THE BLOG AND ITS DEFENCE

The Blog has received this message from Mr Roger Nincheri who expressed some differences with the Post published on March 10, 2012 and entirely quoted from the article written by Haj Huddart and published on the McGill Daily.

The article that you have taken from the McGIll Daily has errors in it. The Madonna della Difesa parish was established by the archbishop Paul Bruchesi on the 14th of October 1910 and on the 21 October he declared the establishment and construction of the parish and was subsequently published the information in the Gazette Officielle on 3rd December. The Church Madonna Della Difesa was then built in 1918-19 based on the design by Guido Nincheri. (Guglielmo Vangelisti OSM - Gli Italiani in Canada - p.183, 209, 222 and following)
Secondly I take umbrage to the insinuation by the author that grandfather Guido Nincheri was a fascist. Grandfather throughout his life was apolitical and regarding the fresco affair, George Nincheri his son, recalls the confrontation between his father and the wardens that took place at his residence on Pie Ix Blvd in Montreal. Guido reminded them that they had no right to tear the contract and secondly emphasized the fact that such an addition was not for a church but for an embassy or a meeting hall. Nevertheless he had to acquiesce to their desires and the "Mussolini grouping" was superimposed upon the already completed fresco. (You can see the addition with close up photography)
It is unfortunate that we have to sensationalize Nincheri's art with this fact rather than understanding the uniqueness of his art in terms of his presentations and deep knowledge of christian symbolism, philosophy and history.
I would like you to read the analysis of the windows of Saint Pierre de Shawinigan in Quebec that was published published in Stained Glass Quarterly. It will give you an idea of the complexity in interpreting grandfather's art.
He was quite unique from his contemporaries as he had such a range of artistic abilities which were only embodied in such luminaries as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael and other greats of the Renaissance that are read in Giorgio Vasari' lives of the artists. Note: In Vasari's biography of Filippo Brunelleschi, p. 133 of the Penguin Edition, there is a description of Brunelleschi that echoes the 20th century counterpart Guido Nincheri
Roger Nincheri


To the attention of Mr Roger Nincheri :

The blog where I write about Canada and tourism in general is designed to familiarize Italian readers with Canada and its peculiarities.

The choice to post the article written by Haj Huddart and published by the McGill Daily was dictated by the fact that it highly enhances the figure and the works of Guido Nincheri, who is totally unknown to the general public in Italy. Having visited the church and other places where his paintings are located, I thought that any tourist going to Montreal should spend some time watching his interesting pieces of art made by an Italian artist.

I never thought that Mussolini is still capable of unnerving anybody, and professor Filippo Salvatore of Concordia University has clearly detailed the fate and hardships of Italians in Canada and their relationship with Mussolini, a feeling similar to that of many Italians in the world. Please, peruse 1933 Italo Balbo's transatlantic crossing on this particular subject.

I don't see any negative remarks about Guido Nincheri and it's unfortunate that his painting of Mussolini is so popular to cloud his overall works. But this is what catches the attention, I suppose. So, the problem is not Mussolini but the fact that the Canadian art world has not been able to highlight Nincheri's art beyond that threshold.

So, please refrain from any comments about my choosing to post the article because it's completely unfair towards us. Your harsh remarks should have been directed at journalist Haj Huddart and/or Filippo Salvatore. All their writings and sayings were generated in Canada, not in Italy, and therefore I think that a better evaluation and analysis of Guido Nincheri’s achievements should be made in Canada first.

Ernesto R Milani