Our World: ‘History in the making’

Photo by MANUEL MARTINEZ

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary relief gets installed at the Ave Maria Oratory on Dec. 16, 2010. Staff/Manuel Martinez

As the first pieces of the sculpture were raised toward the face of the Ave Maria Oratory, one couldn’t help but be in awe of the delicate balancing act between the three massive cranes and the hand carved slabs of marble dancing in the air. A project that from inception to fruition took nearly 3 years and more than $3 million to achieve.

It was the brainchild of Michael Windfeldt, executive director of the Ave Maria Foundation for the Arts, and renowned Italian artist Marton Varo. It is the first project to be undertaken by the foundation and completely funded by private donations.

The relief depicts the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 120 tons of Carrara marble hand selected from Cava Michelangelo, the same quarry Michelangelo used to acquire his marble for his most important works.

Windfelt explained that “the Annunciation is where Ave Maria comes from, where the school got its name.” The process for achieving such a large-scale project was nearly as complicated and logistical as carving the piece itself.

When the foundation decided to begin the project, they held a worldwide contest, asking artists from around the globe to submit their vision of the work. Varo submitted a one-to-10-scale reproduction in marble for what ended up being the winning submission.

“He did it in marble which is the material that he wanted to do this in,” said Windfeldt. “We felt that stone on stone was the best answer for this, while all the other competitors were proposing to do it in bronze.”

Varo, 67, was chosen not only for his brilliant submission but he was the only candidate with past experience working on projects of this scale.

“The niche where the sculpture resides is 35 feet tall and 31 feet wide. It’s just unheard of; there is no other church in the world that has anything like it and so it was a very unusual project,” Windfeldt explained.

Not only was the project challenging from an artistic standpoint, but also there were months of discussion concerning the engineering behind hanging such a large-scale facade. It would be an epic undertaking for both the artist and the contractors involved.

As a result of this commission, the Ave Maria Foundation for the Arts was formed to help find funding for the project through private donations and to nurture the culture of art at Ave Maria University. The university is looking for 400 donors to give $25,000 a piece. In return, they will receive a limited addition bronze reproduction of the relief. The bronzes are based on the maquette or work models of the Annunciation that Varo used to carve the final piece.

Once the project began, Varo made several trips back and forth from Italy to Ave Maria, carving portions of the relief in both places. The smaller five pieces were carved in Italy, while the larger stones measuring 210 centimeters by 230 centimeters were carved at Ave Maria, making the largest blocks almost 7 1/2 feet tall.

Beginning the project at the age of 64, Varo single-handedly carved the entire sculpture without any assistance from other artists.

The summers in Naples turned out to be hot for Varo and the equipment being used to carve the sculptures, so time was split between both places. Once the principal pieces were finished, the contracting crew and Varo went into full installation mode.

Three-dimensional renderings were created to analyze the structural and engineering challenges of the large-scale project. Once all tests were verified, the first pieces took flight toward Ave Maria’s sacred oratory. Hoisted by mammoth cranes, the machines delicately creep the 120 tons of marble toward their new home.

After the sculpture is finally assembled, Varo will spend the next three months, starting in January, in a basket lift tying everything together and putting the final touches on what may come to be called his masterpiece. The sculpture will be the largest depiction of the Annunciation, and the largest relief of Carrara marble in the world.

“The thing I’m trying to get across to people is that this is truly history in the making. There is nothing like this anywhere in the world,” said Windfeldt.