times of India ITALY: When blind sculptor Felice Tagliaferri<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Felice%20Tagliaferri> was forbidden to touch one of Italy's most famous statues, he decided revenge was best served not just cold but stone cold.
Tagliaferri, 41, spent much of two years creating his marble interpretation of "Cristo Velato," or "Veiled Christ" , a 1753 masterpiece that he has neither seen nor touched. Giuseppe Sanmartino's exquisitely detailed sculpture of the body of Christ lying wrapped in a fine shroud is one of the prime tourist attractions in Naples. Busloads of blind and disabled people from throughout Italy came to Tagliaferri's studio near Bologna<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Bologna> in northern Italy to take symbolic taps on his chisels. The result is a powerfully rendered life-sized Jesus that Tagliaferri punningly calls " Cristo (ri)Velato<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Cristo%20(ri)Velato> ," or "Christ Revealed." "There are so many messages . One is that a block of marble isn't ruined when it is lightly touched by expert hands," he said. "Second, the disabled are sick and tired of waiting for others to decide and tell them what they can and cannot do." In May 2008, Tagliaferri visited the Sansevero Chapel<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Sansevero%20Chapel>, eager to experience its famous "Veiled Christ" in the only way a blind person can: by touching it. He was blocked, he said, first by a guard and then by the administration, despite his protests that he was a professional sculptor who would do no damage. Now, he is savouring a triumphal return to Naples<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Naples> when "Christ Revealed" begins a national tour at the Royal Palace from February 26 to March 13. The pope is expected to see it in Ancona on September 11. The statue will also travel to Messina, Rimini and Siena. Blind since the age of 14, Tagliaferri was studying furniture restoration and working at a switchboard when he joined an experiment to test whether sight is necessary for sculpturing. The answer changed his life. Since then, he has worked with master sculptors in Bologna, Carrara, Spain, France and Germany and his works have been shown widely, including in Prague<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Prague>, and appear in collections throughout Italy. The Omero State Tactile Museum in Ancona has a section devoted to his art. With thanks and regards (Rajesh Asudani) Assistant General Manager Reserve Bank of India Nagpur Cell: 9420397185 o: +91 712 2806846 R: 2591349 "The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it. Wishing you great journey." -Kalpana Chawla (An excert from the e-mail Kalpana sent to the students of Punjab Engineering College from aboard Columbia.) "The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it. Wishing you great journey." -Kalpana Chawla (An excert from the e mail sent from Columbia -mail Kalpana sent to the students of Punjab Engineering College from aboard Columbia.) ________________________________ Notice: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this email by error, please notify us by return e-mail or telephone and immediately and permanently delete the message and any attachments. The recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Reserve Bank of India accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. Get numbers right this time, help the census with correct disability info! Question 9 relates to disability.
