dell’immaginazione. E forse, sono proprio le vicende ambientate fuori dall’Europa quelle in cui meglio è possibile scorgere le caratteristiche della sensibilità di Antonio Basoli (1774-1843) e l’attenzione che egli riserva agli stimoli culturali della sua epoca e al nascente esotismo, inteso come attrazione esercitata da un passato lontano che può, per similitudine o opposizione, divenire modello per l’occidente. Basoli sente forte il fascino dei mondi lontani leggendo le fonti, che saranno indagate attraverso documenti inediti, che circolavano in Europa; ma questa fascinazione svela una profonda ambivalenza: è l’occhio di un artista dell’Occidente che interpreta la cultura artistica orientale con strumenti linguistici ancora legati ai canoni di una scienza prospettica, forse incapace di cogliere una percezione visiva del tempo e dello spazio profondamente diversa. Infatti, nelle tavole che conservano la memoria dei suoi allestimenti (Il tempio d’Osiri in Egitto, Piazza cinese, Pagoda indiana, Un serraglio di Sidi-Ali in Algeri, Tempio del Sole a Cuzco, ecc.) si può apprezzare la scrupolosa cura nel documentarsi circa usi, costumi e monumenti dei popoli e paesi dove si svolgono le storie che metterà in scena; nello stesso tempo si può notare, tuttavia, come non si trasformi mai in puro esercizio filologico, in quanto l’immaginazione permette a Basoli di scegliere tra le fonti iconografiche a sua disposizione, in modo tale da isolare alcuni caratteri particolarmente significativi che vengono assunti come cifra di un determinato ambiente. Nell’individuare gli elementi architettonici che permettono allo spettatore di riconoscere il luogo fisico in cui è ambientata la vicenda, lo scenografo, tuttavia, isolandoli attraverso un cannocchiale prospettico, ne ignora lo spazio antropologico rischiando di violarne l’identità.
Qualche riflessione sulla fascinazione esotista nelle scenografie di Antonio Basoli
Valeria Rubbi
2019
Abstract
Between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, the Oriental world, both the African and the exotic one as well, becomes a land of inventions where set designers, as many artists of that time, mix their archeological knowledge with the ecleptism of imagination. And perhaps, it is easier to catch the features of Antonio Basoli's sensitivity in the events set out of Europe as well as the attention that he points out in the cultural incentives of his period and in the growing exoticism, meant to be an attraction carried out by a far away past which can, either for simile or opposition, become a pattern for the Western world. Basoli deeply feels the fascination of far away worlds by reading the sources, which will be searched out trough unpublished documents that where already circulating in Europe; however, this fascination reveals a strong ambivalence: it's the mind of a Western artist who interprets the Oriental artistic culture trough linguistic devices still bound to the rules of a prospective science, which is maybe unable to get a visual perception of time and space extremely different. As a matter of fact, in the panels that keep that memory of his exhibitions (The Temple od Osiris in Egypt, The Chinese Square, The Indian Pagoda, The Sidi-Ali menagerie in Algeri, The Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, etc.), you can appreciate the detailed attention he paid to research traditions, customs and monuments of the people and the countries where the stories he displays are set. In the meantime you can notice, however, how that never turns into philological practice, as imagination allows Basoli to choose among the iconographic sources he has at his disposal, in order to isolate some particularly meaningful features which will be understood as a deal of a specific environment. By identifying architectural elements which allow the visitor to recognize the physical place where the story is set, the set designer, although he isolates them through prospective binoculars, he ignores their anthropological space, risking therefore violating their identity.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
