Italy2013 A study of Renaissance Art throughout Italy

You werent allowed to take photos of the actual David, so this will have to suffice!

Today was rainy again – but we saw the most inspiring works of art to make up for it! On our trip to the Ufizi, my choice to major in art history was solidified through viewing the pricesless works of art featured in the museam.

We began our trip through the historic museam in the room of the three virgins where you saw the progression of artistic ability in three pannels of Mary and baby Jesus. I loved the shading on the Ognissanti Madonna‘s faces by Giotto, they really gave the painting depth and believability, in contrast to Cinabue’s early virgin and child.
Next came the inspiring Fillipo Lippi works. His portrait of Mary and baby Jesus was so beautiful and modern in its depiction beauty, since many of the other paintings portray features like a large forehead or oblong face as beautiful, Lippi painted a Mary that actually looks gorgeous and a wondnerfully mischievious-looking putti  in the corner. I couldn’t get over the veil on Mary, it looked so believable and translucent.
My favorite of all though was Lippi’s comtemporary Bonticelli’s Birth of Venus. The hair rippled and flowed like real hair would and Maureen explained how the Venus symbolized the Renaissance, she is about to be clothed just as the people were about to be clothed in knowledge.

After the Ufizi we saw the works by Fra Angellica. I loved the annunciation angels wings-the books dont show how the wings glitter in the light. The sense of dimension and use of scientific perspective are excellent-it looks like a room within a square. Additionally, his other works were surprisingly modern, reminiscent of the Surrealist movement.

After this we had yet another delicious meal at Pino’s. He and his wife are such talented chef’s, I had pasta and steamed vegetables.

We took the train from Rome to Florence early in the morning, but despite the time the train station was packed with people. The ride was short, but we got to see the pretty Italian countryside.
Florence is much calmer than Rome, which is a nice change. We took a walking tour and I was pleasantly suprised with how walkable the city is.
The churches in Florence are magnificent. i like how they all have some green stone as a trademark of florence in them so they contrast and coordinate at the same time. My new favorite style of architecture that ties with baroque is gothic, the gothic cathedral in Florence has the most beautiful faccade I have ever seen. Its so detailed and polished that I was shocked to see how minimalistic and spacious the interior was.

We walked past Brunallescis Dome as well, I cant wait for the weather to clear up so we can go to the top! Pictures really dont do his dome justice, it is the largest dome I have ever seen in my life. The enormity of it is hard to decribe in words, it didnt seem real to me!

Todays food was the best sandwich I’ve had in Italy, at Pinos restaurant. Hes a really nice guy with an adorable family. The bread was so perfect md fresh, I would have loved it even without the delicious turkey meat and eggplant. Overall it was excellent.

Looking foreward to scaling the dome!
Cheers

Rome day 2
Today we woke up early to visit St. Peter’s basilica before the crowds arrived. The plaza looked entirely different from our last encounter; the piazza had been completely filled the day before to see the pope. Today it was empty, allowing the sheer enormity of the architecture to set it. I loved the arms of the basilica, designed by my favorite architect Bernini.
Inside St. Peter’s was otherworldly. Everything was decadent, from the baldacchino to the NFL Linebacker sized putti. In contrast, Michelangelo’s piety was much smaller than I expected. While the Pieta was lovely, I preferred Moses by Michelangelo. The Moses was so reminiscent of his painting on the Sistine Chapel that it felt as if the paint had come to life, where the Pieta almost felt reserved from his normal monumental bodies.
Even still, St. Igantius remains my favorite church.

After St. Peter’s we visited a slew of churches, which were all lovely but my two favorites was the ancient cult temple which was converted into a church and the church with the stairs that Jesus climbed.

The ancient cult church was by far the most fun-it was crazy to explore the ancient catacombs which spun underneath the church like a labyrinth. What stood out to me was the double sided tomb lid; one side had Christian inscription and one had pagan inscription. To me this reflected the doubt which must have been widespread as Christianity gained popularity. Family was very important to ancient Romans, so breaking from the traditional family religion would be an understandably difficult undertaking.
The church with the steps was probably the most religiously significant experiences of my life. The stairs were brought in from Israel, and they are the stairs which Jesus came up to Pilot after the scourging. As we ascended the steps on our knees, we could see openings in the stairs with blood droplets from Jesus. I’ve never encountered anything like this before, it made me think of religious pilgrimages and how lucky I was to kneel on the stairs Jesus reportedly climbed.

The food today was even better than yesterday, if possible. We had amazing Sicilian style pizza, my favorite food from the entire trip. Comprised of tomato, basil and tuna, the pizza harmoniously covered all food groups with an equally delicious crust

The highlight of Day 1

He loved his IPad

Another shot of the ancient arena

After a long and somewhat exhausting flight, we finally arrived in Rome. Eveyone was tired so we spent a few minutes freshening up at the hotel before our appointment at the colesseum! My mother told me to expect cats roaming the area, however I wasnt able to find any. The building was huge-I was especially taken aback by how many pockets of rock were missing. Later I was informed that people would just steal rocks from the building as needed. Luckily for us this practice has subsided with added security.
After that we saw a series of churches. My favorite by far was the baroque church of St. Ignatius and the early christian chruch with a highly decorated mosaic apse. St. Ignatius was so breathtaking it made me feel like a princess just to walk around. No surface was left undecorated-everything was gilt and shining. A very nice man pointed out to me small gold circles in the tiled floor which indicate where to stand for the best point of perspective. This allowed me to best view the ceilings and walls and has been a trick ive used in every church since. The early christian church was breathtaking mostly because of its mosaics; completely gold and sparking in the light. It was overwhelimg to think of the accomplishment early artists made with no help from modern day convieniences.

The food was of course, spectuacular. My first gelato was in Piaza Navona, which I loved. I had lemon and mango, both were delicious though I prefered the lemon for its tartness. For dinner we ate a wonderful meal at a restaurant in a part of town that used to be the Jewish ghetto. I had caprese salad and pork chops with artichokes, the best meal im Italy so far! We also sat in on a mass in the area, which was really moving.

The vatican museam was an experience unto itself. I could write for days about it, room after room of exquisite art from around the world. We spent the most time in thr Sistine Chapel, appropriately. I loved seeing art from not only Michael Angelo, but also Bontichelli and other artists decorated just under the famous ceiling. I think that of all, Bomtichelli’s was my favorite and I cant wait to see more of his and Phillipo Lippi in the Ufizi in florence. I loved learning about why and how Michael Angelo painted the chapel, specifically that he painted the buisnessman as the devil in the Last Judgement painting. I thought that was pretty amusing. The phophets on the sides of the ceiling were also spectacular, especially the phrophetess dressed in yellow and turned at an angle. Michael Angelos work is so true to the human atanomy and she really displays his skill for this.

The trevi fountain was a magnificent display of itslian sculpture. Pictures and movies do not do justice to its enormity in person. I couldnt get over just how huge the fountain was! It was very crowded, id like to return in the early morning some other time. However it was wonderful for people watching. I also learned that people live in the building that the fountain is connected to. Apparently the appartments there are crazy expensive, and i heard that Mel Gibson lived there once.

Looking forward to tommorow! Cheers

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