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.

Geo-Mineralogical Museum of Schio

Schio, in north-east of Italy, has a wonderful little museum about local geology and minerals of the surrounding areas. It is hosted in the stable buildings of the old Cella military barracks, not far from the city centre. The Geo-Mineralogical (GM) Museum has free entrance and is open on Saturday afternoons, when the volunteers of the local Geo-Mineralogical Association (GMA) can guide you its collections.

Recently, I had an opportunity to visit the museum and to talk to Alessandro Sella, the president of Schio’s GMA. (The image below shows the museum entrance - you can click on all the images for a bigger view)

This first part of my blogpost is about my talk with Alessandro. A second part of this post will focus on some of the exhibits from the museum. Finally, there should be a third part, focusing on the contributions of Pietro Maraschin, a 18th century geologist from Schio.

Let me start this post with a brief history of the building which hosts the museum.

Cella Military Barracks: Brief History

These barracks were built in the second half of nineteenth century and functioned till the end of second world war. In September 1943, when Italy asked for armistice, it was hosting the 57th Infantry Regiment. It was attacked and occupied by the German soldiers, who used it for their troops as well as a prison for the partisans.

In 1945, when Germany lost the war, on 29th April, the German troops stationed in Alto Vicentino gathered in its courtyard and left for Austria through the Fugazze pass on the Pasubio mountains.

The old barracks were bought by the municipality of Schio and the old stables were renovated. These now hold the Geo-Mineralogical museum as well as the offices of Association IV November, involved in historical research, especially about the first world war.

Pietro Maraschin Exhibition

Though I knew that there was this GM museum in Schio, I had never been to it.

I learned about it in an exhibition on Pietro Maraschin organised by the museum in collaboration with local schools. He was an amateur geologist known for his mineralogical studies in Schio. That exhibition was an opportunity to know more about some of the local toponyms and their links with geology and history. It was also an opportunity to see some of the exhibits from the GM museum.

The image below shows the inauguration of this exhibition (click for a bigger view). Thus, I decided to visit the museum and asked Alessandro for an interview.

 Talking to Alessandro Sella, President of  the GM Museum

 Q: Alessandro, how did you develop an interest in geology and mineralogy? 
 

Alessandro: I was always passionate about natural sciences, I loved studying them at high school and university levels. I never lost that passion and thus even if I work in another area (as a product quality manager), I continue to be active in this area in my free time. I deeply love Schio and its surroundings, I was born here. (Alessandro Sella, left)

Ever since I was a child, I was very curious about places like the Pasubio Valley and the little Dolomite mountains. I wanted to know why a rock was dark and another was white, how were they formed, why do certain plants grow only in one area and not in another, why some animals live here and not others, and so on. About ten years ago, I became associated with the GM museum and I am its president for the last 6-7 years. My aim is that our little museum should remain alive and active. It is a private museum, maintained by the work of all the volunteers of our association called MUSA and the GM group of Schio. I feel that this museum is important because it narrates the natural and geological history of this area.

This area known as Recoarese (area around Schio which covers Recoaro, Pasubio & Leogra Valley, Astico valley up to Posina and Laghi), is important because it is the southern most part of the Alps which have an outcropping of crystalline basement, which is a metamorphic formation, more than 300 million years old, on which different geological layers are located. Our museum exhibits showcase this big local geological and mineralogical diversity. At the same time, we have a lot of geological and mineralogical samples from other parts of the world, all the continents are represented here.

Q: Ancient humans have a long history mineralogical knowledge and discoveries. How was the situation in this part of the world?

Alessandro: In the Leogra valley, the area known as Valle dei Mercanti (Merchants’ valley), has traces of human occupation from the copper-age. They were using this metal because the rocks in that area have copper.

More recently, during the reign of the Venice republic (Serenissima) this area was known as a metal-district for the extraction of zinc, lead, copper, iron and even silver. For example in the Tretto area of Schio, around the area of the St. Patrick’s well (Pozzo di San Patrizio), there used to be extraction of silver, used for minting money. As the stores of silver were exhausted, the mines were abandoned.

From 1000 CE till medieval periods, groups of persons from Tyrol and lower-Bavaria regions, were invited by the local Bishops, to come and settle in the Leogra valley, as they had the necessary skills for fine wood work as well as for mining. These Germanic groups were called Cimbrians (Cimbri), literally, ‘good carpenters’. Many locations and family names of this area carry the traces of this immigration even today.

Then around the end of 18th century till the end of the second world, there was a new phase of mineral extraction in this area.

Finally, an important extraction was of Caolino, a special clay formed from alteration of volcanic rocks formed from ancient volcanic eruptions, in this area, which was used for a different kind of industrial development. It was linked with production of porcelain, ceramics and paper-industry, which were active till early 1980s.

Q: Tell us about the origins of this museum.

Alessandro: Schio’s mineralogical group was formed in 1973 by persons like Prof. Luciano de Zen, Girolamo Zamperetti, and many other friends. They were all passionate about geology and mineralogy. The group changed different locations along the years and started putting together some exhibit boxes to showcase their first collections of the materials made during their walks and excursions in the area. In the year 2000, the group was given some space in the basement of the old primary school building in Magre, where the first exposition-room was started.

The present location in the old Cella barracks was inaugurated in 2013, and it is no longer just an exposition room, it is a proper museum.

Q: Earlier you spoke about the valley of merchants in Pieve. It also has Monti d’oro (Gold mountains). Did they really find gold there? 

Alessandro: That is just a legend. It was an important area for different metals, as I have explained, starting with copper and iron. There are stories about finding gold there, but they are just stories. In more recent times, there was an article about finding a rock containing an iron-mineral, where they have found traces of gold, but it did not have any gold deposits.

Q: The area around Arsiero called Laghi is called Val di Ferro (Iron valley), did they have iron in that area?

Alessandro: If you go towards Valdastico, there is a place called Fusine, on the banks of the Astico river, where they did have smelting of iron (from the verb ‘fucinare’) found in that area, and used the water-energy of Astico river for this purpose. We have also found signs of Ematite (iron mineral) extracted in Valle dei Mercanti, which was taken to Fusine for smelting of iron.

Q: Tell me about the different collections in this museum.

Alessandro: The mineralogical collectors can collect materials from different parts of the world or they may limit themselves to some specific geographical areas, such as our collection of the minerals of Alto Vicentino. Some collectors focus on some specific kinds of minerals, for example, there are persons who collect only Agate stone, known for its colour bands. Personally I am interested in the geological aspects and minerals of our own geographical area.

Among the collections of our museum is that of Alessandro de Grandis, one of the founders of this museum, that is given on loan to us by his son Ugo.

There have been many donations as well, including one from Mrs. dalla Fina, who was a traveller, geologist and speleologist with geological and mineralogical samples from different parts of the world. She left all her writings and materials to the museum in her testament.

These persons leave their collections not just to us in the association and to the museum, but to all the population.

Q: Tell me something about the different aspects of the minerals which are studied.

Alessandro: Each mineral has a geometrical aspect, which is about how that mineral is built. Another is the aspect about its chemical composition.

When I talk to children about it, I explain that we can look at the ingredients of a mineral and then, we also need to look at the dress or the form those ingredients take which determines what kind of mineral it is going to create.

Knowing both, the form and the composition, of these is fundamental for classifying the different minerals. Every mineral must have a name, a family name and the location where it is found, for its scientific and naturalistic value, which can be very different from its economic value.

Q: If you are shown a piece of rock, looking at its colours and form, can you tell its composition?

Alessandro: Generally speaking yes, eventually with the help of some of our members. We have these stereo-microscopes here for looking at the rocks under the microscope. We also have different volumes of books about geology and mineralogy. With the help of these, we can identify them by looking at their crystals, their colours, hardness, etc. and classify them.

Bigger laboratories can do spectre-photometric tests to analyse the spectrum of different minerals in a sample.

Q: We can now create molecules of different chemicals, such as those used as medicines, in the laboratory. Can we do similar creation of natural elements? For example, can we create iron in the laboratory?

Alessandro: It is a difficult question. I am not conversant with some of the new technologies like Nanotech, but I don’t think that we can create elements. For example, thinking of all the ‘rare earths’ elements used for technology such as microchips, whose mining is much in the news and is associated with difficult international situations, because we can’t just create them. For the time, we need to focus on recycling and reuse.

Conclusions

Thanks to Alessandro for sharing his knowledge and being patient in answering my questions.

The second part of this post will look at some of the interesting exhibits from Schio's GM Museum.

*****  

Museo - The Camera Museum of Gurgaon

Museo, the camera museum of Gurgaon in NCR (India) is a vibrant cultural space in a rapidly growing urban area, which needs many more such spaces. An initiative of the well known photographer Aditya Arya, who is passionate about photography conservation, restoration and archiving, it formally belongs to the India Photo Archive Foundation. (Image: Aditya Arya in the lobby of Museo)

During my last visit to India in late 2022, most of the time I was unwell and bed-ridden. The highlight of this stay was a visit to Museo during which I had a brief encounter with Aditya.

This visit to Museo was also an opportunity to visit and on-going art exhibition organised by Oxygen Art Guild and curated by Tarun Das. I was lucky to meet and speak to Tarun as well.

Thus, this post is about both Museo Camera Museum and the Oxygen Art Guild exhibition. I am not going to repeat the information about the backgrounds of Museo museum, Aditya Arya and Oxygen Art Guild , you can check those on their respective websites. This post is mostly about the things which had especially struck me during this visit. Before I start, I would also like to recommend you to check the different old-pics collections at the Aditya Arya Photo Archives website.

Museo Location

Museo is located off a small road in front of the Galleria market (DLF phase 3, Nathupur) in downtown Gurgaon. The nearest Delhi Metro stations are IFFCO Chowk and HUDA City Centre, from where you can take an auto or a cab to reach Museo. It has sufficient parking space but its location on a narrow and busy road can be tricky to navigate.

If you are visiting Gurgaon and are wondering about places to visit, do visit and spend some time in Museo.

Museo Activities

Museo is a vibrant cultural space with some permanent exhibitions and areas for temporary exhibitions. Photography is encouraged in all the museum spaces.

For example, it has weekend classes on photography (and other cultural activities such as dance classes) including the one year photography diploma course as well as different workshops (when I visited, there were posters of workshops about cyanotype, film and analog photography, salt print process, environmental portraits by Sundeep Bali and street photography).

There were also some on-going exhibitions, about which I have written below and there was a live music performance by Ruchika and Deepak Castelino. The ground floor of the museo building has the camera museum while upstairs are the different exhibition and workshop spaces.

Camera Installations

There were some installations made out of old cameras or in which cameras played a significant role scattered around in the building.

One striking installation was the "Hug Me" man by the well known Gurgaon artist Gopal Namjoshi made from junk metal and old analog cameras. Namjoshi is known for his monumental installations in which often junk metals play an important role.

Another installation which I liked, had a mannequin surrounded by all kinds of carrying bags for the old analog cameras. (Image below has the 2 installations - the Hug Me man and the camera-bags)

The third camera installation which particularly struck me was the inverted pyramid handing above the central gallery. There were also some big old cameras from early 20th century.

Temporary Exhibitions

Among the temporary exhibitions, I especially loved "Nirvasanama", which documented the life in exile of Dev Shumsher (1862-1914), the "liberal" Prime Minister of Nepal, who was exiled in India in early 20th century.

Colours of Convergence

In the art exhibition "Colours of Convergence" organised by Oxygen Art Guild and curated by Tarun Das I liked the works of -  watercolors by Sudhangsu Bandopadhyay, woodcut on paper by Jintu Mohan Kalita, oil painting by Aniruddha Mukherjee, acrylic on canvas by Apurba Karati and very especially the Cityscapes of cows by Jiban Biswas.

Last year, I had met Valeria Bertesina, an artist who curates the Paper Art Biennale in Schio and that had been my introduction to understanding the meaning of "curating art exhibitions". In Museo, I had an opportunity to talk to Tarun Das (in the image below), who had curated the exhibition "Colours of Convergence", which was another opportunity to reflect on the different ways in which individuals can "curate" exhibitions, imprinting it with their dialogues with the artists in selecting and deciding what gets exhibited and how.

 

Vintage Analogic World

As we go deeper into the digital world, it is not just analog cameras and photographic prints which are disappearing but the whole world is changing. This nostalgia for the disappearing world is represented in Museo by a painted ambassador car, an old lambretta scooter, a biscope and a colourful three-wheeler.

Sculptures in Museo

There are  also a few sculptures scattered in the open area surrounding the Museo, which are worth looking at. These include 2 sculptures of boys reading a book.

In the End

Except for the malls, which have a primary commercial purpose, Gurgaon has only a few cultural spaces. Another such local cultural space is the Sanskriti Museum.

I hope that the next time you are in Gurgaon and are wondering about places to visit and things to do, you can visit the Museo Camera Museum! 

Shiva icons across the centuries

As a child, I was always fascinated by the figure of Shiv ji (Lord Shiva), because of his ash smeared body, and the drunkards, drug addicts and the bhoot-pret among his followers. When he dances Tandav in anger, he is a god of destruction. These were all unusual and "bad boy" characteristics for a god. This post is about the Shiv (Shiva) icons in the archaeological section of the national museum in Delhi.

After a few decades, recently I was back in the National Museum and was pleasantly surprised by all the changes. Instead of the dusty glass cases holding poorly labelled objects, it has now much better exhibition spaces, similar to some of the better museums in Europe. Thankfully, now you are also allowed to photograph. If you haven't been to National Museum, I recommend visiting it!

Let me start with the image of the delicate and graceful bronze dancing Nataraja sculpture from the 12th century Chola empire, which symbolises destruction and the new creation. Among his flowing hair, on the right side, you can see the river Ganga (Ganges). The centre of his forehead has the third eye, while a snake is wrapped around his right arm.

Shiva icons in archaeological section of the national museum

One of the most common representation of Shiv is as Shivling (Shivalinga).

Shivling is a round or cylindrical form (male principle) placed on a circular base that represents Yoni, the female principle. While some see it only as a phallic symbol, for the believers, it has different metaphysical meanings including a union of Purusha/body and Prakriti/mind. Some people see the trinity itself symbolised in the Shivling – the circular base represents Brahma, the octagonal stem represents Vishnu and the round top represents Shiv. Often people may choose a smooth and round stone from a river bed and worship it as Shivling, these are called Saligram.

The image below has a very special Shivling - it is Chatturmukhi (four faced) with representations of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh (Shiv) and Surya on its four sides. It is from the 6th century Gupta empire period.

Shiva in Harappan culture

The cult of Shiv goes back to much older period in India, during the Middle Stone Age (Middle Palaeolithic). Michael Wood, in “The story of India” has written: “The stone lingam and yoni (male and female principles) – that are found in the worship of Shiva come out of the deep past … These aspects of the indigenous culture of India are part of the givenness of the deep past, which is shared by all Indians, whatever their ancestry, language or religion.”

Wood has also mentioned the Shiv figure depicted in prehistoric cave paintings of Bhimbetka: “… looking at the dancing deity at Bhimbetka with his bangles and trident, one can’t help but recall the image of dancing Shiva seen on pilgrim posters today …”

Thus, while the Shiv cult is much older, the earliest Shiv icons in the museum are from 2000-2700 BCE, from the Indus Valley civilisation. These include the famous Pashupatinath seal from Harappa, which shows a person sitting in yogic posture along with different animals (Shiv is also known as Pashupatinath or the lord of the animals).

However, the national museum also a number of Shivlings from Indus valley civilisation found in places like Dholavira and Rakhigarhi, like the large Shivling shown in the image below.

Early Icons

Among the early icons is another Chatturmukhi Shivling - it is from 2nd century CE, when Kushans from central Asia were ruling the Indus valley and parts of north India. It is less well preserved and has a rougher quality. A special feature is the chain motive sculpted on the top third, thus effectively dividing the Shivling into three parts.

Another early icon is an Ekmukha (one faced) Shivling, with the head of Shiva (recognised by the third eye in his forehead) on one side. It is from 5th century Gupta period.

Shiv icons in medieval India

The next icon is an Uma-Mahesh sculpture from 9-10 century Pratihara period in north India. Khajuraho was a part of Pratihara empire, before the Chandelas (under the Chandela, the erotic sculptures of Khajuraho were created). This Uma-Mahesh sculpture has a clear erotic/sexual component. 

Another representation of Shiv with his consort and family is from 10th century Chalukya period in south India. It touches on sexuality in a different way. In this, Shiv is shown holding a snake in his right hand - snake is seen as a representation of desires and sexuality.

The erotic art of Khajuraho has been seen as a part of Tantrik traditions, in which Shiv and Shakti are together and sexuality is a part of the path for the search of divine. The next image is from 11-12 century Khajuraho under the Chandela period, showing women devotees praying to a Shivling.

Composite icons of Shiv

Shiv is also part of some composite icons. Two examples of these icons from the national museum are presented here.

The first is a Harihar icon, combing Hari (Vishnu) and Har (Shiv). This 12th century statue is from Gahadval in Rajasthan.

The second is an Ardhnarishiwar icon - Ardh (half) Nari (woman) Ishwar (God), representing Shiv and his consort Shakti in the same statue. This 15th century bronze sculpture is from Vijaynagar empire in south India.

Recent icons

Among the more recent icons, there is a striking ivory sculpture from 19th century from South India. It has all the attributes of Shiv - snake, damru (small drum) and the third eye, however the hair style and face seem more similar to representations of Buddha.

Followers of Shiv

Apart from Shiv icons, national museum also has some icons of his more famous followers. The next image presents one of them. It is a bronze statue of saint Manikkavachkar, a Tamil poet from 9th century, famous for his songs about lord Shiv. The sculpture is from 12th century Chola empire in south India.

Conclusions

I love visiting museums and I am glad that I decided to visit the National Museum in Delhi. It is a wonderful place to learn about the rich culture and traditions of India. There is so much to see.

In an article of Devdutt Pattanaik, he had written about the lack of appreciation of the temple art depicting Indic icons among modern Indians and asked, “How many parents actually take their children to museums or to temples and play the game of ‘Let us identify this god’… Our icons have been reduced to ‘property’, possessing them is more important than appreciating them.” I hope that this post will stimulate you to visit national museum and other museums.

Let me conclude this post with another kind of Shivling - it is called a Lingudhbava, it has Shiv appearing (udbhav) inside the Shivling. This 12th century sculpture is also from Chola empire in south India.

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The graphic art collection of the Casabianca Museum

Casabianca is a small art museum in a tiny little town called Malo (VI) in the north-east of Italy. It is a testimonial to the artistic passion and the vision of an Italian art-collector called Giobatta Meneguzzo. The museum presents his collection of contemporary drawings, graphic-art and art-prints.

Meeting Giobatta Meneguzzo

I live in Schio (VI), a tiny town in the foothills of Alps mountains in the north-east of Italy. Malo is a few kilometres away from our home. Some months ago, our local cultural association organised a "Meet an artist" programme, under which we were supposed to visit the house of a local sculptor and talk to him about his art.

My friend Roberto came to pick me up and informed me that on the way, we will make a brief stop to pick up Giobatta, who is the artist's uncle. That was my introduction to the 89 years old Giobatta and to his collection of contemporary graphic art housed in Casabianca (literally "White house") museum in Malo.

Giobatta was kind enough to take me around his museum. Later, as we travelled to his nephew's house, we talked a little. This post is based on that meeting. It provides an introduction to the Casabianca museum and to Giobatta.

Brief introduction about Geobatta

Geobatta was born in 1928 in Priabona, a small fraction of Malo. He studied to become a geometra, someone who does surveys of terrains and projects civil buildings. His introduction to the world of graphic arts came through art books and art magazines such as the works of Skira and a magazine called "Domus". Fascinated by art, he started collecting graphic art and art prints in the 1960s and continued till 1990s.

The Casabianca museum was established in 1978. It is situated in a 400 years old building belonging to the Morandi Bonacossi family. Built around 1668, it is a compact solid looking building that used to be the "Montecio farming estate". At the same time, it has an aristocratic touch as shown by the high vaults, big halls and well made solid pillars.

Casabianca Art Collection

The graphic art and prints collected by Giobatta are very different from the usual art collections in museums - most of them are small in size, many of them apparently very simple and some of them can be defined as ordinary or even ugly. Most of the time, people collecting art focus on big art works with a strong good-looking visual impact. People collecting art as a financial investment go for famous artists. Museums do not have works of relatively lesser-known artists.

Giobatta's approach was different - he wanted to understand the artistic expression through his own appreciation of art. He looked for art which touched him instead of collecting famous works of famous artists. This means that looking at the art displayed in Casabianca museum, you can have a very personal and subjective view of art, without being influenced by the words of well-known art critics and hypes created by auction houses.

Even if you have been to different art museums around the world, Casabianca museum will surprise you. Most museums highlight the important art works of their collection, especially those of the famous artists. Casabianca is different - the art works are put in an apparently random way without highlighting those of the famous artists. The museum seems to tell you that you should not wait for someone else to tell you what is beautiful or what is important - look at the art through your own eyes and see which art and artists speak to your heart. Discover your personal view of significant art.

Not knowing which art works were by famous or important artists, was disorienting when I went around the Casabianca museum accompanied by Giobatta. The art works displayed here represent most of the important art movements from 1960s to 1990s including pop-art, kinetic-art, neo-realism, conceptual art, American graffiti, anachronism movement, minimal art and body art. Overall there are 1200 art-works of 700 artists exhibited in the museum.

Fred Licht, the curator of Peggy Guggenheim museum wrote about the art works displayed in Casabianca museum in 1992: "You can enter into a dialogue with artists like Beuys or Serra or Manzoni, more directly and more efficiently by looking at their small sized works, instead of their giant operas which overwhelm the observer and delay or complicate the direct communication with the artist ..."

The museum is popular with school children who come here to look at art and to discuss the different art movements and styles that have influenced visual arts and specially graphic-arts during the second half of 20th century.

It was a hurried visit for me, as we had to go for our group visit to the house of another artist. Still, the unorthodox approach chosen by Giobatta piqued my interest and I am hoping to go back there to look properly at the art works.

Conclusions

Casabianca museum is a private art collection. It focuses on graphic art of second half of the 20th century. I am sure that today it is possible to see many examples of the graphic-art through internet. Still looking directly at the art works instead of admiring them as images is a completely different experience.

It was a hurried visit to the Casabianca museum on that day. However, even in that short visit, I was intrigued by the ideas of Giobatta and his art collection.

When we admire art we focus on the artists and their artistic expressions. People discovering artists and running art galleries is another group of people that has received some attention. However, who are the persons who collect art and why do they do it? Meeting Giobatta raised this question in my mind.

I am planning to go back to Casabianca and look at its exhibits with a little bit more time. If you are visiting this part of north-east Italy around Vicenza and its province, perhaps you will also like to visit this unique museum.

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Baby in mother's womb Museum of Bologna

The Science museum of Palazzo Poggi in Bologna (Italy) is famous for their models showing babies growing in the womb used for teaching about child-delivery to doctors, nurses and obstetricians. This post celebrates the recent birth of my grand-daughter.

However, this museum is not just about babies in the womb, it also has many other important exhibits related to scientific discoveries in the 16th -19th centuries. This post will introduce you to this beautiful museum.

Origins of the Science Museum in Poggi Palace

Bologna has one of the oldest universities in Europe, it started in 1088 and was part of that era which led to Enlightenment and Renaissance periods. During these, persons started looking at critically and exploring their surroundings, from natural phenomenon to rocks and minerals to plants and animals. Rationalism became the key word and people started questioning the religious dogmas.

Bologna had a number of noblemen (and a few noble women, though their work has not been documented equally well) who did pioneering work in the scientific enquiry. Ulisse Androvandi born in Bologna in 1522 was one such pioneer, whose work on natural history led to a private collection of objects, that became the core of the Science museum of Palazzo Poggi in the 20th century (Image below: the Aldrovandi room.

Poggi Palace was built around 1550 as the house of the Poggi family. In 1714 it became the Science Institute of Bologna and a tower of an astronomical observatory called Speculam was added. At the end of 18th century, the arrival of Napoleon in Bologna resulted in dispersal of the different collections of Poggi Palace. In early 20th century many of these were brought back to lay the foundation of the present museum.

Story of the Odysseus

The hall near the entrance, now used for meetings and events, shows beautiful paintings of the artist Pellegrino Tibaldi depicting the episodes from the life of Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), the Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey.

Thus, the Science Museum is also an important place to admire art. It includes the works of Niccolo dell'Abate, Prospero Fontana and others. Another work of Tibaldi, the story of Susanna, is on the first floor of the building, which hosts the main museum.

Babies in the womb exhibits

This is my favourite part of the museum. The use of three dimensional models to teach the complexities of child birth to future obstetricians was started in Bologna by Prof. Giovanni Antonio Galli in the 18th century (image below). His teaching was so good that a school of obstetrics was created here in 1758.

He combined the teaching of theory and practice through these models.

The models show the different ways in which the umbilical cord can lie around the baby in the womb and in rare cases cause complications. Thus obstetricians could understand the mechanisms of cord-prolapse and other complications and think of solutions to safeguard the lives of the mothers and babies.

The models also show the different positions of placenta inside the womb. The placenta is the bridge between the mother and the baby. Sometimes, the position of placenta near the womb opening at the bottom can create dangerous complications for the life of mother and baby. Therefore it was important for the obstetricians to understand those positions properly. In the 18th century this kind of understanding contributed to better delivery practices. Today such complications can be seen easily through ultrasound.

The models also show the different ways in which identical and non-identical twins can occupy space inside the womb and how this may affect their delivery.

Anatomical wax statues

Doctors like Prof Galli employed their own sculptors and artists to make the human body models to teach to the students. Ercole Lelli was appointed as the head of this department of scientific artists. In 1742, Lelli proposed the creation of human sized statues of men and women to explain the different layers of muscles and bones. Thus the anatomy room was created in Poggi Palace in 1747.

Inspired by their example, medical schools all over Europe created similar departments and human anatomy models.

The museum also hosts a copy of a famous female body model called "Medici's Venus" (the name referred to the Medici family of Florence as well as to doctors) created in Florence by the artist Clemente Susini around 1780. In this model, the students could open the different parts of the female body and understand how different organs were placed inside and their inter-relationships, including the pregnant uterus. The model was useful for surgery students to see the blood supply and nerves around the different organs and plan their surgery.

People visiting the museum are fascinated by these models and often forget to look around. For example, the room with the "Medici's Venus" has beautiful frescoes of cherubic boys busy in vineyard designed by Niccolò dell'Abate in 1552 before he left for the court of king Henry II in France.

Other important scientists in the museum

The museum is full of exhibits from Bologna, each of which has its own importance in the history of science in the world. It has equipment that was used to make important scientific discoveries. I just want to share two examples with you.

The first example is of Marcelo Malpighi, called the father of microscopic anatomy, histology, physiology and embryology. He pioneered the use of microscope to understand the human and animal bodies. For example, he was the first person to see the capillaries and explain how arteries and veins connected and their role in blood circulation. His name is remembered in "Malpighian" bodies.

The other example is of Luigi Galvani who discovered different things about the electricity. It was his idea that human electricity transmission makes the contraction of muscles needed for body movements. He showed it by demonstrating the effect of electricity on a frog-leg.

In the museum you will come across many names which are familiar to medical and science students during their studies. Personally I find it exciting to see the equipment those persons had invented in their search for understanding the world.

Conclusions

The science museum of Palazzo Poggi in Bologna is a treasure trove if you are interested in the history of medicine and use of art for teaching science. In this post, I have limited myself to certain parts of this museum. However, the museum has many more things to show, such as the development of war strategies and the ship-building.

I have been to the science museum a couple of times and every time, I find new things in it. If you are visiting Bologna and you are interested in the history of science, do not miss this amazing place.

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