Life & Times of Almerico from Schio

Recently Cooperativa Trama organised a city walk to introduce the life and times of Almerico da Schio, known as the inventor of the first airship in Italy. Last year, I had visited the "Da Schio" family library, which has some precious manuscripts and written about the library as well as, about the first airship built by Almerico. This post focuses on some of the interesting things I learned from this city walk.

The image below is a street mural about Almerico in the city square dedicated to his name, built in the old lands of Da Schio family (click on the picture for a bigger view).

Before I start, a brief note - while Almerico's family used "Da Schio" (from Schio) as its family name, that appellation can also be added to persons from Schio, thus not all persons known as "da Schio" may necessarily belong to the family. 

Da Schio family tombs at St Francis church 

Our city walk started from this 13th century church of Schio, known for a beautiful painting of Francesco Verla and an old choir room made in wood at the back of its altar. This was an opportunity to talk about the family of Almerico.

Da Schio has been an important family in Schio since around 1500s when they had received the noble title of Count from the emperor. Almerico was born in 1836 in one of the family homes in Costozza, about 50 km from Schio. Some of the Da Schio family members are buried inside the St Francis church, where their tombs are located right in front of the altar, which can be recognised by the family coat-of-arms, which includes an imperial eagle and a two tailed mermaid.

It may have started as a humbler farming family and the earliest records are from 11-12th centuries. They owned all the farming land starting from the right and front of Schio's Duomo church in the city centre, up to the St Francis church and parts of Valletta.

One of the first well-known persons from the family was a Dominican priest in 13th century, Fr Giovanni da Schio. Another important person in the family was Girolamo da Schio (also known as G. Bencucci) in the 16 century, who was close to different popes and had become the bishop of Vaison in France, who was responsible for the nobility title of this family. Terracotta busts of both these persons can be seen the Jaquard gardens of Schio. 

Almerico's father was a well-known archaeologist and had a beautiful Gothic house in Corso Palladio in Vicenza, Ca d'Oro. Almerico became famous for making the first airship in Italy, which had its first flight in Schio in 1905.

The Football Arena in Valletta 

The family was also involved in construction of a sports arena in a natural depression called Valletta near the St Francis church in 1852, which had stairs around it for people to sit and watch football matches. Different personalities of Schio of that period, including Alessandro Rossi, Giovanni da Schio and Clemente Fusinato contributed funds to make the area oval-shaped and to build the stairs. Unfortunately, part of those stairs collapsed and some persons were injured. Those stairs were later removed, but the place with the depression, denoting the area still exists and used for play. The old print of the sports arena below is from Schio Cultura. In it, you can see Schio's Duomo church in the background (click on the image for a bigger view)

Schio's poet, Arnaldo Fusinato was also there to watch a match and later, he wrote a poem about playing football, titled, "Un impressione autunnale", in which a ball hit him on the face and he lost of one of his teeth. 

The Family Arch near St. Mary Chapel

All this area was farm-land of the Da Schio family, and was known as "Brolo del signor Conte".

The road coming down from the Castel-hill and going towards St. Francis was separated from the farm by a wall on both sides, part of which can be seen in the old photograph on the signboard near the St Mary chapel from 1400s.

Near the chapel, there was the old water spring called Gaminella, water from which went into Gaminella canal today mostly hidden under Via Gaminella, except for a tiny bit close to the chapel. There was a time, when this canal ended in a lake in this area.

An arch built during 1700s still remains from the old wall. If you look carefully, you can see the coat of arms with twin-tailed mermaid and the words F.S. for the Da Schio family on the arch. The arch has two pyramid-shaped decorations resting on round stones on the sides. Some years ago, a professor noticed that there are Latin words written on the arch. These words are mostly family recommendations to the people, such as, "One who asks will receive and who knocks on the door, it will be opened", "Stealers remain always poor",and, "Don't take loan if you can't pay". The image below shows the arch.

Later, part of Da Schio family building in front of Duomo church was demolished to create Via Capitano Sella.  

Almerico and Meteorology

Almerico studied law but he was not interested in that subject. He had interest in mathematics, astronomy, science and photography. While studying law in Padua, he had been an assistant to well-known astronomer Prof. Virgilio Trettenero. In those years, this part of Italy was under Austria and Almerico took part in cavort liberation and resistance activities.

His first job was as the director of the meteorological centre of Olympic Academy of Vicenza, which had one observatory. He recognised that this new discipline needed better understanding and decided to care observation centres in all the province. Over a period of next 20 years, he would help in creating 200 observation centres to study temperatures, rains, storms, etc., including in neighbouring regions, including one of the first centres in Schio in 1873, located on his own land (Image below shows the family gate with the twin-tailed siren from the coat of arms and the area where the meteorological centre was located) .

Bringing together all the data he had collected, he contributed to the foundation of national centre of meteorology. Development of this discipline also contributed to development of more precise measuring instruments.

The study of weather patterns was very useful for agriculture, including their own farm production. He helped his brother, engaged in agriculture in Costozza to start a new activity, growing cave-mushrooms.

Almerico's Collaborators & Friends 

Different persons collaborated with him on this. In Schio, his administrator Matteo Manea and his wife Minimina, were tasked with daily checking and noting the temperatures at specific times - 9 AM, 3 PM & 9 PM.

Almerico also wanted to create a centre for observing storms, for this he found a collaborator in Giovanni dal Pozzo, who was a tailor but who had a passion for astronomy and sciences. He was also a musician, playing Viola and a poet in the local dialect of Schio, and had translated an opera, Oralando Furioso, in the dialect. He had a big family and his wife had died. He also started a tavern called Osteria Cantarana, to earn some more money, on Almerico's land in the area near Via Baratto. Almerico helped him to get good wines for this tavern. 

Giovanni and Almerico became friends. Almerico wrote a booklet about instruments used for meteorological observations and in this mentioned the work of Giovanni.

Another friend of Almerico was Don Francesco Faccin, a local priest born in 1871, who was interested in astronomy. Schio's astronomical observatory located on Monte Novegno is named after Don Faccin and there is a city street in his name. Almerico wrote to Queen Margherita, to ask for a telescope for Don Faccin and this request was accepted by the queen. 

Another collaborator of Almerico was Giacomo Moracchioli who lived in Via Fusinato, in front of the church dedicated to St. Bakhita. He was a historian and interested in astronomy. He was in charge of the meteorological centre of Schio. He had build an observation tower on his roof. Both Almerico and Giacomo were passionate about mountains, and were part of the group which had created the Alpine group of Schio, which later became part of CAI-Vicenza (Italian Alpine Club) and introduced the importance of scientific study of the mountains.

Schio's Aqueduct

One of Almerico's most important contributions to Schio was the construction of city's water supply though an aqueduct. The idea of bringing water from surrounding mountains started being discussed in 1870s, because the city had grown and industries had polluted the local water sources. A priest called Don Michele Saccardo started the campaign for the aqueduct.

The first study on how to make an aqueduct was paid by Alessandro Rossi. This project proposed bringing water from the area of Poleo in cast iron pipes, but was considered too costly. A second project with stone-tubes was proposed, which reduced the cost a little but it was still considered too much.

Then Don Saccardo spoke to Almerico, who came up with a third project, which was approved by the municipal authorities but they didn't have the funds to cover all its cost. Almerico asked the citizens to make donations for building the aqueduct. About 100 families were promised that water-pines will come to their homes, while there will be public taps in 14 locations of the city.

The fund-collection was successful and the aqueduct was inaugurated on 18 June 1872, with a fountain with a nymph and a 27 metres high water-jet in front of Duomo. (Image show a painting belonging to Angela Rossi showing the aqueduct inauguration)

In Conclusion

Almerico da Schio had played an important role in carrying forward the ideas of scientific knowledge in 19th-20th centuries in different fields, especially astronomy, meteorology and air-ships. Italy's queen Margherita had come to Schio on 1 July 1905 to see one of his flights.

This post, based on a walking tour organised by Cooperativa Trama in 2025, focuses on some aspects of Almerico's life.

You can also check my post from 2024, in which I had written about Almerico's airship and the old books in his family's library in Schio.

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Some Beautiful Minerals from GM Museum of Schio

I like beautifully coloured minerals and I like to learn about ancient beliefs about the power of different minerals. For example, in India, based on people's astrological birth-charts, they are advised to wear certain mineral-stones to build up their positive energies and to counteract the negative influences. 

However, minerals have also played a fundamental role in the human history. In my first post about the  Geo-Mineralogic Museum (GMM) of Schio, their president Alessandro Sella had talked about the mineralogical history of Schio and surroundings starting from the Copper age mines.

This post is about some specific minerals from Schio and its surrounding areas. It also has information about 6 of my favourite exhibits from the GM museum.

Alessandro Sella about local minerals of Schio in the Museum 

I asked Alessandro Sella, president of the to tell me about the exhibits of the local areas around Schio. 

Alessandro: We have samples of the oldest Quartzite rocks present in this area, which are metamorphic rocks (1) primarily composed of quartz. These have more than 300 million years. These can be found in Pasubio valley, Torre Belvicino, Recoaro Terme, etc. They are important because these are the base for all the successive sedimentation leading to our mountains.

Then we have Yohansenite, a mineral found in Monte Civillina in our territory, which is recognised widely. For example, I found references to it in a book in Ottawa.

Around 15 years ago, some of our members, while on an excursion in Monte Trisa in Valle dei Mercanti, came across an old mine-complex, where the rare mineral Laurelite, as well as corkite and lanarkite were found.

We also have the quarries of Pearl-grey Marble in Val Posina along th Astico river, as well as in Ronchetta (in the Pasubio valley). These abandoned quarries were active around mid-18th century, and this marble was used also for the altar of the church in Valle del Pasubio.

Then there is the Sandstone of Val Gardena, which is a sedimentary rock that comes to the surface in the Pasubio valley and Torre Belvicino, cut into round-shaped stone disks with lathe machines, which were used for sharpening knives and scissors, as this sandstone is formed by sand which is rich in quartz, which is one of the toughest stones (7th on the Morse scale). The image below shows quarzite and sandstone specimens in the GM museum. (You can click on all the images for a bigger view) 

We also have the Agate stone (a kind of Chalcedony) found in the Timonchiello torrent which joins Timonchio, and comes down from San Rocco under the Tretto area of Schio. Agate is also a quartz, it is very beautiful stone even if the ones in Schio are not as colourful like the ones found in Brazil.

 

Among the precious stones, not so much in economic terms but in scientific terms, we have Pink Quartz from Campo Grosso. Then we have brucite (magnesium hydroxide) and magnetite (ferrous oxide), both from the pearl-grey marble quarries. We also have zircon (zirconium silicate) found in the caves of Novale. 

Among the minerals from other parts of the world, we have some big and imposing looking Amethyst from Brazil, which is a quartz stone in a shade of violet colour. 

My Personal favourite 6 minerals from GMM

To conclude this presentation of GM Museum of Schio, let me talk about 6 of my personal favourites.

Malachite: In the museum, there are two rocks with Malachite from Namibia with beautiful velvety looking green deposits over white crystals. It is composed of copper carbonate hydroxide. The name comes from Greek and literally means Mallow-green because it has the colour of Mallow leaves. Since ancient times, Malachite was used to produce copper as well as, used as a semi-precious stone. It was also used as a green pigment in paints. 

Xonotlite: The specimen in the museum is from Spagnago, south of Valdagno, not far from Schio. It is an ino-silicate mineral with prismatic or needle like crystals. Xonotlite is a luminescent mineral, producing grey-white florescence in short UV light. I like its creamy and chalky white flower-like appearance. 

Blue Smithsonite: The beautiful turquoise blue rock in the museum is from Sardinia. The zinc containing smithsonite mineral comes in different colours. It was discovered in 1802 by James Smithson, the person who donated money for the creation of the famous Smithsonian museum in the USA. People who believe in powers of crystals, say that it helps to calm the mind and they recommend it for anxiety, depression, low energy and even, shyness.

Iron Pyrite: It is also called Fool’s gold. Schio’s GM museum has different samples of this minerals, which were found when the tunnel connecting Schio and Valdagno was built in the 1990s. It is an iron sulfide mineral, with a metallic brass-yellow hue. Striking against pyrite can produce a spark and in 16-17th centuries, it was used in firearms.

I especially like the sample of reticulate pyrite found near Schio, it looks like a shining lace overlaid on a black rock (in the bottom-right part of the image below - click on the image for a bigger view).

Rhodochrosite: This red coloured manganese carbonate mineral sample in the museum is from Peru. Its name comes from Greek, Rhodo means Red, and Chrosite means coloured. For people who believe in the power of crystals, this stone is good for getting love and compassion and it is supposed to help you get over heart-break.

 Crocoite: The beautiful saffron-red prismatic needle like crystals of Crocoite are from Tasmania in Australia. It is a lead-chromate mineral. Its name comes from the Greek “crokos” which means saffron. It is too delicate for jewellery, while people believing in the power of crystals use it for energy, vitality and detoxification.

 

In Conclusion

If you want to visit the GM Museum in Schio, it is located in the old Cella Barracks on Via Pasubio, not far from the city centre. The museum is open on saturday afternoons from 3 to 7 PM and entrance to the museum is free.

When I had asked Alessandro about the name of Monti d'Oro (Gold mountains) near Schio, he had told me that it was only a legend and gold had never been found in this part of Italy. However, this area is rich in iron pyrite, which is also called Fool's Gold. Looking at the samples found in the Schio-Valdagno tunnel, they do look shiny like gold. Thus, I was thinking that may be the toponym Monti d'Oro had come from pyrite rocks. What do you think?

I also think that apart from the scientific and practical curiosity about rocks and minerals, since ancient times, human beings also associate specific, or even magical, powers with some minerals, and create stories, legends and myths about them. I think that a guided tour of the GM museum, which touches on those myths and legends about the minerals in GM museum would be very interesting.

If you visit this museum, do share your experiences in the comments below. You may also like to check my earlier post about this museum where I had spoken to Alessandro Sella, president of the GM Museum.

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Notes 1. Metamorphic rocks are formed when existing rocks are altered by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions deep within the Earth which changes the rock's mineralogy, texture, and chemical composition.

Aurangzeb's Tomb

As I read about the Aurangzeb controversy in India, I was reminded of my trip to his tomb in January 2020, just before the Covid pandemic.

I am no fan of Aurangzeb, I think that he was a bigot and perhaps even a psychopath. However, in this post, I want to write about my visit to his tomb and to explain why I think that the idea of destroying or desecrating his tomb is wrong.

At the end, I also want to talk a little bit about India's syncretic Ganga-Jamuni culture in relation to the Aurangzeb controversy.

Visit to Aurangzeb's Grave

I was in Aurangabad and had gone to visit the Ajanta caves. Living abroad, I always feel that I am losing touch with the India of ordinary people, thus, whenever possible, instead of taking cars, I try to travel by the public transport buses.

Coming back from Ajanta, I was sitting in front in the MSRT bus and talking to the driver, when he told me that the bus will pass through Khuldabad, where Aurangzeb was buried in 1707 CE. I told the bus driver to drop me there.

Khuldabad is a little town in the Aurangabad district, a little bigger than a village. The bus dropped me in a crowded market street and when I asked about the Aurangzeb tomb, people pointed to a simple looking mosque in a side street.

I was a little surprised that the Mughal emperor had his tomb in such an insignificant mosque in such an insignificant place.

Inside the mosque, his grave was immediately after the entrance, to the left side. The grave was surrounded by a marble-lattice (sangmarmar ki jaali) enclosure. There was no makbara or a monument, and his grave was just an open strip of ground, exposed to the rain and wind. A tree was planted in it but it seemed to be having difficulties growing.

The board near the grave said that Aurangzeb had died in Ahmadnagar, but was brought here, 130 kms away, because he wanted to be buried near the tomb of the 14th century sufi saint Zainuddin Shirazi. According to his wishes, no monument was built around his grave.

The marble enclosure and floor were made two centuries later by Lord Curzon and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The Mosque and Dargah of Zainuddin Dawood Husain Shirazi

The structure has different buildings, including the dargah of the sufi saint Zainuddin Shirazi, with his grave covered with a red chadar.

Near the sufi tomb there was a board with a list of 15-18 names starting from Prophet Mohammed  and leading to the name of Zainuddin Shirazi.

The caretaker had explained about that board and how the sufi saint of Irani origins was linked to the Prophet, but I don't remember it. At that time I had thought that I will write about it in my blog but then Covid arrived and I forgot all about it.

Near the saint's tomb, there was also a special niche made in the wall holding some relic or important Islamic symbol from Mecca.

The caretaker had also explained why that relic or symbol was considered holy, but I do not remember it now. Saint's tomb was located a proper makbara.

The mosque was located on the other side, in front of the saint's makbara (image below).

In the courtyard behind the makbara on one side, there were other religious structures, which looked like shrines of some kind. I have forgotten the details about them. You can see them in the image below.

It was a very simple and peaceful place and I could feel its sacredness and spirituality. It was wonderful to sit there and soak in its atmosphere.

How to do Namaz

As a child I grew up in front of a Muslim graveyard and not very far from the big Idgah of old Delhi. I have been to mosques in different countries around the world and I have watched persons doing the prayers (Namaz), but I was not aware of the whole process of how to do Namaz, and its different positions.

Outside this mosque in Khuldabad, I found a board (left) explaining the different positions assumed during namaz, with text in both Urdu and Hindi. I was fascinated by it.

You can see that board in the picture. It makes me think of a set of stretching exercises, somewhat similar to yoga, which means that apart from the religious significance of doing namaz, it might also be good for the body as an exercise. (You can click on the image for a bigger view)

Talks of Destroying Aurangzeb's Tomb

While not being an admirer of Aurangzeb, I do not agree with the idea of destroying or desecrating his tomb, for 2 main reasons:

(1) I think that Aurangzeb paid for his brutality and sins in his own life. He was 89 years old when he died and had been the Mughal emperor for almost fifty years. The last 25 years of his life were spent in the Deccan region of India, fighting different adversaries, especially the Marathas. Imagine spending all your old age, away from your home, fighting different wars, and dying far away from your family and children.

I think that killing other human beings extracts a price from us, it leaves a scar on our soul. The number of soldiers coming back from a war and suffering from PTSD, is one example of this negative impact of violence on ourselves. Imagine killing your brothers and sisters, and imprisoning your father - persons who had loved you and perhaps played with you when you were young. Could he just kill them all ruthlessly without paying a price for it psychologically? What lessons did his own children learn from their father? After being brutal to his father and siblings, did he become afraid of his own wives and children, that they could also kill him?

He sowed the seeds of hate and violence, he reaped the crops of those seeds. Look at his family history - after his death, his son Azam Shah became emperor for only 3 months. Then he, his brother and their children were all killed by another brother, who became the new emperor Bahadur Shah, but he lasted only for 5 years. He was succeeded by his son, who lasted one year and was killed. And their stories of killings go on.

Apart from the killings and destruction of families, Aurangzeb's reign started the decline of the Mughal dynasty and empire, from which they never recovered. Thus, I feel that Aurangzeb paid for his karma in his own life and through his descendents.

(2) I also believe that we can't think of destroying or desecrating sacred places of any religion, also because we have to remain true to ourselves and our beliefs. Personally, I believe in the message of Upanishads, Aham Brahmo Asti, that there is god in each one of us, without any exceptions. 

Aurangzeb's grave is open to the sky. After more than 300 years, I am not sure if you will find his bones. And even if you can find them and dig them out, what will you do to them? Is that going to vindicate you and give you any peace of mind?

Aurangzeb killed many persons, destroyed many temples and religious places, but then I hope that his soul made peace with what he had done and he could forgive himself. I certainly don't think that his actions gave him any happiness. He left behind an inheritance of hate and bloodshed. What would anyone else get today by destroying his grave?

On the other hand, his grave remains as a warning, a place for us to not forget him and to think about his life, about his inheritance and his impact. Hate and violence do not lead to happiness and prosperity, they can only lead to more hate and violence.

India's Syncretic Traditions of Ganga-Jamuni Culture

I grew up surrounded by ideas of living together and loving of different religions and cultures. During my extensive travels in India, I feel that among the ordinary people, those basic ideas of mutual love and respect are still alive today.

The caretaker of Aurangzeb's grave was very generous and kind in taking me around, showing me different parts of the shrines and explaining. I remember sitting with him in the courtyard, talking to him about the changing world and the future of our children and grandchildren, as old men tend to do everywhere. For me, that is the essence of Ganga-Jamuni culture - recognising, respecting and loving our essential humanity.

I feel that today this Ganga-Jamuni culture is under attack not only by the religious hardliners and bigots of the different religions, but also by persons of our civil society when they start differentiating between bigotries - they can only criticise some, and about the others, they prefer to keep quiet, or worse, try to justify, minimise or white-wash them.

 

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If you have read this far, perhaps you would also like to read my ideas about blasphemy (it is in my Hindi blog).

In the picture-credits above, the name of the place has been shown as Khulnabad instead Khuldabad - I regret that. All the pictures are by me.

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Yajnadevam's Indus Valley Script

Reading about the meanings and significance of the figures & inscriptions on Indus Valley seals is one of the enduring areas of my interest. It all started a couple of decades ago when I read some papers by Prof. Maurizio Tosi, head of archaeology department of Bologna university, and one of his researchers, Dennys Frenes. I have already written about it many times, especially in my Hindi blog.

Since then, every time someone claims to have understood those figures and signs from the Indus Valley, I try to read their papers. Most such papers are written by people who are passionate about the subject but do not have formal training to do such analysis.

This post is about a new paper by Bharath Kumar (Yajnadevam) on the deciphering of Indus Valley inscriptions, which seems interesting.

Yajnadevam Paper on Indus Valley Language

The researcher uploaded a 99 pages long paper titled "A cryptanalytic decipherment of the Indus script" on Academia website on 13 Nov. 2024. In the summary of this paper, he explains that through cryptographic analysis, he has found that "Indus script is a proto-abugida segmental" language, which means that it is a writing system that groups consonants and vowels into units.

He also explains that "Indus inscriptions are in grammatically correct post-Vedic Sanskrit" and through his analysis of more than 500 signs, he provides their understandable meanings. He also shows connections between the Indus Valley and the Brahmi scripts.

The Indus Valley alphabet is in allographs, which means that each letter of the alphabet can have some or many variations. I think that developing allographs over long periods and vast territories is to be expected, because there were no printing presses and scripts needed to be copied manually. Sometimes the allographs can be also be made for practical reasons by making conscious changes in the way some letters are written (for example, related to the surface of writing materials).

One difficulty of deciphering Indus Valley inscriptions has been the short number of signs in the Indus Valley seals - the median inscription length is about 5 signs and there are only about 50 inscriptions that are 10 signs or longer.

Yajnadevam explains that the oldest inscriptions are about 6000 years old, while the most recent ones are about 1700 years ago, and among the more recent ones, Indus Valley signs are sometimes mixed with Brahmi script signs. He also mentions a 3500 years old inscription in Belpahar, Odisha (Vikramkhol cave), which is half-way between Indus Valley and Brahmi scripts. About 83% of the inscriptions are from right to left.

Allographs of specific signs can lead to mistakes of 2 kinds - two different signs may be thought of as allograph of same sign; and, allographs of same sign can be interpreted as two different signs.

He underlines similarities between Indus Valley to Gupta period seals, and links them with specific shlokas from the Vedas. For example, he writes, "The contents of the Indus inscriptions are similar to Janapada coins and Gupta-era seals that they resemble. Long seals seem to use a concise Vedic concept as a motto or slogan." At the same time, he looks for origins from other languages such as Sumerian and old Akkadian.

The image below, presents the different allograph variations for some of the alphabet characters from his paper (click on images for a bigger view).

He concludes his paper with the following: "This is the only cryptanalytic decipherment and the only one that uses well-established mathematical models and methods instead of guessing sign values based on their appearance. This decipherment is the only full decipherment and the only one where every sign and every stroke has been resolved, the only one that is programmatically reproducible, the only one where the decipherment can be followed sign-by-sign by the reader ... We also show how the constraints and habits of the Indus script carry on to Brahmi inscriptions of the early historic era." 

The image below, presents his analysis of a standardised Indus Valley alphabet, along with Brahmi and Devnagari alphabets from this paper. You can draw your own conclusions if there are similarities between the 3 alphabets - personally, I am struck by the similarities in the 3 alphabets for different letters. I am also struck by his assertion that this analysis provides meaningful results for the all the epigraphs he has looked at.

In Conclusion

This paper on the decipherment of the Indus Valley script is almost 100 pages long, out of which around 50 pages are descriptions of individuals inscriptions. I do not have the domain-skills needed to judge its scientific validity.

Probably, over the coming months and years, linguists, philologists and experts of Indus Valley civilisation will look at it and decide if his ideas and results make sense. Many years ago, I remember reading a somewhat similar understanding of the Indus Valley seals in a paper by Ms Rekha Rao on Academia, in which she had proposed that the unicorns on the seals were representations of the Vedic priests.

I am not sure how reliable can be papers uploaded on Academia, without being presented on a peer-reviewed journal. I do hope that Mr Bharat Kumar (Yajnadevam) is working on such a paper for a peer-reviewed journal.

We have limited understanding about the languages and cultures of people living under Indus Valley civilisation. It will be good for someone to finally solve this riddle, so that even from the limited seals and inscriptions, we can learn more about that period of India's history.

With AI, many persons have started saying that AI will help us in understanding Indus Valley script. I am not sure that AI has already reached such a level of expertise. However, AI may also help in expanding the findings of researchers and making sense out of them.

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Early Humans in Schio

Last week I went on a small trek to visit the underground caves of Bocca Lorenza near Schio. In early 20th century, objects from late neolithic period were found in those caves.

This post is a result of that visit and relates to archaeological objects found in 3 areas close to Schio - Bocca Lorenza underground caves, Monte Magre and the summit of Monte Summano.

After the end of the last ice-age and the beginning of Holocene some 10-12 thousand years ago, slowly humans must have arrived in the northern mountainous areas of Italy. 

Guido Cibin's Archaeological Collection

In early 20th century, an amateur archaeologist from Schio, Guido Cibin (1860-1947) was responsible for finding and safe-guarding most of those archaeological objects in this area. The map below shows the different locations around Schio, from where Cibin collected archaeological materials. 

Guido Cibin  was instrumental in setting up the first archaeological museum in Schio in the newly built Technical school on the Castello hill in 1912. There are around 4 thousand archaeological objects of the the Cibin-Gori collection, including Roman coins and Greek vases. Some of these will hopefully, soon be displayed at the new city museum being created in Palazzo Fogazzaro in Schio.

Let me start with the archaeological finds from Bocca Lorenzo underground caves.

1. Bocca Lorenza Caves in Santorso

In late 1908, Guido Cebin together with Don Rizieri Zanocco from Piovene, they explored these caves located on the southern flank of Summano mountain. Among the objects they found were hundreds of neolithic tools made from flint-stones, and many prehistoric decorative bones. The materials collected cover a 7000 years period, starting from late Neolithic period (around 6000 years ago) till about a 1000 years ago.

The flint-stones found here are not local and this means that persons living here were in contact with other groups and they had some kind of commercial exchange system. Image below shows some objects from neolithic period found in Bocca Lorenza.

Cibin also found many vases from late iron age 4th century BCE, as well as a bronze axe-piece. These vases are hand-modelled and they have different decorations such as fish-spine, triangles, zig-zag lines and lines of dots. The area is full of animal bones, including deer, wild goats and pigs, rabbits, and buffaloes, which means that they had enough wild animals to hunt in this area. Some vases from Bocca Lorenza are shown in the image below.

In late neolithic period the caves were used as shelter by shepherds. During the copper age (3300-2300 BCE), they were also used for some burials. During the bronze age (2300-900 BCE), groups of persons were living here. During the second iron age, around 4-5th centuries BCE, shepherds again started using it, while some feel that it was also used for religious and ritual use. Only a few Roman period objects have been found here.

The structure is composed of a vestibule and a series of deeper underground caves, as shown in the image below from the publication, "Grotte d'Italia" (click on the image for a bigger view).

Monte Magre in Schio

In 1912, a person called Giovanni Piccoli was excavating limestone on Monte Magre near the ruins of an old castle. He found some archaeological objects including pieces of deer-antlers marked with incision-signs. He informed the authorities and thus, Monte Magre also became an area of archaeological interest.

The archaeological objects found in Monte Magre start from the bronze age (2300 - 900 BCE) and go on till medieval period. Most interesting findings are from late iron age, 4th to 2nd century BCE, when there was an important shrine in this area. Parts of a stone building where the shrine was located can still be seen. Here some animal bones, a stone axe, and some bronze and ceramic objects were found.

The most interesting finds from Monte Magre are pieces of deer-antlers with incisions in southern Rhaetic (retico) alphabet. This language was used in alpine and pre-alpine areas in north Italy during the second iron age (around 4th century BCE). It has been given the name of Magrè alphabet.

These bones have a hole at one end and were perhaps used to hang them from trees. It could have been a shrine dedicated to Diana or Artemide, as it was located in a forest and may be, used by hunters. Some say that the incisions refer to a Venetian divinity called Reitia. It is thought that Magrè was the border area between the Veneto speaking persons and Reti speaking persons living to the north, who controlled the Alps and its mineral wealth.

Among the archaeological objects found at Monte Magre, the antler-pieces with Reti incisions are in the museum of Este. Some other objects can be seen in the archaeological museum in Vicenza.

The Shrine at the Summit of Monte Summano

The Summano mountain (around 1300 metres) dominates Schio and the surrounding towns and countryside. People say that its name comes from the antique cult of god Summanus. Its name reminds me of the ancient Indian myth of Manu (som+manus), at the time of universal floods (Noah in Christian mythology).

There are folk-legends about sacrificing black rams on the summit of Summano. Bone-ash deposits and old medals and coins have been found here. In 2007 a silver statue of Mars was found in the area. Thus, during 2008-10, some preliminary archaeological tests were conducted here, during which a second silver statue of a mother-goddess or Salus was also found. Archaeological objects found here can be seen at the Alto Vicentino Museum in Vicenza.

Near the mountain summit there are areas with traces of regular fires dating back to the second iron age (4th century BCE), indicating that there may have been a shrine or a sacred place here (shown in the image below). There are also traces of Roman period buildings near the summit.

Conclusions

Most of the information for this post came from an exhibition on the Cibin-Gori collection held at Fogazzaro Palace in Schio in 2023.

I loved the visit to Bocca Lorenza, even if I didn't try to explore any of the caves as I was alone and did not want to risk it. I am hoping to write specific posts on how to visit Bocca Lorenza and Monte Magre.

I have already written about the visit to the summit of Summano mountain in my post on Sacred Sites to visit in Schio. 

*****

Renaissance Art & Giovanni Bellini

The renaissance period introduced the ideas of three-dimensional depth, realism, perspective, colour-tones and light in paintings, based on new understandings from different sciences such as anatomy, physics, mathematics, geology and natural sciences occurring in that period.

This post focuses on the evolution of a renaissance period artist through 11 paintings on the theme of "Madonna and child Jesus". The artist is Giovanni Bellini and all the paintings are from the Accademia museum in Venice.

The image below is that of a telero (huge painting covering an entire wall) started by Giovanni Bellini in 1515-16, left incomplete due to his death. (Click on the images for a bigger view)

The Bellini Bottega in Venice

In that period, the artists worked in Bottega or workshops, where the master artist had many apprentice and helpers. Jacopo Bellini, Giovanni's father, was a renowned Venetian artist in Venice. One of Jacopo's famous works is a tall mosaic inside St Marks basilica in Venice, known as "Mosaic of Visitation".

Giovanni Bellini, also called Giambellino, was born around 1930-35. He is considered as one of the great masters of early Venetian renaissance art. Giovanni had learned the art from his brother and father, was also influenced by his brother-in-law Andrea Mantegna, as well as other artists. Giovanni played an important role in developing the ideas of "tonality" in art, ensuring an overall tone for the painting and a smooth passage of tones in different parts of the painting.

Before presenting his art-works, let me briefly introduce the Accademia museum of Venice, where you can admire the originals of all the paintings presented in this post.

Accademia Museum

This museum hosts some of the masterpieces of renaissance period art by maestros like Tiziano (Titan), Tintoretto, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Hans Memling & Hieronymus Bosch. It is situated close to the Accademia bridge (orginally called Ponte della Carità, inaugurated in 1854). If you like renaissance art, do not miss visiting this museum during your visit to Venice.

The building hosting the Accademia museum today, was once a convent and a church (Santa Maria della Carità church).  Under Napoleon's rule in late 18th century, the religious persons from the church and the nearby convent were sent away. In 1807, the old Accademia museum was shifted in those buildings.

Giovanni Bellini's "Madonna and the Child" Series of Paintings

Bellini made a series of paintings of Madonna with the child Jesus. Let me now show you 10 paintings from that series present in the Accademia museum, so that you can appreciate his evolution as a painter.

There is an 11th painting at the end of this post, from his series on the theme of Pietà.

1. From 1448

I am not sure how old was Giovanni when this painting was made and how much did he actually contribute to it. The madonna of this painting does not look very young. Baby Jesus, sitting on a parapet, is holding an apple in his left hand and two fingers raised showing his dual (human and divine) nature. Madonna is expressionless while the child has a knowing expression, much wiser than his age.

2. From 1455

This painting was done when Giovanni was about 20 years old. It is simpler with fewer colours compared to the first one. The baby wearing a black dress, looks younger but still has a knowing expression while he holds his mother's chin with his hand.

3. From 1470

When this painting was done, Giovanni was 35 years old and clearly it is a more mature work, even if it not an oil painting on canvas like the others. Madonna seems to be lit by the light, with a blue sky behind her. Her face has a serenity while looking down at her sleeping son, lying nude, his hand hanging down, almost like a glimpse of the future awaiting them. There is a sense of three-dimensionality, proportions and perspective in this work.

4. From 1475 

Giovanni made this when he was forty. He has light coming in from upper right side, lighting up Madonna's serene and young face, while the light on the baby is more diffused. The baby has a more innocent face, and he makes the sign of his dual nature with this right hand, while his left hand grips his mother's thumb. 

5. From 1480

By now, Giovanni was 45 years old and clearly more skilled as a painter. The whole canvas seems lit by light with bright colours. The background has a light blue sky, fluffy clouds and the Euganei hills near Padua. The baby has a knowing and petulant look, as he holds his right hand in the two-fingers sign while his left hand discreetly seeks his mother's touch.

6. From 1485-90

Now Giovanni has crossed fifty years, he is recognised as a maestro. Perhaps, this means that now he can experiment and try new colours and ideas. The most distinctive change in the painting is the use of bright red colours in Madonna's gown and the heads and wings of the six cherubs on the clouds floating above. The baby seems to be wearing a modern looking night-shirt. The baby also has a more child like expression and seems to be talking to his mother.

7. From 1485-90

This is also from the same period. In this, the two have a green screen behind, the surface of the parapet is painted green, and in the background on the two sides there are two trees. The baby is nude, has a more child like expression and his left hand holds his mother's fingers. Once again the whole canvas seems to be lit by light.

8. From 1488 (With St Catherine and Magdalene)

This is a more complex work. Compared to the two women saints on the two sides, dressed in rich clothes and wearing jewellery, Madonna looks similar to the other paintings above. The baby seems lost in ecstasy. While the background is dark, the 4 figures seem lit by an external light, creating a few shadows. It seems to have clear Flemish or Dutch influences.

9. From 1490 (With St Paul and St George)

Like one above, this one also has two figures standing on both sides of the mother and child. However, this painting has much more in common with his other works - light blue sky with clouds, a red screen behind them, all the persons lit by a light coming from the left with a hint of shadows in the right side of the canvas.

10. From 1503 (With St John Baptist and a Woman)

This painting was done when Giovanni was 68 years old and it is even more complex, with a detailed urban background with the Vicentino mountains behind them - the houses have a distinct look, may be it shows the city of Bassano. Sheep are grazing on the grassy hills (click on the picture to see a bigger version for the sheep). It is bathed in light with shades of liliacs, pinks, green and light blues. Madonna has a soft and innocent expression. The skin tones of Madonna and the woman on the right seem to have the red tones associated with Titan.

11. From 1505 - Pietà with Madonna and the Dying Jesus

The last painting is from the Pietà series, and is from 1505, when Giovanni was 70 years old. The white-haired Madonna's face is etched with lines of sorrow. A dramatic touch is given by the broken tree on the left of the canvas. The background is in the shade of orange-yellow seems to show Padua with Euganei hills and Vicentino mountains behind. Once again, the whole canvas seems to be lit all over with a diffused light and few shadows. (You can click on all the images for a bigger view.)

Things I Noticed in the Paintings

I think that as Giovanni grew older and more skilled, his works assumed more renaissance characteristics - they seem more three-dimensional, more realistic, while the proportions and perspectives improve.

In most of his paintings, the Madonna has an innocent or an aloof look, she does not seem to be looking at you. I also noticed that in many paintings, her little finger seems to be bent or crooked in the middle - it does not seem very natural. Try bending your finger like that and you will see what I mean.

On the other hand, the baby Jesus has a more knowing look, creating a kind of dissonance because his facial expressions are more adult-like. At the same time, the child's proportions do not always look right. For example in painting number 10 above, the child seems to be too long. Child's ecstasy, with his eyes turning up, in image 8 also made me feel a little anxious.

I love the light and vivid colours that seem to illuminate many of his works. They lack the light and shadow effects (chiaroscuro), which would become a dominant part of later renaissance art.

I also love the tender affection between the mother and the baby, expressed in the way the boy holds his mother's thumb or touches her hand. 

To Conclude

To look at the different paintings of Giovanni Bellini in a chronological manner gives us an idea of his evolution as an artist. At the same time, it gives us an idea of how the renaissance ideas of art were evolving.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 and his Monalisa was painted in early 1500s. Michelangelo was born in 1475 and his frescoes of Universal Judgement in Vatican were painted around 1540. Thus, the art of Giovanni Bellini needs to be seen in the context of all the other artists, as they exchanged ideas, knowledge and techniques. 

All the paintings presented in this post are from Accademia museum in Venice. To feel their full impact, you need to look at them in the museum. For example, the sensation of light when you look at painting number 10 above is absolutely incredible. When I saw it, I was transfixed.

BTW, the Telero shown in the first image above was commissioned to Giovanni Bellini in 1515, when he had turned eighty. He was unable to finish it, as he died in 1516. It was completed many years later by another artist, Vittore Belliniano. 

I have been to the Accademia museum a few times, and every time I go there I discover new works which I had not noticed earlier!

*****  

Searching For Lila

I came across the story of Lila Lakshmanan Biro by chance. Half-Indian and half French, she has worked as a film-editor with many of the famous French film-directors like Godard and Truffaut in the 1960s.

Born in 1935, Lila will be ninety years old this year. She lives in an old age home in a suburb near Paris. My artist friend Samit Das, whom I have found on the journey to find Lila, has confirmed to me that she is fine and keeping well.

I first met Lila in a book when she was called Lila Herman. Finding her reincarnations into other names was an exciting search. This is the story of that journey.

 My First Encounter With Lila

I came across her first when she was known as Lila Herman, while doing research about the Roberto Rossellini - Sonali Dasgupta story.

In December 1956, Roberto, well-known Italian director, famous for his neo-realistic films like Rome, Open City and Paisà, came to India to shoot a film. Sonali Dasgupta, wife of Indian producer-director Harisadhan Dasgupta, was supposed to collaborate with Roberto. The two fell in love and this created a huge scandal in India. Hounded by journalists and an upset family, Sonali looked for support. She found some support in Lila Herman.

At that time, Lila was married to Jean Herman, an aspiring film-director. Jean was teaching French in Bombay in those days, was one of Rossellini's assistants for his film. They had a son in Paris in 1955 and then come to Bombay, where they had stayed for 2 years.

That is how I started my search to learn more about Lila Herman, but I found very little. She edited some films in early 1960s and then disappeared. 

Lila Herman to Lila Lakshmanan

The search for Lila Herman was a little complicated because her husband film-director Jean Herman had also disappeared and had become famous as Jean Veutrin, a well-known French mystery-writer. 

She had disappeared because she and Jean had divorced. After the divorce, she had become Lila Lakshmanan and had continued to work as film-editor. However, after a few years, even the trail of Lila Lakshmanan also turned cold.

Lila & Atila Biro

Searching for Lila Lakshmanan brought me to her second marriage to the well-known French architect and artist of Hungarian origins, Atila Biro. She had become Lila Biro.

Her husband Atila was born as Attila in Hungary in 1931, studied in Germany and settled in Paris. As a painter, he chose to write his name as Atila. Many of his works are part of different European art museums.

Atila and Lila married in 1963. Together, Atila and Lila, travelled to Italy, Marocco and many times to India. Atila had a large number of exhibitions in different European countries and the two often travelled together for those events. I don't know if Atila and Lila had any children. Atila Biro died in 1987. You can check some of his works on the Facebook page of Atila Biro foundation.

Lila Biro's Book

In 2012, Lila Atila Biro wrote a book called "Atila, Le soleil des métamorphoses" (Atila, the Sun of Metamorphosis).

The preface of this book was written by Lila's first husband Jean Vautrin (Herman), who wrote about his admiration for Atila's paintings.

I think that Jean and Lila had separated because she was in love in Atila. She married Atila, soon after her divorce while Jean had his second marriage a few years later. However, the three of them, Jean, Lila and Atila, probably continued to be good friends. 

Lila Biro Interview in 2017

In 2017, an event was organised in Paris on visual mapping of modernism in Indian art. In that connection, some art exhibitions and talks were organised, in which clips from some of Lila's films were also included. On that occasion, in an interview to Bombay Mirror by Sumesh Sharma, Lila had shared some information about her life:

"Lila was born in Jabalpur in 1935, where her father Lakshmanan was the director of All India Radio, while her mother was French. As a child, she had lived in Delhi, Lucknow and Bombay. Then her parents separated and 12 years old Lila arrived in a boarding school in England.

She went to Sorbonne to study English Literature when she was 17. Lila successfully graduated and went to study at the French film school ID’HEC, where she met her first husband, Jean Herman, now better known as the French writer Jean Vautrin. She was studying editing as she didn’t think she was creative enough to be a director.

During her last year at the film school in Paris in 1955, she gave birth to her son. Lila’s mother, found a job for Jean Herman teaching French Literature at the Wilson College in Bombay, thus, they lived there for 2 years until the end of 1957.

Regarding the Roberto-Sonali story she said: “I was with Rossellini, when he met Sonali Das Gupta. He was a man who had the accomplishment of perusal; he would be convincing and would get his way with people. When Sonali’s affair became public, she came and lived with me on Carmichael Road."

In the End

In late 1960s, Lila Biro continued to work as editor for different well-known French film directors. Thus, in the films she edited, her name appears as 3 different persons - Lila Herman, Lila Lakshmanan and Lila Biro. I think that she stopped working as film-editor in early 1970s.

About the impact of her work, in 2023, film producer Daniel Bird said: "Lila Biro is a remarkable character who witnessed Rossellini in India, played a key role in the cutting of key titles of the French New Wave, and was a close collaborator of the Hungarian émigré painter, Atila Biro. For me, however, she’s also the star witness in a crime against film grammar: the jump cut. The editing style of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless is now legendary, but I’ve always wondered what it must have been like in the cutting room when that revolutionary editorial decision was made. Thanks to Lila, that moment is vividly brought to life."

There was another Indo-French woman connected to the films - Leela Naidu. Leela was 5 years younger to Lila. In 1955, when Lila and Jean had come to Bombay, Leela was crowned Miss Femina. I wonder if the two had met and had been in contact in India or in France.

I am also curious about Lila and Jean Herman's connections with the films in Bombay, as the two had just come out of the cinema institute in Paris and must have been very interested to collaborate with Indian film-makers. It was the time when films like Mughle Azam and Devdas were being made.

To conclude this article, here is a romantic picture of a dedication of a painting by Atila to his "ma Lila cherie" (my dear Lila) from 1969 (click on the picture for a bigger view).

I wish I could talk to her and do a long oral-history chat to explore her memories.

***** 

Note: The first image of Lila presented above has been made from 2 images I found on internet. However, I could not find any picture of Lila and Atila together. The second image of Atila's dedication of a painting is taken from the facebook page of Atila Biro foundation.