Roman Florence and the 11th Century Revival

This weekend was hectic comparatively but, at the same time, really interesting! On Friday we got to hike through the 5 villages of Cinque Terre and on Saturday Father Brian took us on a walk through the city of Geneva (where we also went to a pretty impressive aquarium).

What I found really interesting though was the difference in the color schemes of the churches between Genova and Florence. While Florentine churches (such as the Duomo) have a pattern of red, green and white, Genova alternately uses stripes of black and white in their designs.

(Genova)

(Florence)

One example of this too, is St. John's Baptistery which we looked at during our tour last week.

"[The Baptistery] is one of the oldest constructions of Florence and goes back to the IV century. The Baptistery's colorful 13th-century mosaics illustrating the Last Judgement are set above the large octagonal font where many famous Florentines, including Dante, were baptized. The gilded bronze doors are by Andrea Pisano (present south door: 1336) and Lorenzo Ghiberti (north and east doors: 1427 and 1452). The latter is the famous Gates of Paradise, whose original panels has been removed for restoration and there are copies in its place." (iastate.edu)

In addition to this, we had the opportunity to see the column of St. Zenobius, the Roman Public Baths (or Thermae), the Borgo dei Greci, Roman Theater and Roman Amphitheater. These items date back to early Florence, the latter in or around the 1st century BC. St. Zenobius himself was the first bishop of Florence (around the 4th century AD) and the column marks the spot where a dying tree came back to life once his relics were transferred from San Lorenzo to Santa Reparata. The majority of these places, especially the Cardus Maximus (North to South main via) and the Decumanus (East to West main via) converging at the 'Roman' Forum, demonstrate a deep Roman influence when Florence was first established as a castrum (4 walled, fortified city).

We also managed to see the Church of Santa Trinita, which is Vallombrosan and contains frescos by Ghirlandaio. The order it is linked to was originally founded by Giovanni Gualberto whom, after chasing down his brother's killer, suddenly forgave him when he outstretched his arms in a way that was reminiscent of the crucified Christ. After this incident, he left a life of nobility and instead entered into the Benedictine monastery at San Miniato.

After this, we visited both the Church of Santi Apostoli (or Holy Apostles) and the Badia Fiorentina (or Florentine Abbey). The former is Romanesque (primarily characterized by semi-circular arches) while the latter is both Romanesque and Gothic (characterized by pointed arches) in style. Romanesque super-ceded Gothic and is attributed to the 11th to 13th centuries. Santi Apostoli also contains a central portal which was redone in Renaissance style (which places high value on symmetry and the balancing of parts). The architectural styles developed as such:
Romanesque (11th to 13th c.) --> Gothic (14th c.) --> Early Renaissance (15th c.) --> High Renaissance / Mannerism (16th c.) --> Baroque (17th c.)

Bibliography

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

Archaeological Museum

Well today's been pretty uneventful except for the fact that I did some laundry, but yesterday Megan, Emily and I spent some time investigating.

Florence while everyone is away is pretty nice! We went up to Piazzale Michelangiolo with a packed lunch of bread, cheese and carrots and met Laurie at Oltrano for the Florence Wine-Tasting event, which was also really nice. Some band played songs while we sipped wine and admired Palazzo Pitti.



Something I noticed while at Piazzale Michelangiolo though was that the copy of the David showed the same contrapposto stance that we'd seen at the Archaeological Museum earlier:

Idolino of Pesaro (1st cent. A.D. Roman)

The term contropposto is Italian in origin and literally means "counter pose". This term is used to describe a characteristic of art which appears primarily in sculptural pieces and began its popularity in classical Greece. Contrapposto (as illustrated above) is shown through a figure placing more weight on one leg while the other is relaxed, thus shifting the pelvic axle to a slant. This, in turn, causes the shoulder axle to slant in reverse. The result of these slanting axles creates somewhat of an S-curve in the figure and produces an appearance of dynamism or animation in an art piece. This quality can be noted as a high priority in classical Greek sculptor Polykleitos' canon.

Polykleitos was considered one of the greatest sculptors of classical antiquity and ran a school of art in the late 5th century B.C. Among his rules for perfection in sculpting the human figure (known as Polykleitos' canon) was the use of contropposto and additionally, a set of guidelines for proportions. According to Polykleitos, an ideal representation of the body was seven heads tall, as the Idolino of Persaro can be found to be.

Milani Kouros or Apollo (530 B.C. Greek)

Another figure which had been pointed out during the tour was the Milani Kouros or Apollo. It's interesting to note the differences in sculptural style between the Idolino and Apollo. This kouros figure is one of many (known as kouri) which emerged from Greece during the 6th century B.C. The word "kouros" itself refers to a young boy and here we see the god Apollo represented as a male youth. What's known as the archaic period of Greece produced many of these figures and in these, and the other Greek artistic expressions of the time, we can mark a heavy Egyptian influence. An emphasis on appearing stoic, composed and balanced in artistic representations was borrowed from the Egyptians by the Greeks and utilized in their sculpture.

The kouros figure pictured here is standing very still, is physically very fit and shows the same cosmetic characteristics of the Egyptians (almond eyes, highly decorative hair, pointed chin, etc). The lack of animism or heightened realism in this piece also evokes a want of the time for picturing figures as god-like. Because he does not look like an actual person, he is instead seen as more divine. A return to this way of thinking comes during the Byzantine Period (post 4th century Byzantine Empire). This though is utilized more through flatness of figures and mosaic tiling rather than sculpture. A prime example of such is (Emperor) Justinian and His Attendants. It is important to note at least, a change from stoicism and the divine in the Archaic Period to dynamism and human reality during the Classical Period.

This shift further increases toward heightened reality during the Hellenistic Period as a wont for creates figures which are even more dynamic and much more real (a draw from the perfected male bodies of Polykleitos which, although are anatomically correct, do not represent some of the more "uglier" realities of the human figure). Two good examples of such are the Old Market Woman and the Dying Gaul which both emerged from this time period. Toward the end of the Hellenistic Period, Rome came to power in Greece's stead and adopted many of the styles which had been developed (archaic, classical and hellenistic). The influence of the hellenistic can be seen in many of the busts of important Roman political figures; all carry heightened realism in sculpture and a disregard for an ideal youth appearance (instead they appear as old as they were). As I mentioned before, the Byzantine Period follows this era with a resurrection of emphasis on the divine. All of these periods are represented in the Archaeological Museum.