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Life Without Senza Titolo

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Back in the '80s my friend Terry did the post-high school romp across Europe. He liked the warmth of the inexpensive Italian pensions and met a lot of interesting people there.

One day he and a couple people went to an art gallery in Venice. There was some sort of modern art exhibition going on. Since everything was in Italian, they didn't have a good idea what the exhibition was about. The works were by different artists. As they looked at paintings, they noticed many were called "Senza Titolo".

This was a clue.

All the abstract paintings must be something about the life of someone named Senza Titolo. They reasoned Senza Titolo was a person of great influential to all these other artists on display. Since no painting was signed by Titolo himself, Titolo must have died. They further reasoned that Titolo had probably never been a recognized artist in his time, but since so many people were honoring him, he was possibly a great and influential teacher. Clearly, then, this exhibition was in honor of the great and influential teacher and probable humanitarian Senza Titolo.

Proud they had unlocked the secret of this display, they began to examine each abstract painting to determine if it was capturing the loves, the triumphs, the suffering, or the ultimately painful, dramatic death of the great Titolo. After this went on for a bit, they struck up a conversation with a gallery attendant fluent in Italian and English.

They asked him "Who was this artist?"

"Which one?"

"The one the exhibition is in honor of."

"I do not understand what you mean."

"Most of these paintings are dedicated to Senza Titolo. Who was he?"

The attendant smiled. "Senza Titolo is Italian for 'untitled'.

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