Cloak of Conscience
Encyclopedia
The Cloak of Conscience is a sculpture
by Anna Chromý
carved from a single block of white marble
excavated from the Michelangelo Quarry in Carrara
, Italy
. It represents her largest work of art since Chromy
turned to sculpture from surrealist
oil painting
s in 1992. As a result of her work on The Cloak, Chromy was the first woman to be awarded the Premio Michelangelo, the annual award for sculpture, in 2008.
and Don Giovanni
by Mozart
. In previous iterations, the Cloak has been given other names. In Salzburg, by the Cathedral, it is Pietà, in Prague outside the opera house where Mozart
first performed Don Giovanni
, it is 'commendatore'; On the north German island of Sylt
, where it sits outside the 13th century St. Severin church at Keitum, it is called the Coat of Conscience, as it is at The Royal Palace in Monaco
. Here it is placed in the garden where Grace Kelly
, as Princess Grace of Monaco, went to read in the afternoon. Andrea Bocelli
, the Italian tenor
, has a smaller replica in his Forte dei Marmi
home, other private owners of small Cloaks include Pope Benedict XVI
, the Ferragamo family
in Florence and the Ferrero family
in Alba
Following Anna Chromy's presentation of the "Heart of the World" sculpture to Pope John Paul II
in 2002, in recognition for his role as protector of peace in the world, she also gave a small version of the Cloak in bronze. Shortly afterwards she was approached by The Abbot of the Holy Convent and Papal Basilica San Francesco in Assisi. He wanted to know if she could build the Cloak as a place of spirituality and meditation, following the teaching of St. Francis
who considered one's own body or cloak to be a cell in which to find the deepest dimensions of the self. The first brochure, printed to assist creation of the Cloak, had a foreword from John Paul II: “Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again! In the name of God, may every religion bring upon earth Justice and Peace, Forgiveness and Life, LOVE!”. So begun, in 2005, the search for a block of marble large enough to accommodate people in prayer inside it. It was found on 24 December 2005 in the Michelangelo Quarry, Carrara
.
marble
favoured by Roman and Renaissance
sculptors. The robust and aesthetic quality of this variety of marble results from the method by which it has been subjected to heat and pressure over millions of years beneath the Earth's surface. This has caused its metamorphosis from limestone
or dolomite rock to a material composed from an interlocking mosaic of calcium carbonite crystals. Typically marble
obtains its colour and patterns from the presence of mineral impurities such as clay
, silt
, sand
, iron
, oxides or chert
, any of which might have been present in granular form inside the original limestone. The pure-white variety, found in the Michelangelo quarry at Carrara, results from a complete absence of such impurities in the limestone
from which it originated.
At 250 tonnes, the original block of marble had its centre drilled out in the Michelangelo quarry to reduce its weight as far as possible for transportation down the steep winding road to the Michelangelo Studio, Carrara. This in itself was a feat of logistics and required careful planning and patience to ensure it reached the studio safely.
Cloak of Conscience, and the whiteness of the Carrara marble recalls the art of Bernini
(1598–1680): flesh and cloth rendered as stone - the very opposite of its natural material qualities. This has also been referred to as the 'art of petrifaction
', recalling Ovid's story of how the animism and 'diverse attitudes' of some marble sculptures can be such that they could be mistaken for real persons, which is a reverse operation in addressing the traditional ambiguity of sculpture.
The apparent aim of Baroque
sculptors such as Bernini
was to achieve the possibility for marble
to appear as both solid and translucent, and to imply a plasticity
and weightlessness that is radically at odds with its material quality. Michelangelo
too, was masterful at creating the impression of flesh from marble, as seen in his David
. However Chromy references this tradition with an inversion of the illusion of stone as flesh. First of all there is no positive analogue of the human body with which we can engage in the view of soft tissue, which almost always demands at least partial nudity.
Instead the work is dominated by the folds of cloth and the absent volume of a body, which implies weight - so much weight in fact that we can call this a building (or an architectural sculpture
) even a 'chapel
', and as such it perhaps has more in common with the use of marble
in architecture
than in sculpture
.
In contrast to Rachel Whiteread
's procedure of making positive volumes out of negative space, Chromy constructs a negative space out of a solid volume: the human body. The marble therefore becomes a material of strength, a structural material, rather than one that engages in the illusion of weightlessness - in this way it is a different approach to Chromy
's works in bronze which, like the sculptures of Ancient Greece, appear to defy gravitational forces by capturing the dynamism of the human body, many of which can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
, which contains the richest collection of artifacts from Greek antiquity worldwide.
It is outside this museum that one of the Cloak's repica's, a 'Coat of Peace' was placed following Anna Chromy's exhibition there "Antique Myths" in 2007, at which many of her bronze sculptures were displayed, such as Sysiphus (2003).
completes this sentence by observing that it was the experience of mystery and fear which engendered religion, and that if a knowledge that such mysteries exist is what inspires a religious attitude, then he himself is a deeply religious man. His religious stance was often under scrutiny because of his scientific discoveries and beliefs. Like Charles Darwin
before him, Einstein was working at a time when truly religious attitudes were sometimes at odds with his scientific conclusions. When asked in 1929 whether he believed in God
via telegram by New York's Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein
, Einstein replied in 25 (German) words: "I believe in Spinoza
's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.". Chromy tells us her vision, as she set to work on the Cloak, was to create something from 'shining white marble' which is "the physical image of Harmony: harmony between Man, Nature and all Created".
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
by Anna Chromý
Anna Chromy
Anna Chromy is a painter and sculptor. Born in Bohemia , she was raised in Austria, lives in France and works in Italy. She is said to be a quintessential European....
carved from a single block of white marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
excavated from the Michelangelo Quarry in Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It represents her largest work of art since Chromy
Anna Chromy
Anna Chromy is a painter and sculptor. Born in Bohemia , she was raised in Austria, lives in France and works in Italy. She is said to be a quintessential European....
turned to sculpture from surrealist
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
s in 1992. As a result of her work on The Cloak, Chromy was the first woman to be awarded the Premio Michelangelo, the annual award for sculpture, in 2008.
Dimensions
From the original 250 tonne block, the final sculpture of The Cloak weighs 45 tonnes and features a hollow space in the centre large enough to accommodate two adults standing. The entrance is at the front where one fold of the cloak overlaps the other. The Cloak is 470 cm high on its plinth. By comparison, Michelangelo's David is 517 cm and the height of an average adult male is 180 cm.History and versions
The Cloak of Conscience is the culmination of numerous depictions of a faceless figure hooded and shrouded in cloth. The first appeared in Chromy's painting 'To Be Or Not To Be', in 1980, which in turn had been inspired by the play 'Everyman' by Hugo von HofmannsthalHugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal ; , was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.-Early life:...
and Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
by Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
. In previous iterations, the Cloak has been given other names. In Salzburg, by the Cathedral, it is Pietà, in Prague outside the opera house where Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
first performed Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, it is 'commendatore'; On the north German island of Sylt
Sylt
Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia...
, where it sits outside the 13th century St. Severin church at Keitum, it is called the Coat of Conscience, as it is at The Royal Palace in Monaco
Prince's Palace of Monaco
The Prince's Palace of Monaco is the official residence of the Prince of Monaco. Built in 1191 as a Genoese fortress, during its long and often dramatic history it has been bombarded and besieged by many foreign powers. Since the end of the 13th century, it has been the stronghold and home of the...
. Here it is placed in the garden where Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, as Princess Grace of Monaco, went to read in the afternoon. Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
, the Italian tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, has a smaller replica in his Forte dei Marmi
Forte dei Marmi
Forte dei Marmi is a sea town and comune in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany . It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians....
home, other private owners of small Cloaks include Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, the Ferragamo family
Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A.
Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A. is an Italian luxury goods company, with headquarters in Florence, specializing in shoes, leather goods, and ready-to-wear for men and women. It is the parent company of the Ferragamo Group...
in Florence and the Ferrero family
Ferrero SpA
Ferrero SpA is an Italian manufacturer of chocolate and other confectionery products, founded by confectioner Pietro Ferrero in 1946 and based in Alba, Piedmont, Italy. The company achieved success headed by Pietro's son Michele Ferrero, then Michele's son Pietro , who oversaw global business...
in Alba
Following Anna Chromy's presentation of the "Heart of the World" sculpture to Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in 2002, in recognition for his role as protector of peace in the world, she also gave a small version of the Cloak in bronze. Shortly afterwards she was approached by The Abbot of the Holy Convent and Papal Basilica San Francesco in Assisi. He wanted to know if she could build the Cloak as a place of spirituality and meditation, following the teaching of St. Francis
St. Francis
St. Francis may refer to a number of Roman Catholic saints:*St Francis of Assisi , Italian founder of the Order of Friars Minor *St Francis of Paola , Italian founder of the Order of the Minims...
who considered one's own body or cloak to be a cell in which to find the deepest dimensions of the self. The first brochure, printed to assist creation of the Cloak, had a foreword from John Paul II: “Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again! In the name of God, may every religion bring upon earth Justice and Peace, Forgiveness and Life, LOVE!”. So begun, in 2005, the search for a block of marble large enough to accommodate people in prayer inside it. It was found on 24 December 2005 in the Michelangelo Quarry, Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
.
Excavation and transportation
The Cloak of Conscience is carved from the same pure-white CarraraCarrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
favoured by Roman and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
sculptors. The robust and aesthetic quality of this variety of marble results from the method by which it has been subjected to heat and pressure over millions of years beneath the Earth's surface. This has caused its metamorphosis from limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
or dolomite rock to a material composed from an interlocking mosaic of calcium carbonite crystals. Typically marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
obtains its colour and patterns from the presence of mineral impurities such as clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
, silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
, sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, oxides or chert
Chert
Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements...
, any of which might have been present in granular form inside the original limestone. The pure-white variety, found in the Michelangelo quarry at Carrara, results from a complete absence of such impurities in the limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
from which it originated.
At 250 tonnes, the original block of marble had its centre drilled out in the Michelangelo quarry to reduce its weight as far as possible for transportation down the steep winding road to the Michelangelo Studio, Carrara. This in itself was a feat of logistics and required careful planning and patience to ensure it reached the studio safely.
Style
The scale of Chromy'sAnna Chromy
Anna Chromy is a painter and sculptor. Born in Bohemia , she was raised in Austria, lives in France and works in Italy. She is said to be a quintessential European....
Cloak of Conscience, and the whiteness of the Carrara marble recalls the art of Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
(1598–1680): flesh and cloth rendered as stone - the very opposite of its natural material qualities. This has also been referred to as the 'art of petrifaction
Petrifaction
In geology, petrifaction, petrification or silicification is the process by which organic material is converted into stone by impregnation with silica. It is a rare form of fossilization...
', recalling Ovid's story of how the animism and 'diverse attitudes' of some marble sculptures can be such that they could be mistaken for real persons, which is a reverse operation in addressing the traditional ambiguity of sculpture.
The apparent aim of Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
sculptors such as Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
was to achieve the possibility for marble
Marble sculpture
Marble sculpture is the art of creating three-dimensional forms from marble. Sculpture is among the oldest of the arts. Even before painting cave walls, early humans fashioned shapes from stone. From these beginnings, artifacts have evolved to their current complexity...
to appear as both solid and translucent, and to imply a plasticity
Plasticity (physics)
In physics and materials science, plasticity describes the deformation of a material undergoing non-reversible changes of shape in response to applied forces. For example, a solid piece of metal being bent or pounded into a new shape displays plasticity as permanent changes occur within the...
and weightlessness that is radically at odds with its material quality. Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
too, was masterful at creating the impression of flesh from marble, as seen in his David
David (Michelangelo)
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo. It is a marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence...
. However Chromy references this tradition with an inversion of the illusion of stone as flesh. First of all there is no positive analogue of the human body with which we can engage in the view of soft tissue, which almost always demands at least partial nudity.
Instead the work is dominated by the folds of cloth and the absent volume of a body, which implies weight - so much weight in fact that we can call this a building (or an architectural sculpture
Architectural sculpture
Architectural sculpture is the term for the use of sculpture by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project...
) even a 'chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
', and as such it perhaps has more in common with the use of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
in architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
than in sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
.
In contrast to Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread, CBE is an English artist, best known for her sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She won the annual Turner Prize in 1993—the first woman to win the prize....
's procedure of making positive volumes out of negative space, Chromy constructs a negative space out of a solid volume: the human body. The marble therefore becomes a material of strength, a structural material, rather than one that engages in the illusion of weightlessness - in this way it is a different approach to Chromy
Anna Chromy
Anna Chromy is a painter and sculptor. Born in Bohemia , she was raised in Austria, lives in France and works in Italy. She is said to be a quintessential European....
's works in bronze which, like the sculptures of Ancient Greece, appear to defy gravitational forces by capturing the dynamism of the human body, many of which can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
The National Archaeological Museum in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the great museums in the world and contains the richest collection of artifacts from Greek...
, which contains the richest collection of artifacts from Greek antiquity worldwide.
It is outside this museum that one of the Cloak's repica's, a 'Coat of Peace' was placed following Anna Chromy's exhibition there "Antique Myths" in 2007, at which many of her bronze sculptures were displayed, such as Sysiphus (2003).
Inspiration
When asked about her inspiration for The Cloak of Conscience, Anna Chromy quoted q:Albert Einstein: "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science...". EinsteinAlbert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
completes this sentence by observing that it was the experience of mystery and fear which engendered religion, and that if a knowledge that such mysteries exist is what inspires a religious attitude, then he himself is a deeply religious man. His religious stance was often under scrutiny because of his scientific discoveries and beliefs. Like Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
before him, Einstein was working at a time when truly religious attitudes were sometimes at odds with his scientific conclusions. When asked in 1929 whether he believed in God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
via telegram by New York's Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein
Herbert S. Goldstein
Herbert S. Goldstein, , was a prominent American rabbi and Jewish leader.He was the only person in history to have been elected president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Rabbinical Council of America , and the Synagogue Council of America.Globally, he fought for the...
, Einstein replied in 25 (German) words: "I believe in Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.". Chromy tells us her vision, as she set to work on the Cloak, was to create something from 'shining white marble' which is "the physical image of Harmony: harmony between Man, Nature and all Created".