Text 6. The man who paints like Michelangelo

Goethe claimed that one could only have a complete understanding of what a single man could achieve by seeing the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's frescos. Few have a greater understanding of the achievements of this man than Professor Colalucci. He has been in charge of die painstaking task of restoring these frescos in the Vatican since the first experiments were carried out on an area die size of a postage stamp several years ago.

He chuckles quietly over the casual way he entered his chosen career. " I don't come from a family of artists." His father was a famous sports journalist. He himself was an indifferent student and entered the world of art restoration through a chance meeting with a leading restorer. When he decided to enter the Rome Restoration Institute in 1949 he was one of only five students. Now there are queues waiting to get in.

His first job was a one-month stint in Sicily which turned into an unexpected stay of seven years during which he developed an expertise restoring early paintings on wood. When the Vatican was looking for new blood in 1960, he was recruited for these skills. He eventually moved on to fresco work by virtue of the Vatican possessing 900 % of its painting in die form. " My experience on wood, a much more delicate medium, has helped enormously in my work on the Sistine Chapel. Restoring Michelangelo requires all the techniques used for wood-based painting work because his painting is so refined, so delicate, - and so well known."

What is the secret of a good restorer? " For me, die important filing is to understand how a work of art is painted, the choice of colours, die movement of mass... it is like understanding the structure of a piece of music." It is the natural approach of a craftsman and he does not wish to be distracted by academic debate over, say, the identity of a saint.

For Colalucci, the most painful aspect of restoration has been the criticism directed against his work. Colalucci divides his critics into two categories, " There are those who know a work of art as if it belonged to them, something they have learned firom childhood, seen on a special trip or have studied - and they don't want it to change." Looking with him at pictures of the " before" and " after", it is though a fine grey veil had been peeled away from the ceiling. " The main critics have in fact been painters because they have studied Michelangelo in a certain way, often from books; for them it is sacrosanct."

On technical aspects, he claims, " the challenge has come from persons who know nothing about technique. It is not as if this had been done in-house. We have had a team of 18 internationally recognised experts monitoring the project.

TASKS:

1. Study the words below. Decide which of the definitions is correct in the context:

a)painstaking: causing pain; requiring attention to detail;

b)chuckles: laughs; smiles;

c) stint: period of time; period of work;

d)indifferent: not interested; not outstanding;

e) expertise: technical skill; experience;

f) veil: fine cloth worn over the face;

g) peeled away: taken away like the skin from fruit; taken away like clothes out of a cupboard;

h)sacrosanct: with a sacred subject; too precious to be changed;

i) in-house: by local employees; at home;

j) monitoring: controlling; checking.

2. Now look at these words from the text. They have more than one meaning and ire commonly confused. Decide which of the definitions is correct in the context:

a) single: not married; alone without help;

b) casual: not serious; resulting from chance;

c) career: life's work; subject of study;

d) chance: unplanned; lucky;

e) distracted: driven mad; diverted from his main work;

f) fine: very good; thin.

3. Choose the correct answer from the choices given:

1) The most important qualification in order to become a good restorer is to:

a) inherit the skills from a member of the family;

b) be an outstanding artist;

c) comprehend the technique of the original artist.

2) Professor Colalucci's early experience in Sicily was useful to him because:

a) most of the paintings in the Vatican are painted on wood;

b) the Vatican wanted restorers with previous experience of frescos;

c) restoring paintings on wood is more difficult than restoring frescos.

3) Colallucci regards himself primarily as:

a) an art historian;

b) a technical expert;

c) a university professor.

4) He thinks most of the criticism of the restoration is because:

a) people want the frescos to remain as they remember them;

b) he failed to solve some technical problems;

c) only those working for the Vatican have been consulted.

TEXT 7. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR US?

Hardly a week goes by without some advance in technology that would have seemed incredible 500 years ago. Over the past 25 years computers have completely revolutionized our lives. Yet we can expect the rate of change to accelerate rather than slow down within our lifetimes. The next 25 years will see as many changes as have been witnessed in the past 150.

These developments in technology are bound to have a dramatic effect on die future of work. By 2010, new technology will have revolutionized communications. People will be transmitting messages down telephone lines that previously would have been sent by post. The postal system will virtually disappear overnight. Once these changes are introduced, not only postmen but also clerks and secretaries will vanish in a paper-free society. All the routine tasks they perform will be carried out on a tiny silicon chip. As soon as this technology is available, these people will be as obsolete as the horse and cart after the invention of the motor car. One change will make thousands, if not millions, redundant.

Even people in traditional professions, where expert knowledge has been the key, are unlikely to escape die effects of new technology.

Instead of going to a solicitor, you might go to a computer which is programmed with all the most up-to-date information. Indeed, you might even come up before a computer judge who would, in all probability, judge your case more fairly than a human counterpart.

Doctors, too, will find that an electronic competitor will be able to carry out a much quicker and more accurate diagnosis and recommend more efficient courses of treatment.

In education, teachers will be largely replaced by teaching machines far more knowledgeable than any human being. What's more, most learning will take place at home via video conferencing. Children will still go to school though, until another place is created where they can make friends and develop social skills through play.

What can we do to avoid the threat of the dole queue? Is there any job that will be safe? First of all, we shouldn't hide our heads in the sand. People should get computer literate as this might save them from professional extinction. After all, there will be a few jobs left for those who are capable of writing and programming the software of the future. Strangely enough, there will still be jobs like rubbish collection and cleaning as it is tough to programme tasks which are largely unpredictable.

Whether the future is one of mass unemployment or greater freedom and leisure will depend on how change is managed over this difficult period and how the relationship between work and reward is viewed.