padova

yesterday i conquered my fears of traveling alone and took myself on a trip to padua (or padova in italiano).  padua is about an hour and a half northeast of florence, near venice. as the train was nearing the station, i glanced at the map in my guidebook for the first time and i realized that neither the train station nor the two sites i wanted to visit were within the range of the map. oh dear. i'll admit i panicked a little. why did i think i could just show up in foreign city by myself and figure things out? but fortunately, i did. it was a beautiful sunny day and there were well-placed signs pointing the way to the major sites so my worries were quickly relieved.  first i went to the church of sant'antonio, dedicated to st. anthony of padua.  st. anthony (1195-1231) was born in portugal but traveled extensively in france and italy as a franciscan preacher before retiring to padua.  he was named a doctor of the church and is the patron of lost things.

there was ugly scaffolding covering the facade but the domes are quite lovely.  you're not allowed to take pictures inside but the interior is beautiful. it's mostly gothic with frescos covering the ceiling and there are also some baroque additions, particularly the chapel of relics behind the alter which is just an explosion of baroque gaudiness.  also of note is st. anthony's tomb which is surrounded by offerings of  photos with prayers written on them.

also in the piazza outside is this statue by donatello which, when it was finished in 1450, was the first equestrian monument since antiquity.

the other site i was dying to see in padova was the scrovegni chapel and its famous frescos by giotto.  this chapel, commonly known as the arena chapel, was commissioned by enrico scrovegni after he read dante's divine comedy which puts scrovegni's father in the seventh circle of hell for the sin of usury--changing interest for lending money--which was apparently frowned upon at the time.  enrico decided to invest some of his family fortune acquired by this grave sin in a magnificent chapel, hoping to save his father (and presumably himself) from the fate described by dante.  the fresco series on the two side walls depict scenes from the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ.  the front wall is covered by a representation of the last judgment.  the chapel was completed around 1305 and caused a revolution in the art world.

it's always super exciting to see the pieces i've studied in real life and this was no exception. reproductions just never manage to capture the visual splendor of the original. it was overwhelming. my favorite things about giotto are his angels and his the gestures of his figures.  especially in the lamentation of christ. the way st. john's hands are thrown back behind him and the anguished poses of the angels in sky make for a very moving scene.  

there was also a pinoteca in the museum next to the chapel that had works by titian, tintoretto, and veronese, among others.  it never ceases to amaze me how many great works of art you can find, even in the smaller italian towns.

on the train ride back at the end of the day, i felt a surge of accomplishment.  i had a really great time seeing things i wanted to see.  i like nothing more than to spend hours in churches and museums but i realize that's not necessarily for everyone.  it was nice to just enjoy the art and not have to worry about whether the people i was with were having fun.  i was glad that i wasn't too scared to take the adventure alone - i felt like such a grown-up!

firenze v. paris: reclining nudes

tiziano, venere di urbino. 1538, galleria delgli uffizi.

manet, olympia. 1863, musée d'orsay.

florence and paris couldn't be more different but the one thing they have in common is that they were both at one point the center of the art world so they still have some of the most famous works of art in the world. titian is one of my favorite italian painters and j'adore manet. one of the reasons i love him so much is the way he includes art historical references in his paintings and adapts them to his era.  both are just so complex that they kind of blow my mind when i think about them.  and both were quite scandaleux in their time.  i couldn't possibly pick a favorite between the two. which do you prefer?

contemporary art in an old palace

so one of the art history classes i'm taking is called art collecting & museology and for our last class we met at the palazzo vecchio for a tour of the former medici residence.  i expected our wonderful british italian professoressa would be leading the tour, but since part of the class is evaluating the ways museums educate the public, we had a museum tour guide who turned out to be an italian man dressed in renaissance garb who told us that when he put on his special necklace we would be transported back to the 16th century. after donning said necklace, he proceeded to introduce himself as giorgio vasari (16th century artist and art historian responsible for the 'modernization' of the palace).  upon learning that we were from "the new world," he called us indians and asked why we weren't wearing feathers (italians aren't big on political correctness, but i'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was adopting the attitudes of the time for authenticity).  i think if i had been on the tour with my family in vacation mode i would have appreciated the time-travel game more, but in with a university group it became rather tedious when he expressed his shock over women who went to school.

the palazzo itself is quite magnificent. i'm becoming a big fan of grotesque decorations on ceilings. the fantastical flora and fauna in rich hues on a yellowed white background are just kind of fabulous.

the other part of the visit which i really loved was the damien hirst exhibit that's currently at the palazzo vecchio. the exhibit is only one piece but i think it's a perfect example of how to combine old and new art.  the piece is called for the love of God and it's a platinum cast of an 18th century skull covered with 8,601 diamonds (in total over 1000 karats).  visually, it's absolutely stunning. even more so because it's displayed in a dark room and light seems to radiate from the sparkly diamonds.

it's actually quite fitting that this piece is on display in the palazzo vecchio because it's displayed in a room right next to francesco i's studiolo. A studiolo or wunderkammer "room of wonders" was a small room used to display objects of all sorts - art, nature, scientific devices, antiquities, and other curiosities.  i think damien hirst's skull would have been right at home in a renaissance studiolo because it's a combination of art and science - a natural object transformed into art.

ravenna

last weekend rebecca and i took a day trip to ravenna. a small town (we actually walked from one end to the other in about 15 min) on italy's eastern coast that was the seat of byzantine rule after it was captured by general belisarius in 540. so it has a few remarkable byzantine churches with lovely mosaics. ever since i studied the byzantine empire in high school, i've really wanted to see these churches in person. the first stop: san vitale.

the colors are even more stunning in person. above, justinian, one of the most important byzantine emperors, is depicted surrounded by generals, including general belisarius, and priests, symbolizing his military/political and religious power.  on the wall opposite is a scene showing justinian's wife theodora and her attendants. theodora is a rather colorful character; she was an actress and a prostitute before converting to christianity and becoming a wool spinner. justinian was not allowed to marry her because government officials were forbidden by law from marrying actresses (aka prostitutes...bad example, ya know), but apparently he was so in love with her that he had the law changed.

as empress she wielded a surprising amount of power for a woman of that time and did much to further women's rights in the byzantine empire.  as a side note, justinian and theodora are the ones who built hagia sophia. i'm just dying to go to istanbul to see it. someday...

ravenna is also home to dante's tomb. although dante is known as the greatest florentine poet, he was exiled from the city so he was not allowed to be buried here. now of course florentines love dante. my host mom was slightly horrified when i told her i'm reading him in english and not the original italian for my divine comedy class.

above, the ceiling of the battistero neoniano from 430. in the center is the baptism of christ by st. john the baptist and the surrounding figures are the apostles. below are photos from sant'apollinare nuovo.

one of the reasons i love byzantine art is i find it charming. the bright colors and rhythmic repetition of forms give the mosaics a playful energy. you can't help but smile :)

fiera di cioccolato

italy just wants to make me fat. not only does my host mom make us pasta for dinner every night, but there's a two-week CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL in santa croce (aka 10 minute walk from my apartment). reasons the chocolate festival is just the best: 

1. the first thing we see when we get there is italian children watching a puppet show. how adorable!!

2.  fondue with dark chocolate and strawberries: yum!

3. it's "freddo" (in the high 30s) here so obvi hot chocolate is necessary.

4.  chocolate is not only delish it's pretty.

5. novelty chocolate items: everything from chocolate saw blades and wrenches to chocolate stilettos. also free chocolate rum shots (not recommended. actually tastes like chocolate syrup mixed with rum.)

needless to say i've eaten way too much chocolate in the last few days. but how could i resist?