Artist of the Week: Dito von Tease’s Ditalians
A while back, we took a look at Italian artist Dito von Tease’s work. In case you have forgotten, he does “finger portraits” of famous people, ranging from historical figures to celebrities, and in the previous article, we showed you a few portraits he did of international figures, such as Barrack Obama, the Dalai Lama, and Frida Kahlo.
Today, we will be looking at a series of portraits he’s done of iconic Italian figures, but first, let’s refresh your memory and tell you a few things about Dito von Tease.
Dito work and lives in Bologna, Italy. He chose the nickname as a reference to famous contemporary burlesque artist Dita von Teese, changing “Teese” to “Tease” to make it sound like “a funny invitation to people to be curious about the complex mystery of personal identities”.
He also changed “Dita” to “Dito”, not because he didn’t want people to think he’s a woman (for all we know, he might actually be a she), but because dito means finger, in Italian. This makes Dito von Tease a reference to an Italian saying, nascondermi dietro un dito, which means hide behind a finger.
He only uses his index finger in his portraits, so that he “indicates and questions you for a reflection of your own identity”, and he does the portraits digitally, further referencing fingers in his work, digitus meaning finger, in Latin.
Now let’s take a look at his works. His collection of portraits of Italian figures is called Ditalians. It comprises of 18 portraits of both real and fictional characters, and we will be showing you 15 of these, because it’s a neat number.
1. Dito Gualtiero Marchesi
As you could probably tell by the clothes the finger is wearing, this is a portrait of a chef. Not just any chef, though, Gualtiero Marchesi is the first Italian chef ever to receive 3 Michelin stars, and the owner of the oldest restaurant in Rome, Ostaria dell’Orso, which is situated in a palace that dates back to 1400 AD. He is also the first celebrity chef to design a hamburger and dessert for fast-food franchise McDonald’s.
2. Dito Leonardo da Vinci
This portrait requires little, if any, presentation. Leonardo da Vinci is the famous Italian artist and scientist, who’s name is virtually synonymous with the Renaissance. Known from works such as The Last Supper or the Mona Lisa, we woulds be willing to bet that Leonardo da Vinci is probably the most famous Italian, to date….
3. Dito Luciano Pavarotti
… we would, that is, if Luciano Pavarotti hadn’t existed. If da Vinci is synonymous with the Renaissance, then Pavarotti is synonymous with opera, being widely considered as of the finest tenors of the 20th century, and one of the few opera singers that crossed over into popular music.
4. Dito Gino Strada
Although nowhere near as famous as Luciano Pavarotti or Leonardo da Vinci, Gino Strada’s contributions to humanity are, to say the least, huge. He is a war surgeon and founder of Emergency, and Italian NGO that, for 20 years has been giving medical assistance to civilians in war-torn area. According to their USA website, Emergency has provided assistance to 5,500,000 people since 1994.
5. Dito Dario Fo
Actor, playwright, singer, songwriter, and activist. There are few things Dario Fo can’t do, and that’s turn a blind eye to the things he doesn’t (and does) like. Famous for his criticism of the Catholic Church and, more recently, banks, Dario received a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997, with the lovely mention from the Swedish Academy that reads: “who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden”.
6. Dito Totò
Like Dario Fo, Totò (or Prince Antonio Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno De Curtis di Bisanzio Gagliardi) is a highly influential Italian artist. Compared to such great names as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, Totò starred in about 100 films, and many of his recurring jokes have become memes in Italian culture.
7. Dito Giuseppe Verdi
Along with Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi is considered the preeminent composer of the 19th century. Famous for such operas as Rigoletto, La traviata, Nabucco, and Aida, Verdi is probably the most famous Italian composer that ever was, and he is also an emblematic figure of the reunification process of the Italian peninsula.
8. Dito Sandro Pertini
Sandro Pertini is a key figure, perhaps the most important, of the Italian socialist movement. Having suffered all through Italy’s fascist years, under Benito Mussolini, Pertini eventually won the 1978 presidential elections, and became President of Italy until he stepped down in 1985.
During this time he helped restore the people’s faith in the government, and openly criticized dictatorships, such as that of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and the South African apartheid.
9. Dito Giuseppe Garibaldi
If Verdi is a emblematic figure of Italian reunification, then Giuseppe Garibaldi is the figure of Il Risorgimento. A skilled general, Garibaldi fought campaigns in Europe, Brazil and Uruguay, and almost fought in the American Civil War. Among his admirers were Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and George Sand.
10. Dito Rita Levi-Montalcini
The second Nobel Prize winner on our list, Rita Levi-Montalici is also the oldest person on this list. She was a neurologist who, together with her colleague Stanley Cohen, discovered the nerve growth factor (or NGF) in 1986. She is the oldest Nobel Prize recipient ever, and the only one to ever live to be a century old.
11. Dito Roberto Saviano
Considered by many to be a national hero, Roberto Saviano is a journalist and novelist who became famous after publishing his bestselling book Gomorrah, in 2006. The book takes an in-depth look at the workings of the Cammora family, which is a mafia-like organization from Naples. He has received numerous death threats, and is currently under a protection program by the Italian authorities.
12. Dito Cristoforo Colombo
Christopher Columbus is best known for re-discovering America after the Vikings. Admittedly, it is his landing in America that eventually lead to colonization, and the Americas as we know them today, and since we don’t have any portraits of Leif Erikson, Colombo will just have to do.
13. Dito Dante Alghieri
Dante Alghieri is one of the most important writers of the Middle Ages. His work The Divine Comedy is universally praised, and considered by many to be the greatest literary work ever to be written in the Italian language, and one of the most valued works of literature in the world.
14. Dito Gioconda
Just to see how important da Vinci is for Italian culture, he gets a second entry on our list, with his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa. Her mysterious smile has been drawing audiences, and giving birth to conspiracy theories, for centuries, now.
15. Dito Roberto Benigni
Italians are truly in love with the performing arts, so the last entry on our list is yet another actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. We are talking, of course, about Roberto Benigni. Best known for his somewhat controversial La vita è bella, which follows the story of a father trying to protect his child from the atrocities of the Holocaust, Benigni hasn’t had much success outside of Europe, but he has played in a Woody Allen movie, recently.
That concludes our article on Dito von Tease. We hope you enjoy his marvelous portraits as much as we do, and that you will check out more Ditalians, or any other of his works on his website.
Also, don’t forget to tell us your thoughts on this article, in the comment section below.
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