Page 11 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu
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Petru Russu’s Engravings for The His one hundred and one etchings, defined by expressive dynamism
Boccaccio’s Decameron and technical brilliance, recast Boccaccio’s characters as visual
archetypes that transcend time. Petru Russu’s interpretations not
only complement the narrative’s emotional depth but transform the
Middle European Expressionism and The
edition into a rare synthesis of literature and graphic art.
Decameron: Giovanni Boccaccio’s Timeless
Anthology of 100 Stories, Brought to Life through This edition of The Decameron remains a timeless celebration
Petru Russu’s 100 Fragmented Bodie Etchings. of human resilience, creativity, and cultural legacy, its stories
resonating just as powerfully today as they did centuries ago.
In Petru Russu’s engravings for Boccaccio’s “Decameron“, the
Set in Florence, Italy, in 1348 amid the devastation of the Black
twisted frenzy of the bodies arouses an impression of true release.
Death, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio unfolds in a villa
It is a release that breaks limits, avoiding the difference between
just beyond the city’s reach. Ten young people, seven women
styles, social situations, and historical-geographical sites. They
and three men, escape the horrors of the plague and commit to
are not “illustrations” confined to a particular moment of European
a storytelling ritual to preserve their spirits. Over ten days, each
history. Although within the images there are some allusions to
member shares a tale daily, crafting a mosaic of one hundred
the fashion of that age, a sort of set-designing care, everything
stories that reflect love, wit, tragedy, and the human condition.
is wrapped around a dance of vitality that doesn’t want to accept
Together, they form Boccaccio’s enduring masterpiece, widely
stylistic appearances. In the end, the sensation we have is a
recognized as one of the earliest and most influential works of
dépaysement deriving from this attitude, not from a method. A
the Italian Renaissance.
dépaysement that is not a metaphorical book-learning distance,
but an aspiration for totality that excludes pedantic philological
The themes explored, ranging from bawdy humor and romantic discriminations.
entanglements to moral allegories and social critique, offer a vivid
portrait of medieval Italian society. Boccaccio’s writing balances Petru Russu offers one of the acute variants of neo-expressionism,
entertainment and philosophical reflection, often using colloquial primitivizing in the sense of a surprising synthesis between, we
language and satirical commentary to examine the corrupt nature would say, early Romanesque reverberations and extra-European
of institutions like the Church. In the tale of Patient Griselda, for exoticisms, also resorting to the representational solution of the
instance, Boccaccio describes how her husband subjects her to fragmented body (body in pieces) in the engravings-illustrations for
relentless trials to test her devotion, a story that doubles as both a The Decameron.
cautionary allegory and an indictment of cruelty cloaked in virtue.
While setting up his etchings, an art collector pointed out some
In an extraordinary 20th-century revival, the edition illustrated
similarities with Chinese art. Someone else found analogies
between 1983 and 1985 by Petru Russu, one of the most acclaimed
with the vivid chromaticism of popular Mexican engravings.
graphic artists of the modern era, adds a striking visual dimension.
Nevertheless, the exoticism of Petru Russu’s images comes from
