An important sculptor of the twentieth century, Nicola Sebastio was the undiscussed protagonist of the debate on the sacred art of the twentieth century. Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, from an early age he came in contact with numerous intellectuals and artists he frequented even in the periods in which he dedicated himself to teaching at numerous Milan institutions, including the Humanitarian Society, the Beato Angelico School and the Gonzaga Institute. Author of the statue depicting St. John the Baptist de La Salle placed on the central spire of the facade of the Milan Cathedral, Sebastio was marked by the experience of the Second World War and, in particular, by his imprisonment in Egypt. The essay therefore traces the salient steps of the war years, of his escape from the English prison camp and his many months’ hiding in the pyramids and in the Necropolis of Memphis. An experience that led him to start a relevant study of Egyptian funerary painting which, according to Costantino Baroni, led him to build a corpus of drawings “of great novelty and importance for the knowledge and critical evaluation” of Egyptian civilization.
Significativo scultore del XX secolo, Nicola Sebastio fu protagonista indiscusso del dibattito sull’arte sacra del Novecento. Diplomatosi all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, fin da giovane entrò in contatto con numerosi intellettuali e artisti che frequentò anche nei periodi in cui si dedicò all’insegnamento presso numerose istituzioni milanesi, tra le quali la Società Umanitaria, la Scuola Beato Angelico e l’Istituto Gonzaga. Autore della statua raffigurante San Giovanni Battista de La Salle collocata sulla guglia centrale della facciata del Duomo di Milano, Sebastio fu segnato dall’esperienza della seconda guerra mondiale e, in particolare, dalla prigionia in Egitto. Il saggio ripercorre, dunque, le tappe salienti degli anni della guerra, della fuga dal campo di prigionia inglese e del suo nascondimento di numerosi mesi nelle piramidi e nella Necropoli di Memphis. Un’esperienza che lo condusse a iniziare un’opera di studio e rilievo della pittura funeraria egizia che, secondo Costantino Baroni, lo portò a costituire un corpus di disegni “di grande novità e rilievo per la conoscenza e la valutazione critica” della civiltà egiziana.
Nicola Sebastio: la prigionia della seconda guerra mondiale e la scoperta dell’arte e dell’architettura egizia
Ferdinando Zanzottera
2020-01-01
Abstract
An important sculptor of the twentieth century, Nicola Sebastio was the undiscussed protagonist of the debate on the sacred art of the twentieth century. Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, from an early age he came in contact with numerous intellectuals and artists he frequented even in the periods in which he dedicated himself to teaching at numerous Milan institutions, including the Humanitarian Society, the Beato Angelico School and the Gonzaga Institute. Author of the statue depicting St. John the Baptist de La Salle placed on the central spire of the facade of the Milan Cathedral, Sebastio was marked by the experience of the Second World War and, in particular, by his imprisonment in Egypt. The essay therefore traces the salient steps of the war years, of his escape from the English prison camp and his many months’ hiding in the pyramids and in the Necropolis of Memphis. An experience that led him to start a relevant study of Egyptian funerary painting which, according to Costantino Baroni, led him to build a corpus of drawings “of great novelty and importance for the knowledge and critical evaluation” of Egyptian civilization.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Nicola Sebastio la prigionia della seconda guerra mondiale Rivista ISAL n 31 - Bassa ris.pdf
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