Many thanks to Luigi Ceccarelli and the entire LGC Factory team for dedicating this story to us, together with many other influential Florentine artisans.
The link to the full broadcast on Rai Play is here: The artisans of Florence
THEY TALK ABOUT US ON TELEVISION
A poem we are very fond of.
Edgar Lee Masters – Spoon river anthology – Dippold the optician
What do you see now?
Globes of red, yellow, purple.
Just a moment! And now?
My father and mother and sisters.
Yes! And now?
Knights at arms, beautiful women, kind faces.
Try this.
A field of grain – a city.
Very good! And now?
A young woman with angels bending over her.
A heavier lens! And now?
Many women with bright eyes and open lips.
Try this.
Just a goblet on a table.
Oh I see! Try this lens!
Just an open space – I see nothing in particular.
Well, now!
Pine trees, a lake, a summer sky.
That’s better. And now?
A book.
Read a page for me.
I can’t. My eyes are carried beyond the page.
Try this lens.
Depths of air.
Excellent! And now?
Light, just light, making everything below it a toy world.
Very well, we’ll make the glasses accordingly.
From Dippold l’ottico. Spoon river Anthology , Edgard Lee master
