1.
Uffizi
–
The Uffizi Gallery is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, the construction was later continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and completed in 1581. The niches in the piers that alternate with columns filled with sculptures of artists in the 19th century. The Uffizi brought together under one roof the administrative offices, the Tribunal and the Archivio di Stato, the state archive. He commissioned from the architect Buontalenti the design of the Tribuna degli Uffizi that collected a series of masterpieces in one room, over the years, more sections of the palace were recruited to exhibit paintings and sculpture collected or commissioned by the Medici. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, because of its huge collection, some of its works have in the past been transferred to other museums in Florence—for example, some famous statues to the Bargello. A project was finished in 2006 to expand the exhibition space some 6,000 metres² to almost 13,000 metres². On 27 May 1993, a car exploded in Via dei Georgofili and damaged parts of the palace. The most severe damage was to the Niobe room and classical sculptures and neoclassical interior, the identity of the bomber or bombers are unknown, although it was almost certainly attributable to the Sicilian Mafia who were engaged in a period of terrorism at that time. Today, the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence, in high season, waiting times can be up to five hours. In early August 2007, Florence experienced a heavy rainstorm, the Gallery was partially flooded, with water leaking through the ceiling, and the visitors had to be evacuated. There was a more significant flood in 1966 which damaged most of the art collections in Florence severely. Here is a selection from the collection, The collection also contains some ancient sculptures, such as the Arrotino. Collections of the Uffizi Official website Uffizi – Google Art Project
Uffizi
–
Narrow courtyard between palace's two wings with view toward the
Arno.
Uffizi
–
Restored Niobe room represents Roman copies of late
Hellenistic art. View of daughter of
Niobe bent by terror.
Uffizi
–
Niobide rises on a rock
Uffizi
–
View of hallway. The walls were originally covered with tapestries.
2.
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.
3.
Italian people
–
Italians are a nation and ethnic group native to Italy who share a common culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a native tongue. The majority of Italian nationals are speakers of Standard Italian. Italians have greatly influenced and contributed to the arts and music, science, technology, cuisine, sports, fashion, jurisprudence, banking, Italian people are generally known for their localism and their attention to clothing and family values. The term Italian is at least 3,000 years old and has a history that goes back to pre-Roman Italy. According to one of the common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú. 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 Etruscan civilization reached its peak about the 7th century BC, but by 509 BC, when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan monarchs, its control in Italy was on the wane. By 350 BC, after a series of wars between Greeks and Etruscans, the Latins, with Rome as their capital, gained the ascendancy by 272 BC, and they managed to unite the entire Italian peninsula. This period of unification was followed by one of conquest in the Mediterranean, in the course of the century-long struggle against Carthage, the Romans conquered Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. Finally, in 146 BC, at the conclusion of the Third Punic War, with Carthage completely destroyed and its inhabitants enslaved, octavian, the final victor, was accorded the title of Augustus by the Senate and thereby became the first Roman emperor. After two centuries of rule, in the 3rd century AD, Rome was threatened by internal discord and menaced by Germanic and Asian invaders. Emperor Diocletians administrative division of the empire into two parts in 285 provided only temporary relief, it became permanent in 395, in 313, Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity, and churches thereafter rose throughout the empire. However, he moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople. The last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476 by a Germanic foederati general in Italy and his defeat marked the end of the western part of the Roman Empire. During most of the period from the fall of Rome until the Kingdom of Italy was established in 1861, Odoacer ruled well for 13 years after gaining control of Italy in 476. Then he was attacked and defeated by Theodoric, the king of another Germanic tribe, Theodoric and Odoacer ruled jointly until 493, when Theodoric murdered Odoacer. Theodoric continued to rule Italy with an army of Ostrogoths and a government that was mostly Italian, after the death of Theodoric in 526, the kingdom began to grow weak
Italian people
–
Amerigo Vespucci, the notable geographer and traveller from whose name the word
America is derived.
Italian people
Italian people
–
Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the
New World.
Italian people
–
Laura Bassi, the first chairwoman of a university in a scientific field of studies.
4.
Mosaic
–
A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used in art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called pebble mosaics. Others are made of other materials, mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece, mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practise the old technique, Roman and Byzantine influence led Jews to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics. Mosaic was widely used on buildings and palaces in early Islamic art, including Islams first great religious building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Mosaic went out of fashion in the Islamic world after the 8th century, modern mosaics are made by professional artists, street artists, and as a popular craft. Many materials other than stone and ceramic tesserae may be employed, including shells, glass. The earliest known examples of made of different materials were found at a temple building in Abra, Mesopotamia. They consist of pieces of colored stones, shells and ivory, excavations at Susa and Chogha Zanbil show evidence of the first glazed tiles, dating from around 1500 BC. However, mosaic patterns were not used until the times of Sassanid Empire, mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders. Pliny the Elder mentions the artist Sosus of Pergamon by name, describing his mosaics of the left on a floor after a feast. Both of these themes were widely copied, most recorded names of Roman mosaic workers are Greek, suggesting they dominated high quality work across the empire, no doubt most ordinary craftsmen were slaves. Splendid mosaic floors are found in Roman villas across North Africa, in such as Carthage. The tiny tesserae allowed very fine detail, and an approach to the illusionism of painting, often small panels called emblemata were inserted into walls or as the highlights of larger floor-mosaics in coarser work. The normal technique was opus tessellatum, using larger tesserae, which was laid on site, there was a distinct native Italian style using black on a white background, which was no doubt cheaper than fully coloured work. In Rome, Nero and his architects used mosaics to cover surfaces of walls and ceilings in the Domus Aurea, built 64 AD
Mosaic
–
Irano-Roman floor mosaic detail from the palace of
Shapur I at
Bishapur.
Mosaic
–
Cone mosaic courtyard from
Uruk in
Mesopotamia 3000 BC
Mosaic
–
Ancient Greek mosaic of a deer hunt, in the House of the Abduction of Helen at
Pella, late 4th century BC
Mosaic
–
Roman mosaic of
Ulysses, from Carthage. Now in the
Bardo Museum,
Tunisia
5.
Medieval art
–
The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, revivals, the crafts. Art historians attempt to classify medieval art into major periods and styles, in addition each region, mostly during the period in the process of becoming nations or cultures, had its own distinct artistic style, such as Anglo-Saxon art or Norse art. Medieval art in Europe grew out of the heritage of the Roman Empire. These sources were mixed with the vigorous barbarian artistic culture of Northern Europe to produce an artistic legacy. Indeed, the history of art can be seen as the history of the interplay between the elements of classical, early Christian and barbarian art. The period ended with the self-perceived Renaissance recovery of the skills and values of art. Since a revival of interest and understanding in the 19th century it has seen as a period of enormous achievement that underlies the development of later Western art. Many regions did not regain their population levels until the 17th century. The population of Europe is estimated to have reached a low point of about 18 million in 650, doubling by 1000, in 1450 it was still only 50 million. To these figures, Northern Europe, especially Britain, contributed a lower proportion than today, and Southern Europe, including France, the increase in prosperity, for those who survived, was much less affected by the Black Death. Until about the 11th century most of Europe was short of labour, with large amounts of unused land. The medieval period saw the falling away of the invasions and incursions from outside the area that characterized the first millennium. The impression may be left by the works that almost all medieval art was religious. Most churches have been rebuilt, often times, but medieval palaces and large houses have been lost at a far greater rate. The situation is similar in most of Europe, though the 14th century Palais des Papes in Avignon survives largely intact. Paper became available in the last centuries of the period, but was extremely expensive by todays standards. Art in the Middle Ages is a subject and art historians traditionally divide it in several large-scale phases, styles or periods
Medieval art
–
Byzantine monumental Church mosaics are one of the great achievements of medieval art. These are from
Monreale in
Sicily from the late 12th century.
Medieval art
–
Romanesque carving
Medieval art
–
Detail of The Effects of Good Government, a
fresco in the
City Hall of Siena by
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1338.
Medieval art
–
Scenes of
courtly love on a lady's
ivory mirror-case. Paris, 1300–1330.
6.
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.
7.
Giotto
–
Giotto di Bondone, known mononymously as Giotto and Latinized as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. He is generally considered the first in a line of artists who contributed to the Renaissance. Giottos masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, also known as the Arena Chapel and this fresco cycle depicts the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ. It is regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Early Renaissance. That Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and that he was chosen by the Commune of Florence in 1334 to design the new campanile of Florences Cathedral are among the few certainties of his biography. Tradition holds that Giotto was born in a farmhouse, perhaps at Colle di Romagnano or Romignano, since 1850, a tower house in nearby Colle Vespignano has borne a plaque claiming the honor of his birthplace, an assertion commercially publicized. However, recent research has suggested that he was born in Florence. His fathers name was Bondone, and he is described in surviving records as a person of good standing. Most authors accept that Giotto was his name, but it is likely to have been an abbreviation of Ambrogio or Angelo. The year of his birth is calculated from the fact that Antonio Pucci, however, the word seventy fits into the rhyme of the poem better than would have a longer and more complex age, so it is possible that Pucci used artistic license. In his Lives, Giorgio Vasari states that Giotto was a shepherd boy, the great Florentine painter Cimabue discovered Giotto drawing pictures of his sheep on a rock. They were so lifelike that Cimabue approached Giotto and asked if he could take him on as an apprentice, Cimabue was one of the two most highly renowned painters of Tuscany, the other being Duccio, who worked mainly in Siena. Vasari recounts a number of stories about Giottos skill as a young artist. He tells of one occasion when Cimabue was absent from the workshop, later when Cimabue returned, he tried in vain several times to brush the fly off. The messenger departed ill pleased, not doubting that he had made a fool of. The messenger brought other artists drawings back to the Pope in addition to Giottos, many scholars today are uncertain about Giottos training, and consider Vasaris account that he was Cimabues pupil as legend, citing earlier sources which suggest that Giotto was not Cimabues pupil. About 1290, Giotto married Ciuta, the daughter of Lapo del Pela of Florence, the marriage produced four daughters and four sons, one of whom became a painter. By 1301, Giotto owned a house in Florence, and when he was not traveling he would return there and live in comfort with his family
Giotto
–
Statue representing Giotto, outside the Uffizi
Giotto
–
A portrait of
Dante by Giotto
Giotto
–
One of the Legend of St. Francis frescoes at
Assisi, the authorship of which is disputed
Giotto
–
The
Crucifixion of Rimini
8.
Proto-Renaissance
–
Quattrocento encompasses the artistic styles of the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. After the decline of the Western Roman Empire in 476, economic disorder and this was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages, which lasted roughly until the 11th century, when trade picked up, population began to expand and the papacy regained its authority. In Italy, urban centers arose that were populated by merchant and trade classes, money replaced land as the medium of exchange, and increasing numbers of serfs became freedmen. The changes in Medieval Italy and the decline of feudalism paved the way for social, cultural, the Quattrocento is viewed as the transition from the Medieval period to the age of the Renaissance, principally in the cities of Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice and Naples. Instead, Quattrocento artists and sculptors incorporated the more classic forms developed by Roman, since the Quattrocento overlaps with part of the Renaissance movement, it would be inaccurate to say that a particular artist was Quattrocento or Renaissance. Artists of the time probably would not have identified themselves as members of a movement, also see the list of 27 prominent 15th century painters made contemporaneously by Giovanni Santi, Raphael Sanzios father as part of a poem for the Duke of Urbino. The Robert Lehman Collection I, Italian Paintings, new York, Princeton, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
Proto-Renaissance
–
Sandro Botticelli 's
Annunciation, painted from 1489-1490, is an example of Quattrocento art.
Proto-Renaissance
–
Tommaso Masaccio 's fresco,
The Tribute Money
9.
St. Francis of Assisi
–
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco, was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the mens Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis, Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228, along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated Patron saint of Italy. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades, by this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order, once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. Francis is also known for his love of the Eucharist, in 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene. He died during the hours of 3 October 1226, while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 142. Pietro was in France on business when Francis was born in Assisi, upon his return to Assisi, Pietro took to calling his son Francesco, possibly in honor of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French. Since the child was renamed in infancy, the change can hardly have had anything to do with his aptitude for learning French, as some have thought. While going off to war in 1202, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, in 1205, Francis left for Apulia to enlist in the army of Walter III, Count of Brienne. Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a young man. In 1201, he joined an expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada. It is possible that his conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life, in 1204, a serious illness led him to a spiritual crisis. A strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening, on a pilgrimage to Rome, he joined the poor in begging at St. Peters Basilica, an experience that moved him to live in poverty. Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon gathered followers and his Order was authorized by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which became a religious order for women. As a youth, Francesco became a devotee of troubadours and was fascinated with all things Transalpine, in this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms
St. Francis of Assisi
–
Stigmata of St Francis tempera on panel by
Bartolomeo della Gatta (1487)
St. Francis of Assisi
–
The house where Francis of Assisi lived when young
St. Francis of Assisi
–
Francis of Assisi by
Cimabue
St. Francis of Assisi
–
Francis considered his
stigmata part of the
Imitation of Christ.
Cigoli, 1699
10.
Pisa
–
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its tower, the city of over 90,834 residents contains more than 20 other historic churches, several medieval palaces. Much of the architecture was financed from its history as one of the Italian maritime republics. The origin of the name, Pisa, is a mystery, while the origin of the city had remained unknown for centuries, the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Ligurians had variously been proposed as founders of the city. Archaeological remains from the 5th century BC confirmed the existence of a city at the sea, trading with Greeks, the presence of an Etruscan necropolis, discovered during excavations in the Arena Garibaldi in 1991, confirmed its Etruscan origins. Ancient Roman authors referred to Pisa as an old city, strabo referred Pisas origins to the mythical Nestor, king of Pylos, after the fall of Troy. Virgil, in his Aeneid, states that Pisa was already a center by the times described. The Virgilian commentator Servius wrote that the Teuti, or Pelops, the maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. Pisa took advantage of being the port along the western coast from Genoa to Ostia. Pisa served as a base for Roman naval expeditions against Ligurians, Gauls, in 180 BC, it became a Roman colony under Roman law, as Portus Pisanus. In 89 BC, Portus Pisanus became a municipium, Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into an important port and changed the name in Colonia Iulia obsequens. It is supposed that Pisa was founded on the shore, however, due to the alluvial sediments from the Arno and the Serchio, whose mouth lies about 11 kilometres north of the Arnos, the shore moved west. Strabo states that the city was 4.0 kilometres away from the coast, currently, it is located 9.7 kilometres from the coast. However it was a city, with ships sailing up the Arno. In the 90s AD, a complex was built in the city. During the later years of the Roman Empire, Pisa did not decline as much as the cities of Italy, probably thanks to the complexity of its river system. After Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards under the command of Desiderius in 774, Pisa went through a crisis, politically it became part of the duchy of Lucca
Pisa
–
Pisa
Pisa
–
Coat of arms
Pisa
–
Hypothetical map of Pisa in the 5th century AD
Pisa
–
Hypothetical map of Pisa in the 11th century AD
11.
Byzantine art
–
Byzantine art is the name for the artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. A number of states contemporary with the Byzantine Empire were culturally influenced by it, after the fall of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 1453, art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire was often called post-Byzantine. Byzantine art never lost sight of this classical heritage, the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, was adorned with a large number of classical sculptures, although they eventually became an object of some puzzlement for its inhabitants. And indeed, the art produced during the Byzantine Empire, although marked by periodic revivals of an aesthetic, was above all marked by the development of a new aesthetic. The most salient feature of new aesthetic was its abstract. The nature and causes of this transformation, which took place during late antiquity, have been a subject of scholarly debate for centuries. Giorgio Vasari attributed it to a decline in skills and standards. Although this point of view has been revived, most notably by Bernard Berenson. Alois Riegl and Josef Strzygowski, writing in the early 20th century, were all responsible for the revaluation of late antique art. Riegl saw it as a development of pre-existing tendencies in Roman art. In any case, the debate is purely modern, it is clear that most Byzantine viewers did not consider their art to be abstract or unnaturalistic, religious art was not, however, limited to the monumental decoration of church interiors. One of the most important genres of Byzantine art was the icon, an image of Christ, the illumination of manuscripts was another major genre of Byzantine art. The most commonly illustrated texts were religious, both scripture itself and devotional or theological texts, secular texts were also illuminated, important examples include the Alexander Romance and the history of John Skylitzes. Small ivories were also mostly in relief, Byzantine ceramics were relatively crude, as pottery was never used at the tables of the rich, who ate off silver. Two events were of importance to the development of a unique. First, the Edict of Milan, issued by the emperors Constantine I and Licinius in 313, allowed for public Christian worship, second, the dedication of Constantinople in 330 created a great new artistic centre for the eastern half of the Empire, and a specifically Christian one. Major Constantinopolitan churches built under Constantine and his son, Constantius II, included the foundations of Hagia Sophia. The next major building campaign in Constantinople was sponsored by Theodosius I, the most important surviving monument of this period is the obelisk and base erected by Theodosius in the Hippodrome
Byzantine art
–
The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the
Hagia Sophia in
Constantinople – the image of
Christ Pantocrator on the walls of the upper southern gallery. Christ is flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The mosaics were made in the 12th century.
Byzantine art
–
Byzantine culture
Byzantine art
–
Miniatures of the 6th-century
Rabula Gospel display the more abstract and symbolic nature of Byzantine art.
Byzantine art
–
Frescoes in Nerezi near
Skopje (1164), with their unique blend of high tragedy, gentle humanity, and homespun realism, anticipate the approach of
Giotto and other proto-Renaissance Italian artists. [
citation needed]
12.
San Domenico, Arezzo
–
The Basilica of San Domenico is a Medieval church in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy, dedicated to St Dominic. It is especially renowned for housing a crucifix by Cimabue. Construction began in 1275 and was completed in the 13th century, the exterior is a Tuscan Gothic in style. It also contains frescoes depicting Life of Santi Filippo, Giacomo Minore, spinello’s son, Parri di Spinello painte holad the Crucifixion and Three Saints. The Gothic-style Dragondelli chapel has an altar by Giovanni di Francesco and frescoes of ‘’Jesus among the Doctors by Gregorio, the tryptich of ‘’St Michael archangel and Domenic and Paul’’ is attributed to the Maestro del Vescovado. A stone statue of the Madonna and child once stood in one of the gates of the city
San Domenico, Arezzo
–
Crucifix (detail) by Cimabue
San Domenico, Arezzo
–
Facade of Church in the winter
San Domenico, Arezzo
–
Facade of Church in the summer
13.
Arezzo
–
Arezzo is a city and comune in Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 kilometres southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 metres above sea level, in 2013 the population was about 99,000. Described by Livy as one of the Capitae Etruriae, Arezzo is believed to have one of the twelve most important Etruscan cities—the so-called Dodecapolis. Etruscan remains establish that the acropolis of San Cornelio, a hill next to that of San Donatus, was occupied and fortified in the Etruscan period. Increasing trade connections with Greece also brought some elite goods to the Etruscan nobles of Arezzo, conquered by the Romans in 311 BC, Arretium became a military station on the via Cassia, the road to expansion by republican Rome into the basin of the Po. Arretium sided with Marius in the Roman Civil War, and the victorious Sulla planted a colony of his veterans in the half-demolished city, as Arretium Fidens. The old Etruscan aristocracy was not extinguished, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, around 26-261 AD the town council of Arezzo dedicated an inscription to its patron L. Petronius Taurus Volusianus. See that article for discussion of the possible significance of Volusianuss association with the city. The commune of Arezzo threw off the control of its bishop in 1098 and was an independent city-state until 1384, generally Ghibelline in tendency, it opposed Guelph Florence. In 1252 the city founded its university, the Studium, during this period Piero della Francesca worked in the church of San Francesco di Arezzo producing the splendid frescoes, recently restored, which are Arezzos most famous works. Afterwards the city began an economical and cultural decay, which ensured that its medieval centre was preserved. In the 18th century the neighbouring marshes of the Val di Chiana, south of Arezzo, were drained, in 1860 Arezzo became part of the Kingdom of Italy. The Commonwealth War Graves Commissions Arezzo War Cemetery, where 1,266 men are buried, is located to the North West of the city, Pope Benedict XVI visited Arezzo and two other Italian municipalities on Sunday, May 13,2012. Arezzo is set on a hill rising from the floodplain of the River Arno. In the upper part of the town are the cathedral, the town hall, the upper part of the town maintains its medieval appearance despite the addition of later structures. Notable earthquakes are still a rare phenomenon in the province. Under the Köppen climate classification Arezzo is either a humid climate or an oceanic climate. It has uncharacteristically hot summer days for a climate, with the lows moderating the average temps
Arezzo
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Piazza Grande; from left - S. Maria della Pieve, the old Tribunal Palace and the Lay Fraternity.
Arezzo
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Roman pottery shred from Arezzo,
Latium, found at
Arikamedu in
India (1st century AD), an evidence of the role of the city in
Roman trade with India through
Persia during the Augustan period.
Musée Guimet.
Arezzo
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Piazza Grande.
Arezzo
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Aerial view.
14.
Coppo di Marcovaldo
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Coppo di Marcovaldo is one of the better-known Duecento artists and is the first Florentine artist whose name and works are well documented. It is speculated by historians that Coppo was taken prisoner by the Sienese where he was then held at the church of Servi. It was here in 1261 that he painted his most famous work The Madonna del Bordone for the order of the Servites, assumed to be a prisoner of war, the question is raised as to why a Florentine artist was asked to execute such an important Sienese painting. It must be assumed that Coppo was already known and highly regarded at this time for the Sienese to have commissioned him within a year of the bloody conflict with Florence. The Madonna del Bordone is the only surviving documented work by Coppo and it is believed that his signature, the panel of the painting is unusually large for the time measuring 220 cm x 125 cm, approximately 7 ft x 4 ft. The painting depicts the Virgin and Child sitting on a high-backed throne, the Virgin looks at the viewer, although her body is slightly turned to the left and her head is bent towards the Child. Coppo is now accepted as the first to employ the angled throne in the representation of the Virgin. The clothing, different than the traditional Byzantine art style, is of northern origin, seen as well for the first time in Tuscan painting are a number of iconographic features. Extensive gilding has been used as well as a gold leaf background, as well, Coppo was strongly influenced by the Byzantine style characterized by its emphasis on light, shadow, and volume that in combination was used to create the illusion of life. The composition and style employed in the rendering of clothing, as seen in bulky, although the Madonna del Bordone is Coppo’s only surviving work today, there are many other works attributed to the artist. •1261 – Madonna del Bordone in the Sta, •1265 – Pistoia frescos in the chapel of St. James in the Cathedral of S. Zeno. • 1265–68 – Madonna and Child in Sta, • 1265–70 – Last Judgment mosaic at the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral. •1274 – Crucifix in the Cathedral of Pistoia
Coppo di Marcovaldo
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Coppo di Marcovaldo Madonna and Child. c. 1265. Panel. St. Martino dei Servi, Orvieto.
Coppo di Marcovaldo
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Attributed to Coppo di Marcovaldo - Mosaic on the vault (Detail of Christ). Second half of thirteenth century. Baptistery, Florence.
Coppo di Marcovaldo
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Mosaic on the vault (Detail of the Hell Scene), Baptistery, Florence.
15.
Rome
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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
16.
Crucifix (Cimabue, Santa Croce)
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Crucifix is a wooden crucifix, painted in distemper, attributed to the Florentine painter and mosaicist Cimabue, one of two large crucifixes attributed to him. The work was commissioned by the Franciscan friars of Santa Croce and is built from an arrangement of five main. It is one the first Italian artworks to break from the late medieval Byzantine style and is renowned for its technical innovations, the gilding and monumentality of the cross links it to the Byzantine tradition. Christs static pose is reflective of this style, while the work overall incorporates newer, the work presents a lifelike and physically imposing depiction of the passion at Calvary. Christ is shown naked, his eyes are closed, his face lifeless. His body slumps in a position contorted by prolonged agony and pain, a graphic portrayal of human suffering, the painting is of seminal importance in art history and has influenced painters from Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Velasquez to Francis Bacon. The work has been in the Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence, since the thirteenth century. It remains in poor condition despite conservation efforts, both of Cimabues surviving crucifixes were commissioned by the Franciscan order. Founded by Saint Francis of Assisi, their reformist, religious, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant, Francis abandoned his inheritance to take up preaching in his mid-twenties. He venerated poverty and developed an appreciation for the beauty of nature. Byzantine depictions tended to show Christ as invincible, even in death, imagery based on Franciscan ideals in the 13th century generally reinforce his veneration of simplicity and naturalism, infusing the paintings with the new values of humanism. The church at Santa Croce was the third that the Franciscans constructed at the site, the first was begun in 1295, and is where Cimabues Crucifix probably hung, given its large size, above the rood screen. It was later positioned at the transept, in the sacristy. Cimabue achieves a masterful handling of colour, medieval churches tended to be colourful, with frescoed walls, painted capitals. Compared to earlier works of this type, Christs body is more physically corporeal and his hands and feet seem to extend beyond the pictorial space, which is delineated by the flat, coloured borders of the cross, in turn made up of at least six boards. Both Christs body and his semi-circular nimbus are placed at angles which rise outwards and his body arches, forcing his torso to raise against the cross. Blood pours from the wounds in his hands as his head falls to the side from fatigue and his body is naked except for a sheer and transparent loincloth that only just covers his thighs and buttocks. The choice of a white, veil-like loincloth, dramatically more modest than the red garment in the Arezzo work and his nakedness highlights his vulnerability and suffering
Crucifix (Cimabue, Santa Croce)
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Crucifix, 1287-1288. Distemper on wood panel, 448 cm × 390 cm (176.4 in × 153.5 in).
Basilica di Santa Croce,
Florence
Crucifix (Cimabue, Santa Croce)
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Crucifix, Cimabue c 1268-71. San Domenico,
Arezzo. The earliest of the three crucifixes attributed to Cimabue
Crucifix (Cimabue, Santa Croce)
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Giotto, Crucifix,
Rimini. 1310-1317
17.
Santa Croce, Florence
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The Basilica di Santa Croce is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres south-east of the Duomo, the site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world and its most notable features are its sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils, and its tombs and cenotaphs. Legend says that Santa Croce was founded by St Francis himself, the construction of the current church, to replace an older building, was begun on 12 May 1294, possibly by Arnolfo di Cambio, and paid for by some of the citys wealthiest families. It was consecrated in 1442 by Pope Eugene IV, the buildings design reflects the austere approach of the Franciscans. The floorplan is an Egyptian or Tau cross,115 metres in length with a nave, to the south of the church was a convent, some of whose buildings remain. The Primo Chiostro, the cloister, houses the Cappella dei Pazzi, built as the chapter house. Filippo Brunelleschi was involved in its design which has remained rigorously simple, in 1560, the choir screen was removed as part of changes arising from the Counter-Reformation and the interior rebuilt by Giorgio Vasari. As a result, there was damage to the churchs decoration, the bell tower was built in 1842, replacing an earlier one damaged by lightning. The neo-Gothic marble façade dates from 1857-1863, the Jewish architect Niccolo Matas from Ancona, designed the churchs façade, working a prominent Star of David into the composition. Matas had wanted to be buried with his peers but because he was Jewish, he was buried under the threshold, in 1866, the complex became public property, as a part of government suppression of most religious houses, following the wars that gained Italian independence and unity. The Museo dellOpera di Santa Croce is housed mainly in the refectory, a monument to Florence Nightingale stands in the cloister, in the city in which she was born and after which she was named. Brunelleschi also built the cloister, completed in 1453. In 1966, the Arno River flooded much of Florence, including Santa Croce, the water entered the church bringing mud, pollution and heating oil. The damage to buildings and art treasures was severe, taking several decades to repair, today the former dormitory of the Franciscan friars houses the Scuola del Cuoio. Visitors can watch as artisans craft purses, wallets, and other goods which are sold in the adjacent shop. Sylvester. Henry Moore Andrea Orcagna Antonio Rossellino Bernardo Rossellino Santi di Tito Giorgio Vasari with sculpture by Valerio Cioli, Iovanni Bandini, way to Calvary painted by Vasari. Domenico Veneziano Once present in the churchs Medici Chapel, but now split between the Florentine Galleries and the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan, is a polyptych by Lorenzo di Niccolò
Santa Croce, Florence
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Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.
Santa Croce, Florence
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Franciscan symbol on the facade of the temple
Santa Croce, Florence
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Interior towards the main entrance
Santa Croce, Florence
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Michelangelo's tomb
18.
1966 Arno River flood
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The 1966 flood of the Arno in Florence killed 101 people and damaged or destroyed millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. It is considered the worst flood in the history since 1557. With the combined effort of Italian and foreign alike, or angeli del fango. New methods in conservation were devised and restoration laboratories established, however, even decades later, much work remains to be done. Located in the Tuscany region of Central Italy, the Arno river is approximately 240 kilometres long and it flows from the Mount Falterona hills of the Apennine Mountains to the Ligurian Sea, just 11 kilometres west of Pisa. Lush vineyards and olive groves line the rivers course to the west. Principally utilized for irrigation purposes, only 32 kilometres of the river is used for navigation, the highest flows of the river generally occur in spring and autumn of every year, when rainfall in the Apennines is at its greatest. The intensity of the 1966 flood was further increased by both the orography of the Apennines, which contributed to the high rates and river discharges. After a long period of rain, the Levane and La Penna dams in Valdarno began to discharge more than 2,000 cubic metres of water per second toward Florence. At 14,30, the Civil Engineering Department reported an exceptional quantity of water, cellars in the Santa Croce and San Frediano areas began to flood. Police received calls for assistance from villagers up the Arno Valley, the floods first victim, a 52-year-old worker, died at the Anconella water treatment plant. At 04,00, engineers, fearing that the Valdarno dam would burst, at 07,26, the Lungarno delle Grazie cut off gas, electricity and water supplies to affected areas. By 08,00, army barracks were flooded, by 09,00, hospital emergency generators failed. Landslides obstructed roads leading to Florence, while narrow streets within city limits funneled floodwaters, increasing their height, by 09,45, the Piazza del Duomo was flooded. The powerful waters ruptured central heating oil tanks, and the oil mixed with the water and mud, Florence was divided in two, and officials were unable to immediately reach citizens of the city past the Piazza Michelangelo. At its highest, the water reached over 6.7 metres in the Santa Croce area, by 20,00, the water began to lower. The flood has had a impact on Florence, economically and culturally. City officials and citizens were extremely unprepared for the storm and the devastation that it caused
1966 Arno River flood
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Square in Florence with a white
high water mark of the 1966 flood. At this point the marker is about 4 metres (13 ft) high.
19.
Nicola Pisano
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Nicola Pisano was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the founder of modern sculpture and his birth date or origins are uncertain. He was born in Apulia, as the son of Petrus de Apulia, Nicola Pisano was probably trained in the local workshops of the emperor Frederick II, and he attended his coronation. Here he was trained to give to the traditional representations more movement and emotions, intertwining Classical and his only remaining works from this period are two griffon heads with a soft chiaroscuro effect. Around 1245 he moved to Tuscany to work at the Prato Castle, the lions on the portal of this castle are probably by his hand. The head of a girl, cut in hardstone of Elba, is also ascribed to Nicola Pisano in the same period. He moved to Lucca, working at façade of the Cathedral of Saint Martin, resulting in the relief Deposition from the Cross and he moved to Pisa between 1245 and 1250, where his son Giovanni Pisano was born. Around 1255 he received a commission for the pulpit in the baptistery of Pisa and he finished this work in 1260 and signed with Nicola Pisanus. He was aided by several assistants, among which were Arnolfo di Cambio, Vasari relates that Nicola Pisano constantly studied these Roman remains and the Roman sculptures from Augustan times seem to have marked a deep impression on him. In the panel Representation the Madonna reminds us of the bearing of goddesses in late Roman sculpture. The pulpit rests on a column, raised on an octagonal pedestal. This central column rests on sculptures of animals and telamons and is surrounded by six columns of different height, the columns came from remains at Ostia. The Corinthian capitals support trefoil Gothic arches, richly decorated with Prophets and Evangelists in the spandrels and these arches are separated by sculptures of St. John the Baptist, St. Michael and the Virtues and, surprisingly, a nude Hercules. The backgrounds of scenes were originally painted and enamelled, while the eyes of the figures were coloured. This contributed to a depiction of these religious scenes. All these scenes, except the last two, reflect his knowledge of the style on the sarcophagi, the figures wear tunics in a Roman fashion. The Virgin wears a pallium over her head in the manner as a Roman matron. The scene The Last Judgement was probably based on a Byzantine ivory and he must have found his inspiration for this pulpit in the triumphal arches he had seen in Rome when travelling to Ostia
Nicola Pisano
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Posthumous portrait statue of Nicola Pisano at the
Uffizi in Florence
Nicola Pisano
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Pulpit (detail): the "Nativity" and Annunciation to the Shepherds
Nicola Pisano
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Pulpit in the baptistery of Pisa
Nicola Pisano
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Dome of the baptistery of Pisa
20.
San Francesco, Pisa
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San Francesco de Ferri is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy. Mentioned for the first time in a document from 1233, the church was starting from 1261 by will of archbishop Federico Visconti. The church was under the patronage of the Pisane noble families, who owned a series of private chapels for their burials, the works, directed by Giovanni di Simone, ended in 1270 and included also the slender bell tower. The marble façade is from 1603, the interior was revamped in the same age, with paintings by Jacopo da Empoli, Passignano and Santi di Tito. In the transept are frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi, Galileo Chini, the sacristy has frescoes by Taddeo di Bartolo with Histories of Mary, while the Capitolium Hall has frescoes by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini with Histories of the life of Christ. The rectangular cloister is from the 14th century, after a period as military barracks, the church was declared national monument in 1893. The church was home to Giottos Stigmata of St. Francis and Cimabues Maestà
San Francesco, Pisa
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Façade
21.
Louvre Museum
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The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
Louvre Museum
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the Richelieu wing (2005)
Louvre Museum
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The only portion of the medieval Louvre still visible
Louvre Museum
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Antonio Canova 's
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, donated in 1824.
Louvre Museum
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The
Venus de Milo was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of
Louis XVIII.
22.
Duccio di Buoninsegna
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Duccio di Buoninsegna was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. He is considered to be the father of Sienese painting and, along with a few others and he was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Duccio is credited with creating the painting styles of Trecento and the Sienese school, although much is still unconfirmed about Duccio and his life, there is more documentation of him and his life than of other Italian painters of his time. It is known that he was born and died in the city of Siena, other details of his early life and family are as uncertain, as much else in his history. One avenue to reconstructing Duccios biography are the traces of him in archives that list when he ran up debts or incurred fines, some records say he was married with 7 children. The relative abundance of archival mentions has led historians to believe that he had difficulties managing his life, another route to filling in Duccios biography are by analyzing the works that can be attributed to him with certainty. Information can be obtained by analyzing his style, the date and location of the works, due to gaps where Duccios name goes unmentioned in the Sienese records for years at a time, scholars speculate he may have traveled to Paris, Assisi and Rome. Nevertheless, his talents were enough to overshadow his lack of organization as a citizen. In the 14th century Duccio became one of the most favored, where Duccio studied, and with whom, is still a matter of great debate, but by analyzing his style and technique art historians have been able to limit the field. Little is known of his career prior to his first documented commission. In 1278, at the age of 23, he was hired to paint 12 wooden panels to cover government documents for The Nine, although Duccio was active from 1268 to about 1311 only approximately 13 of his works survive today. Furthermore, of Duccios surviving works, only two can be securely dated, Duccios known works are on wood panel, painted in egg tempera and embellished with gold leaf. Different from his contemporaries and artists before him, Duccio was a master of tempera and managed to conquer the medium with delicacy, there is no clear evidence that Duccio painted frescoes. Duccio’s style was similar to Byzantine art in ways, with its gold backgrounds and familiar religious scenes, however it was also different. Duccio began to break down the lines of Byzantine art. He used modeling to reveal the figures underneath the heavy drapery, hands, faces, duccio’s paintings are inviting and warm with color. His pieces consisted of many details and were sometimes inlaid with jewels or ornamental fabrics. Duccio was also noted for his organization of space
Duccio di Buoninsegna
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Maestà with Twenty Angels and Nineteen Saints, detail
Duccio di Buoninsegna
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The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew (from the Maestà), c. 1308-1311.
Duccio di Buoninsegna
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Madonna with child, the child pulling the madonnas hair
Duccio di Buoninsegna
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Annunciation
23.
Rucellai Madonna
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The Rucellai Madonna is a panel painting by the late medieval Italian painter Duccio di Buoninsegna from Siena. Originally painted for the Societa di S Maria Virginis for Florences Santa Maria Novella church, the painting depicts the Virgin and Child enthroned, surrounded by angels on a gold background. The altarpiece was commissioned by the Compagnia dei Laudesi for the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, the Rucellai Madonna is Duccios earliest work for which there is documentation. The work was designed for the altar of the church. In a contract dated 15 April 1285, Duccio was commissioned to paint a panel for which he was to be paid 150 lire. The contracts only requirements were that the Virgin and Child and other figures should be present, the document stated that if the final work failed to please, the artist would retain possession of the painting and no payment would be made. In 1889, however historian Franz Wickhoff compared stylistic choices between the Rucellai Madonna and Duccios Maestà, and soon other critics agreed that Duccio had indeed painted the Madonna. The work, measuring 4.5 by 2.9 meters and it is tempera on a five-pieced poplar panel, the frame is of the same wood. The Virgins robe was found during its 1989 cleaning to be azurite-based paint, the Virgin is shown looking directly at the viewer, as the Christ Child is seen sitting on her lap, giving a blessing. The Madonna is large in scale, taking up the majority of the frame and her robe is finely modelled and her gold halo incised as if to illuminate her presence. Duccios use of gold represents the familys holiness and the realm they inhabit. Six angels are holding the ornate throne, and are painted in shades of green, pink, lilac. Their positions in front and behind the throne suggest they are either lifting it up, the frame is decorated with thirty roundels containing portraits of Apostles, prophets, saints and patriarchs. It is clear from the attention to detail that Duccio was highly concerned with idealism and beauty, rendering each figure softly, with delicate features and adoration. The Rucellai Madonna has spatial complexity, emotion, intimacy and a choice of color. Duccio had improved upon the popular Byzantine art, characterised by two-dimensionality and hard contours, and had created one of the first pieces of what became known as the Renaissance
Rucellai Madonna
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Rucellai Madonna
Rucellai Madonna
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The façade of Santa Maria Novella (1470) where the Rucellai Madonna originally was displayed.
Rucellai Madonna
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Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna Carried in Procession (1853-5) by
Frederic Leighton
24.
Frick Collection
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The Frick Collection is an art museum located in the Henry Clay Frick House on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, New York City at 1 East 70th Street, at the northeast corner with Fifth Avenue. It houses the collection of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, Henry Frick started his substantial art collection as soon as he started amassing his fortunes. A considerable amount of his art collection is located in his former residence Clayton in Pittsburgh, another part was given by his daughter and heiress Helen to the Frick Fine Arts Building, which is on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. The family did not permanently move from Pittsburgh to New York until 1905, Henry Frick initially leased the Vanderbilt house at 640 Fifth Avenue, to which he moved a substantial amount of his collection. He had his permanent residence built between 1912 and 1914 by Thomas Hastings of Carrère and Hastings and he stayed in the house until his death in 1919. He willed the house and all of its contents, including art, furniture and his widow Adelaide Howard Childs Frick, however, retained the right of residence and continued living in the mansion with her daughter Helen. After Adelaide Frick died in 1931, the conversion of the house into a museum started. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt it to use as a public institution and it opened to the public on December 16,1935. Further expansions of the museum took place in 1977 and in 2011, in 2014, the museum announced further expansion plans, but came up against community opposition because it would result in the loss of a garden. The Frick ultimately dropped those plans and is said to be considering other options, Frick had intended the mansion to eventually become a museum. Many of the paintings are arranged according to Fricks design. Besides its permanent collection, the Frick has always organized small, the collection features some of the best-known paintings by major European artists, as well as numerous works of sculpture and porcelain. It also has 18th century French furniture, Limoges enamel, after Fricks death, his daughter, Helen Clay Frick, expanded the collection, with a third of its artworks acquired since 1919. Although the museum cannot lend the two-thirds that belonged to Frick, as stipulated in his will, the Frick Collection oversees the nearby Frick Art Reference Library. Archival materials augment its research collections, opened in 1920, the library quickly became a prime resource for students. According to The Art Newspaper, the Frick Collection has an annual attendance of 275,000 to 300,000. About 35 percent of the visitors are non-English speaking, in 2011, Ian Wardropper succeeded Anne Poulet, who had run the Frick Collection as director since 2003. Poulet took the position after Samuel Sachs II stepped down after running the institution for six years, Poulet was the first female director of the Frick
Frick Collection
Frick Collection
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Giovanni Bellini,
St. Francis in Ecstasy, 1478
Frick Collection
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Titian, Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap, c. 1516
Frick Collection
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Hans Holbein the Younger,
Portrait of Thomas More, 1527
25.
Baptistery of Florence
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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
Baptistery of Florence
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Florence Baptistry (Battistero di San Giovanni).
Baptistery of Florence
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Mosaic -covered interior of the
octagonal dome
Baptistery of Florence
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Illustration from Villani's
Nuova Cronica, showing
Totila razing the walls of Florence in the 6th century, leaving the Baptistry intact
Baptistery of Florence
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Octagonal plan
26.
Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi
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For the church with same name in Siena, see Santa Maria dei Servi, Siena Santa Maria dei Servi is a Roman Catholic basilica in Bologna, Italy. In the 20th century, Pope Pius XII granted the church the status of basilica, the basilica is 100 metres long by 20 metres wide. It has the form of a Latin cross but the transepts do not project beyond the aisles, the shallow apse is five segments of an octagon, as is common in Italian Gothic churches. It was designed in the Gothic style with pointed arches throughout, at the death of Padre Andrea in 1396, the work was not complete. However, the completion in the 15th century saw little change to the design of the basilica itself, the plastered walls above the arcade are pierced by occular windows set high under the gothic vault. The vault is of a simple form with the brick ribs in contrast to the infilling. Externally, the church is plain, undecorated brick. The facade, which was constructed in phases, has never been decorated. A remarkable feature of the church is its courtyard or atrium and this is a feature that was common in Early Christian churches, including the earlier St. Peters Basilica in Rome, but has almost always disappeared. This is a case of an atrium being built in the 16th century. In the case of Santa Maria dei Servi, the piazza in front of the basilica was quite small—which permitted building a wide arcade around it that encloses the entire square without interruption. The arcade is closed on one side by the conventual buildings, where the arcade meets the facade, it forms a narthex or wide portico of five arches, stretching across the front of the church. The arcade has a cornice and circular moulding on the spandrels echoes the occular window in the facade. The church also possesses a widely praised pipe organ, made in 1967 by the Tamburini company of Crema, which can be operated with a mechanical action
Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi
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The portico and the façade of Santa Maria dei Servi in Bologna.
27.
Bologna
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Bologna is the largest city of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of an area of about one million. The first settlements back to at least 1000 BC. The city has been a centre, first under the Etruscans. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city, Bologna is home to numerous prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, the city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country, after a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under Bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, the Germanic conquerors formed a district called addizione longobarda near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786, traditionally said to be founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered to be the first university. The university originated as a centre of study of medieval Roman law under major glossators. It numbered Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca among its students, the medical school is especially famous. In the 12th century, the families engaged in continual internecine fighting. Troops of Pope Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace, in 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII. Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, the population later recovered to a stable 60, 000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era, in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the centre of the University
Bologna
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A collage of the city, showing
Fountain of Neptune,
Piazza Maggiore,
Basilica of San Petronio,
Two towers (Due Torri),
Tagliatelle al
ragù bolognese (dish of Bologna origin), and endless city arcades typical for Bologna
Bologna
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Porta Maggiore, one of the twelve medieval city gates of Bologna.
Bologna
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Depiction of a 14th-century fight between the militias of the Guelf and Ghibelline factions in Bologna, from the Croniche of Giovanni Sercambi of Lucca.
Bologna
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Bologna in 1640.
28.
Castelfiorentino
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Castelfiorentino is a town and comune in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, halfway between Florence, Pisa and Siena. The population is approximately 20,000 inhabitants and it is part of Valley of Elsa. Castelfiorentino borders the municipalities, Certaldo, Empoli, Gambassi Terme, Montaione, Montespertoli. Pieve of Santi Ippolito e Biagio, with a 14th-century crucifix, sanctuary of Santa Verdiana Romanesque pieve of Santi Pietro e Paolo, at Coiano Guebwiller, France Official website
Castelfiorentino
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Castelfiorentino
Castelfiorentino
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Santa Verdiana
29.
Pope Nicholas IV
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Pope Nicholas IV, born Girolamo Masci, Pope from 22 February 1288 to his death in 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be elected pope, Jerome Masci was born on 30 September 1227 at Lisciano, near Ascoli Piceno. He was a pious, peace-loving man whose goals as a Franciscan friar were to protect the Church, promote the crusades, according to Heinrich of Rebdorf, he was a Doctor of Theology. As a Franciscan friar, he had elected the Orders superior for Dalmatia during the Franciscan general chapter held at Pisa in 1272. Pope Gregory X, was sending a legate to the Greek Emperor, Michael Palaiologos, in 1272, the Popes ambition was to achieve a reunion of Eastern and Western Christendom. St Bonaventure, then Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor was asked to select four Franciscans to accompany the Legation as Nuncios and he chose Friar Jerome Masci as one of the four. Jerome and John of Vercelli were again appointed to the task on 4 April 1278. At the same time, Jerome was ordered to continue for the time being as the Franciscan Minister General, in 1278 Jerome was made Cardinal Priest by Pope Nicholas III, and at some point after 16 May 1279 was assigned the titular church of Santa Pudenziana. Even after his appointment as a cardinal, he was allowed to remain as Minister General of the Franciscans until the general chapter. In the event, however, he was unable to attend the chapter for reasons of ill health, as a letter of apology of Pope Nicholas III, written in May 1279, on 12 April 1281 he was promoted Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina by Pope Martin IV. After the death of Pope Honorius IV on 3 April 1287, the Conclave was held in Rome, at the palace next to Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill. This was in accordance with the Constitution Ubi Periculum of Pope Gregory X, at the beginning, in April, there were thirteen cardinals in Rome, three Cardinals—Gerardo Bianchi, Giovanni Boccamati, and Jean Cholet—did not attend at all. The Sacred College was for a time hopelessly divided in its selection of a successor, when six of the electors died during the year 1287, the others, with the sole exception of Jerome Masci, left the Conclave and returned to their homes. It was not until the year that they reassembled. On 15 February 1288, the unanimously elected Jerome Masci. It is said that the Cardinals were impressed by his steadfastness in remaining at the papal palace, as he admitted in his electoral manifesto, Cardinal Masci was extremely reluctant to accept, and indeed he persisted in his refusal for an entire week. Finally, on 22 February, he gave in and agreed and he became the first Franciscan pope and chose the name Nicholas IV in remembrance of Nicholas III, who had made him a Cardinal. Given the considerable losses to the numbers of the Sacred College in 1286 and 1287, what is surprising is that he did not even reach the number of cardinals who were alive under Honorius IV, let alone exceed it
Pope Nicholas IV
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Pope Nicholas IV
30.
Franciscan Order
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The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant religious orders within the Catholic Church, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. These orders include the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Saint Clare, Francis began preaching around 1207 and traveled to Rome to seek approval from the Pope in 1209. The original Rule of Saint Francis approved by the Pope disallowed ownership of property, the austerity was meant to emulate the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Franciscans traveled and preached in the streets, while boarding in church properties, Saint Clare, under Franciss guidance, founded the Poor Clares in 1212, which remains a Second Order of the Franciscans. The extreme poverty required of members was relaxed in final revision of the Rule in 1223, the degree of observance required of members remained a major source of conflict within the order, resulting in numerous secessions. The Order of Friars Minor, previously known as the Observant branch, is one of the three Franciscan First Orders within the Catholic Church, the others being the Capuchins and Conventuals. The Order of Friars Minor, in its current form, is the result of an amalgamation of smaller orders completed in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII. The latter two, the Capuchin and Conventual, remain distinct religious institutes within the Catholic Church, observing the Rule of Saint Francis with different emphases, Franciscans are sometimes referred to as minorites or greyfriars because of their habit. In Poland and Lithuania they are known as Bernardines, after Bernardino of Siena, the name of original order, Friars Minor, means lesser brothers, and stems from Francis of Assisis rejection of extravagance. Francis was the son of a cloth merchant, but gave up his wealth to pursue his faith more fully. Francis adopted of the tunic worn by peasants as the religious habit for his order. Those who joined him became the original Order of Friars Minor and they all live according to a body of regulations known as the Rule of St Francis. First Order The First Order or the Order of Friars Minor are commonly called simply the Franciscans and this Order is a mendicant religious order of men, some of whom trace their origin to Francis of Assisi. Their official Latin name is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum, St. Francis thus referred to his followers as Fraticelli, meaning Little Brothers. Franciscan brothers are informally called friars or the Minorites and they all live according to a body of regulations known as the Rule of St Francis. These are The Order of Friars Minor, known as the Observants, most commonly simply called Franciscan friars, official name, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin or simply Capuchins, official name, Friars Minor Capuchin. The Conventual Franciscans or Minorites, official name, Friars Minor Conventual, Second Order The Second Order, most commonly called Poor Clares in English-speaking countries, consists of religious sisters. The order is called the Order of St. Clare, but in the century, prior to 1263, this order was referred to as The Poor Ladies, The Poor Enclosed Nuns
Franciscan Order
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Francis of Assisi, founder of the Order of Friars Minor; oldest known portrait in existence of the saint, dating back to St. Francis' retreat to
Subiaco (1223–1224)
Franciscan Order
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Regula bullata, the Rule confirmed by
Honorius III
Franciscan Order
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"The Confirmation of the Franciscan Rule" by
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), Capella Sassetti,
Florence.
Franciscan Order
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Anthony of Padua (c1195-1231) with the
Infant Christ, painting by
Antonio de Pereda (c1611-1678)
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Rossetti, William Michael (1911). "Cimabue, Giovanni". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Rossetti, William Michael (1911). "
