The Master Sculptor Prof. Gaetano Piro was born in Francavilla Fontana in the
province of Brindisi in Puglia (Italy) on 7/03/1941 from a humble peasant family who
with great sacrifices indulged the propensity to study allowing him to complete the
course of study from elementary school, up to the degree in "Economics and
Commerce" at the University of Bari following which he became a much loved and
highly appreciated teacher.
Despite the few resources available in his family of 6 people (2 parents and 4
children, including him) serenity and joy have always accompanied him together with
a brilliant imagination that he has shown in various fields since he was a child, in fact
since he was a child she made bread, cooked and worked clay.
Unfortunately, the Maestro left us too early on 03/25/2020 at only 79 years old, just
turned, due to septicemia from an infection taken in the hospital where he had entered
following an accidental fall.
The Maestro was a special Man, an extraordinary Man, a Person truly out of the
ordinary, characterized by a sweetness, sensitivity, grace, generosity, kindness out of
the ordinary, by great enthusiasm and by a special Light in his eyes that shone as they
do those of children who look at the world as something new and beautiful with
innocence.
He loved life so much, music, neighbor, simple things and he loved olive wood and
when a trunk or a piece of it struck him in his heart it was because the sacred fire of
inspiration that made him began to burn. create wonderful works.
Maestro Prof. Gaetano Piro was a meek and humble man of heart and of immense
sweetness and calmness, he was Noble of mind, Noble of spirit and Noble of feelings
like the great Men who have left an important mark in all those who knew him.
His artistic ability as a Sculptor was born with him, in the sense that he was a self-
taught sculptor, together with his genius and talent thanks to which he created
wonderful Works of Art from trunks and pieces of Olive Wood and from the Stone
with which he also he loved to work, using simple and rudimentary tools, such as
chisels and gouges of all sizes, hammer, files, glass and sandpaper.
All of his Works express his soul but also Passion and Love, Purity and Spirituality
because, as He said, he sculpted guided by Heavenly Inspiration.
The peace and serenity that enveloped his soul emanated from the faces of his
sculptures that ranged from the sacred to the profane. His favorite subjects were in
fact Christ, Motherhood, Love and Woman.
These themes, albeit so different, were for Him an emanation of sacredness, purity,
clarity, transparency, the candor of a Soul with its feet firmly on the ground but with
its gaze turned to eternity.
Even the representation of the Woman, for Him, was not just a nude but He said that
the Woman is the temple and envelope of the Spark of Creation.
With his living he transmitted Love and the message that Life is beautiful and is far
beyond materiality and that everything is sacred. This aspect is above all marked in
the faces of His Jesuses, who, although represented on the Cross or in the midst of the
Passion, express serenity, sweetness and much Love with a hieratic, calm, noble and
tranquil gaze, never showing a grimace of pain, because the pain is transcended but
not with resignation but with full trust and reliance.
The Maestro carved small pieces of wood up to large trunks weighing 18 quintals
which he worked with meticulous and painstaking patience, bringing out what the
whole material incorporated. He has created many works both of small dimensions
and of human dimensions among which I mention a Crucifix of 2.10 m, and several
women in plastic poses of an average height of 1.80 m and body measurements 90-
60-90.
He used to work outdoors in the country alone, under the veranda in the company of
his beloved animals who flocked from all sides when he arrived and in the company
of his beloved music.
Recently, on December 14, 2021 he was awarded the Civic Merit in memory for
artistic and moral merits by the City of Francavilla Fontana.
Education: graduated in Economics and Commerce at the University of Bari, retired
Mathematics teacher has always had admiration for the modeling of matter and for
olive wood in particular for the qualities of beauty and durability over time . The
acquisition of the working technique is not the result of a school or academic didactic
path, but is the result of a personal study motivated by pure passion for art in all its
forms and for sculpture in particular.
Subjects: female beauty expressed in all its forms, motherhood, representations of
Christian sentiment and various.
Techniques: The material he loves to work the most is olive wood both in portions of
small cut logs and in whole logs weighing 17-18 quintals, with a preference for those
with the strangest and most varied shapes. The normal conformation of the chosen
piece offers a source of inspiration for the soul that will come out of the material. The
final work brings to light what is inherent in the material not in a static way, but in a
dynamic way as if it were caught in a precise frame during its movement.
The technique adopted is that of the conscious use of only small manual tools such
as: hammer, chisels of various sizes, gouges, rasp, glass and sandpaper for
smoothing. When the work is finished, it is treated with a transparent impregnating
agent; following the drying of this, the external patina is scraped off with sandpaper
and, finally, the work is treated with glossy or satin transparent varnish.
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