Another Rainy Day

The day started off weird with the new Parisians who just checked into the hotel the day before making the loudest racket I've ever heard come out of the mouths of Europeans before 8 AM. It was definitely against the stereotype for me; I had always heard that Americans are loud but never Europeans. I tried to stay positive as I went up to breakfast in time to sit down and really eat. 

We started the day off at Santa Croce. This is a Franciscan church (remember that Franciscans focus on humility and simplicity) that utilizes an open basilica plan with the roof being a wooden truss which is intended to echo early Christian churches. It's pretty big at 460 feet long and 130 feet wide. When we had the chance to look around, I was just shocked at how each passage way made way for three more passage ways. The facade of the building is simple and was completed in the 19th century, during the same time as the facade of the Duomo church (the Cathedral of Florence). Santa Croce (Saint Cross) was built over a small church which was also dedicated to Saint Francis. 

In 1966 there was that massive flood that I talked about which knocked off some of the panels of the Duomo baptistery (the Florence Baptistery), and it covered the church in over 18 feet of water. It damaged a lot of works of art and I believe they are still working on restoring the pieces which have been damaged. 

This church, however, is pretty spectacular and back in the day, if someone had enough money, they could choose where they wanted to be buried. Michelangelo had been previously buried in a small church dedicated to a fraternity that he was a member of, which he didn't want. He wanted to be buried in Florence, his home town. So his nephew stealthfully stole his body and returned him to Florence where Florence paid The Big BucksTM to make his funeral happen thanks to Duke Cosimo of the Medici Fam. In my additional research, I found that his nephew disguised the body of Michelangelo as merchandise in order to get it from Rome to Florence. Over 15,000 people or so supposedly came to his funeral (this is according to my notes from class; I am still looking into this. 

His tomb was designed by a member of his fan club Vasari. There's a joke in the study abroad group that Michelangelo is my boyfriend so it was kind of nice to get a picture next to his tomb. I guess.

Okay so whenever I thought about Galileo, I thought of a dude wearing a toga; I didn't realize that he was a contemporary of many of the Baroque artists that I study (~1500's and until about 1700ish). Okay, so the history of Galileo is basically that he declared that the world revolved around the sun and that the earth was not the center of the universe. That definitely pissed off the Catholic church and co. for a long time. He was kind of excommunicated and went into a self inflicted exile. The real kicker is that he was pardoned by the Catholic church only 2-3 decades ago! Okay, that's insane, but I think they should have pardoned him a long time ago but whatever. We got to see his tomb!

This is the memorial for Dante, that spooky writer who wrote about the layers of Heck and stuff. We didn't talk about him a lot but here ya go.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing the Tomb of Leonardo Bruni by Rossellino. It was done in 1445-47. Bruni was born south of Florence, so he wasn't exactly a citizen. However, he was a humanist professor who taught Greek and Latin while translating documents. He served in office in Florence. Even though he didn't die in office, he was recognized for the service he gave to the city. It is suggested that the inspiration for his face came from a death mask which indicates he may have died from a stroke. The cloth that the marble body rests on is also marble. Rossellino is obviously GiftedTM. What's pretty interesting is that in his last will and testament, he wanted to be buried in his home parish with a simple floor slab marking his grave. The city government had none of that and gave him the whole nine yards. A majority of the symbolism for this tomb is pagan but there is a Mary and Christ child included under the arch. 

While we were taking notes, the sun came through a rose window for just a few moments and it was so beautiful. The cathedral was filled with colored light and i stopped what I was doing just so I could write down that it had happened. Incredible.

Another cool tomb we saw was that of the guy who created the William Tell Overture. It's beautiful!

We discussed the Bardi family chapel which was dedicated to Saint Francis. The frescoes are by Giotto. Because it was done in dry fresco (regular fresco uses paint over wet plaster), it got pretty chipped and torn up. 

We also took a look at the Perruzzi family chapel which was also done by Giotto. This chapel was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. The family set aside money for perpetual mass and for the upkeep of the chapel.

We wanted to check out the home of my boyfriend, Michelangelo, but because it's closed on Tuesdays, we will have to go another time. Instead, we checked out a museum which had a lot of the pieces that I talked about on another post. This is the Doubting Thomas by Verrocchio. It was cleaned in the early 90's and it revealed the dramatic colorism and highlights of the piece. 

This is the Bust of Mennini by Maiano. The revival of classicism brought back a practise from the 1st century BCE. Roman portraits focused on hyper realism, or verism. It's ultra truth. This work is pretty static, which suggests that the artist used a plaster cast to create the work of art. In addition, it shows that the figure is in complete control, which was an attribute that was highly desirable. 

Another bust we saw was by Bernini and it was of his mistress Costanza Bonarelli. The rumor goes that she was married but was hanging out with Bernini. Surprise attack, she was having a double affair and was hanging out with Bernini's brother as well. Bernini didn't like that and I think he cut up her cheek. Nobody was in the right but at least the sculpture is okay.

This is The David by Donatello. Honestly, it is my least favorite David. This sculpture marked the return of nude sculpture in the round. No one is certain who commissioned this work of art but it was so revolutionary that it didn't get copied right away. There is the suggestion of a homo-erotic quality to it which some scholars say reveals the sexuality of the artist but I think that thinking about it like that is just too Freudian.

Okay, so remember the baptistery doors I talked about last week? Well, there were seven competing artists and we have the submissions for the first and second place prize. Brunelleschi got second place and he ended up pursuing a career in architecture. Ghiberti won first place. Both show the scene of Abraham and Isaac.

This is is Brunelleschi's submission. We don't know why it wasn't accepted. Some speculate it is because of the dominant presence of the donkey and how the servants compete for attention. The angel is also touching Abraham which was over-the-top.

This is the winning submission by Ghiberti. The scene is divided by the landscape and the angel also is not touching Abraham. This competition led Ghibby to several more commissions.

This is another David by Donatello, but this time in  marble. It is definitely more Gothic, which can be seen in the "S" shape of his body. After Donatello did his Saint Mark, he went back and re-worked this one. Something that is pretty crazy is the rock is still embedded in Goliath's head. 

My boyfriend Michelangelo's first known sculpture was in this museum, but I didn't get a good picture which omitted the nudity. So see Facebook, I guess. But this is his image of Bacchus. Bacchus is the god of wine and revelry. Fun fact, his work was rejected because the god looked too drunk or maybe because Michelangelo was just too good.

Here's a bust of my boyfriend in old age.

This is a cool sculpture of Florence Triumphant Over Pisa by Bologna, the guy who made the Rape of the Sabines. First of all, Florence was definitely a proud city and was into winning things; I don't know if you can tell by this sculpture.

After the museum, my friend Megan and I went to get minestrone because it was raining all day long. The warm soup just really hit the spot. I left Megan with some friends so I could chill out since my tonsillitis was acting up again. I was able to prepare a presentation that I would be giving the next day.

For dinner, they gave me soggy vegetables. I was so upset. I can't wait to eat my mom's green beans again.