{"id":1055,"date":"2021-09-28T13:01:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T17:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2021-09-30T15:52:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T19:52:37","slug":"common-grave-a-painting-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/2021\/09\/common-grave-a-painting-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Grave: A Painting Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part I: How it all started<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In January 2013, I had the good fortune of visiting the Fontanelle Cemetery<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 “Il cimitero delle Fontanelle (in napoletano, ‘e Funtanelle<\/em>)” in Naples, Italy. This fantastic cemetery — really an ossuary — a repository of tens of thousands of human remains, is one of the more unique and bizarre attractions in an ancient city full of the unique and bizarre.
It appears that Fontanelle got its start in the early 16th century when neighborhood churchyards in the city, the preferred location for burials, were overflowing with the deceased. Older bodies were moved to an artificial cave carved into the volcanic bedrock of the Neapolitan hills, then just beyond the city limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
At the entrance to the Fontanelle Cemetery, January 2013.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These bodies were added to over the succeeding centuries: plague victims found their final resting place here along with those too poor for a proper burial.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the cave was an unsightly, disgraceful mess. In 1872, Father Gaetano Barbati had the remains organized and a small church was constructed at the entrance to the cave.
A cult of devotion sprung up around the skulls and bones, reaching its apogee by the mid-20th century. Feeling that the whole thing had descended into fetishim, Cardinal Ursi of Naples closed it down in 1969. It remained closed until the 21st century.
Fortunately, it was restored and reopened. What restorations were actually undertaken, I don’t know. When I visited in early 2013, the remains appeared as if untouched for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Inside Fontanelle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Human remains as objects of devotion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I must have taken hundreds of photographs (digital photography just makes this too easy), and soon conceived a desire to make art from my experience. Following a long period of gestation, I finally began working on my Common Grave polyptych toward the end of 2017. The first two canvases were completed by mid-2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Panel III of the polyptych, the first completed, mid-2018 (but not yet signed until all the panels are complete).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Common Grave, panel IV, oil on canvas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Further delays ensued, but finally I am on the verge of completing the project. My plan is to have this project complete in time for this year’s Gowanus Open Studios<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Common Grave, panels III and IV together on the easel, summer 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coming Next<\/strong>: details of the project and final steps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part I: How it all started In January 2013, I had the good fortune of visiting the Fontanelle Cemetery \u2013 “Il cimitero delle Fontanelle (in napoletano, ‘e Funtanelle)” in Naples, Italy. This fantastic cemetery — really an ossuary — a repository of tens of thousands of human remains, is one of the more unique and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Common Grave: A Painting Project - How I started.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,16],"tags":[7,10,125,20,21],"class_list":["post-1055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-studio-notes","tag-art","tag-johnazelvandre","tag-mementomori","tag-oil","tag-painting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/CG-blog-postI-3.jpg?fit=1500%2C1004","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5zpKF-h1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":638,"url":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/2016\/02\/a-new-year-well-underway-lifeworlds-continues\/","url_meta":{"origin":1055,"position":0},"title":"A new year well underway, Lifeworlds continues","author":"John Azelvandre","date":"February 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello everyone from frigid New York City on this Valentine's Day 2016! I've been retooling my studio set-up and finally (last weekend) completed the first*\u00a0second oil painting of 2016 (and the next in the Lifeworld series). \u00a0So here we have it: Lifeworld 36 continues the adventure. I've also been exploring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Skull-sketch-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Skull-sketch-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Skull-sketch-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Skull-sketch-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1069,"url":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/2021\/09\/common-grave-a-painting-project-continued\/","url_meta":{"origin":1055,"position":1},"title":"Common Grave: A Painting Project – continued","author":"John Azelvandre","date":"September 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Part II: The Composition and the Process As I mentioned in my previous post, a 'cult of devotion' developed around the skulls and bones found in the Fontanelle cemetery. It is very much a religious, or at least 'cultic' site. And why not? Why shouldn't all these remains, representing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/CG-blog-postI-15.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/CG-blog-postI-15.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/CG-blog-postI-15.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/CG-blog-postI-15.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67,"url":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/2015\/01\/featured-painting-of-the-week-magnolia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1055,"position":2},"title":"Featured painting of the week – “Magnolia”","author":"John Azelvandre","date":"January 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm featuring a different painting each week. \u00a0To start this series off, I present to you Magnolia, an oil painting I created in May 2014. \u00a0This painting was inspired by photos I took of some lovely Magnolia trees in a city park in Manhattan. The color palette is very simple:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20140507-800px.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20140507-800px.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20140507-800px.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20140507-800px.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":498,"url":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/2015\/06\/featured-painting-of-the-week-lifeworld-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1055,"position":3},"title":"Featured Painting of the Week: Lifeworld 2","author":"John Azelvandre","date":"June 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My apologies - It's been quite a few weeks since I've posted a \"featured painting.\" Life has a way of happening. But better late than never! This week I'm featuring Lifeworld 2, an intriguing work from 2012 -- one of the very early pieces in my ongoing Lifeworld Series. \u00a0Lifeworld\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lifeworld 2, oil on canvas, 20x20in., 2012.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/A20120809-3-800px.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/A20120809-3-800px.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/A20120809-3-800px.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/A20120809-3-800px.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107,"url":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/2015\/01\/featured-painting-of-the-week-i-will-plant-companionship-thick-as-trees\/","url_meta":{"origin":1055,"position":4},"title":"Featured painting of the week: “I will plant companionship thick as trees …”","author":"John Azelvandre","date":"January 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This week's featured painting is a piece I created back in 2010 for a special exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Calamus edition of Walt Whitman's celebrated Leaves of Grass. The title of the piece, \"I will plant companionship thick as trees\" is a quote from one of Whitman's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20100118-galleryshot.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20100118-galleryshot.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20100118-galleryshot.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/A20100118-galleryshot.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113,"url":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/2015\/01\/studio-notes-the-paysage-in-progress-continued\/","url_meta":{"origin":1055,"position":5},"title":"Studio Notes – the paysage in progress, continued","author":"John Azelvandre","date":"January 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As noted last week, I'm blogging the progress on a new landscape (a \"paysage plan\u00e9taire\" in the spirit of Ferdinand Hodler). \u00a0On Sunday, I completed the underpainting: Tonight, I had very little time to get into it, so I just worked on the sky and water - the blue areas,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Underpainting completed, Paysage plan\u00e9taire, oil on canvas, 24x24\", in progress","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/paysage-progress-4-1024x685.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/paysage-progress-4-1024x685.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/paysage-progress-4-1024x685.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1055"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1092,"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions\/1092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/azelvandre.net\/artistseye\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}