Page 35 - Studio International - September 1965

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native of Catania, the part of Sicily once occupied by
Greece, and his name suggests his origin), what he
represents is not a deliberation, a programme, an
intellectual 'Ism, but a destiny, organic as his own
breath, natural and therefore true and convincing. His
work will survive all the day-flies of our time.
In May 1959 Greco was approached by the Cathedral
Chapter of Orvieto and asked to submit sketches for the
main door and the two side doors for the front of the
Romanesque/Gothic Cathedral which was begun at
the end of the 13th century. Competitions for these
doors have been held since 1896 without result. The
themes proposed for the doors were to be taken either
from the time of the Crusaders or from the legend of the
Miracle of the Bolsena Wine that turned into blood.
Greco knew that he could not fill the given themes with
a genuine feeling. When, however, the Works of

Mercy were suggested to him, he accepted. To feed
the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the
naked, to harbour the homeless, to visit the sick, to
comfort the imprisoned, to bury the dead-these com­
mands of human behaviour appealed to the artist who,
himself of humble origin. has become one of the leading
names in modern Italian art. His fame soared after the
completion of the magnificent work to become a star
of the first order. 'Two years were spent in intensive
study often day and night'. so the artist said to me.
'Originally the idea terrified me. To add something of
value to a building of such perfection, this task weighed
heavily on my mind. I made the journey from Rome to
Orvieto daily for months. I sat opposite the building,
one of the finest examples of its kind in Italy, wondering
how I could have been so foolish as to believe that I
could produce something that could stand up to the
grand and subtle work of Andrea Pisano and Orcagna,
with its exquisite rosette, the sculptures, the precious
and rich reliefs in marble, something that could take its
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