Country
Italy

Tale typology
Local traditions

Age Suitability
5

Tale summary
Modigliani’s heads of stone Many years ago there was a prank of Modigliani’s heads. Modigliani was born in 1884 in Livorno. He was a painter and sculptor, now his works of art are famous in the world but when he was alive his works were unknown. In 1909 Modigliani went to Paris but before his departure he threw his heads of stone in the ditches. Many years later (after 100 years to Modigliani’s born) in 1984 were found 3 heads in the ditches and these works of art were show in a museum. In truth the head was forged, three friends made one false head with drill, hammer and screwdriver. After someday the three young men said the truth and they showed the photo of his head of stone. The other two heads were made by Angelo Froglia. There is the story of a boy of 7 years that saw 5 heads of a young painter under the stairs of relative’s house. When he was he put in his coachbuilder’s workshop. Now the three heads “La Saggezza, la Bellezza e la Nera” are in a bank in Livorno.

Educational potential / Learning Outcomes
The story takes children to the origins of their hometown and to discover its artists.
It contributes to developing the artistic sense and the aesthetic sense.
It enhances and defends the different forms of art.

Full Plot
Many years ago, Modigliani's jest of heads made the world of art blush.
But what is a joke?
Do you know?
The joke is a joke and you will soon understand what joke I'm talking about.
And who was Modigliani?
Modigliani was a painter, sculptor born in Livorno in 1884, many years ago.
His paintings and sculptures are beautiful and have become famous in
all over the world, but at the time they were not very loved and understood by the Leghorn people
because they were very particular. The women he painted had his neck on.
long and their faces were very strange. So, in 1909 he decided to leave and
to leave the beautiful Livorno to go to Paris to make a fortune as an artist.
It is said that Modigliani, however, before leaving threw in the ditches some of his
heads carved on the stone because they are too big and too heavy to be
transported to Paris.
But back to Livorno. It was a hot summer of 1984.
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the artist Amedeo Modigliani (12
July 1884), the Progressive Museum of Modern Art of Livorno decided to
to set up an exhibition in his honour. But the works were very few. So
to make the exhibition more beautiful and rich, what did the organizers invent?
They decided to use excavators to explore the Medici ditch.
What were they looking for in the ditches? Guess what?
They were looking for the famous stone heads that Modigliani thought he had thrown away
in the ditches in 1909 before leaving for Paris.
And so, in front of the crowd of many curious Leghorn people, the excavator starts digging
in the ditch. A few days went by, but none of Modigliani's sculptures
trace. And here is that on the eighth day something surprising and miraculous
happened on the city of Livorno: the murky waters of the ditches had returned
something. It was a granite head carved with hard contracts and
stretched. A few hours passed and the bulldozer pulled two more blocks out of the ditch
of pietra serena, which turned out to be just as many sculptures, also
depicting heads.
Then everyone's happy! Finally Livorno had its heads of
Modigliani for the exhibition and this event would go down in history. The
news went around the world and to celebrate that finding the statues
were carefully cleaned and displayed.

One Lesson Plan
Drawing on grey cardboard of the false head of Modigliani with black pencil
Creation of real heads: Wisdom, Beauty and Black with cardboard and collage in 3D
Graphic reproduction of the three heads "Wisdom, Beauty and Black" by observing the images of the photos on the digital whiteboard
Interactive whiteboard games
Creation of the mask "False Head of Modì"
Dramatization and dance activities of the "Heads of Modì"