MAY 2007

VISIT TO DRESDEN, MEISSEN, NEW BERLIN AND POTSDAM

Following her excellent pre-visit lecture in February, Eveline Eaton led a hardy group of 28 Farnham DFAS members on a whirlwind architectural, museum and gallery packed visit to Dresden, Meissen, New Berlin and Potsdam from Tuesday 22nd to Sunday 27th May 2007.

Highlights included the following:-

• an organ recital in the beautifully restored Frauenkirche in Dresden, followed by a convivial welcoming buffet dinner in a recently opened cellar restaurant across the square;
  
  
• enthralling visits to Augustus the Strong’s Zwinger Galleries and ‘Green Vaults’ of amber, ivory, silver, gold, jewels, bronzes etc in the Castle;
  
  
• a fascinating demonstration of hard paste porcelain manufacture at the oldest European factory (founded 1710 in Meissen), which is now owned by the Free State of Saxony;
  
  
• panoramic and walk-about tours of Berlin, with photo-opportunities at remnants of the  Wall, the ‘Hollow Tooth’ tower of St Nicholas Church, the Reichstag, the Brandenberg Gate, the humbling memorial to the European Jewish Dead and the Olympic Stadium;
  
  
• museum and gallery visits to see the Pergamon altar (c500 BC), the Miletus Gate (c200BC) sadly shrouded in scaffolding and polythene, the Ishtar Gate from Babylon (c1500BC) and the bust of Neffertiti, together with miriad ‘old master’ paintings, sculptures and ceramics from across the centuries;
  
  
• we also compared the baroque, rococco and classical architecture provided for the various generations of Wettins (Dresden and Meissen) and Hohenzollerns (Berlin and Potsdam) with the (sometimes complementary) buildings designed by architects of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Altogether an extremely enlightening tour thanks to Eveline’s energy enthusiasm and erudition, even if at the end some of us may have felt (like President Kennedy claimed to be!) “a jam filled doughnut” (ein berliner)!

 

FROM BISCUITS TO BLOUSES: GARIBALDI AND THE BRITISH

Farnham Decorative and Fine Arts Society met at the Maltings on Tuesday, May 15th 2007. The chairman, Mrs. Frances Ashworth, greeted all those present and announced that the A.G.M. would precede the June Meeting and as the talk is entitled  “Pearls before Swine” the speaker has requested that “pearls should be worn” if possible!

Forthcoming visits include a visit to the Compton Verney Gallery in Warwickshire in June and to Ham House and Kew Palace in September. Bookings are now being taken for these and for a study day on “Shakespeare through the Artists Eye” in June. The actor Rupert Evans will be doing dramatic readings. Bookings for an exciting tour of Romania in early June 2008 will start soon.

Mrs Ashworth then introduced Mr. Christopher Garibaldi whose talk was entitled “From Biscuits to Blouses: Garibaldi and the British.” Mr. Garibaldi had a particular interest in Giuseppe Garibaldi, being a third cousin at least three times removed! Garibaldi was a creator of the modern state of Italy.

As a young man he joined the merchant navy but soon came under the influence of the Young Italy movement that sought to drive out the Austrians from Italy and unify the country under one government. After a failed rebellion Garibaldi fled to South America where he met Anita Ribiero da Silva having first spotted her through a telescope from the ship. She left her husband for Garibaldi and followed him for the rest of her life.  He organised Italian exiles into the Italian Legion and saved Montevideo from attack by Argentina. The material for the distinctive red shirts worn by the troops was bought as a bargain; two advantages were that it was warm and did not show the bloodstains.

Garibaldi returned to Italy and was involved in many of the struggles that finally resulted in Italy being unified under Victor Emmanuel 1st. During a battle involving British warships the commanders did not fire on the red shirts as they thought they were British.  The tri-colour Italian flag was first flown at a rally in Florence in 1859. The Vatican was a separate state at this time.

Garibaldi’s fame spread to Britain where mementos and artefacts became popular. Red blouses for ladies were fashionable and images of Garibaldi were depicted in paintings, tapestries and various porcelain figurines. When Garibaldi visited Britain he was mobbed at the Crystal Palace and 500,000 people went to see him in Trafalgar Square. He was accepted by the establishment and painted by Watts.

As a refuge from the fighting Garibaldi had bought a farm on Caprera and he lived there between battles which went on until the French left and Italy became comparatively peaceful. He felt that fighting for the repressed in other countries and for the unification of Italy was his mission in life and  “nothing could prevent him from fighting for the Holy Cause”.