La Campana di Marbach Antonio Ligabue Romanzo dell'Artista da Giovane by Renato Martinoni

 La Campana di Marbach Antonio Ligabue Romanzo dell'Artista da Giovane

by Renato Martinoni published by Guanda is the second book of the author about Antonio Ligabue. If in the first one that I reviewed months ago published by Marsilio  Antonio Ligabue Gli Anni della Formazione Martinoni treated the formation years of the painter, in this one the author treats and reveals Antonio Ligabue's childhood and origins.

It was a sad beginning the one of Ligabue in this world. 

He was the son of the sin as once were called children born without a father. 

Maria Elisabetta her mother was born at Cencenighe. In the misery that there was, her family lived in dignity. 

She was a cioda, a girl who went for work somewhere else during the good season, doing domestic and outdoor works. She was also good at it, and in particular the Kofler family, treated her very well.

Her future didn't appear after all too miserable, but once, returned to his town once, and because of the long winter, she made good friendship with a carbonèr, Martino, and legend after legend, told by the carbonèr to an enchanted Maria Elisabetta close to some good glasses of wine, the two made love and Maria Elisabetta became... pregnant.

Who was Martino: a real man or a matharol a mythological creature of the Alps in grade of destroying the existence of  this pretty young girl? After all Martino looks like a matharol...

Rejected by her family, Maria Elisabetta finds another boyfriend, disgraceful unfortunately also this one, Bonfiglio Laccabue.

13 Years later, Maria Elisabetta, three children, a fourth one buried, a fifth, Antonio Laccabue given to a family for economical reasons is a woman completely destroyed.She is desperate. She lives of charity, asking for some coins during the day, and the night she goes out, searching for some food in  closest gardens, stealing something to eat, like also her children do; her husband, the one who recognized Antonio, is a drunker. Her family is so miserable that her desire of ending this existence is big.

Then,like in an hallucination, one night, when she wanted to kill herself and her daughter, she meets Martino again. He changed with the time, they talked briefly and then Martino presented her a red ball asking for a pair of knocks; then he gave her also some lard. Once home, Maria Elisabetta  prepares the dinner at the children adding at the pasta the lard. During the night all her children died; she died later, to the hospital, after many and horrible sufferances.

Years before Martino told her the story of the matharol. Once upon a time there was a Matharol and this Matharol could become a red ball. A girl decided of stealing the red ball, thinking that no one would have seen the absence of that little red ball but a matharol doesn't joke....

While Maria Elisabetta spent a sad and absolutely unhappy existence till at that absolutely horrible, horrible death! a family in love with the idea of having a child, asked for a kid and Antonio Laccabue enters in the family of the Gobels. 

The Gobels remains a very different family if compared to the Laccabue, although, once the little Antonio enters in their existence brought new thoughts in the existence of this couple because Antonio appeared immediately a difficult kid with mental issues and also physical ones. Antonio in fact was often starved when lived with Maria Elisabetta and his step-father, and this problem brought several and severe mental and physical consequences.

.

Antonio, found an adorable family; in particular her second mother was an excellent person. She tried everything for bettering the existence of Antonio and also when Antonio, plenty of anger, said her nasty things, she continued to adore him.

These two people cured in many ways Antonio mentally as well, finding for him a wonderful place where to stay when a teen-ager. Bad companies, and also a temper not always great convinced that christian people that unfortunately Antonio couldn't be recuperated with simplicity. 

But...There was some hope. He loved to painting. He was fascinated by animals.

He was, yes, strange, not a common person, but the sufferances Antonio brought in his soul and body were also part of the genetical "patrimony" of his real dad, Martino; Martino and his father worked in places where brain and lungs became intoxicated by chemical substances and both of them became weird, people classified like crazy; people who, at the end, lost their minds. 

Once at home, her adoptive mother denounced Antonio, and Switzerland didn't want him anymore; Antonio, so, was brought in Italy, where he met success and where his art became to be known.

A beautiful and moving book, the author enters in thoughts and minds of the various characters with great reality and with a peculiar, particular writing-style. 

I thank Guanda for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Poliori