1.
Florence
–
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
Florence
–
A collage of Florence showing the
Galleria degli Uffizi (top left), followed by the
Palazzo Pitti, a sunset view of the city and the
Fountain of Neptune in the
Piazza della Signoria
Florence
–
A wooden model of Florence as it would have probably looked during Roman times, showing the ancient amphitheatre
Florence
–
The façade of the Cathedral
Florence
–
Leonardo da Vinci statue outside the
Uffizi Gallery.
2.
Republic of Florence
–
The Republic of Florence, also known as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon the death of Matilda, the Florentines formed a commune in her successors place. The republic was ruled by a council, known as the signoria, the signoria was chosen by the gonfaloniere, who was elected every two months by Florentine guild members. The republic had a history of coups and counter-coups against various factions. The Medici faction gained governance of the city in 1434, upon Cosimo de Medicis counter-coup against the faction that had sent him into exile the previous year, the Medici kept control of Florence until 1494. Giovanni de Medici re-conquered the republic in 1512, Florence repudiated Medici authority for a second time in 1527, during the War of the League of Cognac. The Medici re-assumed their rule in 1531, after an 11-month siege of the city, the republican government was disestablished in 1532, when Pope Clement VII appointed Alessandro de Medici Duke of the Florentine Republic, making the republic a hereditary monarchy. The city of Florence was established in 59 B. C. by Julius Caesar, the city had been part of the Marquisate of Tuscany before the death of Margravine Matilda in 1115. The city did not submit readily to her successor, Rabodo, the first official mention of the republic was in 1138 when several cities around Tuscany formed a league against Henry X of Bavaria. The country was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Florence prospered in the 12th century, trading extensively with foreign countries and this, in turn, provided a platform for demographic growth of the city. The growth of Florences population mirrored the rate of construction, many churches and this prosperity was shattered when Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa invaded the Italian peninsula in 1185. The Margraves of Tuscany re-acquired Florence and its townlands, the Florentines re-asserted their independence when Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI died in 1197. Florences population continued to grow into the 13th century, reaching 30,000 inhabitants, as has been said, the extra inhabitants supported the citys trade and vice versa. Several new bridges and churches were built, most prominently the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the buildings from the era serve as Florences best example of Gothic Architecture. Politically, Florence was barely able to maintain peace between factions, the precarious peace that existed at the beginning of the century was destroyed in 1216 when two factions known as the Guelphs and the Ghibellines began to war. The Ghibellines were the rulers of Florence. The Ghibellines, who under Frederick of Antioch had ruled the city since 1244, were deposed in 1250 by the Guelphs, the Guelphs led Florence to prosper further
Republic of Florence
–
Front and back of a Florentine florin
Republic of Florence
–
Flag
Republic of Florence
–
Cosimo de' Medici, founder of the
House of Medici
Republic of Florence
–
Lorenzo de' Medici
3.
Pistoia
–
It is a typical Italian medieval city, and it attracts many tourists, especially in the summer. From the 5th century the city was a bishopric, and during the Lombardic kingdom it was a city and had several privileges. In 1254 the taking of Ghibelline Pistoia by Guelph Florence, was among the origins of the division of the Florentine Guelphs into Black and White factions. Pistoia remained a Florentine holding except for a period in the 14th century, when Castruccio Castracani captured it for Lucca. During the 14th century Ormanno Tedici was one of the Lords of the city, dante mentioned in his Divina Commedia the free town of Pistoia as the home town of Vanni Fucci, who is encountered in Inferno tangled up in a knot of snakes while cursing God. In 1786 a famous Jansenist episcopal synod was convened in Pistoia, according to one theory, Pistoia lent its name to the pistol, which started to be manufactured in Pistoia during the 16th century. But today, it is notable for the extensive plant nurseries spreading around it. Consequently, Pistoia is also famous for its markets, as is the nearby Pescia. Although not visited as much as cities in Tuscany, mostly due to the citys industrial environs, Pistoia presents a well-preserved. The original Cathedral of San Zeno burned down in 1108, but was rebuilt during the 12th century, the façade has a prominent Romanesque style, while the interior received heavy Baroque additions which were removed during the 1960s. Its outstanding feature is the Altar of St James, an exemplar of the silversmiths craft begun in 1287 and its various sections contain 628 figures, the total weighing nearly a ton. The Romanesque belfry, standing at some 67 metres, was erected over an ancient Lombard tower, in the square is also the 14th-century Baptistry, in Gothic style, with white and green striped marble revetment characteristic of the Tuscan Gothic. The Palazzo dei Vescovi, is characterized by a Gothic loggiato on the first floor and it is known from 1091, initially as a fortified noble residence. In the 12th century it received a more decorated appearance, with mullioned windows and frescoes, in the 14th century, the Chapel of St. Nicholas was decorated with stories of the namesake saint and other martyrs. The Tower of Catilina is from the High Middle Ages, basilica of Our Lady of Humility, finished by Giorgio Vasari with a 59-metre high cupola. The original project was by Giuliano da Sangallo, but works were begun in 1495 by Ventura Vitoni, the dome was commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici to Vasari, the lantern completed in 1568 and the church consecrated in 1582. In the apse is a painting by Bernardino del Signoraccio, santissima Annunziata, baroque church famous for its Chiostro dei Morti. Damaged during World War II bombardments, it is now used as an exhibition center, San Giovanni Battista al Tempio, owned for a while by the Knights Templar and then by the Hospitaller Knights
Pistoia
–
The Bell Tower of the Cathedral in Piazza Duomo.
Pistoia
–
The octagonal baptistery.
Pistoia
–
The Duomo
Pistoia
–
Interior of
Basilica of Our Lady of Humility.
4.
Painting
–
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, gesture, composition, narration, or abstraction, among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive, Paintings can be naturalistic and representational, photographic, abstract, narrative, symbolistic, emotive, or political in nature. A portion of the history of painting in both Eastern and Western art is dominated by motifs and ideas. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action, the term painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity, every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In practice, painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity, thus, the basic means of painting are distinct from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization, and symbols. In technical drawing, thickness of line is ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters. Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are the essence of music, color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover, the use of language is only an abstraction for a color equivalent, the word red, for example, can cover a wide range of variations from the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic, painters deal practically with pigments, so blue for a painter can be any of the blues, phthalocyanine blue, Prussian blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological and symbolical meanings of color are not, strictly speaking, colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this, the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in music is analogous to light in painting, shades to dynamics and these elements do not necessarily form a melody of themselves, rather, they can add different contexts to it. Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, as one example, collage, some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer, there is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required, rhythm is important in painting as it is in music
Painting
–
The
Mona Lisa, by
Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.
Painting
–
Chen Hongshou (1598–1652), Leaf album painting (
Ming Dynasty)
Painting
–
Circus Sideshow (
French: Parade de cirque),
Georges Seurat, 1887–88
Painting
–
Cave painting of aurochs, (
French: Bos primigenius primigenius),
Lascaux,
France,
prehistoric art
5.
Fresco
–
Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting. Buon fresco pigment mixed with water of temperature on a thin layer of wet, fresh plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster. Because of the makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, after a number of hours, many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia, a name also used to refer to these under-paintings. Later, new techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of a drawing made on paper were pricked over with a point, the paper held against the wall, if the painting was to be done over an existing fresco, the surface would be roughened to provide better adhesion. This area is called the giornata, and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, if mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later, a secco. An indispensable component of this process is the carbonatation of the lime, the eyes of the people of the School of Athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark outlining of his central figures within his frescoes, in a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After five centuries, the giornate, which were nearly invisible, have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes. Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by an a secco painting, which has fallen off. One of the first painters in the period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist, a secco or fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster. The pigments thus require a medium, such as egg. Blue was a problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli. By the end of the century this had largely displaced buon fresco
Fresco
–
Fresco in the church Mariä Verkündigung in Fuchstal,
Bavaria, Germany from Thomas Springer
Fresco
–
Fresco
Sistine Chapel in the
Vatican, Rome, Italy.
Fresco
–
Etruscan fresco of Velia Velcha from the
Tomb of Orcus,
Tarquinia.
Fresco
–
Fresco of "
Sappho " from
Pompeii, c. 50 CE.
6.
The Renaissance
–
The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
The Renaissance
–
David, by
Michelangelo (
Accademia di Belle Arti,
Florence) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art.
The Renaissance
–
Renaissance
The Renaissance
–
Leonardo da Vinci 's
Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) shows clearly the effect writers of Antiquity had on Renaissance thinkers. Based on the specifications in
Vitruvius '
De architectura (1st century BC), Leonardo tried to draw the perfectly proportioned man.
The Renaissance
–
Portrait of a young woman (c. 1480-85) (
Simonetta Vespucci) by
Sandro Botticelli
7.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
8.
Renaissance
–
The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
Renaissance
–
David, by
Michelangelo (
Accademia di Belle Arti,
Florence) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art.
Renaissance
–
Renaissance
Renaissance
–
Leonardo da Vinci 's
Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) shows clearly the effect writers of Antiquity had on Renaissance thinkers. Based on the specifications in
Vitruvius '
De architectura (1st century BC), Leonardo tried to draw the perfectly proportioned man.
Renaissance
–
Portrait of a young woman (c. 1480-85) (
Simonetta Vespucci) by
Sandro Botticelli
9.
Palazzo Medici
–
The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence, the palace was designed by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo for Cosimo de Medici, head of the Medici banking family, and was built between 1444 and 1484. It was well known for its masonry, which includes architectural elements of rustication. The tripartite elevation used here expresses the Renaissance spirit of rationality, order and this tripartite division is emphasized by horizontal stringcourses that divide the building into stories of decreasing height. Michelozzo di Bartolomeo was influenced in his building of this palace by both classical Roman and Brunelleschian principles, during the Renaissance revival of classical culture, ancient Roman elements were often replicated in architecture, both built and imagined in paintings. In the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the masonry and the cornice had precedents in Roman practice, yet in totality it looks distinctly Florentine. Similarly, the early Renaissance architect Brunelleschi used Roman techniques and influenced Michelozzo, the open colonnaded court that is the center of the palazzo plan has roots in the cloisters that developed from Roman peristyles. The once open corner loggia and shop facing the street were walled in during the 16th century. The new windows are set into what appears to be an infill of the original arched opening. The building reflects the wealth of the Medici family. Then a garden done in the finest of polished marbles, with diverse plants, Cosimo received the young Sforza in the chapel not less ornate and handsome than the rest of the house. Other decorations included two lunettes by Filippo Lippi, depicting Seven Saints and the Annunciation, now at the National Gallery, when the Medici family returned to Florence after their short exile in the early 16th century, they kept a low profile and exercised their power behind the scenes. This is reflected in the exterior of this building, and is said to be the reason why Cosimo de Medici rejected Brunelleschis earlier proposal. The palace was the site of the wedding reception between Ferdinando de Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany and Violante Beatrice of Bavaria in 1689
Palazzo Medici
–
The "kneeling windows" a feature later copied by the Medici at their
Palazzo Pitti, also in Florence.
Palazzo Medici
–
Rusticated stone walls of the
Renaissance Palazzo Medici Riccardi
Palazzo Medici
–
Inner courtyard.
10.
International Gothic
–
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which initially developed in Burgundy, France and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period. The main influences were northern France, the Duchy of Burgundy, the Imperial court in Prague, royal marriages such as that between Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia helped to spread the style. It was initially a style of courtly sophistication, but somewhat more robust versions spread to art commissioned by the mercantile classes. Usage of the terms by art historians varies somewhat, with using the term more restrictively than others. Some art historians feel the term is in many ways, since it tends to skate over both differences and details of transmission. The important Bohemian version of the style developed in the court of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in Prague, which for a brief period became a leading force in the development of European art. Charles came from the Luxembourg dynasty, was tutored by the future Pope Clement VI, the Bohemian style initially lacked the elongated figures of other centres, but had a richness and sweetness in female figures that were very influential. Charles had at least one Italian altarpiece, apparently made in Italy and sent to Prague, for St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, he first used a French architect, and then the German Peter Parler. As the style developed in Northern Europe, Italian artists were in turn influenced by it, from this period come the earliest surviving panel portraits of monarchs, and royal manuscripts show a greatly increased number of realistic portraits of the monarch who commissioned them. In painting and sculpture, the style is known in German as the Schöne Stil or Weicher Stil. Stylistic features are a dignified elegance, which replaces monumentality, along with rich decorative colouring, elongated figures and it also makes a more practised use of perspective, modelling, and setting. Figures begin to be more space in their settings, and interest is taken in realistically depicted plants. In some works, above all the calendar scenes of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Decoration became increasingly ornate as the style developed in Northern Europe, claus Sluter was the leading sculptor in Burgundy, and was one artist able to use the style with a strongly monumental effect. Most sculptors are unknown, and the style tended to survive longer in Northern sculpture than painting, smaller painted wood figures, most often of the Madonna, were significant, and being relatively portable, probably helped to disseminate the style across Europe. In Burgundy Jean Malouel, Melchior Broederlam and Henri Bellechose were succeeded by Robert Campin, master Bertram and Conrad von Soest were leading regional masters in Germany, working largely for city burghers. Surviving panel paintings of the best quality from before 1390 are very rare except from Italy, many of these artists moved between countries or regions during their careers, exposing them to the styles of other centres
International Gothic
–
Bust of the Virgin, Bohemia, c. 1390–95,
terracotta with polychromy
International Gothic
–
Detail of the
Annunciation (1333) by the Sienese
Simone Martini, Uffizi.
International Gothic
–
The
Votive Panel of Jan Očko of Vlašim. Kneeling
Emperor Charles IV and his son
Wenceslaus before the Virgin, Bohemia, 1371. (detail)
International Gothic
–
Jean de Vaudetar, chamberlain of king
Charles V of France, presents his gift of a manuscript to the King, 1372.
11.
Alesso di Benozzo
–
Alesso di Benozzo was an Italian painter, son of Benozzo Gozzoli. He is mainly known for works, along with his brothers Gerolamo and Francesco and he painted an Annunciation now in New York. He is different from the contemporary painter Alesso Baldovinetti, bennozo himself is sometimes called Benozzo di Lese after his father Lese. After 1495, Benozzo was invited to Pistoia, by his son Francesco, there, along with Alesso and Gerolamo painted various works, including an incomplete Maestà for the Palazzo Comunale
Alesso di Benozzo
–
Pietà (1490s) in the Geneva Museum of Art and History
12.
Giorgio Vasari
–
Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Recommended at an age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia. He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own, in 1529, he visited Rome where he studied the works of Raphael and other artists of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasaris own Mannerist paintings were admired in his lifetime than afterwards. In 1547 he completed the hall of the chancery in Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome with frescoes that received the name Sala dei Cento Giorni and he was consistently employed by members of the Medici family in Florence and Rome, and worked in Naples, Arezzo and other places. He also helped to organize the decoration of the Studiolo, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio, aside from his career as a painter, Vasari was also successful as an architect. In Florence, Vasari also built the long passage, now called Vasari Corridor, the enclosed corridor passes alongside the River Arno on an arcade, crosses the Ponte Vecchio and winds around the exterior of several buildings. He also renovated the medieval churches of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, at both he removed the original rood screen and loft, and remodelled the retro-choirs in the Mannerist taste of his time. In Santa Croce, he was responsible for the painting of The Adoration of the Magi which was commissioned by Pope Pius V in 1566 and it was recently restored, before being put on exhibition in 2011 in Rome and in Naples. Eventually it is planned to return it to the church of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo, in 1562 Vasari built the octagonal dome on the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia, an important example of high Renaissance architecture. In Rome, Vasari worked with Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammanati at Pope Julius IIIs Villa Giulia, the Lives also included a novel treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts. The book was rewritten and enlarged in 1568, with the addition of woodcut portraits of artists. The work has a consistent and notorious bias in favour of Florentines, and tends to attribute to them all the developments in Renaissance art – for example, Venetian art in particular, is systematically ignored in the first edition. Between the first and second editions, Vasari visited Venice and while the edition gave more attention to Venetian art. Vasaris biographies are interspersed with amusing gossip, with a few exceptions, however, Vasaris aesthetic judgement was acute and unbiased. He did not research archives for exact dates, as art historians do, and naturally his biographies are most dependable for the painters of his own generation. Modern criticism – with new materials opened up by research – has corrected many of his traditional dates and attributions. Vasari includes a sketch of his own biography at the end of the Lives, according to the historian Richard Goldthwaite, Vasari was one of the earliest authors to use the term competition in its economic sense
Giorgio Vasari
–
Vasari's self-portrait
Giorgio Vasari
–
Giorgio Vasari, Italian humanists, Tuscan Poets: Dante, Petrarch, Guido Cavalcanti, Boccaccio, Cino da Pistoia and Guittone d'Arezzo
Giorgio Vasari
–
Giorgio Vasari, The Garden of Gethsemane
Giorgio Vasari
–
The Uffizi Loggia.
13.
Fra Angelico
–
Fra Angelico was an Early Italian Renaissance painter described by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having a rare and perfect talent. He was known to contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole and Fra Giovanni Angelico, in modern Italian he is called il Beato Angelico, the common English name Fra Angelico means the Angelic friar. In 1982 Pope John Paul II proclaimed his beatification in recognition of the holiness of his life and he is listed in the Roman Martyrology as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento Angelicus—Blessed Giovanni of Fiesole, surnamed the Angelic. Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro at Rupecanina in the Tuscan area of Mugello near Fiesole towards the end of the 14th century, nothing is known of his parents. He was baptized Guido or Guidolino, the earliest recorded document concerning Fra Angelico dates from October 17,1417 when he joined a religious confraternity or guild at the Carmine Church, still under the name of Guido di Pietro. The first record of Angelico as a friar dates from 1423, Fra, a contraction of frater, is a conventional title for a mendicant friar. According to Vasari, Fra Angelico initially received training as an illuminator, possibly working with his older brother Benedetto who was also a Dominican and an illuminator. The former Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence, now a state museum, the painter Lorenzo Monaco may have contributed to his art training, and the influence of the Sienese school is discernible in his work. He had several important charges in the convents he lived in, but this did not limit his art, according to Vasari, the first paintings of this artist were an altarpiece and a painted screen for the Charterhouse of Florence, none such exist there now. Between 1418 and 1436 he was at the convent of Fiesole, where he executed a number of frescoes for the church and the Altarpiece. A predella of the Altarpiece remains intact and is conserved in the National Gallery, London and it shows Christ in Glory surrounded by more than 250 figures, including beatified Dominicans. In 1436, Fra Angelico was one of a number of the friars from Fiesole who moved to the newly built convent or friary of San Marco in Florence, in 1439 Fra Angelico completed one of his most famous works, the San Marco Altarpiece at Florence. The result was unusual for its time, but in this instance, the saints stand squarely within the space, grouped in a natural way as if they were able to converse about the shared experience of witnessing the Virgin in glory. Paintings such as this, known as Sacred Conversations, were to become the major commissions of Giovanni Bellini, Perugino and Raphael. In 1445 Pope Eugene IV summoned him to Rome to paint the frescoes of the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament at St Peters, later demolished by Pope Paul III. Vasari claims that at this time Fra Angelico was offered the Archbishopric of Florence by Pope Nicholas V, the story seems possible and even likely. However, if Vasaris date is correct, then the pope must have been Eugene IV and not Nicholas, moreover, the Archbishop in 1446–1459 was the Dominican Antoninus of Florence, canonized by Pope Adrian VI in 1523. In 1447 Fra Angelico was in Orvieto with his pupil, Benozzo Gozzoli, among his other pupils were Zanobi Strozzi
Fra Angelico
–
Detail from Deeds of the Antichrist by
Luca Signorelli (c. 1501) in
Orvieto Cathedral,
Italy
Fra Angelico
–
The Virgin of the Annunciation
Fra Angelico
–
San Marco Altarpiece.
Fra Angelico
–
The Crucified Christ
14.
San Marco di Firenze
–
San Marco is the name of a religious complex in Florence, Italy. It comprises a church and a convent, the convent, which is now a museum, has three claims to fame. During the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the painter Fra Angelico and the preacher Girolamo Savonarola, also housed at the convent is a famous collection of manuscripts in a library built by Michelozzo. The present convent occupies the site where a Vallombrosan monastery existed in the 12th century, both of these groups were branches of the Order of St. Benedict. In the time of the Sylvestrines at least, the church was used both for monastic liturgical functions and as a parish church, from this initial period there have recently been rediscovered some traces of frescoes below floor level. They appealed to Cosimo de Medici the Elder, who lived nearby in the palace, now known as the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. So it was that in 1437 Cosimo commissioned Michelozzo, the Medici’s favourite architect to rebuild the San Marco convent on Renaissance lines. By 1438 the work was underway and the final dedication took place on Epiphany night 1443 in the presence of Pope Eugene IV. These years marked in fact the height of the Medici family’s artistic patronage, the church has a single nave with side chapels designed in the late 16th century by Giambologna, and housing paintings from the 16th–17th centuries. In the late 17th century the tribune and the ceiling were also realized. A further renovation was carried on in 1678 by Pier Francesco Silvani, the façade, in Neo-Classical style, was built in 1777–1778. Among the artworks, the most ancient is a 14th-century crucifix in the counter-façade, the crucifix on the high altar is by Fra Angelico. Over the first altar to the right is St. Thomas Praying by Santi di Tito from 1593, Giambologna completed the Cappella di SantAntonino in May 1589. The Salviati family had been linked by marriage to the Medici (Pope Leo XI was the son of Francesca Salviati, the interior was decorated in fresco with a Translation and Funeral of St. Antonino Perozzi by Domenico Passignano. The dome of the chapel is by Bernardino Poccetti, also author of frescoes in the Sacrament Chapel, the latter also has canvases by Santi di Tito, Crespi, Francesco Morandini, Jacopo da Empoli, and Francesco Curradi. The work was planned according to arrangements that took account of simplicity and practicality, but were of great elegance, a sober, though comfortable, Renaissance edifice. The internal walls were covered in whitewashed plaster, layout centred on two cloisters, with the usual features of a chapter house, two refectories and guest quarters on the ground level. On the upper floor were the friars’ cells, small walled enclosures overarched by a trussed roof
San Marco di Firenze
–
The façade and the bell tower of San Marco in Florence.
San Marco di Firenze
–
The Last Judgement, by Fra Angelico.
15.
Magi Chapel
–
The Magi Chapel is the chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi of Florence, Italy. Its walls are almost entirely covered by a cycle of frescoes by the Renaissance master Benozzo Gozzoli, painted in 1459-1461 for the Medici family. The chapel is on the piano nobile of the palace, and was one of the first decorations executed after the completion of the building, Gozzoli painted his cycle over three of the walls. The Journey of the Magi to Bethlehem is covered in three large frescos, each showing the procession of one of the Three Magi on their way to Bethlehem to see the Nativity of Jesus. On that occasion the Medici could boast to have facilitated the reconciliation between the Catholic and the Byzantine churches, the luxury of the Byzantine dignitaries is manifest, and shows the impression they would have at the time on the Florentine population. In the apse the sides walls are painted with saints and angels in adoration, the altarpiece was Filippo Lippis Adoration of the Christ Child, which was painted for this position. This is now in Berlin, with a copy by a follower of Lippi in the chapel, there are also three thin vertical fresco sections showing the shepherds of the nativity. In the 17th century, parts of the frescoes were destroyed to create access for a new staircase, the lively colors and details of the frescoes are backed by the precious mosaics of the pavement, the gilded ceiling and the wooden stalls designed by Giuliano da Sangallo. Gozzoli portrayed rich Tuscan landscapes, probably influenced by Early Netherlandish artists - perhaps via tapestries, which Piero the Gouty, members of the Medici family and their entourage are shown riding in the foreground of the fresco on the east wall. Caspar, the youngest Magus, leads the procession on a white horse and this figure has often been taken for Lorenzo il Magnifico, who was born in 1449 and so was still a boy when the fresco was completed, he is more likely portrayed by another figure. Closely following Caspar are the head of the family, Piero the Gouty, on a white horse. After them is a procession of illustrious Florentines, such as the humanists Marsilio Ficino and the Pulci brothers, the painter looks out at the viewer and can be recognized for the scroll on his red hat, reading Opus Benotii. Little Lorenzo il Magnifico is the boy directly below him with the distinctive snub nose, bearded Balthasar, the middle Magus, rides a white horse on the south wall. He is portrayed with the facial features as Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos. Melchior, the oldest Magus, rides on the west wall, like Cosimo, he is shown as a peacemaker riding on a donkey. He is preceded by a page in blue with a leopard on his horse - although he leads the entire procession, gozzolis patron, Piero de Medici, felt some of the seraphim were unsuitable, and wanted them painted over. Although the artist agreed to do this, it was never actually done, flagellation of Christ - another painting featuring contemporary portraits, the identities of which have been hotly debated. The Chapel of the Magi in Palazzo Medici, secrets of the Medici Palace and Its Private Chapel, Six Studies in the early Italian Renaissance,2014, San Bernardino, Createspace
Magi Chapel
–
Eastern Wall, the procession of the Magi.
Magi Chapel
–
Detail of the choir of angels in the apse.
Magi Chapel
–
East Wall, Caspar, the youngest Magus - possibly a portrait of Lorenzo il Magnifico.
16.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
–
Trained as a goldsmith and sculptor, he established an important workshop for sculpture in metal. His book of Commentari contains important writing on art, as well as what may be the earliest surviving autobiography by any artist, Ghiberti was born in Pelago,20 km from Florence. His father was Bartoluccio Ghiberti, an artist and goldsmith, who trained his son in goldsmithing and he then went to work in the Florence workshop of Bartoluccio di Michele, where Antonio del Pollaiolo also received his training. When the bubonic plague struck Florence in 1400, Ghiberti emigrated to Rimini, Ghibertis career was dominated by his two successive commissions for pairs of bronze doors to the Florence Baptistery. They are recognized as a masterpiece of the Early Renaissance. Ghiberti first became famous when as a 23-year-old he won the 1401 competition for the first set of bronze doors, the original plan was for the doors to depict scenes from the Old Testament, but the plan was changed to depict scenes from the New Testament instead. However, the piece made was of the sacrifice of Isaac. To carry out this commission, he set up a workshop in which many artists trained, including Donatello, Masolino, Michelozzo, Uccello. Instead of twenty-eight scenes, he produced ten rectangular scenes in a different style. These were more naturalistic, with perspective and a greater idealization of the subject, dubbed The Gates of Paradise by Michelangelo, this second set remains a major monument of the age of Renaissance humanism. As recommended by Giotto, Andrea Pisano was awarded the commission to design the first set of doors at the Florence Baptistery in 1329, the south doors were originally installed on the east side facing the Duomo, and were transferred to their present location in 1452. These proto-Renaissance doors consist of 28 quatrefoil panels, with the twenty top panels depicting scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist, the eight lower panels depict the eight virtues of hope, faith, charity, humility, fortitude, temperance, justice and prudence. Pisano took six years to them, finishing in 1336. In 1453, Ghiberti and his son Vittorio were commissioned to add a door case to Pisanos existing panels, Ghiberti died in 1455, eight years before the frame was finished leaving a majority of the work to Vitorrio and other members of his workshop. There is a Latin inscription on top of the door, Andreas Ugolini Nini de Pisis me fecit A. D. MCCCXXX, the South Doors were undergoing restoration during September,2016. In 1401, the Arte di Calimala announced a competition to design doors which would eventually be placed on the side of the baptistry. These new doors would serve as an offering to celebrate Florence being spared from relatively recent scourges such as the Black Death in 1348. Many artists competed for this commission and a jury selected seven semifinalists which included Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, at the time of judging, only Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were finalists, and when the judges could not decide, they were assigned to work together on them
Lorenzo Ghiberti
–
Gates of Paradise.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
–
Lorenzo Ghiberti on Gates of Paradise, modern copy
Florence Baptistery
Lorenzo Ghiberti
–
In Flagellation, one of the panels on the North Doors.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
–
The story of
Joseph, a panel from the second set of doors to the
Baptistery
17.
Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)
–
The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John, is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica. The octagonal baptistery stands in both the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza San Giovanni, across from Florence Cathedral and the Campanile di Giotto, the Baptistery is one of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine Romanesque style. The Baptistry is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures, the south doors were created by Andrea Pisano and the north and east doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti. The east doors were dubbed by Michelangelo the Gates of Paradise, the Italian poet Dante and many other notable Renaissance figures, including members of the Medici family, were baptized in this baptistry. It was long believed that the Baptistry was originally a Roman temple dedicated to Mars, the chronicler Giovanni Villani reported this medieval Florentine legend in his fourteenth-century Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. It is, however, certain that a first octagonal baptistry was erected here in the fourth or early fifth century. It was replaced or altered by another early Christian baptistry in the sixth century and its construction is attributed to Theodolinda, queen of the Lombards to seal the conversion of her husband, King Authari. The octagon had been a common shape for baptisteries for many centuries since early Christian times, the number eight is a symbol of regeneration in Christianity, signifying the six days of creation, the Day of Rest, and a day of re-creation through the Sacrament of Baptism. The earlier baptistry was the second basilica after San Lorenzo, outside the northern city wall. It was first recorded as such on 4 March 897, when the Count Palatine, the granite pilasters were probably taken from the Roman forum sited at the location of the present Piazza della Repubblica. At that time, the baptistry was surrounded by a cemetery with Roman sarcophagi, the present much larger Baptistry was built in Romanesque style around 1059, evidence of the growing economic and political importance of Florence. It was reconsecrated on 6 November 1059 by Pope Nicholas II, according to legend, the marbles were brought from Fiesole, conquered by Florence in 1078. Other marble came from ancient structures, the construction was finished in 1128. An octagonal lantern was added to the roof around 1150. On the corners, under the roof, are monstrous lion heads with a head under their claws. Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, three double doors were added, with bronze and marble statues above them. This gives an indication that the Baptistry, at time, was at least equal to the neighbouring cathedral in importance. The Baptistry has eight sides with a rectangular addition on the west side
Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)
–
Florence Baptistry (Battistero di San Giovanni).
Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)
–
Mosaic -covered interior of the
octagonal dome
Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)
–
Illustration from Villani's
Nuova Cronica, showing
Totila razing the walls of Florence in the 6th century, leaving the Baptistry intact
Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)
–
Octagonal plan
18.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
19.
Pope Eugene IV
–
Pope Eugene IV, born Gabriele Condulmer, was Pope from 3 March 1431 to his death in 1447. He is the last pope to take the name Eugene upon his election, Condulmer was born in Venice to a rich merchant family. He entered a community of Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga in his native city, at the age of twenty-four he was appointed by his maternal uncle, Pope Gregory XII, as Bishop of Siena. In Siena, the political leaders objected to a bishop who was not only 24, therefore, he resigned the appointment, becoming instead his uncles papal treasurer, protonotary and Cardinal Priest of the Basilica of San Clemente. Pope Martin V named him Cardinal Priest of the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere and he also served as papal legate at Picenum in the March of Ancona. Condulmer was quickly elected to succeed Martin V in the conclave of 1431. He was crowned as Eugene IV at St. Peters Basilica on 11 March 1431 and he is described as tall, thin, with a winning countenance, although many of his troubles were owing to his own want of tact, which alienated parties from him. Upon assuming the chair, Eugene IV took violent measures against the numerous Colonna relatives of his predecessor Martin V. This at once involved him in a serious contest with the house of Colonna that nominally supported the local rights of Rome against the interests of the Papacy. By far the most important feature of Eugene IVs pontificate was the struggle between the Pope and the Council of Basel, the final embodiment of the Conciliar movement. On 23 July 1431, his legate Giuliano Cesarini opened the council, canon Beaupère of Besançon, who had been sent from Basle to Rome, gave the pope an unfavourable and exaggerated account of the temper of the people of Basle and its environs. Distrustful of its purposes and emboldened by the attendance, the Pope issued a bull on 18 December 1431 that dissolved the council. The council resisted this expression of papal prerogative, Eugene IVs action gave some weight to the contention that the Curia was opposed to any authentic measures of reform. The council refused to dissolve, instead renewed the resolutions by which the Council of Constance had declared a council superior to the Pope. A compromise was arranged by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, who had been crowned emperor at Rome on 31 May 1433 and this situation led also to establishment of an insurrectionary republic at Rome controlled by the Colonna family. The city was restored to obedience by Giovanni Vitelleschi, the militant Bishop of Recanati, in August 1435 a peace treaty was signed at Ferrara by the various belligerents. The Pope moved to Bologna in April 1436 and his condottieri Francesco Sforza and Vitelleschi in the meantime reconquered much of the Papal States. Traditional Papal enemies such as the Prefetti di Vico were destroyed, meanwhile, the struggle with the council sitting at Basel broke out anew
Pope Eugene IV
–
Pope Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV
–
Painting of Pope Eugene rowing down the Tiber escaping Rome
Pope Eugene IV
–
Portrait of Pope Eugenius IV, after
Jean Fouquet.
Pope Eugene IV
–
Statue of Pope Eugene at the
Florence Cathedral
20.
Vatican Palace
–
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, Palace of the Vatican and Vatican Palace, the Vatican itself refers to the building as the Palace of Sixtus V in honor of Pope Sixtus V. The modern tourist can see these last and other parts of the palace, the Scala Regia can be seen into from one end but not entered. In the fifth century, Pope Symmachus built a palace close to the Old St. Peters Basilica which served an alternative residence to the Lateran Palace. The construction of a fortified palace was sponsored by Pope Eugene III. The Vatican Palace had fallen into disrepair from lack of upkeep, in 1447, Pope Nicholas V razed the ancient fortified palace of Eugene III to erect a new building, the current Apostolic Palace. In the 15th century, the Palace was placed under the authority of a prefect and this position of Apostolic Prefect lasted from the 15th century till the 1800s, when the Papal States fell into economic difficulties. In 1884, when this post was reviewed in light of saving money, the major additions and decorations of the palace are the work of the following popes for 150 years. In the 20th century, Pope Pius XI built an art gallery. Construction of the Papal Palace at the Vatican in Vatican City, covering 162, 000m squared, it contains the Papal Apartments, offices of the Roman Catholic Church and Holy See, chapels, Vatican Library, museums and art galleries. The Apostolic Palace is run by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, the palace is more accurately a series of self-contained buildings within the well-recognized outer structure which is arranged around the Courtyard of Sixtus V. It is located northeast of St Peters Basilica and adjacent to the Bastion of Nicholas V, the Apostolic Palace houses both residential and support offices of various functions as well as administrative offices not focused on the life and functions of the Pope himself. Perhaps the best known of the Palace chapels is the Sistine Chapel named in honor of Sixtus IV and it is famous for its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and others. One of the functions of the chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive Pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals. In this closed-door election, the cardinals choose a successor to the first pope, St. Peter and this suite of rooms is famous for its frescos by a large team of artists working under Raphael. They were originally intended as a suite of apartments for Pope Julius II and he commissioned Raphael, then a relatively young artist from Urbino, and his studio in 1508 or 1509 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely. It was possibly Julius intent to outshine the apartments of his predecessor Pope Alexander VI and they are on the third floor, overlooking the south side of the Belvedere Courtyard. After the death of Julius in 1513, with two rooms frescoed, Pope Leo X continued the program, following Raphaels death in 1520, his assistants Gianfrancesco Penni, Giulio Romano and Raffaellino del Colle finished the project with the frescoes in the Sala di Costantino
Vatican Palace
–
A view of the
Papal Apartments from
Saint Peter's Square
Vatican Palace
–
The Portone di Bronzo at the Vatican Apostolic Palace entrance.
Vatican Palace
–
A model of the palace in the
Vatican Museums. The buildings are arranged around a central courtyard.
Vatican Palace
–
Under the patronage of
Julius II, Michelangelo painted the
chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512.
21.
Niccoline Chapel
–
The Niccoline Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. It is especially notable for its paintings by Fra Angelico and his assistants. The name is derived from its patron, Pope Nicholas V, the chapel is located in the Tower of Innocent III, in the most ancient part of the Apostolic Palace. The vault is painted blue, decorated with stars, and features figures of the Four Evangelists in the corners, the pilasters are decorated with the eight Doctors of the Church. The chapel is not included in the usual tourist visit, Fra Angelico depicted a Deposition of Christ on the wall behind the altar, but it has been destroyed. However, his works in the lunettes are well preserved. The scenes of St. Stephen follow the Golden Legend, while those of St. Laurence are patterned after the older cycles in the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, where he is buried. Stephen was a Greek-speaking Jew, one of the first deacons named in Jerusalem by St. Peter – Ordination of St Stephen with St Stephen distributing Alms. His prayers earned him the hostility of his opponents in the city, Laurence was a deacon to whom Pope Sixtus II had entrusted the Churchs treasure in order to give it to the Roman emperor Valerian. Lawrence instead divided it among the poor, an act for which he was martyred, the frescoes underline the similarities in the lives of the two figures, both were ordained deacons, both gave alms to the poor and both were martyred after a courageous declaration of faith. The choice of the two also shows the connection between the Churches of Jerusalem and the Rome. The frescoes, full of architectural details, allude also to Nicholas Vs desire to rebuild Rome as the new capital city of Christianity. The large walls in the Martyrdom of St. Stephen hint at the rebuilding of Romes walls, further, the schism in the Jewish community in Jerusalem can be compared to the Christian schism witnessed by Nicholas. Index of Vatican City-related articles Hinzen-Bohlen, Brigitte, guida insolita dei musei di Roma e della Città del Vaticano
Niccoline Chapel
–
St. Peter Consecrates St. Laurence as Deacon
Niccoline Chapel
–
St. Lawrence Receiving the Treasures of the Church, 322 x 412 mm.
22.
Nicholas V
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Pope Nicholas V, born Tommaso Parentucelli, was Pope from 6 March 1447 until his death. Pope Eugene made him a cardinal in 1446 after successful trips to Italy and Germany, and he took his name Nicholas in memory of his obligations to Niccolò Albergati. The Pontificate of Nicholas saw the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, by the Concordat of Vienna he secured the recognition of papal rights over bishoprics and benefices. He also brought about the submission of the last of the antipopes, Felix V, a key figure in the Roman Renaissance, Nicholas sought to make Rome the home of literature and art. He strengthened fortifications, restored aqueducts, and rebuilt many churches, the glories of the Leonine City, the Vatican, and the Basilica of St. Peter must be considered part of his legacy. His mother, Andreola Bosi of Fivizzano, married Bartolomeo Parentucelli, a physician who practiced medicine in Sarzana, the Lunigiana region had long been fought over by competing Tuscan, Ligurian and Milanese forces. His father died while he was young, Parentucelli later became a tutor, in Florence, to the families of the Strozzi and Albizzi, where he met the leading humanist scholars. He studied at Bologna and Florence, gaining a degree in theology in 1422 and he was able to collect books, for which he had an intellectuals passion, wherever he went. Some of them survive with his marginal annotations and he attended the Council of Florence and in 1444, when his patron died, he was appointed Bishop of Bologna in his place. Civic disorders at Bologna were prolonged, so Pope Eugene IV soon named him as one of the legates sent to Frankfurt. He was to assist in negotiating an understanding between the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire, regarding undercutting or at least containing the reforming decrees of the Council of Basel. His successful diplomacy gained him the reward, on his return to Rome, at the papal conclave of 1447 he was elected Pope in succession to Eugene IV on 6 March. He took the name Nicholas in honour of his early benefactor, the eight scant years of his pontificate were important in the political, scientific, and literary history of the world. In March 1452 he crowned Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor in St. Peters, within the city of Rome, Nicholas introduced the fresh spirit of the Renaissance. His plans were of embellishing the city with new monuments worthy of the capital of the Christian world and his first care was practical, to reinforce the citys fortifications, cleaning and even paving some main streets and restoring the water supply. The end of ancient Rome is sometimes dated from the destruction of its magnificent array of aqueducts by 6th-century invaders, in the Middle Ages Romans depended for water on wells and cisterns, and the poor dipped their water from the yellow Tiber. The Aqua Virgo aqueduct, originally constructed by Agrippa, was restored by Nicholas and emptied into a basin that Leon Battista Alberti designed. But the works on which Nicholas especially set his heart were the rebuilding of the Vatican, the Borgo district, and St Peters Basilica, under the generous patronage of Nicholas, humanism made rapid strides as well
Nicholas V
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Pope Nicholas V
Nicholas V
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Saint Francis of Assisi according to Pope Nicholas V's Vision.
Nicholas V
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Much later portrait of
Filippo Calandrini, the half-brother of Nicholas V, and his
cardinal-nephew
23.
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
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Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major churches of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers in Rome, Italy. The church is located in Piazza della Minerva one block behind the Pantheon in the Pigna rione of Rome within the ancient district known as the Campus Martius, the present church and disposition of surrounding structures is visible in a detail from the Nolli Map of 1748. While many other churches in Rome have been given Baroque makeovers that cover Gothic structures. The church and adjoining convent served at times throughout its history as the Dominican Orders headquarters. Today the headquarters have been re-established in their location at the Roman convent of Santa Sabina. Details of the temple to Minerva are not known but recent investigations indicate that a small round Minervium once stood a little further to east on the Piazza of the Collegio Romano. In 1665 an Egyptian obelisk was found, buried in the garden of the Dominican cloister adjacent to the church, there are other Roman survivals in the crypt. The structure he commissioned has disappeared, in 1255 Pope Alexander IV established a community of converted women on the site. A decade later this community was transferred to the Roman Church of San Pancrazio thereby allowing the Dominicans to establish a convent of friars, the Friars were on site beginning in 1266 but took official possession of the Church in 1275. The ensemble of buildings that formed around the church and convent came to be known as the insula sapientae or insula dominicana, the Dominicans began building the present Gothic church in 1280 modelling it on their church in Florence Santa Maria Novella. Architectural plans were drawn up during the pontificate of Nicholas III by two Dominican friars, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi. With the help of funds contributed by Boniface VIII and the faithful the side aisles were completed in the 14th century. In 1453 church interior construction was completed when Cardinal Juan Torquemada ordered that the main nave be covered by a vault that reduced the overall projected height of the church. In the same year of 1453 Count Francesco Orsini sponsored the construction of the façade at his own expense, however work on the façade remained incomplete until 1725 when it was finally finished by order of Pope Benedict XIII. In 1431, the Church and the adjacent Convent of the Dominicans was the site of a Papal conclave. The city of Rome was in an uproar upon the death of Pope Martin V, whose family had dominated Roman political life for fifteen years, and enriched themselves on the wealth of the Church. The Sacristy of the Church served as the hall for the fourteen cardinals who attended the Conclave. The dormitory of the monks in the Convent to the north of the Church, served as the living quarters for the cardinals and their refectory
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
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Santa Maria sopra Minerva façade by
Carlo Maderno
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
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Santa Maria sopra Minerva interior
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
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The Pulcino della Minerva, the famous elephant sculpture by
Bernini and
Ercole Ferrata, making the base of one of Rome's eleven Egyptian obelisks.
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
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Carafa chapel in 2010
24.
Santa Maria in Aracoeli
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The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. It is still the designated Church of the city council of Rome, the present Cardinal Priest of the Titulus Sancta Mariae de Aracoeli is Salvatore De Giorgi. Originally the church was named Sancta Maria in Capitolio, since it was sited on the Capitoline Hill of Ancient Rome, for this reason the figures of Augustus and of the Tiburtine sibyl are painted on either side of the arch above the high altar. A later legend substituted an apparition of the Virgin Mary, in The History of Money, Anthropologist Jack Weatherford goes into some detail about the churchs previous incarnation as the temple of Juno Moneta—on the Arx—after whom Money is named. From Moneta came the modem English words mint and money and, ultimately, today, the site of the Temple of Juno Moneta, the source of the great stream of Roman currency, has given way to the ancient. Brick church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, centuries ago, church architects incorporated the ruins of the ancient temple into the new building. The church is thought to have replaced the auguraculum, the seat of the augurs. The foundation of the church was laid on the site of a Byzantine abbey mentioned in 574. Many buildings were built around the first church, in the part they gave rise to a cloister, while on the slopes of the hill a little quarter. Remains of these buildings - such as the church of San Biagio de Mercato. At first the church followed the Greek rite, a sign of the power of the Byzantine exarch, the arches that divide the nave from the aisles are supported on columns, no two precisely alike, scavenged from Roman ruins. During the Middle Ages, this became the centre of the religious. In 1571, Santa Maria in Aracoeli hosted the celebrations honoring Marcantonio Colonna after the victorious Battle of Lepanto over the Turkish fleet, marking this occasion, the compartmented ceiling was gilded and painted, to thank the Blessed Virgin for the victory. In 1797, with the Roman Republic, the basilica was deconsecrated and turned into a stable. The original unfinished façade has lost the mosaics and subsequent frescoes that decorated it, save a mosaic in the tympanum of the main door. The Gothic window is the detail that tourists can see from the bottom of the stairs. The church is built as a nave and two aisles that are divided by Roman columns, all different, taken from diverse antique monuments. Among its numerous treasures are Pinturicchios 15th-century frescoes depicting the life of Saint Bernardino of Siena in the Bufalini Chapel and it houses also Madonna Aracoeli, in the Altar
Santa Maria in Aracoeli
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Façade of the Basilica with the monumental staircase.
Santa Maria in Aracoeli
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Interior of the church.
Santa Maria in Aracoeli
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Fresco of Madonna and the Child by
Pietro Cavallini.
Santa Maria in Aracoeli
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Central fresco by Pinturicchio in the S. Bernardino Chapel (1486).
25.
Duomo di Orvieto
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Orvieto Cathedral is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. Formerly the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Todi, it has been since 1986 that of the Diocese of Orvieto-Todi, the cloth is now stored in the Chapel of the Corporal inside the cathedral. The cathedral has five bells, dating back to Renaissance, tuned in E flat, the construction of the cathedral lasted almost three centuries with the design and style evolving from Romanesque to Gothic as construction progressed. The flagstone of the cathedral was laid on 13 November 1290 by Pope Nicholas IV, the cathedral was initially designed as a Romanesque basilica with a nave and two side aisles. But when Giovanni di Uguccione succeeded Fra Bevignate, the design was transformed into Italian Gothic forms and he substantially changed the design and construction of the building, increasing the similarity of the building to Siena Cathedral. The architecture of both buildings sometimes is classified as a substyle of Gothic architecture - Siennese Gothic style, Maitani strengthened the external walls with flying buttresses, which proved later to be useless. These buttresses were eventually included in the walls of the newly built transept chapels and he rebuilt the apse into a rectangular shape and added a large stained-glass quadrifore window. Starting in 1310 he created the current façade up to the level of the statues of the symbols of the Evangelists. He also added much of the interior and he died in 1330, shortly before the completion of the duomo, succeeded by his sons. In 1347 Andrea Pisano, the former Master of the Works of the Florence Cathedral, was appointed the new Master of the Works and he was followed in 1359 by Andrea di Cione, better known as Orcagna. The beautiful mosaic decoration and the window are attributed to him. The Sienese architect Antonio Federighi continued the decoration of the façade between 1451 and 1456, adding some Renaissance modules, in 1503 Michele Sanmicheli finished the central gable and added the right spire, which was finished by Antonio da Sangallo junior in 1534. Final touches to the façade were made by Ippolito Scalza by adding the right pinnacle in 1590, All in all, the succeeding architects kept a stylistic unity to the façade. The Gothic façade of the Orvieto Cathedral is one of the masterpieces of the Late Middle Ages. In 1352 Matteo di Ugolino da Bologna added the bronze Lamb of God above the central gable, the bas-reliefs on the piers depict biblical stories from the Old and New Testament. They are considered among the most famous of all 14th-century sculpture, the installation of these marbles on the piers began in 1331. They depict from left to right, stories of the Old Testament and these original pieces have been replaced and redesigned in the centuries since, particularly in 1484,1713 and 1842. Most of these mosaic represent major scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, one of these glassmakers is recorded as Fra Giovanni Leonardelli
Duomo di Orvieto
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Façade of the Cathedral.
Duomo di Orvieto
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Coronation of the Virgin mosaic on the top gable of the cathedral.
Duomo di Orvieto
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Rose window.
Duomo di Orvieto
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The interior.
26.
Umbria
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Umbria, is a region of historic and modern central Italy. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries and it includes the Lake Trasimeno, Marmores Falls, and is crossed by the River Tiber. Umbria is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, culinary delights, artistic legacy, and influence on culture. Contained within Umbria is Cospaia, a republic created by accident that existed from 1440 to 1826 Umbria is bordered by Tuscany to the west, Marche to the east. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries. The commune of Città di Castello has an exclave named Monte Ruperto within Marche. Umbria is crossed by two valleys, the Umbrian valley, stretching from Perugia to Spoleto, and the Tiber Valley, west of the first one, the Tiber River forms the approximate border with Lazio, although its source is just over the Tuscan border. The Tibers three principal tributaries flow southward through Umbria, the Chiascio basin is relatively uninhabited as far as Bastia Umbra. About 10 kilometres farther on, it joins the Tiber at Torgiano, the third river is the Nera, flowing into the Tiber further south, at Terni, its valley is called the Valnerina. The upper Nera cuts ravines in the mountains, the lower, in antiquity, the plain was covered by a pair of shallow, interlocking lakes, the Lacus Clitorius and the Lacus Umber. They were drained by the Romans over several hundred years, an earthquake in the 4th century and the political collapse of the Roman Empire resulted in the refilling of the basin. The eastern part of the region, being crossed by many faults, has often hit by earthquakes, the last ones have been that of 1997. In literature, Umbria is referred to as il cuore verde dItalia, the phrase is taken from a poem by Giosuè Carducci, the subject of which is the source of the Clitunno River in Umbria. The region is named for the Umbri people, an Italic people which was absorbed by the expansion of the Romans, the Umbris capital city was Gubbio, where today is housed the longest and most important document of any of the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, the Iguvine Tablets. In fact, they belonged to a family of neighbouring peoples with similar roots. Their language was Umbrian, one of the Italic languages, related to Latin, the Etruscans were the chief enemies of the Umbri. The Etruscan invasion went from the western seaboard towards the north and east, eventually driving the Umbrians towards the Apennine uplands, nevertheless, the Umbrian population does not seem to have been eradicated in the conquered districts. The border between Etruria and Umbria was the Tiber river, the ancient name of Todi, Tular, after the downfall of the Etruscans, Umbrians aided the Samnites in their struggle against Rome
Umbria
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Cityscape of the capital Perugia
Umbria
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Umbria
Umbria
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A typical landscape of the Umbrian countryside
Umbria
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View of
Assisi
27.
Narni
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Narni is an ancient hilltown and comune of Umbria, in central Italy, with 20,385 inhabitants. At an altitude of 240 m, it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni and it is very close to the Geographic center of Italy. There is a stone on the spot with a sign in multiple languages. The area around Narni was already inhabited in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages, records mention Nequinum as early as 600 BC. The Romans conquered Nequinum in the 4th century BC and made it a position of force in this key point of the Via Flaminia the famous road which connected the city of Rome to the Adriatic Sea and it supported the Gauls with the hope of freeing itself from Rome. In 299 BC it became a Roman Municipality, and took the name Narnia, the recent discovery of an ancient Roman shipyard within its territory has made researchers supposing a particular importance during the Punic Wars. In 209 BC, however, Narnia refused to help the Romans financially for their aim to carry on the war against Carthage, during the Roman times it was a strategical outpost for the Roman army. The Roman Emperor Nerva was born at Narni in 30 AD, Narnia is mentioned in an Early Christian list of false gods in first century Church father Tertullians Apology, midway into Chapter 21. Every province even, and every city, has its god, syria has Astarte, Arabia has Dusares, the Norici have Belenus, Africa has its Caelestis, Mauritania has its own princes. In Late Antiquity it suffered the events of the Greek-Gothic war and was plundered by Totila, seat of a Lombard gastald, Narnia embraced the cause of Otho I of Saxony thanks to the mediation of its bishop, now Pope John XVII. Narni was part of the possessions of the Countess Matilde, once part of the Dominions of the Church in 726. During the late 9th to early 10th century, Narni was, along much of central Italy. From the 11th century it began to increase in wealth and power, was opposed to Pope Paschal II in 1112 and this insubordination cost Narni a ferocious repression imposed by the archbishop Christian of Mainz, Barbarossas chancellor. In 1242 Narni, prevalently tied to the Guelph party, entered into an alliance with Perugia, in the following century it was included in the reconquest of the papal patrimony by Cardinal Albornoz, who also had the mighty Rocca built. It was the work of Ugolino di Montemarte, known as il Gattapone and he was also author of the plans for the Loggia dei Priori and the Colonnade that faces out onto the Piazza dei Priori together with the 13th century Palazzo del Podestà and the 14th century fountain. In 1373 Narni was given as fief to the Orsini to whom it returned in 1409, occupied by King Ladislaus of Naples, in the 15th century, to be soon again reabsorbed by the church, thanks to Braccio da Montone. July 15,1527 marked a decisive turning-point in Narnis history, the troops of Charles V, mostly in fact the undisciplined Spanish soldiery and German mercenaries, put the city to fire and sword, it lost its ancient prosperity. Even the inhabitants of Terni took advantage of the situation to deliver their blame to give vent to their hatred of Narni
Narni
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Central square in Narni.
Narni
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Façade of the Communal Palace.
Narni
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The Abbey of San Cassiano.
Narni
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The Bridge at Narni by
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1826
28.
Montefalco
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The town has been actively settled since the times of the Umbri. It has been under the domination of the Romans, Lombards. In 1249 it was sacked by Frederick II, but was rebuilt with the modern name. In 1446 it fell under the rule of the Papal States where it remained until the unification of Italy in 1861, St. Clare of Montefalco, sometimes known as St. Clare of the Cross, was born in Montefalco and died there in 1308. Montefalco today has several churches, some in the Romanesque, some in the Gothic and some in the Renaissance style. Historically, the most important is the church of San Francesco, which is now the towns museum, the church is notable for its fresco cycle on the life of St. Francis, by the Florentine artist Benozzo Gozzoli. Other artists represented in the museum include Perugino, Francesco Melanzio, Pier Antonio Mezzastris, Antoniazzo Romano, the 13th century Palazzo Comunale has a mullioned window from the original edifice and a 15th-century portal. Also notable are the gates in the walls, including Porta SantAgostino, Porta Camiano, the comune of Montefalco and a small area of the comune of Bevagna constitute the regulated geographical area for Montefalco wines. Commons, Convento di San Fortunato with frescoes by Gozzoli Official website Tourist Website Montefalco Wine Consortium Tutto Montefalco Bill Thayers site
Montefalco
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Montefalco
29.
Girdle of Thomas
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The supposed original girdle is a relic belonging to Prato Cathedral in Tuscany in Italy and its veneration has been regarded as especially helpful for pregnant women. Alternatively, only Thomas actually witnessed the Assumption, and the Virgin left the belt as a proof for his story to the other apostles. The belt or girdle was a symbol of chastity. The simplest version of the story, known as the Madonna of the Girdle in art, shows in its form the Virgin in the sky and Thomas on the ground. Usually Thomas is in front of the empty sarcophagus that had been occupied by the Virgin, in more elaborate versions angels, saints, and donor portraits can be present. The version of the legend where Thomas is the apostle to see the actual Assumption means that such images may legitimately be titled as Assumptions. Lost versions by both Botticelli and Perugino, are known from drawings and he also holds the girdle in the Madonna della Cintola by Pinturicchio in the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican Palace, where he is the only apostle. Prato, slightly to the north of Florence, was intended to provide a defence of the city against attacks from the north. This was a relief, as most Florentine troops were garrisoning Pistoia. The most notable and influential of these is the over life-size marble relief on the wall of the huge tabernacle shrine of the Orsanmichele by Andrea Orcagna of 1352–59. In 1402 Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan again invaded Florentine territory and the relic was processed round the city to protect it, whether such a procession also happened in 1351 is unclear. In the Middle Ages the display coincided with the three days of the Prato fair, and was accompanied by elaborate ceremonies and festivities. The new chapel is at the west end of the left aisle and it begins with a screened-off area under the first arch of the nave, but extends back into a new section built out of the side wall of the cathedral. Completing the chapel took the rest of the century, and the girdle was finally installed on Easter Sunday in 1395, the chapel has frescoes of Stories of the Virgin and the Cintola by Agnolo Gaddi. The 18th-century altar, which encloses the Cintola, is crowned by a marble Madonna with Child, the second was built outside, projecting from a corner of the cathedral, in the 1430s by Donatello and Michelozzo, with a relief frieze of putti. This is very high, and does not allow a view of the relic when it is displayed. This pulpit is still used today, though the rather worn original reliefs have been moved to the museum, a later glass and metal reliquary now houses the relic. The main pulpit inside the cathedral, for preaching, is decorated with reliefs by Donatellos pupil Antonio Rossellino and Mino da Fiesole and was completed in 1473
Girdle of Thomas
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Palma Vecchio, Assumption of Mary, who is removing her belt as Thomas (above the head of the apostle in green) hurries to the scene
Girdle of Thomas
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Filippo Lippi, Madonna della Cintola, 1455–65, Prato
Girdle of Thomas
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Maso di Banco, Descent of Mary's Girdle to the Apostle Thomas, 1337-9, Berlin. The girdle hangs down from the virgin's hand.
Girdle of Thomas
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Nardo di cione,
Madonna del parto and
donor, 1355-1360
30.
Pontifical Museum of Christian Antiquities
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The Lateran Museum was a museum founded by the Popes and housed in the Lateran Palace, adjacent to the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Italy. It ceased to exist in 1970, Pope Gregory XVI established the Museo Profano Lateranense in 1844. Its collections initially consisted of statues, bas-relief sculptures and mosaics of the Roman era, the museum was enlarged in 1854 under Pius IX with the addition of the Museo Pio Cristiano. This collection was assembled by the archaeologists Father Giuseppe Marchi and Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Marchi collected the sculptured monuments of the early Christian period, while de Rossi the ancient Christian inscriptions. A third department of the museum consisted of copies of some of the more important catacomb frescoes, Father Marchi was appointed the director of the new institution. In 1910, under the pontificate of Pius X, the Hebrew Lapidary was established and this section contained 137 inscriptions from ancient Hebrew cemeteries in Rome mostly from via Portuense. The three collections were transferred, under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII, from the Lateran Palace to the Vatican and they were reopened to the public in 1970. Their collections are still called ex Lateranense to indicate their place of display. The Lateran Palace is now occupied by the Museo Storico Vaticano which illustrates the history of the Papal States and it was moved to the palace in 1987 and inaugurated in 1991. Herbermann, Charles, ed. Christian Museum of Lateran
Pontifical Museum of Christian Antiquities
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The statue of Sophocles in the Lateran Museum as pictured in 1905
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gozzoli, Benozzo". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 305–306. This has additional references:
Media related to Benozzo Gozzoli at Wikimedia Commons
