(18 November 2023 – 15 January 2024) Piazza San Marco, Venice ProcuratieVecchie, 2° piano
Authors:
Daniele Lo Rito,
Lorella Modesti,
Monia Manente,
Silvia Gambalonga.
For the publication of images and captions for editorial articles, please consult the official exhibition Press Kit https://bit.ly/3FRRvRS.
The only photographs that may be published are those authorised for a maximum of 6 per article, no more can be published without authorisation.
Copyright © Francis Giacobetti.
Translated in English by Silvia Gambalonga. Please, we kindly ask the readers not to copy, divulgate or publish any part of the article without consulting one of us. Thank you for your understanding. For any issues about this English translation, please contact Silvia Gambalonga.
Vision–The Exhibition meets Iridology: Giacobetti’s Iridological Anthology
“(…) Considering that there are more atoms in a drop of water than stars in the universe, how lucky I am to mingle with the angels! This exhibition is a song, a poem praising the gods and heroes. I have been asked: “Are these really their eyes?”. The answer is “yes”. A black–and–white portrait, a coloured iris, planets. The light of men.“
Francis Giacobetti
DALAI LAMA–PORTRAIT©Francis Giacobetti DALAI LAMA–IRIS©Francis Giacobetti
Francis Giacobetti’s “Vision – The Exhibition, Master minds of our time” is a photographic exhibition of undisputed beauty. Shapes, textures, colours and nuances of the irises on display enchant all kinds of visitors: from those who have never seen an iris so enlarged to those who have been observing irises all their lives.
Exchanging a few words with visitors at the Vision exhibition, a similar collective experience emerges: one is astonished by the wonder of such a body part that it isn’t usually conceived in detail as well as a masterpiece in its own right. The gaze is stunning in its expressiveness, its harmony with the details of the face, its overall colouring and the nuances it presents when the eyes meet a beam of light. With Vision, the gaze is revealed in a new guise: it becomes to all intents and purposes a work of art, from the expressive power of the black-and-white portraits to the irises that flank them.
The instrument used by Giacobetti to photograph irises was specially designed to illuminate the iris margin without illuminating the centre of the iris with direct light, so that a detailed macro-relief photograph is obtained. In contrast, illuminating the central part of the iris produces a less three-dimensional photograph with a visibly flattened iris surface, in which any reflections from the light source also appear. It is therefore an innovative photographic technique, worthy of a revolutionary artist like Giacobetti, not surprisingly he is known as one of the greatest contemporary photographers precisely because of his ability to control light in a way that is nothing short of phenomenal. No optical instruments were used in the realisation of Vision’s works; the sharpness and colours of the irises are the result of photographic mastery alone. In fact, Giacobetti has made it clear that his artistic project is purely intended to enhance the beauty of irises, with the desire to honour extraordinary personalities whose lives have left a positive imprint on the world and contributed to writing the history of our time. The idea behind Vision is therefore far away from medical, scientific or other fields. This does not mean that his work cannot be appreciated in areas that are not purely artistic, such as Iridology.
Iridology is the art of interpreting irises. It is a discipline with its roots in medical science that observes genotypic and phenotypic iris signs to deduce the psychophysical condition of the organism, constitutionally weak and strong points, possible predisposition to certain pathologies and much more, depending on the iridological reading key. As trees mark their history in the trunk through concentric circles and wood ribs, so people’s life in all its fragility and resources to cope with daily struggles is imprinted in the iris. For iridology, the value of Giacobetti’s Vision works goes beyond mere artistic taste and provides a valuable collection of irises belonging to the greatest luminaries of recent times. It is a unique opportunity to be able to apply iridology reading to the irises of illustrious personalities, some of whom are no longer alive. It is an artistically extraordinary work of inestimable iridological value. Vision catalogue realised in collaboration with IrisGallery is a true iridological anthology.
Photography di Silvia Gambalonga
It is particularly thrilling for an iridologist to find oneself in front of such enlarged irises, even more because they belong to some of the most famous personalities of our time. The emotion increases when, in one of the most iconic squares in Italy and one of the most beautiful in Europe, a place of honour is given to the fulcrum of the gaze: the iris.
Vision meets iridology with a group of iridologists who came together at the exhibition under the expert guidance of Dr. Daniele Lo Rito, a well-known iridologist who has enhanced the science of iridology with innovative discoveries, such as for example, Timerisk and Spacerisk.
The group sought to recover the iridological legacy of Vision’s luminaries through the various keys of multidimensional iridology. Francis Giacobetti has transposed Vision’s irises into an anthological ode that transcends time, making eternal the experiential legacy of the “gods and heroes” of our time, as he described them. These irises are their immortal spiritual testament to humanity that only iridology has the tools to understand, codify and leave as a gift to the world.
Vision meets Iridology: three stories of resilience told by three iridologists
Visual art meets iridology with a group of passionate researchers and scholars, who put their knowledge to use to delight other visitors and, at the same time, celebrate the lives of some of the luminaries portrayed by Giacobetti. At the helm there was one of the greatest exponents of iridological science, Dr. Daniele Lo Rito, helped by a triad of women who passionately intertwined the notions of iridology and some of his iridological discoveries with the biography of famous personalities from Vision exhibition.
Vision becomes an experiential iridological triptych: three famous personalities revealed through the experience of three iridologists, who have intertwined biography details with iridology and some discoveries by Dr. Lo Rito, such as Timerisk.
- Nelson Mandela; with “A dive into Beauty” by Lorella Modesti
- Stephen Hawking; with “Cosmic Mind” by Monia Manente
- Rita Levi-Montalcini; with “An Extraordinary Mind” by Silvia Gambalonga
A dive into Beauty
NELSON MANDELA–PORTRAIT©Francis Giacobetti NELSON MANDELA–IRIS©Francis Giacobetti
On a sunny November Sunday, Venice welcomes us with its magic. Piazza San Marco is the perfect stage for a visit to Francis Giacobetti’s Vision exhibition.
The chosen space is the newly renovated building of the Procuratie Vecchie, which emanates light and beauty. We enter the dedicated rooms and on each wall, there are irises photo of 20th century “visionary” personalities, with a black-and-white photo of their faces right next to them.
The colours of the irises and the different geometries that characterise them become a strong magnet for the visitor: one has the subtle perception of entering into intimacy with the character, of being able to grasp his strengths, his fragilities, his secrets…
The game or perhaps the challenge, as iridologists, is precisely to ascertain how a man’s history, his character, his wounds find confirmation in the study of the iris and become visible in it.
Proceeding through the rooms of which Vision exhibition is composed by; the first character selected by the group to be encountered is Nelson Mandela (1918-2013).
We are greeted by deep brown eyes, full of rays as if they were canyons that from the centre of the pupil head outwards, towards the world and its return. This iris sign speaks to us of paths already marked out to be recognised and travelled in life, which may at times present difficulties, slowdowns, blockages; but which once overcome can lead to the realisation of what is most desired. Looking for correspondence with the information within his biography, one can deduce that Mandela, who belonged to the Thembu tribe whose chief was his father, was given the name ‘Rolihlahla’ at birth with a strongly prophetic meaning, “brawler”.
Of the 13 children Mandela will be the only one to be allowed to attend school, so that he can become a lawyer and defend black people against apartheid and its abuses. A road already made to be walked, leaving his mark. Proudly at the age of 7 for his first day of school he wore his father’s big trousers, cut down to his knees and held on by strings. His father passed away when Mandela was only 9 years old, yet it was from him that he had inherited a sense of proud and stubborn rebelliousness, with a strong sense of justice.
The waved fibres of his eyes speak of freedom, of a love for beauty, of a forward-looking and future-oriented thinking. Mandela’s life was by no means easy, but his concrete commitment to his people’s ideal of freedom was for him propulsive energy that sustained him and drove him forward in his struggle. He longed indeed for a democratic and free society to live in with harmony and no race discrimination.
From one of his iris signs we grasp the predisposition to interiorisation, introspection in solitude, listening to oneself, trusting that inner voice that arose directly from his heart. Mandela would later be arrested and sentenced to hard labour for life, because he was an opponent of the segregation policy. He would spend 27 years in prison, on Robben Island, experiencing a very harsh imprisonment and being allowed to a family visit every six months. He will even be denied the right to leave to attend the funeral of one of his sons. Despite this, outside, people will continue to cheer him and demand his release, making him increasingly famous for his political and social message.
Inside that tiny cell he found freedom in words, in writing, in reading, in the love of poetry; one poem in particular gave him the strength to continue to live: “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. Determination is something that has always belonged to him and is inscribed in his eye.
Poetic Interlude
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley
In this being alone with himself, the word “reconciliation” will take shape within Mandela. It will be a reconciliation that will lead him to mend deep wounds, to prefer forgiveness instead of hatred and conceive dialogue between victims and perpetrators, as the key to freedom.
Mandela would be set free at the age of 72 and will return to his freedom with one mission only: to liberate both the oppressed and the oppressor. Reconciliation and unity are the messages he left to the country and the world. He will then be elected president of South Africa through elections in which members of all “races” voted for the first time.
Three years later he will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The UN will proclaim 18 July as ‘Mandela Day’.
After the end of the apartheid regime, a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, an extraordinary tribunal, will be established in South Africa with the aim of truly reconciling oppressors and oppressed, in line with Nelson Mandela’s non-violent stance. A restorative justice.
Mandela died at the age of 95 years old from a severe lung infection caused by the tuberculosis he caught in prison, the same disease that led to his father’s death. Tuberculosis: a genetic mark Mandela had already imprinted in his eyes… an imprint left by his ancestors whose message he honourably carried forward.
In our irises we find signs representing potential diseases, discomforts, traumas and at the same time in those signs there is all the potential for healing and all the possible evolution for mankind. It is all in latency. It will be the encounter with the other and with the environment that will determine whether or not they are activated.
Mandela in the early period of his life faced that hostile world with strength, determination, anger and reacting back to the attacks; later in his mature ages that energy will be permeating the man, the other one being black or white, with no more re-action but discernment, coming to an evolutionary solution of awareness. Observing this evolutionary passage written in his iris and in his limbic system through signs and colours, filled us with emotion. We carry within us the poison and the antidote; we can choose whether to feed the evil or to bring the cure through our lives.
As we come to the end of this wonderful journey through the irises and the history of these characters, we feel enriched; we carry within us the strength of these men and women, their faith in realising that vision, that image aimed at the future. The desire rises within us to extend this work to other characters in the exhibition, making their dreams our own…
The wonderful irises at the Vision exhibition confirmed us how they are indeed the mirror of the soul, how they represent a precious book written for us by those who have gone before us and by us as our lives unfold, they may become a compass that can give us the co-ordinates for our journey.
And we iridologists also feel perhaps… a little “visionary”.
Cosmic mind
STEPHEN HAWKING–IRIS and PORTRAIT©Francis Giacobetti
In the space of the Procuratie Vecchie in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Francis Giacobetti’s exhibition entitled Vision is taking place.
The exhibition is unadorned, essential, raw, free and unconstrained like beauty when it is self-conscious. The rooms of Vision are populated with a group of characters who, to see them alive, they would make one’s legs tremble with emotion. One encounters portraits of men and women who have made their mark on history, people who have contributed to knowledge and art, people who have resisted and made their bodies a banner for ideals of freedom in defence of human rights.
In the rooms dedicated to the Vision exhibition, black-and-white portraits are displayed with the image of their irises next to them. Taking into consideration the aesthetic value alone, one cannot be disappointed because the images of irises are always fascinating and naturally artistic; they express themselves in terms of shapes and colours that fascinate the visitor. But it is equally true that when observing the image of an iris, one gradually moves from fascination to a feeling of enchantment, as under the effect of a spell of wonder.
It feels like one hears the whisper of an invitation to enter within.
Where does one enter? Definitely into the iris; by understanding the information brought to light with iridology.
Delving into Vision’s rooms, one notices that the characters are depicted in a refined and constructed photograph to satisfy the artist’s lens in the most austere or restrained pose. Differently the photograph of the iris beside denudes the construct of appearance, revealing a disposition inclined to highlight possible difficulties or a tendency to dissolve.
Of course, the counterpart is missing, but if there are facts and experiences of these men that speak for themselves, then the biographies of their lives may be as well be the mute voice they still use to communicate with us something worth dwelling on.
So it was that a group of enthusiasts, scholars and serious exponents of iridological science ventured on this journey. Together with Dr. Daniele Lo Rito the group tried to read the experience of the protagonists through specific constitutional, emotional or spiritual iridological knowledge; the feedback was truly surprising and touching.
That all-too-human that vibrates, who still wakes up and shakes souls, resurfaces. It can be found in an iris that looks like a picture of a galaxy, it is indeed the eye of Stephen Hawking (1942-2018): an English cosmologist, astrophysicist and mathematician who, paradoxically, after being diagnosed with ALS in his early 20s, opened up his life experience to so many opportunities. Hawking truly made his mind an infinite space. He even came up with theories that will find confirmation of their veracity only 50 years later.
A life lived unsparingly… perhaps continually hungry and insatiable, which allowed him to live a long life despite the prognoses of sterile medical statistics.
Going through the biographical content of a character in parallel with the interpretation of the iris, it really offers unprecedented and transversal points of observation. Key dates of life experience can be examined and it can be noted how past life events are reflected in a iris sign.
Stephen Hawking’s iris analysed with the aid of iridology explicitly communicates the predominant tendency of the mental aspect, that’s because of the type of iridological constitution it belongs to. Other informations about his iris also reveal the emotional quota, the type of response mode, the tendency to control, the forces of constriction or dilation, the various aspects that outline its character.
Remarkably, Hawking’s iris expresses information concerning the respiratory system in light of the events traceable in his biography. In the scattering of the fibres, one observes the tendency to fade into the cosmos of his own thoughts, the tendency to maintain a well-defined space in proxemic where about the aspect of his mobility was undoubtedly characterised by illness. His iris also explicitly declares the great tenacity and strength of ego at times at the expense of “fair play”. It has the same effect as hearing the voice of a dialogue of someone who is no longer among us.
Far from being outrageous or disrespectful, the analysis of the iris from the descriptive data of a biography blows a vital breath where human impulses, irremediable downfalls and personal achievements resonate and make echo to those who approach such an experience.
One has an intensely rich experience that transcends the purely emotional level, creating a subtle bond and giving rise to affection, modesty, gentleness and care that still reaches out to that human being even if he or she is no longer with us physically.
It is an experience that enriches us with wonder because the imprint made by certain people is so strong that it echoes indefinitely; this is one of the many ways to honour their lives and to make out of this a lesson received and renewed.
An extraordinary mind
Among the “Master minds and angels” portrayed by Giacobetti there is Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909 – 2012), the winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the revolutionary discovery of the NGF protein, the growth factor of the central nervous system.
Who, however, was the woman behind this extraordinary mind? By delving into Rita’s autobiography and her iris, it is possible to find some answers and confirmations
RITA LEVI MONTALCINI–PORTRAIT©FrancisGicobetti RITA LEVI MONTALCINI–IRIS©Francis Giacobetti
She was a woman of singular tenacity who dedicated her life to scientific research and philanthropy, an exceptional example of female self-assertion, fulfilment and emancipation. Rita Levi-Montalcini spent peaceful childhood with the only regret that she could not continue her studies due to her father’s imposition. The man watched his two sisters juggle their university studies and family life, ending up viewing their studies as a distraction from female roles of mothers and wives.
After the death of her beloved housekeeper, Rita found the determination to oppose and affirm her vocation at only 20 years of age, by telling her father to accept that she would never be a mother or a wife. She thus obtained the possibility of enrolling at the University of Turin. Rita prepared herself in just 7 months as a private student and was admitted to the faculty of medicine and surgery where she graduated with a 110 cum laude. An incredible result considering that at the time women were certainly not numerous in universities and scientific circles. Her love for studying was not extinguished even during the Second World War, while the racial laws that enraged across Europe forced her first to resign as a volunteer in a centre for nervous diseases, then to years of continuous flight with her family. She escaped from Turin to Belgium, where she continued her studies at the University of Bruxelles, then again to Turin where she was forced to flee after heavy bombings, then to the hills of Asti and finally to Florence. Rita Levi-Montalcini was from a Sephardic Jewish family, although she was not a believer, she had to remain hidden until the liberation. During that time, she repeatedly set up home laboratories in her bedroom and devoted herself to studying the nervous system on chicken embryos, using edible eggs as her only source of research. Until the end of the war, she collaborated with the partisan forces and served as a field doctor for the wounded arriving from northern Italy. Her experience as a doctor particularly marked her because she was too empathetic and suffered too much for every person she could not save. At the end of one of the darkest chapters in human history, all the Levi-Montalcinis survived and could finally be reunited in Turin. After that for a period of 30 years Rita was involved in scientific research at the Washington University, where she discovered NGF.
Rita Levi-Montalcini was an exceptional woman who taught at some of the most prestigious international academies, became a senator for life, founded medical research centres and funded women’s education in Africa. Rita was part of the socio-cultural debate to free women from male subordination, promoting education and defending fundamental human rights, such as the right to abortion. She has received countless international honours and awards for her efforts. In the last decade of her life, she experienced the fruits of her research on herself, a degenerative maculopathy in fact made her partially blind so she was able to benefit from the efficacy of an eye drop, the preparation of which included NGF. In her last interview for her 100th birthday, she stated “I am the mind, the body may as well do what it wants”. She passed away at the age of 103 years old, but her scientific advances and her legacy to humanity remain written in history and imprinted on the people she met; her memory transcends time.
Comparing the iris with Rita Levi-Montalcini’s biography, the power of iridology is surprising because the iridological signs match the chronological reconstruction of her life. By applying Dr. Daniele Lo Rito’s Timerisk, it is in fact possible to know the ages at which any traumas of major impact in a person’s life may have occurred. On Rita’s iris there are imprinted marks close to the crown, which are related with the ages corresponding to the loss of her housekeeper, the clash with her father’s will in order to be able to self- determine, the traumas of war and bombings, her experience as a field doctor, up to the age of onset of the degenerative maculopathy, the year of the death of both her twin sister Paola and her sister Anna. Sun rays and concentric circles in the iris indicate a person subjected to a major stressful load, such as particularly nerve-wracking, prolonged and psychophysically debilitating situations.
The overlapping of different colours and shades in this iris suggest a need for gentleness and tenderness, but at the same time the possibility of distancing oneself from interpersonal relationships so that further suffering may be avoided.
The straight fibres of her iris indicate a very active mental activity, careful rational evaluation of every aspect of life, excellent learning and memory skills. It is an iridological sign that can belong to intellectuals, philosophers and leaders who hold high management or valuable roles. Shades thickened in the area of the iris corresponding to the brain sector indicate unceasingly active thinking. Rita stated that she used her brain faculties so much that she kept her brain as trained and efficient as when she was a girl.
Rita Levi-Montalcini’s degree of iridological birth reveals a natural inclination to self-expression, a finely evolved personality ready to manifest its full potential, a propensity for upright, honest and enlightening behaviour that can lead to accolades of honour and glory.
Giacobetti’s works on display in the Vision exhibition are of undisputed beauty for any visitor, they are also a unique thrill for anyone familiar with the science of iridology. It is an opportunity to extrapolate from the irises of these luminaries the personal characteristics and the “visions” that made them famous until nowadays.
Iridology bibliography
Lo Rito D. Il cronorischio, Ed. Editorium (1993)
Lo Rito D. L’iridologia, la storianeinostriocchi, Ed Mediterranee (2001)
Lo Rito D. L’iridologiaspirituale, Edito in proprio (2008)
Lo Rito D., Birello L. Iridologiacontemporanea, Edito in proprio (2011)
Lo Rito D. Iridologiamultidimensionale, Edito in proprio (2012)
Lo RitoD. ,Sottili S. La resilienzairidologica, Edito in proprio (2015)
Lo Rito D., Birello L. La potenzadelcinque Vol. 1, Edito in proprio (2017)
Lo Rito D., Birello L. La potenzadelcinque Vol. 2, Edito inproprio (2017)
Lo Rito D., Mach M. Gli alberi della vita: il calendario celtico, Edito in proprio (2018)
Lo Rito D.L’arte nei nostri occhi, Edito in proprio (2018)
Lo Rito D., Modesti L., L’uomotripartito in iridologia, Edito in proprio (2020)
Lo Rito D.L’iridologia e la prossemica Vol. 1, Edito in proprio (2021)
LoRito D., Modesti L., L’uomo tripartito in iridologia, Vol.2 (l’influsso transgenerazionale, Edito in proprio (2021)
Lo Rito D., Birello L. L’iridologia tra l’immanenza e la trascendenza, Edito in proprio (2022)
General Bibliography
- Nelson Mandela. Lungo cammino verso la libertà. Autobiografia, Ed. Feltrinelli 1997
- Stephen Hawking, “Breve storia della mia vita”, Mondadori, 2013
- Rita Levi Montalcini, Elogio dell’imperfezione, Milano, Garzanti, 1987.
- Rita Levi Montalcini, Cantico di una vita, Milano, Cortina, 2000
Sitography
- Sitography. sissco.it
- • Biography Mandela. nelsonmandela.org
- Poetry Invictus di William Ernest Henley.
- Hawking, Documentary/Comedy 2013
- biografieonline.co.uk/biography-stephen-hawking
- abilitychannel.tv/stephen-hawking/
- youtube.com/watch?v=ZrVVvXOIwQc
Rai Documentaries
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/rita-levi-montalcini/
https://www.isof.cnr.it/grandi-scienziati-nella-vita-del-cnr/rita-levi-montalcini/
https://www.unifg.it/it/ateneo/salute-sicurezza-benessere/parita/womeninscience/rita-levi-montalcini
Daniele Lo Rito
+39 347 4621869 – danielelorito@libero.it – www.iridosophia.com
Lorella Modesti
+39 3479591630 – lorellamodesti@yahoo.it
Manente Monia
+39 3289190786 – moniamanente0@gmail.com
Silvia Gambalonga
+39 3472597296 – silviartphotography@outlook.it
Author: Daniele Lo Rito
0 commenti