Guido Dettoni della Grazia is an Italian visual artist and sculptor of sacred works. He has developed a following among pilgrims and private collectors who have collected his art since the 1960s.[1][2] His Tau sculpture is in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy, and it and MARIA have been featured in guide books and sites such as Lonely Planet Umbria,[3] Rick Steves' Italy,[4] and TripAdvisor.[5][6][7] MARIA has been installed permanently at the Church of Saint Sulpice in Paris,[8] the Church of Santa Maria Delle Rose in Assisi,[9] and major churches in Austria (Jesuit Church of Innsbruck), the Czech Republic (Church of Our Lady of the Snows, Prague),[10] France (Biennale of Contemporary Sacred Art),[11] Germany (Old Saint Nicholas Church, Frankfurt),[12] Italy, Portugal, Singapore, and Spain.[5][13]
Guido Dettoni della Grazia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1945 Milan |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Known for | Tau, MARIA |
Early life and education
editHe was born in Milan, Italy, in 1945 to Maria della Grazia, a sculptor, and Franco Dettoni, an entrepreneur and inventor.[14] He has a brother, Luca, and a sister, Parisina. As a child he played in the park at Milan's Castello Sforzesco, and his engagement with mud near a fountain inspired his first hand sculptures.[15] What he calls "gameplay and joy" led him to create mud shapes that appeared and disappeared in his hands as he named them, and this hand-mold style continues in his work to this day in his style, "Handsmatter."[16]
Dettoni attended a Jesuit school, Charles Borromeo, in Milan. One day when he was 14, he read the story of the Greek philosopher Bias of Priene in Cicero's Paradoxa Stoicorum. When Bias of Priene was asked why he was empty handed when fleeing the destruction of his city, he replied: omnia mea mecum porto (All that's mine I carry with me).[17] Dettoni refers to this as his revelation.[18]
Career
editHe moved from Italy to Germany at age 15, finding a job in a factory in Düsseldorf and studying with artists, working in traditional pencil before moving to color studies. In the 1960s he left Germany for Austria, and then spent time in Spain and Venezuela, settling for a time at the Art Workshop in Caracas.[19][20] He refers to his unique sculptural style as "Handsmatter," which he developed in the 1970s.[21][22][23] He created his first images of MARIA in 1995 with wax from Puebla, Mexico. He first exhibited this work in Barcelona in January, 1998.[21]
References
edit- ^ Kordiuk, Ihor (1 December 1974). STUDENT. Ukrainian Canadian Students' Union (SUSK). p. 5.
- ^ "Terra Aranesa". Museu Publicaciun Etnulogic de'ra Val d'Aran. 5: 12. 1 January 1979 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Franzon, Anita; Carulli, Remo (26 May 2023). Umbria (in Italian). Italy: Lonely Planet. p. 270. ISBN 978-88-592-8921-0.
- ^ Steves, Rick (October 4, 2005). Rick Steves' Italy. Internet Archive. Avalon Travel Publishing. p. 438. ISBN 978-1-56691-727-8.
- ^ a b "Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Rose. Mostra Maria, Assisi". Tripadvisor. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ "I came upon this exhibition by chance - Review of Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Rose. Mostra Maria, Assisi, Italy". Tripadvisor. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ "Assisi an Exhibition you must see - Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Rose. Mostra Maria, Assisi Traveller Reviews". Tripadvisor. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ "Saint Sulpice, Paris - Exhibition 2004 - MARIA by Guido Dettoni della Grazia". MARIA. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ "Santa Maria delle Rose's Church in Assisi - MARIA by Guido Dettoni della Grazia". MARIA. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ "MARIA by Guido Dettoni della Grazia | Scoop News". Scoop Culture, New Zealand. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
- ^ "2023 Artists – Biennale of Contemporary Sacred Art". Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ "Alte Nikolaikirche, Frankfurt am Mai - Exhibition 2001 - MARIA by Guido Dettoni della Grazia". MARIA. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ El Cultural (in Spanish). Edita Prensa Europea S.A. February 2002.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Catti, Alex (15 May 2017). "Sculpting for Peace with Guido Dettoni [at Hofstra University]". iItaly.org. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
- ^ Modica, Ilene and Gary (20 November 2020). Our Italian Journey. Boston Harbor Press. p. 162.
- ^ O'Brien, Maureen (2023-03-07). Gather the Fragments: My Year of Finding God's Love. Franciscan Media. ISBN 978-1-63253-424-8.
- ^ Brown, Nell Porter (July–August 2012). "Omnia Mea Mecum Porto: "All that's mine I carry with me" gains popularity". Harvard Magazine.
- ^ Dettoni della Grazia, Guido. "Omnia Mea Mecum Porto". Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ Inside the Vatican. Vol. 10. Vatican City: Urbi et Orbi Communications. 1993. p. 23.
- ^ von Eichborn, Vito (2013). Mein Mallorca (in German). Hamburg, Germany: mareverlag. p. 21. ISBN 978-3-86648-363-7.
- ^ a b Webb, Jennifer. "Guido Dettoni della Grazia's Maria in Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi". Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ "Guido Dettoni Sculpture Australia". Maggie M. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ Webb, Jennifer D. (30 June 2019). "Guido Dettoni della Grazia's "Maria" in Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi". IASBlog (Italian Art Society). Retrieved 19 March 2024.