Uffizi Gallery

My last trip of the semester was to Bosnia-Hercegovinia and Croatia this past weekend. It's always something to see a change of landscape and this was definitely a big change for me. Gone are the tall green hills of surrounding Florence and instead I'm given small rocky hillsides which remind me of my journey through Greece two summers ago. Most of the trees here had lost their leaves and the numerous grape vines (which scatter the landscape) were all completely barren. The houses were different somehow- I think constructed by cement blocks and then painted over as was the case in Greece. But the muslim vibe of many of the cities was definitively changed from the hyper-christian surroundings of Italy. It was honestly a little shocking to see churches and mosques sitting on the same block.




But thankfully, the cheer of Thanksgiving remained unchanged for me this weekend. I had the opportunity to share in food, wine and conversation with the people I'd been getting to know and love all this past semester. Through these posts, I know I've really highlighted the differences and overall strangeness of my experience studying abroad. But now is the time to make the concession that although some of the surroundings have changed, everywhere I've been there have been people who've welcomed me graciously, happily related their experiences to mine, laughed at a shared humorous thought and have been equally regretful of the shared faults of the world. For this universality of spirit, most of all, I am thankful.

Our last tour stopped at the Uffizi Gallery (which of course I was very excited to finally see!), but unfortunately I have no pictures to share because photos weren't permitted. I do want to mention though Simone Martini's Annunciation, which I found very different from the rest of the Giotto, Cimabue and Lorenzetti pieces we looked at. This was done for the Siena Cathedral and the saints flanking the sides of the altarpiece were actually done by Martini's brother-in-law Lippo Memmi. Paris' webmuseum describes Simone Martini as such:

"Building on the techniques for indicating three-dimensional space developed by the Sienese master Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone added a refined contour of line, grace of expression, and serenity of mood," (ibiblio.org).

His works can be listed as falling under the international-gothic category, which stood as an archetype for a wide-spread artistic style of the time (late 14th century onward). I found it more interesting, however, the similarity between the facial construct of his Mary in the Annunciation and women depicted in the Japanese ukiyo-e style (known best in the wood-block prints of Hokusai). Granted, at least two centuries span between these two, as well as an entire continent, but I thought the comparison was interesting to note. The curving figure, narrowed eyes, pale skin tone and hand gestures are all somewhat similar.


Bibliography

[ibiblio.org] http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/martini/

Convent of San Marco

Though it being my second time in Rome, the past weekend was really exciting because I hadn't gotten a good look at it last time I was there (which, was way back in early September!). Also because I've had the travel-itch for two weeks straight now and finally I've been able to go somewhere. Naturally, we got to see the millions of sculptures, paintings and tapestries housed in the Vatican (of course, Raphael's School of Athens blew me away) as well as tour through the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and Pantheon. Unfortunately though, the Sistine Chapel wasn't open that day due to the Pope's using it for prayer. Like touring through Genova, I found the most interesting aspect of Rome was simply its differences in relation to Florence. Rome's archaeological sites are much larger (and arguably, more touristy) and the streets are a lot more wide. As well, Rome has an overall different feel- like the difference between New York City and San Francisco (Florence being the latter). The buzzing of the streets in Florence pales in comparison to that of Rome and it caught me off guard how much homier Florence feels now that I've had to navigate a much larger Italian city. I found that mostly though, Rome's beauty lies in its intermingling of stone and nature's overgrowth. It just goes to show how one of history's most powerful cities is still, at the end of the day, is really just on lease from Earth.


On Wednesday we went to the Convent of San Marco, where we saw numerous paintings by Fra Angelico. Arguably the most famous piece by this artist is the Annunciation, which ties byzantine-like figures (see: flat) with three-dimensional surroundings. Writer Giulio Carlo Argan states:

"Fra Angelico was peculiarly adept at handling perspective, well integrated his figures into space, struck light from the contrast with shadow, and brought form through color, which is but a variation of light." (Argan 12)

I think Fra Angelico's goal in this was to show a correlation between the earthly life and the heavenly one. The aim of Byzantine art was to present a world of the divine through flattening of features (as to evoke a world unlike our own) and F. Angelico utilizes this in his figures of Mary and the Angel Gabriel. But he manages to place them in settings where a vanishing point is alluded to, thus describing reality. In creating a harmony between these two components, Fra Angelico masters the depiction of Christianity as a means to escaping the early realm and entering the heavenly one.

I also thought it was interesting to see the library and all of the illustrated manuscripts held there. Many reminded me of the Celtic Book of Kells (which I think is absolutely gorgeous) and it was helpful to see all of the tools (brushes, inks, powdered paints, etc.) used in making them. Also being housed here was the bell used to announce Savonarola's arrest (known as the "Piagnona").

(Savonarola's Bell)

Bibliography

Argan, Giulio Carlo. Fra Angelico: biographical and critical study. Skira, 1955.

Palace of Parte Guelfa, Baptistery Doors, Duomo

It seems when you're in Florence every weekend, even surrounded by gorgeous architecture and lively culture, you can somehow run out of things to say? I guess I should mention I have really liked how they've cut off cars from entering the area around the Duomo though. Personally, I actually think that more areas should just be pedestrian only (not just in Florence, but everywhere, even Seattle). There's so much that's missed by getting place to place by car: the smells in the air, the sounds of the things around you, the temperature on that specific day. I will admit, a lot more people in Florence walk than people in Seattle. It's funny how my friends will ask me why I don't drive to the grocery store (my answer: it's less than a mile!). But I do think I appreciate walking at home more than here because 1. not as many people do it and 2. there's not quite as much hustle and bustle. To Italy's benefit, I'm sure it's much more quiet outside the city walls and people do take advantage of walking as a therapeutic exercise there. I guess just in my own experience, it's not quite as relaxing here.


Speaking of the Duomo, this week's tour went to the very place! I think my favorite part was getting to watch the video on how it came to be. Even the most artistic minds sometimes have a hard time imagining what a city looked like back then. So when we watched the video, it put me in a good mindset on the origins of the Baptistery (begun as a spot for baptizing, of course) and the foundations of the cathedral. In such old cities, you often forget that things developed through a series of reconstructions and remodeling. Once the spot held a small church, which grew bigger and grander, and then grew bigger and grander, all to accommodate a changing populace. Henry James writes on the subject,

"the white walls of Milan must be likened to snow and ice from their base, while those of the Duomo of Florence may be the image of some mighty hillside enamelled with blooming flowers. The big bleak interior here has a naked majesty which, though it may fail of its effect at first, becomes after a while extraordinarily touching. Originally disconcerting, it soon inspired me with a passion. Externally, at any rate, it is one of the loveliest works of man's hands and an overwhelming proof into the bargain that when elegance belittles grandeur you have simply had a bungling artist." (James 563)

Inside of the Duomo hangs a 15th Century Liturgical Clock (whose face was painted by Paolo Uccello) which is still utilized today in orchestrating the ringing of Giotto's Bell Tower. In addition to this, the Duomo boasts frescoes by Uccello, Andrea del Castagno, and Domenico di Michelino. Building aspects of the Duomo have been described in an earlier post.

Something interesting to note, according to Anna Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art,

"the Duomo at Florence was formerly dedicated to S. Reparata; but about 1298 she appears to have been deposed from her dignity as sole patroness ; the city was placed under the immediate tutelage of the Virgin and S. John the Baptist, and the Church of S. Reparata was dedicated anew; under the title of Santa Maria del Fiore." (Jameson 79)

Bibliography

James, Henry. Collected travel writings: the continent. Library of America, 1993.

Jameson, Anna. Sacred and Legendary Art. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1850.

Piazza Signoria, Davanzati Palace, Orsanmichele, Dante's Area

Oh Florence. With all of the weekends that I've been here lately, I've gotten to know it a lot better. What streets are less busy... where to go for a good panini... making sure to look for an on-coming 70mph bus before stepping into the street... the usual. Of course I can't help making comparisons to Seattle. Why aren't there as many trees here? How come the coffee they give me is so small? Will people ever stop giving me weird looks when I go out in shorts to go for a run?? It's surprising how lonely a city can be sometimes when all of your friends are gone. ...But like a good teapot, some cities just take a while to warm up to you. If I want tea, I have to be willing to wait. (:

The agenda for this past week was 1. Piazza della Signoria 2. Palazzo Davanzati 3. Orsanmichele 4. Palazzo dell'Arte della Lana and 5. Dante's Neighborhood.

Of course, my best friend being so enamored with Dante and his Divine Comedy, I was most excited to see what the fuss was all about. According to the Introduction of Longfellow's translation of Dante's Inferno, Dante was born in either May or June of 1265 to a Florentine moneylender. Although being promised to Gemma Donati from a young age, Dante holds a passionate affection throughout his life for a woman by the name of Beatrice Portinari, who appears in a number of his writings while Gemma does not. In his lifetime, Dante is believed to have been trained in knightly warfare as well as having studied theology at both the church of Santa Maria Novella and the church of Santa Croce. He also enrolled in the Arte dei Medici e Speziali (Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries) and was appointed as one of the Florentine priors. In 1302, Dante was accused of bribery and corruption by a Black sympathizing majority and was sent to spend two years in exile (Dante's allegiances remained with the Whites), later becoming a life-long exile. It is in this period of time that he wrote his most influential works.

(Statue of Dante)

While on the tour, we also learned that the Torre della Castagna (or Chestnut Tower) in Dante's Neighborhood was the primary meeting place of the Priors. The name comes from the manner in which they'd vote through putting boiled chestnuts inside a bag (one for each vote count) and tally them at the end. The church in this area as well, Santa Margherita dei Cerchi, was Beatrice's parish church. Here it is suggested that Dante married Gemma Donati.

On this day, I also learned that the Palazzo della Signoria was built to house the government of priors (which political structure was called 'the Signoria'). This building also houses a bell named the "Vacca" (due to its mooing sound) which would be used to call upon the people of Florence to the square in case of an attack (much like the minutemen of the American colonial period). We also had the chance to see the Palazzo Davanzati; a palace owned by the wealthy Davizzi family whom was in the wool business. Large wooden bars across the façade were used to dry skins or to hang banners on feast days.

(Wooden Bars)

Bibliography

Henry Wadsworth, Longfellow, Dante Alighieri, and Peter Bondanella. Barnes & Noble Classics: The Inferno. Spark Educational Publishing, 2003.

Santissima Annunziata, Medici Palace, San Lorenzo

Another weekend passed where I didn't go anywhere. Of course, this isn't all bad news because once again, I managed to get done the things I needed to do. My weekend was mostly spent exploring the restaurants I hadn't yet tried (Aqua al 2, Il Gato e Il Volpe and gelato joints such as Grom, Vivoli and somewhere my friend calls "the Tin Can"). Naturally, there are ups to being here and able to walk around. For instance, I get to watch kids chase pigeons beside the Duomo.


The Tour Flavor of the Week featured the Church of Santissima Annunziata, the Medici Palace and San Lorenzo this week. In its founding, the Church of SA was a small oratory for the Servites of Mary but was reconstructed by Michelozzo during the 15th century (thus was Early Renaissance). The interior was then later redone in the 17th-18th centuries in the Baroque style. It features a carved ceiling by Pietro Giambelli and stucco medallions which illustrate miracles done by the Virgin Annunciate. Inside as well, is the Gothic Annunciation Fresco and the Tempietto which surrounds it.

The Chiostrino dei Voti (or Atrium) of the Church of Santa Annunziata was financed by Piero the Gouty and built by Antonio Manetti based on Michelozzo's design which imitates the Medici Palace Courtyard.

"[The cloister] is known as the cloister of the ‘Voti’, because it used to be filled with votive pictures and wax statues decorated with precious ornaments. Today it is famous especially for its magnificent frescoes: the earliest is Alesso Baldovinetti’s Nativity, painted in 1460; Cosimo Rosselli’s Calling of St Philip Benizzi dates from 1476; the other episodes from the life of the Saint were painted by the young Andrea del Sarto in 1510. The Life of the Virgin was narrated in the second decade of the sixteenth century by the youngest and most promising artists of the day: Rosso Fiorentino painted the Assumption, Pontormo the Visitation, and Fraciabigio the Betrothal of the Virgin. Andrea del Sarto, who had already worked on the St Philip Benizzi frescoes, painted between 1511 and 1514 the Nativity of the Virgin and the Arrival of the Magi." (museumsinflorence.com)

In the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata sits the first Early Renaissance building, named the Hospital of the Innocents and designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. Its shape was based on the cube or hemisphere and was financed by the Silk Guild. This was the first orphanage in Florence and received children anonymously through the means of a window with a revolving platform on which abandoned children could be placed.

Next, we got to look at the Medici Riccardi Palace. In the style of the Early Renaissance, this palace was the first of its kind. Originally Brunelleschi had been asked to design it, but Cosimo later asked Michelozzo to construct it instead. The palace is three stories high and once housed the bank's primary office. Later on, it was purchased by the Riccardi family.

In addition to viewing the Neroni Palace, we also got to see the first Florence cathedral built outside of the city walls: the Church of San Lorenzo.

Though remodeled in the 11th century to fit a Romanesque style, San Lorenzo had been first consecrated by Saint Ambrose in 393 AD. Historically, the Medici's intended that Brunelleschi design the façade, but he died without ever having done so. Michelangelo, as well, was asked to create marble statues for its face, but only managed to create the New Sacristy (a burial site for prominent Medici family members). The Old Sacristy had been commissioned by Giovanni di Bicci (Cosimo's father, whose crest displayed 8 red balls), which contains Evangelist-themed medallions by Donatello, bronze doors by the same and tombs (for Medici family members) by Cavalcanti and Andrea del Verrochio. The interior of San Lorenzo imitates the earlier designs of Christian basilicas- most notably a wooden roof and arcades resting on Corinthian columns.

Bibliography

[museumsinflorence.com] http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Santissima-Annunziata.html

Cathedral Museum or Museo Dell'Opera del Duomo

I didn't get to go anywhere the past weekend (because of my tight budget for this month), but I did get to catch up on much needed studying and general down time. Besides, it's always a treat to walk around Florence and appreciate the fact that I'm living in such an architecturally varied and historically significant city. I took this time to explore the indoor market near San Lorenzo, where I bought both dried coconut and fresh foccacia bread and Milanese salami slices for my lunch that weekend. The outdoor market was really interesting too- all of the leather goods and inexpensive scarves to be bought! If I wasn't concerned with the bella figura before, I sure am now.

This week's tour took us to the Cathedral Museum (or, better understood, the place to check out the history of the Duomo). Here we learned about the original façade of the Duomo (the present one is actually only a couple of centuries old!), which was begun by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296, but due to civil war between Black and White factions and Arnolfo's death, was never finished as intended. It was only until around 1887 that Emilio de Fabris completed it as a much newer plan dictated.

Inside the museum, we witnessed a surprising amount of sculpture from the façade. From the central tympanum, we saw Madonna and Child with Santa Reparata (both by Arnolfo) and St. Zenobius (Anonymous). Additionally, the left and right tympanums gave us Dormition of the Virgin and Virgin of the Nativity, both by Arnolfo. Donatello's St. John the Evangelist and Nanni di Bianco's St. Luke were extracted from the façade as well.


We also learned here that Giotto had originally been in charge of the Campanile's (or Bell Tower's) construction, but only finished the base in result of his death in 1337. Andrea Pisano continued the construction, adding pilasters and statue niches to the tower, followed by Francesco Talenti who finally completed the project, though altering the design from a pointed spire to a flat top. The beginning row of panels on the bell tower were made by Pisano and are Gothic, while the ending five panels on the first row were made by Luca della Robbia and are Early Renaissance. The second row of panels are a compilation by Pisano and Orcagna displaying the planets, virtues, liberal arts and sacraments.

Brunelleschi's Dome (the cupola of the Duomo) is made up of two shells bound together by eight buttresses and sixteen intermediate ribs.

"The Opera de Duomo, who oversaw the construction, held a contest to see who could solve the riddle of how to put a top on the cathedral. They received several entries with creative ideas that included filling the center of the cathedral with dirt and building the dome on top of that, to placing supports within the cathedral, but it was Brunelleschi who went to the Opera with drawings, but a secretive plan where he said he could build the dome without supports, but he wouldn't elaborate." (obscure.org)

At the time, such a feat of engineering was revolutionary and it wasn't until much later that we discovered the secret to Brunelleschi's design (chiefly, the support of wooden ribbing and herringbone brick patterning to hold up the massive dome). His dome was the first freestanding one in Western Europe.

It was also in the Cathedral Museum that we saw Donatello's Mary Magdalen, Prophets, Zuccone and Cantoria. Donatello's occasional penchant for being untraditional can be best seen in Mary Magdalen and Zuccone. In both he throws out aesthetic appeal in exchange for a focus on the psychological aspect of the figure.

Bibliography

[obscure.org] http://www.obscure.org/~perky/uofr/fall2002/ISYS203U/Duomo_Site/construction.html

Santa Croce and the Franciscan Order

This weekend we went to Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii, but unfortunately, it was pretty rainy the whole time. I did get the chance to see some famous restaurants where celebrities eat and tour through ancient Roman ruins though!

(Ruins at Pompeii)

On our tour this Wednesday, we got to see the Basilica of Santa Croce, which I thought was especially interesting because of the mix of Jewish and Christian symbols on its front. (See below). It's not only a Franciscan church, but also the burial site of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Gentile and many more famous Italians! This church is the largest Franciscan one in the world and was undertaken by (probably) Arnolfo di Cambio in 1294.

"It was constructed with funding from the population and the Florentine Republic and built above the foundations of a small church which some monks had erected outside the walls of the city in 1252, just a few years after the death of Saint Francis. The remains of the original building were not identified until 1966, when in the aftermath of the great flood that submerged the city, part of the paving belonging to the present Basilica gave way." (iastate.edu)

(Façade, Basilica di Santa Croce)

The façade of the church wasn't completed until the 19th century, then done in the neo-Gothic style by a Jewish architect named Niccoló Matas. He integrated both Jewish and Christian symbolic elements on the front by placing a Star of David (6-pointed) at the pinnacle and, within it, the letters IHS (a Latin insignia meaning Jesus Man and Savior). Franciscan roots are evident immediately upon entering the church as one may notice a wooden roof above (an inexpensive element demonstrative of Franciscan austerity).

Within the church is a large crucifixion by Cimabue as well as the sacristy frescoes Road to Calvary (Spinello Aretino), Crucifixion (Taddeo Gaddi) and Resurrection (Niccoló Gerini). Originally there was a tramezzo (a partition or wall) dividing the church, but it has since been replaced with stone altars and Mannerist altarpieces. Above the central door stands a rose window which contains the Deposition by Lorenzo Ghiberti and in the private chapels of Bardi, Baroncelli and Peruzzi are Gothic frescoes by Giotto and Taddeo Gaddi (his pupil). These include Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata and scenes of the life of Mary based on the Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varagine (also seen in the frescoes by Giovanni da Milano and Rinuccini Master in the Rinuccini Chapel).

Bibliography

[iastate.edu] http://www.music.iastate.edu/courses/471/s_croce.htm