The Logo of the
28.04.14
www.caratteridacollezione.com
In creating the logo of the exhibit "Collectible Characters", we kept in line with Chinese
tradition, which, thanks to the endless possibilities of figurative transformations offered by
its ideogrammatic writing, permits us to invent symbols, complex and auspicious
characters. For example, during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC), there was a
type of decorative writing, used especially for seals, called "insect and bird script"
(chongniaozhuan) because its shapes recall insects, birds and other small animals.
We built our logo with two elements. The first is the Chinese character for "writing" (shu),
created in cursive script, while the second is the Marzocco, the lion symbol of Florence,
still in evidence today on the weathervanes on the towers of the Bargello and the Palazzo
Vecchio. The graphic summarises the philosophy behind the show, which brings together
the first Chinese visual art of calligraphy and the collecting of works of art represented by
the Florentine excellence of the Via Maggio antiques dealers and provides a cultural
exchange that will foster mutual knowledge with the Chinese people.
But let's consider in detail the hidden meanings of the two elements in the logo.
In its most ancient form, the character for "writing" represents a hand holding a brush
vertically and contains a rich layering of meanings...