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Deliverance from Deception

Vaughn McMillan

Vaughn McMillan

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The sculpture Deliverance from Deception (Il Disinganno), made 1752-1759, shows a fisherman released from a net by an angel.
-The masterpiece was carved from a single piece of marble and can be seen in Cappella Sansevero, Naples.
-An ambitious project, considered impossible to complete and only Francesco Queirolo agreed to attempt it.
-He worked for 7 years to finish this work. Even the net is made of marble!

The difficulty level goes to 11. The sculptor must have been like...OK, sculpting human bodies from solid blocks of marble is for sissies. Let's throw in a complex fishing net, and the angel will have an elaborate crown and wings. Oh, and what the heck, make that angel standing on a globe, and don't forget that book with pages and words on it. Sheeeeeesssshhhh! Such talent and patience.

Deliverance from Deception.jpg
 
I took art in Junior High and High school. I wanted to be a sculptor. I did all my sculpting in wire or plaster. I made wire sculptures out of hundreds of yards of fence wire. Several of my pieces were bought. I sold a Buffalo sculpted in wire for $150 when I was in the 9th grade at an art show. I think that almost paid for the wire I used to make that beast.

In high school I started sculpting blocks of plaster. I tried making human forms. I tried talking some of the girls into modeling for me but none of them wanted to model in the nude. They obviously had no appreciation for fine art. Plaster is not a good material for sculpting or I was not a very good sculptor. I am willing to bet it was the latter. I made one human form that was recognizable as a human shape. It was a lot less complicated than Deliverance from Deception. My sculpture was a torso with an arm upraised much like the one in Deliverance from Deception. The other arm was across the chest of my male torso with a clenched fist. It was pathetic. My teacher made me take it home at the end of the school year. I drove a 1960 Dodge step side pick up truck. I placed the sculpture in the bed. On the way home it fell over and broke into a million pieces.

Thus ended my career as a sculptor.
 
Ouch! That's all I can say about the sculpture in the truck. Never was much of an artist as far as painting, sculpting, etc. Just could not wrap the old brain around it. Simple preferred playing with wood. Learned to like wood in junior high school. Not much of a way to work wood while in the Marines so there was a 26 year gap in there. Still dunno if I am an artist or not, but I do try .
 
Dave Hoskins said:
Ouch! That's all I can say about the sculpture in the truck. Never was much of an artist as far as painting, sculpting, etc. Just could not wrap the old brain around it. Simple preferred playing with wood. Learned to like wood in junior high school. Not much of a way to work wood while in the Marines so there was a 26 year gap in there. Still dunno if I am an artist or not, but I do try .
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Trust me, Dave, the loss of that large piece of carved plaster had absolutely no effect on the world of art. It was a far cry from being recognized as art. Children have made better art with Play-Doh.

It did make a mess in the bed of the truck. It was sorta like what happened to Humpty Dumpty.
 
I am amazed at all the old art sculpers and art around the world. Makes me wonder what was the passion to create such fine pieces. Also the time involved. Looking at the archerture of the buildings I wonder how could they possibly create such fine buildings without the modern gadgets we now have. And compare that to what is created now. I can't see the artistry in the buldings now being built.
David
 
I can understand the patience's behind the work but I can not understand the process. Never taken a stone sculpturing class, but in studding the old masters the thought , It may of been a cool project to undertake if I had the experience and knowledge of the craftsmanship which goes into the work. The reasoning behind the works of art of this period were monumental undertakings.

Little more info on this :

Biblical Meaning​

According to the Museo Capella Sansevero (“Sansevero Chapel Museum”) the net symbolizes sin. As the angel sets the man free, he rids him of his wrongdoings and introduces him to the Bible, which rests at his feet. In order to emphasize the idea of liberation, Queirolo adorned the open pages of the book with a Latin passage that reads: “I will break thy chain, the chain of the darkness and long night of which thou art a slave so that thou might not be condemned with this world.”




Secular Symbolism​

In addition to religious undertones, the sculpture incorporates secular symbols. For example, the flame on the angel's head represents human intellect, while the globe signifies worldly passions. These elements coincide with Raimondo’s dedication to his father, which explores the idea of “human fragility, which cannot know great virtues without vice.”

According to the museum, the sculpture also appears to denote aspects of freemasonry—a fraternal organization. The Bible, for example, serves a dual purpose, as an open book is one of the three “great lights” of Masonry. Similarly, the concept of light and dark—explored by the aforementioned biblical passage—”appears to be a clear reference to Masonic initiation, where those being initiated would enter wearing a ritual blindfold to open their eyes to the new light of the Truth.”
 
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Dave Hawksford said:
Shark skin was used as sand paper. other agents like sand and marble dust. Marble is a soft stone medal scrapers I presumed were used also.
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Interesting, I always thought marble was very hard.. Thanks for the info. I have only worked with soap stone so I know it is soft. I turned several thing on my lathe in soap stone. I have some alabaster also to try some day.
 
David Johnson said:
I am amazed at all the old art sculpers and art around the world. Makes me wonder what was the passion to create such fine pieces. Also the time involved...
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I suspect artists in the mid-1700s didn't have a lot of distractions or diversions from their art projects, especially if they had income coming from a commission piece like this sculpture. No phone or TV or Internet. Even books were rare. Their whole life could be eating, sleeping, and sculpting.
 
It truely amazes me of the information found on the wood forum. Nothing but the best for our members. This is a great educational forum for for all subjects.
David
 
Jonathan Shively said:
Toni's great great grandpa's work?
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I wish it was!
One thing in my to carve list is to attempt at making veiled faces, for those who do are not familiar with is when the artist carves stone in such a way that the head of a woman (usually) appears covered with a transparent veil. (see pics)
DED06116-095B-4EF2-A1F6-067B15452227.jpeg86EC1499-88E9-4825-B657-45841D0E6F00.jpeg
However, when looking at these works of art, one must be concious that they were not entirely made by the author. They had apprentices who did the hard work roughing out the shapes under his supervision, and even finishing the not so critical parts of the sculpture. Another misconception is that most people think that they made direct carving, which they didn’t. First they made sketches, then modeled the sculpture in clay at smaller scale and then they transferred the points to the final scale onto the stone block. Otherwise they would have not been as prolific as they were if they had to do everything by themselves.
 
Dave Hawksford said:
Shark skin was used as sand paper. other agents like sand and marble dust. Marble is a soft stone medal scrapers I presumed were used also.
Click to expand...
Not only shark skin, but also the unrolled stems of a plant similar to papyrus. Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) a famous carver used that to sand some parts of his carvings. BTW I’ve just noticed that I was born the same day. Maybe it is a signal…:rolleyes:
 
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