You are currently browsing the daily archive for January 28th, 2007.

the pool at foro italico, photos & essay by antmoose.
This building, designed as the “palazzo delle Termi” or palace of the Baths by Costantino Costantini in 1937, became part of the Olympic complex in 1960.

exercise is good for you on Flickr - by antmoose
What is going on here? Men climb stairs to fling themselves off a platform, presumably to land in a sweaty pile on the men below. Meanwhile, three muscle men squat, stretch, and flex for our viewing pleasure.

divers on Flickr - by antmoose
It was almost impossible to get a photo of this wall, for some reason. So this is of mediocre quality, but the mosaics express the sheer physical joy of diving.

women? on Flickr - by antmoose
Of course, the women are fully clothed and represent goddesses and virtues. They watch in helpless awe as their menfolk disport with each other in various states of manly undress.

runners on Flickr - bn antmoose
One of the most beautiful sections of the mosaic, full of kinetic energy. The repetitious motion of the arms evokes, surely unintentionally, the Nazi swastika.

relaxing on Flickr - by antmoose
I think this is the most explicitly erotic of the pool mosaics. Here he waits, naked, confident of his muscular body, as if in a sauna. He doesn’t look too smart, but then intelligence was not a Fascist ideal. The pose evokes the ignudi on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling.

towel peekaboo on Flickr - by antmoose
The swimmer, drying off, shows us he’s not wearing a thong, and seems on the verge of showing us what Fascist youth really worshipped.

put the towel around me too on Flickr - by antmoose
There is a world of homoerotic longing in the gaze of the towel-less bather.

oh my aching back on Flickr - by antmoose
photos & essay by antmoose.
Nice Andamento!
Mosaic Art Source mosaic definition:
andamento - movement or flow of tesserae, often accentuated by the interstices.
mosaic art source - mosaic terms glossary - mosaic definitions - mosaic resources
Who were the Mosaic Artists?
In the first postwar period, 1934-1938, the most interesting mosaic project realised by the Mosaic School of Fruili, was the wall and floor mosaic of 10,000 sqm mosaic at the Foro italico in Rome. It was created on the bozzetti by Giulio Rosso, Angelo Canevari, Achille Capizzano and Gino Severini. The School history from 1922

sabrina spilimbergo on Flickr - blackhitomi has green eyes

mosaic from the school in Spilimbergo on Flickr - deirdreon langley

Mosaic class school in Spilimbergo on Flickr - deirdreon langley
Where is Spilimbergo?
Spilimbergo (Friulian Spilimberc) is a town, with a population of 11,635, located northeast of Venice in the province of Pordenone in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy. The town is notable as the home of the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli (Mosaic School), which was founded in 1922.


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