GETINO, LUIS ALONSO

GETINO, LUIS ALONSO

GETINO, LUIS ALONSO. - Ecclesiastical historian, b. at Lugüeros (Spain) on 12 Nov. 1877, d. at Salamanca on 9 July 1946. Dominican in the Convent of Padrón (Coruña) on 14 Nov. 1893; professor of ecclesiastical history and theological places in the Convent of S. Stefano at Salamanca (1901-1909).

He founded the theological review *La ciencia tomista*, of which he was the first director (1910-13). He became rector of the College of S. Domingo at Oviedo from 1913 to 1916, then again director of *La ciencia tomista* (1916-22), and finally provincial of Spain (1922-26).

An indefatigable worker, he was a prolific and polished writer. He collaborated in various Spanish reviews, especially in *La ciencia tomista*. Among his volumes are: *Vida y procesos del maestro fr. Luis de León* (Salamanca 1907); *Historia del convento de S. Domingo el Real de Madrid* (Madrid 1919); *Documentos legislativos y históricos de las provincias hispano-americanas Ord. Praed.* (2 vols., iv 1929). He also published various works by G. Tauler, D. Soto, Ludovico da Granada, Francisco de Vitoria, and other Dominicans. By decree of 19 Feb. 1936, the work *Del gran numero de los que se salvan y de la mitigación de las penas eternas* was placed on the Index.

GETTO (FUSIONE A

GETTO (LOST WAX CASTING). - The *getto*, or casting, is generally the operation by which a definitive work is obtained from a matrix mould, whether it involves transferring the artist’s first conception into another material or reproducing an already completed work. In the first of these two cases, the *getto* process, known as “lost wax casting,” was the method used from the Renaissance down to almost the present day.

Around a core of refractory clay, the artist modelled the sculpture in wax; then he covered it with a casing of clay, also refractory, known as foundry clay, which solidified easily. Once this double inner and outer casing had been obtained, by the action of a strong fire the wax was melted and ran out through suitable channels. Into the empty space thus created, molten metal, heated to a high temperature, was poured through an opening at the top. The sculptures thus obtained, however, were very heavy because of the great and irregular thickness of the metal inside. Later, when it became customary to form the originals first in clay and then to translate them into plaster, the artist, by coating the mould with a thin layer of the ancient process, succeeded in obtaining sculptures in which the metal was reduced to a thin and light sheet only a few millimetres thick. The use of wax also obliged the artist, even in this second case, to model the work in detail, so that in lost wax casting one may always speak of originals, since, even if several copies were made from a single mould, the artist was forced to execute the wax model each time.

This is not the case, however, with the modern process known as “cire perdue” or “a staffa,” which consists in pouring the metal between two casings prepared in advance, without the use of wax. This system, which allows for the reproduction of many copies, does not have the merit of the first two and is more mechanical.

Famous remains the description by Cellini of the casting of the Perseus, which can give an idea of the difficulties and importance of the operation; and interesting are the remarks on the subject by Leonardo in the MSS. W., XI, XII, and in the Trivulzian MS.; of great interest also is the treatise by the Sienese Vannoccio Biringuccio (1480-1539), first printed in Venice by the publisher Curtio Navo in 1540.