The Bargello Saracino, 1579, Florence, or so I thought. This guy, a good looking wooden jousting target constructed for rude Renaissance era festivities, captivated me during grad school. There is very little data on his history and the only book that mentions him at all is in Italian. Even though I didn't expect to meet him so easily, I combed through the Bargello, where he is a supposed resident, with no success. I tried asking museum personnel, in poor Italian I admit, but they had no idea. It didn't help matters that there is no artist or title, oh you know the Renaissance sculpture! Its status as a sculpture is even tenuous. Luckily everything else in the Bargello is spectacular. I'll be back to find you Saracino!
The detail put into this is so intriguing.
Catacombs in Rome.
Sad, but it was too damn hot for a walk along the Appian Way. Next trip to Rome will take place during reasonable temperatures. Oh, but aren't these early Christian paintings incredible?
Bearded Christ in the Catacombs of Commodilla
In Turkey:
Hagia Eirene, Istanbul, built in the 4th century.
Once in Turkey I learned that the Hagia Eirene is only open for concerts and there weren't any during the two weeks we were there. This former church is remarkable for its interior decoration, an unadulterated example of the Christian iconoclasm which lasted roughly from 754 to 843. All of the figural painting had been whitewashed, a common tactic less reversible than adding plaster which is what the Muslims did.
During Iconoclasm figural representation was criticized for encouraging outright idol worship from earlier Pagan practices. Crucifixes, vegetal scrolls, and Biblical text were used in favor of the well known characters.
Before I get into the art stuff, I want to mention a few of the indispensable items that kept us happy for our two month trip.
1. Maps and Travel Books.
I don't like to bring those very thorough, yet totally unwieldy 500 page travel books. I have in the past, but this time we were packing light. Carry-on luggage only! The best solution for a slim site seeing book with great shopping and eating picks PLUS manageably sized maps is the Knopf MapGuide.
The genius behind these books are the fold-out maps. Here we have an example of useful origami! The image above shows, on the left, a description of the neighborhood and a small map to mark its relation to the rest of the city. On the right you find restaurants, cafes, bars, and shopping. Once you flip the page from the bottom up you will find a larger detailed map and cultural destinations listed along the bottom.
Snacks in Rome.
Looking for a pizza rec in Flo.
A long leisurely dinner at La Beppa near St. Miniato in Florence. On this night we had the best pizza of our entire trip. Thank you guidebook! GO THERE.
Planning tomorrow's Florentine adventure.
With this classy design you actually want to display your travel guide. On the train from Padua, heading toward Venice.
From Venice to Athens!
Passports in hand! Next destination in the bag. En route to Istanbul via the seaside airport in Iraklion, Crete.
Surprise upgrade to FIRST CLASS. Thanks to Turkish Airlines we flew to Stockholm (with our MapGuide in place), surrounded by complete luxury and lots of space. What a lovely experience.
Now you can see some of the major cities that we traveled to: Rome, Florence, Venice, Athens, Istanbul, and Stockholm. Lucky for us there was a book for each one on our itinerary. Knopf MapGuides are not published for every destination under the sun. I kind of like that they are selective. Our future trips will have to be based on which cities they offer. Take note:
Make sure that you always get the most up to date edition. For some reason I ordered an older copy of Athens and it turned out that many of the recommended places had closed. This was especially devastating when we went looking for Greek bakeries. Not getting those lovingly described pastries at the end of a long, sweaty trek is the worst.
Although the recommendations for food, shopping, and top ten neighborhood sites were always fantastic, these guides do NOT offer extensive information on works of art or architecture. You will need supplemental books if you want to learn about these things while you are looking at them. We saw a lot of people reading from their books in churches and museums. We didn't really need them in this case, since I am an art historian after all. However, we did get some small art books here and there along the way just to be sure we didn't miss anything. Even though we filled every single day with a dozen stops, barely remembering meals, seeing way more than I thought was possible, we still managed to miss a few very important things...
Like Bernini's 17th century St. Theresa in Ecstasy in the Cornaro Chapel at Santa Maria della Vittoria and Bramante's Tempietto. I am utterly devastated that these were in reach and went unnoticed. More trips to Rome!
Tempietto, Rome
Completed in 1508, Bramante's Tempietto was modeled after the early Christian Roman martyria. It was thought that this spot, where the "little temple" stands, is the site of St. Peter's crucifixion. Bramante was one of the architects involved with St. Peter's basilica in the Vatican City. Even though the basilica did not follow the central planning that Bramante wanted, his plans for the dome, finally designed and built by Michelangelo later in the 16th century, were partially included in the final product.
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
2. Camera case.
This was such a good investment for us. Twenty bucks probably saved us another 700 and possibly invaluable documentation. I have a history of bad luck with digital cameras. I usually break them while on important adventures. This has happened three times already! First in Berlin, a separate trip in Stockholm, and finally last year in Barcelona. That was the most painful occasion since I had traveled far to see the church I had written about during my graduate program. Luckily we had a film camera so I was able to take a few pictures for my archives. I also invested ninety euros in a very thorough book I found in the makeshift souvenir shop. It is massive and filled with hundreds of images that were taken with a crane. So this story turned out okay, but we were determined not to be foiled again.
Part of the problem here is the lens. If the lens is mechanical, the camera is more susceptible to malfunctioning. If the lens can't open, then the entire camera is unusable. This time we got a Nikon1 which has a manual lens and a nice leather case for complete protection in case it gets dropped. You can wear the camera on the strap instead of fishing it out of your bag and then throwing it back in. This setup made taking 7000 photos easy, exciting, and somehow a little bit classier. Of course I still took lots of pictures with my phone like everyone else.
A Pentax photo on real film! But notice my Nikon digital camera all safe and cozy, Roman Forum.
3. Avene Products. Especially SUNBLOCK.
You really need good sunblock (and a hat) to brave these cities in the summer, especially if you've ever had the lucky chance to have some mysterious mole carved out of your leg and are now terrified of skin cancer. On our first day in Rome we went to the apothecary and consulted with the saleswoman. She took one look at our pasty white skin (summer hadn't reached New England yet) and recommended a French brand, Avene, which uses thermal spring water as its base for every product. The best option for us: very high protection, very water resistant 50 SPF.
This is the good stuff. We never once got a sunburn, which is saying a lot considering how much time we spent outside in the sun. We barely ever saw any clouds at least for the first month, only a lot of sunburned tourists. It's so water resistant that sometimes we didn't have to reapply every day even after sweating, swimming and/or showering. I also discovered some of the other marvelous Avene products such as thermal spring water in a can. These spray cans became indispensable for refreshing cool downs and energizing sweat cleansers.
Now that we live closer to the equator, I'm using Avene now everyday, all year, forever.
In conclusion: I highly recommend these travel products for a safe and happy adventure of any kind!
After days of driving south from Massachusetts we dropped our cat and our car with loving caretakers and took two carry-on suitcases to the airport. Our adventure abroad would take us through the entire summer and four countries. What a strange experience to spend a a full season away from home. Even the home changed: from comfortable Cambridge to unfamiliar Texas. More to come on that.
Over the summer we managed to take more than 8000 pictures: a combination of digital, film, and cellphone. With our Nikon 1, I discovered a setting that takes a series of photos at one click, creating a natural cinematic effect as you look back at them. This feature led to the creation of the video below, which Alex quickly put together during the jet-lag of our return.
Follow along as we explore Rome, Florence, Ravenna, and Venice. How many masterpieces can you spot?!
Donatello's St. George at the moment when he meets the dragon, 1417, Florence.
Parisian children at a puppet show of St. George and the Slaying of the Dragon, 1963.
St. George is about to meet the dragon.
The Slaying of the Dragon! This schiacchiato* relief, also by Donatello, is set in the base of the above sculpture.
St. George goes in for the kill!
After driving back and forth to New Hampshire and talking about the brilliant works of great artists all week, I am tired. As a proper humanist I have worked both body and mind. You'd think that the last thing I would want to do is ponder more art. But no. I was dreaming last night about three things: 1. the quiz that I needed to write (an hour before passing it out in class) and 2. how incredibly lucky I am that I get to read and talk about art every day, learning all the time. This kind of work is not for making money (you do, but as any adjunct will tell you it is besides the point in many ways). This week in class we discussed Renaissance artists. Among them, Donatello and his extraordinary skills; his diversity, his ability to depict such a range in figures, his innovative ideas and expressions of psychological characterizations. I think it was these ideas that inspired my third dream.
Judith and Holofernes, Bronze, 1450's, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Mary Magdalen, Poplar, 1450's, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence.
The third thing, from either my dream last night or a daydream, I'm not sure, was a hazy fleeting thought. It was based on the judgmental values of individuals. This is something that is important in art history, of course, as we all look at art with a different unique set of values and world views and life experience.
When I arrived home I drifted toward my Netflix queue, looking subconsciously for something that might help me realize this kind of abstract, yet mundane thought. I turned on Abbas Kiarostami's Shirin, from 2008. This is a film in which there is no dialogue; the camera is focused on a group of women watching a film. All we see are lights flickering across their quietly expressive faces and what we hear is a moving tale. The film that they are watching is based on the stories of Khosrow and Shirin. These stories are from a medieval Persian love-poem filled with tragedy, usually linked to the artist Nizami. The story of the ill fated pair Khosrow, a pre-Islamic Sassanian king, and Shirin, an Armenian princess, expresses the metaphysics of spiritual longing.
Shirin, Abbas Kiarostami, 2008.
A scene from the beginning of the tale.
Khosrow (secretly) observes Shirin bathing, 1431, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Khosrow at the castle of Shirin, Timurid Period, Iran, 15th century, Freer Sackler, DC.
Somehow, watching these people watch, each with their own individual interpretation of the narrative got me thinking again of my dreamy thought. I was swept away, imaging what connections they were making. The thing about art is that the viewer is always trying to find a way in, a way to relate. How were these women relating? For ninety minutes I never once got tired of trying to figure it out. My imagination was constantly animating. You can read a nice description of Shirin here. Of course, the director may have tricked me into thinking that these Iranian women were responding to Khosrow and Shirin, but it's possible that, as the article discusses, the actresses were instructed to meditate on their own love stories. Incredibly intimate and moving.
In the Spirit of the Beehive, Frankenstein is projected for a small town in Spain in the 1940's. In this scene, the audience is spied on. Their wide ranging responses to the film are captured.
Spirit of the Beehive, Victor Erice, 1973.
One of my favorite things to do at our local grocery store is stare at people (discreetly! with sunglasses on!) and imagine their entire lives. Every detail is developed based on the available iconography. Clothing, facial features, eyes especially, ornamentation, and most of all: the items in their shopping cart. I want to know the love stories of all of these people.
*schiacchiato: flat, low relief carving style invented by Donatello
I'm still thinking of Italy and Greece and all of the goodies I'll get to see. This month is dedicated to the Renaissance so I'm really getting to (re)learn all about these gems in advance.
*It's been a long time since I took classes on the Rinascimento.
San Lorenzo (with projected facade), Florence.
Mocking of Christ, Fra Angelico, 1438, San Marco Monastery, Florence, fresco.
Of course, the Renaissance is not complete without the Greco-Roman world!
Nike, 410 BCE, Acropolis Museum, Athens.
Arch of Titus, Rome.
Constantine, Vatican Museum, Rome.
Other things I'm excited about!
San Clemente, 1120, Rome.
St. Mark's, 13th c., Venice.
Rape of Proserpina, Bernini, 1621, Rome. Really looking forward to seeing this.
Daphni Crucifixion, 11th c., Daphni Monastery, Athens. Monophysitism? Two streams? So many questions.
Pantocrator, 11th c., Daphni Monastery, Athens.
I never really studied Botticelli before having to teach it this week. I had no interest in knowing more about his paintings, despite their obvious beauty, mostly because his are some of the few Renaissance paintings that are constantly reproduced (and drained of their meaning). I am happy to say that I have finally become acquainted with both The Birth of Venus and Primavera and I love them. They are even more beautiful now. I can't wait, CANNOT WAIT, to see them together. That blue behind the personification of spring is stunning and gives me a weird feeling that I like. Also, I realized that I will be able to see the above mosaics in Athens. Oh!
This includes works (most in situ!) from the Bronze Age, Antiquity, Byzantium, the Medieval era, the Proto-Renaissance and of course the Renaissance and even more and more! The Vatican, the Uffizi, the monastery at San Marco, the Pantheon, the Parthenon, Knossos Palace, Palladian architecture in Venice, maybe the lady in a red coat! Ah! I hope not!
I'm putting my lists together and planning to have several Stendhal experiences. Is there medicine for that? I need a suitcase full.
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