First, he saw the stone
on a dream…
The next day,
his oneiric experience
morphed into a clear and crisp image,
a vividly and sharp artistic visualization.
The genial artisan
demanded the finest of all marbles,
he expected a stone block with no flaws.
The awesome sculptor
wanted the whitest of all colors.
It’s purity and perfection to jump at first sight.
It’s smoothness and delicacy to be palpable
and immediately responsive
to his experienced craftsman touch.
His exacting orders were carried out many times over
at the famous Carrara quarries in northern Italy.
But none of the blocks
the masterful artist ever received
met his expectations
hence, they were used for lesser projects.
Then he saw her,
the subject of his work
walking down the street
that ran right in front of his iconic workshop
and straight into Florence’s city center.
Her skin seemed like delicate porcelain,
her face features
projected innocence, candor goodness and joy;
Her hair cascaded all the way to her waistline;
Her shape and curves were gentle, soft and classic.
Anatomically and artistically speaking,
she was all he ever wanted.
As time passed by,
the talented artist found himself in a quandary;
He had the idea and he had the subject
but he did not have the stone.
This, until one good day,
running late to mass,
he found the front door of the cathedral already closed;
running to the sides he looked for an opening;
having found one he rushed in,
but as he was climbing the doorsteps,
he caught a glimpse of it
and stopped right on his tracks.
With eyes of prey,
transfixed,
he moved in deliberate slow motion;
from afar it was hardly visible,
but up close,
right behind the thin layer of underbrush,
there it was,
a large marble stone block
with the whitest of all colors.
Underneath the dirt, time passage and weather traces;
while caressing the stone,
the daring artist was immediately able to feel and touch
the purity and flawlessness of the white marble.
It turned out that the marble stone
had been laying on the side of the cathedral
for decades.
Abandoned right after its arrival,
the commissioned sculptor
had deemed it too narrow
for any work to be done out of it.
Over time the city and its people had simply
forgotten about it.
Weeks later
with city approval
the unwanted rock
was moved to the genial artist’s workshop.
Its narrowness to others,
was utter perfection to him.
The masterful sculptor simply saw in the abandoned stone what others
didn’t.
An even more difficult proposition though,
was to find and persuade his intended muse.
So much so,
that before she ever posed for him
he had to win her heart over;
Along the way she conquered his as well.
So, the bachelor sculptor
and the subject of his artistic desire
ended up marrying each other,
becoming husband and wife.
Sculpting the stone took years;
the passionate artist’s chisel
carved, chipped and sandpapered incessantly;
over and over again, every inch of the stone.
It all required precision and accuracy,
any error or mistake
was probably irredeemable and likely irrecoverable.
The stone slowly
morphed progressively
into congruent shapes and forms
ever more challenging;
Yet the artist did it all with joy;
The flow seemed trivially easy;
From the beginning his visualization and preparation
of the work to be done
enabled his subsequent flawless execution;
Also, knowing exactly the stone he needed
and not accepting anything less or different,
allowed him to sculpt it
with comfort, gusto and confidence.
What he didn’t expect
or had never experienced before,
was true love.
Besides,
with his model being the subject of his adoration;
a much higher level of passion
permeated and soaked his talents and execution.
Over five centuries old,
the real-life size sculpture
has become a timeless masterpiece;
the beauty of the muse’s face
glows under the sparkle of love.
The delicate skin exudes beauty and perfection;
Her figure under rich clothes
can be easily sensed;
Her anatomy stands out for its great detail;
The visible phalanges are all notoriously present;
their silhouettes, posture and positioning
all seem ergonomically alive.
Immortalized forever,
the great sculptor’s muse
is a statue symbolizing Love
on all its dimensions into eternity.
The sculptor’s greatest achievement though,
consisted in not only bringing his genius along;
including preparing, visualizing and having the right
stone;
but while graced with true love as well,
being able to incorporate it in his work;
creating an even higher level of artistic passion,
where the artist achieved
the most sublime connection
between Harmony, Perfection and Love.
And though they stayed together until their passing;
had many children
and he created many other masterpieces;
She only posed for him that once
and he never asked her either;
As true love is neither imitable of replaceable
the sculptor’s muse
could only be created once,
forever more.
