CHUBBY, CHEERFUL CHERUBS AND FLYING ACROBAT ANGELS

Today is my 100^th blog post, and it’s also December 8, 2019, the Second Sunday of Advent.  I had never heard the term before we moved to Germany.  Here’s what it means, from the horse’s mouth (christianity.com):

The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia. Scholars believe that during the 4^th and 5^th centuries in Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians at the January feast of Epiphany, the celebration of God’s incarnation represented by the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus (Matthew 2:1), his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist (John 1:29), and his first miracle at Cana (John 2:1). During this season of preparation, Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration; originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas.

By the 6^th century, however, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ. But the “coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world. [See below.]

It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas.

So that’s Advent.  But I’m feeling festive today and not interested in judging, so let’s skip over this second coming stuff and focus on the initial arrival:  Christmas.  There are only 16 more shopping days until Christmas, and the stores in Berlin, which are always closed on Sunday (by law), will be open for business on the Second and Fourth Advent Sundays.

So that’s commerce.  But I’m feeling restive for beauty today and not interested in shopping, so let’s also skip over the commercial implications of Christmas.  Instead, let’s focus on the magical visual delights generated by the season.  In that spirit, and out of a love of sheer, unadulterated beauty, I offer you a pre-Christmas gift, a photo essay on chubby, cheerful cherubs and flying acrobat angels sculpted by Serpotta (1656-1732), whose portrait you see here.  

Like Rodin, Serpotta sculpted his models first in clay (like La Carita' [Charity] below) and then to scale in plaster.  But the comparisons end there.  Serpotta, unlike Rodin, didn't cast his works in plaster molds.  He modeled them in situ, in rough plaster that looks like concrete, supported by internally hidden iron rods, adding a final coat of fine plaster mixed with marble dust that was polished to a high sheen, rendering the finished work to appear as if it had been carved from a solid block of Carrara stone.

Last May I wrote about Serpotta’s work in the Oratorio di San Lorenzo:  Blogspot Serpotta.  The sculptures in this post have been painstakingly restored and can be seen at the Oratorio dei Bianchi in Palermo.  They were salvaged from the demolition detritus of the Chiesa delle Stimmate di San Giuliano, which was razed in 1874 to make way for the construction of a cathedral to music, Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Italy and the third largest in Europe.    

So, without further ado, enjoy your Second Advent Sunday and these chubby, cheerful cherubs and flying acrobat angels!

 

 

Keep it real!

Marilyn