Italian art

A statue of the artist and architect Giotto stands outside the Uffizzi Gallery in Florence.

Art restorers using ultra-violet rays are seeing rich original details of Giotto’s paintings in the Peruzzi Chapel in the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence that have been hidden for centuries, according to an exclusive just-released story from Reuters news service.

The dry painted frescoes, said to have influenced Michelangelo, had been whitewashed and then badly repainted over the course of centuries.

Reporter Philip Pullella describes one panel of the Giotto viewed under ultra-violet light, “In the scene where God is accepting John the Evangelist into heaven, the wrinkles in John’s forehead, the threads of his beard, the whites of his eyes and God’s welcoming gaze appear like fleeting but powerful visions.”

Giotto di Bondone, known simply as Giotto, painted in the late 1200s and early 1300s throughout central Italy. His work was seminal in moving artists away from the stiff portrayls in Byzantine paintings to the more humanistic renderings of the Renaissance.

Artist Chuck Olson conducts a Springtime in Parma arts program for St. Francis University students.

Artist Chuck Olson conducts the Springtime in Italy arts program in Parma for St. Francis University students.

By Walter Sanders

We can find Inner Italians almost anywhere. And so it was that we encountered artist Chuck Olson’s Italian connection in Old City Philadelphia at the opening of his most recent exhibit at the Rosenfeld Gallery.

Sharon’s alma mater St. Francis University in Loretto, PA, hosted the event for Olson, 56, who is Chair of the school’s Fine Arts Department. He has been teaching there since 1976.

Look at Chuck Olson and you see a confident, polished and worldly gentleman. Yet, until he was 29, he had never traveled further from his western Pennsylvania home than Youngstown, Ohio. To polish his pronunciation skills of French artists and authors, he took an elementary French language class, then an additional 27 credits in French. “Studying a foreign language helped me understand and appreciate the power of a new cultural dynamic,” Olson said.

He met Marie, a French woman, in the United States and in 1987 they married. Marie shared her roots in western France with Chuck, and eventually, their two children. Every summer, the family rented a French farmhouse. “We prefer really experiencing a place, rather than collecting destinations.”

In 2006, Olson was given the opportunity to direct the Springtime in Italy arts program in Parma. “I took a risk. Many people in their 50s tend to withdraw but I jumped at the chance. Initially I didn’t know the language, I didn’t know a soul in Parma, but the journey has been amazing. After three years, I can stroll into the Mayor’s office after a warm welcome by his security people and discuss our programs,” Olson said.

“Italy was a different experience for me . . . the light, the foliage, the language. The food was different, even the bread. The people were more open and sharing. That helped me shape my teaching philosophy. My students’ experiences won’t be limited by lack of imagination. So I encourage them to travel on the weekends, participating in and sharing every cultural difference they can. The students come away with experiences that are legitimately their own.”

Italy has been fertile ground for Olson to develop interpersonal relationships. “I enjoy making connections between good people. Many of these relationships blossom, and a few whither on the vine.” It is the magic of Italy that inspires people to connect with others.

To view more of Olson’s acrylic paintings, visit The Rosenfeld Gallery.

Giotto Anew

Chuck Olson: Art and Parma