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The Tarsia Sorrentina © by Herman Chanowitz
Historically, in the late 16th and 17th centuries,
the major industries in Sorrento were agriculture and
shipbuilding. However, these industries declined, and
by the 18th and early 19th centuries the major
industries were silkworm farming, mulberry growing and
woodworking furniture. The silk industry catering to
the tourist couldn't compete with Northern Italy,
however, and gave way to lemon and orange orchards.
The subsequent loss of trade was a catastrophe for the
local economy, and there was a strong effort to find
another industry to fill the gap. Actually, during the late 16th century the French and
Northern Italians had developed ornate furniture
decorated with wood mosaics, and the 19th-century
Sorrento woodworking artisans were aware of this type
of furniture. Sorrento, because of its natural beauty
and climate, had always attracted tourists, and the
archeological excavation of Pompeii and Herculaneum
were a major attraction with tourists, who were then
eager to find souvenirs of what they had seen at those
sites. Thus, a couple of imaginative woodworking
Sorrentinos recognized that the frescoes on the walls
of the ruins lent themselves beautifully to
reproduction in intarsio
on plaques using the wood from the lemon tree for
white or tan color and the wood from the nut tree for
brown or grey ( the same colors used on the frescoes).
These plaques turned out to be very popular with the
tourists and so the intarsio industry was born.
Briefly, the method of intarsio involves transferring a
mosaic of wood onto a wooden base. The artist first
prepares a full-scale accurate pencil drawing of the
design to be transformed into intarsio. Next, using
transparent paper, the original design is recopied.
The artist modifies the drawing into a mosaic form,
keeping in mind that each piece will be made of wood
of unique color and grain structure and that it is the
contrast between color and orientation of grain that
brings the design into relief. The original
transparency is then used to make transparent working
copies which are subsequently destroyed during the
process of cutting the mosaic pieces of wood.
In the true intarsio
art form, touching up the wood by painting is not
permitted; all coloring and design detail must be the
natural wood color and grain structure. The artist has
about 50 different types of wood to select from with a
color variation from almost pure white as in the wood
of the lemon tree to the black of ebony, including all
the colors of the rainbow in between. Only the trunks
of the trees are used and the wood is imported from
all over the world. The color of the wood is derived
from the multitude of minerals found in the soil where
the trees grow. The tree trunks are treated and aged
for a couple of years to remove the moisture and then
cut into thin slabs 0.7 millimeters thick. The slabs
are classified according to color and grain structure
and stored until needed. To cut the individual mosaic pieces, the appropriate
slabs are selected according to color and grain; they
are stacked and a jig-saw is used to cut the
individual pieces using the working transparency
pattern. Next, the pieces are assembled and glued to a
newspaper sheet like a jigsaw puzzle.The sheet with
the design is glued, paper up, to the base (table,
jewel box, plaque, etc.) and the paper is removed
using very fine sandpaper. What remains is the mosaic
design glued to the base. This is then varnished,
polished or coated with a polyester depending on the
desired finish. The craft is very labor-intensive with very little
automation. The design on a small plaque may have from
70 to 150 pieces while a large intricate design may
have several thousand. The industry consists of
several larger companies along with numerous small
privately owned workshops in the ancient streets of
the historical center of Sorrento. Most of the small
companies cannot do all the manufacturing steps, so
they subcontract such that each performs only a few
steps of the production cycle. It is estimated that
there are several hundred persons working in this
craft. I have always enjoyed rambling through the ancient
streets, poking into the open doors of a work shop,
watching the artisans at work, discussing their many
problems and learning of new developments. The
reception has always been cordial and you may find
your visit to Sorrento more interesting if you do
likewise. Incidentally, Prof. Giuseppe Rocco would be
pleased to meet with anyone who would like to visit
his studio it Corso Italia 226, Sorrento, to learn
more about the art of intarsio. |
Tarsia