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POPOLANO PRESS

Popolano Press has as its logo a detail from the statue of Il Popolano (1427-35) by Donatello.

The marble statue of this prophet has been described in the following way:

Il Popolano is a strong-willed, determined man who faces his task with unswerving directness. Donatello has depicted him in the very act of delivering his message: in his left hand he clutches the scroll which contains that message. … The scroll of Il Popolano is not something he uses visually to inspire his audience; on the contrary, it is something from which he draws his personal inspiration. This scroll is his own little fragment: it is a humble document, crumpled from long use. It draws its significance not from its physical characteristics, but from the moral importance of its contents; and it becomes an important part of the statue not through optically asserting itself on the viewer’s senses, but through psychologically asserting itself on the viewer’s overall comprehension of the work. It is important to the statue because it is so greatly important to the prophet. The scroll symbolizes the message to which he has chosen to devote his life. He faces his people to propound that message, holding his scroll before him almost as if for moral support.

It must be remembered that the message of the prophet was never an easy one for his audience to accept. The Old Testament prophet had a message that was primarily moral and a role that was essentially that of social reform. His was the difficult task of convincing his fellow men of their injustice and iniquity. Moreover, he had to get them to change their ways. People are never readily convinced that they should change. Thus the work of the prophet was always met with much resistance…

There is in Il Popolano a powerful realization of the tragic implications of the role of the prophet. In it one can see what it means, in human terms, to devote one’s life to propounding a message that people do not wish to hear. One feels with the prophet the anger and frustration of being rejected by the very people to whom he has dedicated his life. One feels the suffering of a man who is willing to step outside the system and question accepted norms. In the fiery spirit of Il Popolano, Donatello seems to have recaptured something of the Old Testament, tragic concept of the prophetic life.

Popolano Press hopes to provide works that are worthy of this description—with the will and strength to describe the world as it is, and the courage to express creatively and positively the need for change in authentic and meaningful directions.

Popolano Press is a publishing entity fully owned by Richard L. Rubens, Ph.D., Psychologist, P.C., which is incorporated in New York, NY.

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