Page 64 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

64 from Italy to the Canary Islands

tions, reliefs and sensations.
Most importantly: why is there not a bust of Lanzarotto Malocello?
Why is there not even a simple sketch as there is for his contemporary Ob-
erto Doria, the Captain of the People? The sketch we have of the latter is so
clear and true to life that we are sure that these are, precisely, the features
of Oberto Doria.
In every noble building, in every respectful family there is a “gallery of
ancestors” and this would therefore be the first step to composing, setting
up and creating the “mise-en-scène” of an existence. But, let us repeat,
even a simple sketch would be enough to start with, just like in the case of
the Captain of the People Oberto Doria.
Statues and busts are uncovered from every corner of the Roman Em-
pire; at all times of the year – whether in Greece, Tunisia, or in Spain – a
glimpse of marble resurfaces from some hidden moment of that transfig-
ured era (it is also wonderful when, faced with a headless statue, one haz-
ards a guess as to whom it could belong). Certainly in this case too, the
longer an emperor reigned, the more time he had available to “celebrate
himself”, to assemble “photographs” for posterity. But the real treasure
resurfaced is not in fact so much the bust or the coins of an emperor who
reigned for a long time and who perhaps had wisdom as one of his quali-
ties; the sublime, on the other hand, incalculable value is for those emper-
ors who did not reign for very long – Galba, Pertinax and Caligula once
again – or who stand out for oddities and also for madness. And in this
latter case, too, the “small amount” available favours the work of filling in
that we certainly feel in our souls.
As we said, we are speaking of a drawing for Lanzarotto Malocello,
and not a bust, but this, naturally, would bind us to a small element of
certainty. To be honest there is not even a drawing, but rather proof of
an at least presumed truth and therefore besides the lack of a “gallery of
ancestors” – a hall which would perhaps now be done out with plexiglass
shelves and spotlights on the surface of a sophisticated false ceiling or set
in the old ceilings, with golden coffers, spotlights which reach and light up
an existence and more than one existence – we have almost nothing which
unequivocally declares that that drawing provides us with the real features
of Lanzarotto Malocello.
Every gentleman of the Middle Ages had to have an “insigne pintor”,
an outstanding painter making portraits of the members of the House to
hand down to posterity. The Palace compensates us, enables us to dream