A SOON-TO-BE LOST ART?

Florence is probably losing one of its most particular forms of street and religious art, made by the madonnari, who decorate pavements with Virgin Mary’s images.

Madonnari began as itinerant folk artists, which used to paint their sacred images during religious festivals all around Italy. Giotto is told to be the first madonnaro, followed by Cimabue.
Modern madonnari only copy some masterworks in lots of streets in the city centre.
The Florence municipal district hasn’t already made the authorization which should allow them to paint on the pavement of Via Calimala. After this failure, the spokesman for the International Madonnari Association, Claudio Sgobino, chained himself in Piazza Signoria and proclaimed that he would have gone on a hunger strike until the commune had finished its authorization.
Moreover, their art’s going to become too much expensive for them: in fact they will have to pay, for the year 2008, about 225 percent more than in 2007.
Madonnari obviously don’t agree with these terms because they say they should be free, they don’t like academy or galleries, they’re self-taught, so they should need to practise their art without paying anything.
Anyway, Sgobino says he will continue to fight Florence administration because it’s said to “limit the creation of art and freedom of artists in the city”.

Filippo Contardi - Martina Goretti