1.
Masaccio
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Masaccio, born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. Masaccio died at twenty-six and little is known about the circumstances of his death. The name Masaccio is a version of Maso, meaning clumsy or messy Tom. The name may have created to distinguish him from his principal collaborator, also called Maso. Despite his brief career, he had a influence on other artists. He was one of the first to use linear perspective in his painting, employing techniques such as vanishing point in art for the first time, Masaccio was born to Giovanni di Simone Cassai and Jacopa di Martinozzo in Castel San Giovanni di Altura, now San Giovanni Valdarno. His father was a notary and his mother the daughter of an innkeeper of Barberino di Mugello and his family name, Cassai, comes from the trade of his paternal grandfather Simone and granduncle Lorenzo, who were carpenters/cabinet makers. Masaccios father died in 1406, when he was five, later that same year a brother was born. He also was to become a painter, with the nickname of lo Scheggia meaning the splinter, there is no evidence for Masaccios artistic education, however Renaissance painters traditionally began an apprenticeship with an established master around the age of 12. Johannis Simonis pictor populi S. Nicholae de Florentia, the first works attributed to Masaccio are the San Giovenale Triptych, now in the Museum of Cascia di Reggello near Florence, and the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne at the Uffizi. The San Giovenale altarpiece was discovered in 1961 in the church of San Giovenale at Cascia di Reggello and it depicts the Virgin and Child with angels in the central panel, Sts. Bartholomew and Blaise on the panel, and Sts. Juvenal and Anthony Abbot in the right panel, the painting has lost much of its original framing, and its surface is badly abraded. The second work was perhaps Masaccios first collaboration with the older and already-renowned artist, Masolino is believed to have painted the figure of St. Anne and the angels that hold the cloth of honor behind her, while Masaccio painted the more important Virgin and Child on their throne. Masolinos figures are delicate, graceful and somewhat flat, while Masaccios are solid, in Florence, Masaccio could study the works of Giotto and become friends with Brunelleschi and Donatello. It was destroyed when the cloister was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century. With the two artists probably working simultaneously, the painting began around 1425, but for reasons the chapel was left unfinished. As a whole the frescoes represent human sin and its redemption through the actions of Peter, the style of Masaccios scenes shows the influence of Giotto especially
2.
Florence
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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
3.
Renaissance
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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
4.
Florence Cathedral
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The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore is the main church of Florence, Italy. The exterior of the basilica is faced with marble panels in various shades of green. The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and these three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italys largest churches, and until development of new materials in the modern era. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed, the cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori. Santa Maria del Fiore was built on the site of a cathedral dedicated to Saint Reparata. The new church was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio and approved by city council in 1294, di Cambio was also architect of the church of Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio. He designed three wide naves ending under the dome, with the middle nave covering the area of Santa Reparata. The first stone was laid on September 9,1296, by Cardinal Valeriana, the building of this vast project was to last 140 years, Arnolfos plan for the eastern end, although maintained in concept, was greatly expanded in size. After Arnolfo died in 1310, work on the cathedral slowed for thirty years, when the relics of Saint Zenobius were discovered in 1330 in Santa Reparata, the project gained a new impetus. In 1331, the Arte della Lana, the guild of merchants, took over patronage for the construction of the cathedral. Assisted by Andrea Pisano, Giotto continued di Cambios design and his major accomplishment was the building of the campanile. When Giotto died in 1337, Andrea Pisano continued the building work was halted due to the Black Death in 1348. In 1359, Talenti was succeeded by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini who divided the nave in four square bays. Other architects were Alberto Arnoldi, Giovanni dAmbrogio, Neri di Fioravante, by 1375, the old church Santa Reparata was pulled down. The nave was finished by 1380, and by 1418, only the dome remained incomplete, on 18 August 1418, the Arte della Lana announced an architectural design competition for erecting Neris dome. The two main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, the latter of whom was supported by Cosimo de Medici. Ghiberti had been the winner of a competition for a pair of doors for the Baptistery in 1401
5.
Architecture
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Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements, Architecture can mean, A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures. The art and science of designing buildings and nonbuilding structures, the style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures. A unifying or coherent form or structure Knowledge of art, science, technology, the design activity of the architect, from the macro-level to the micro-level. The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering services in connection with the design and construction of buildings. The earliest surviving work on the subject of architecture is De architectura. According to Vitruvius, a building should satisfy the three principles of firmitas, utilitas, venustas, commonly known by the original translation – firmness, commodity. An equivalent in modern English would be, Durability – a building should stand up robustly, utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used. Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing, according to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, for Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only true Christian form of architecture. The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, Architecture was the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men. That the sight of them contributes to his health, power. For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance and his work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way adorned. For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string courses or rustication, but suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say, This is beautiful, le Corbusiers contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. The notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design, function came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural
6.
Perspective (graphical)
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Perspective in the graphic arts is an approximate representation, on a flat surface, of an image as it is seen by the eye. If viewed from the spot as the windowpane was painted. Each painted object in the scene is thus a flat, scaled down version of the object on the side of the window. All perspective drawings assume the viewer is a distance away from the drawing. Objects are scaled relative to that viewer, an object is often not scaled evenly, a circle often appears as an ellipse and a square can appear as a trapezoid. This distortion is referred to as foreshortening, Perspective drawings have a horizon line, which is often implied. This line, directly opposite the viewers eye, represents objects infinitely far away and they have shrunk, in the distance, to the infinitesimal thickness of a line. It is analogous to the Earths horizon, any perspective representation of a scene that includes parallel lines has one or more vanishing points in a perspective drawing. A one-point perspective drawing means that the drawing has a vanishing point, usually directly opposite the viewers eye. All lines parallel with the line of sight recede to the horizon towards this vanishing point. This is the standard receding railroad tracks phenomenon, a two-point drawing would have lines parallel to two different angles. Any number of vanishing points are possible in a drawing, one for each set of lines that are at an angle relative to the plane of the drawing. Perspectives consisting of parallel lines are observed most often when drawing architecture. In contrast, natural scenes often do not have any sets of parallel lines, the only method to indicate the relative position of elements in the composition was by overlapping, of which much use is made in works like the Parthenon Marbles. Chinese artists made use of perspective from the first or second century until the 18th century. It is not certain how they came to use the technique, some authorities suggest that the Chinese acquired the technique from India, oblique projection is also seen in Japanese art, such as in the Ukiyo-e paintings of Torii Kiyonaga. This was detailed within Aristotles Poetics as skenographia, using flat panels on a stage to give the illusion of depth, the philosophers Anaxagoras and Democritus worked out geometric theories of perspective for use with skenographia. Alcibiades had paintings in his house designed using skenographia, so this art was not confined merely to the stage, Euclids Optics introduced a mathematical theory of perspective, but there is some debate over the extent to which Euclids perspective coincides with the modern mathematical definition
7.
Giorgio Vasari
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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
8.
Guilds of Florence
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The guilds of Florence were secular corporations that controlled the arts and trades in Florence from the twelfth into the sixteenth century. These Arti included seven major guilds, five middle guilds and nine minor guilds, the first of the guilds of Florence of which there is notice is the Arte di Calimala, the cloth-merchants guild, mentioned in a document of about 1150. By 1193 there existed seven such corporate bodies, which elected a council whose members bore the Roman-sounding designation consoli. A single capo was elected to all the business of the guild. Masters of the guilds, who possessed the means of production, took on apprentices and garzoni, each of the Arti was ruled according to its statutes, which had the force of law, and might pass judgement in controversies among its members and with their workers. In the fourteenth century the established the market tribunal called the Mercatanzia to hear causes that involved more than one of the Arti. The Palazzo del Tribunale della Mercatanzia still occupies a prominent place in the piazza della Signoria, during the fifteenth century city watchmen were organized by the Arti to protect closed workshops and warehouses. From the beginning, not all arti were equal, to the original seven Arti Maggiori were added fourteen Arti Minori as the system spread. Six of the nine Priori of the Signoria of Florence were selected from the major guilds, the Seven Greater Guilds are first mentioned distinctly in 1197. The first State enactment appertaining to Guilds was not issued until 1228, the first scheduled list of Florentine guilds encompassing twenty-one guilds, appeared in 1236. The second scheduled list of the guilds, differentiating between seven Greater Guilds and fourteen Lesser Guilds, appeared in 1266. That same year the consuls of the seven Greater Guilds became the Supreme Magistrate of the State, in 1282, three Priors of the Guilds were elected, with powers only inferior to the Chief-Magistrate of the State. The third scheduled list of guilds, finalizing their order of precedence for over a century appeared in a 1282 document known as the Foro Fiorentino, the 1282 document groups the greater and intermediary guilds together, thus creating a new partition of twelve greater guilds and nine minor guilds. The nine lowest guilds were allotted banners and coats-of-arms in 1291, a General Code, Il Statuto, for the guilds was promulgated in 1296 with the founding of the Corte della Mercanzia. The Statutes of all the guilds underwent a complete revision between 1301 and 1307, and the New Code was first adopted by the Calimala, the statutes were revised in 1386. Three new operative guilds were formed in 1378 after the Ciompi revolt, the fourth scheduled list of guilds, appearing in 1415, however, still included only twenty-one guilds, partitioned between seven greater guilds and fourteen lesser guilds. The Grandi attempted in 1427 to reduce the lesser guilds to only seven, but in 1534, the fourteen lesser guilds were arranged into four Universities, and saw many of their privileges curtailed. In Florence a separate Guild of Saint Luke for artists did not exist and they were also frequently members in the confraternity of St. Luke —which had been founded as early as 1349—although it was a separate entity from the guild system
9.
Ospedale degli Innocenti
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The Ospedale degli Innocenti is a historic building in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, who received the commission in 1419 from the Arte della Seta and it was originally a childrens orphanage. It is regarded as a example of early Italian Renaissance architecture. The hospital, which features a nine bay loggia facing the Piazza SS, Annunziata, was built and managed by the Arte della Seta or Silk Guild of Florence. That guild was one of the wealthiest in the city and, like most guilds, the façade is made up of nine semicircular arches springing from columns of the Composite order. The semicircular windows bring the building down, earthbound and is a revival of the classical style, in the spandrels of the arches there are glazed blue terracotta roundels with reliefs of babies designed by Andrea della Robbia suggesting the function of the building. There is an emphasis on the horizontal because the building is longer than it is tall, above each semicircular arch is a tabernacle window. The clean and clear sense of proportion is reflected in the building, the height of the columns is the same width of the intercolumniation and the width of the arcade is equal to the height of the column, making each bay a cube. The simple proportions of the building reflect a new age, of secular education, also half the height of the column is the height of the entablature, which is appropriate for a clear minded society. Children were sometimes abandoned in a basin which was located at the front portico, however, this basin was removed in 1660 and replaced by a wheel for secret refuge. There was a door with a rotating horizontal wheel that brought the baby into the building without the parent being seen. This allowed people to leave their babies, anonymously, to be cared for by the orphanage and this system was in operation until the hospitals closure in 1875. Today the building houses a museum of Renaissance art with works by Luca della Robbia, Sandro Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo. The Foundling Hospital was constructed in phases and only the first phase was under Brunelleschi’s direct supervision. Later phases added the story, but omitted the pilasters that Brunelleschi seems to have envisioned. The vaulted passageway in the bay to the left of the loggia was added later. Since the loggia was started before the hospital was begun, the hospital was not formally opened until 1445, brunelleschis design was based on Classical Roman, Italian Romanesque and late Gothic architecture. The loggia was a well known building type, such as the Loggia dei Lanzi, but the use of round columns with classically correct capitals, in this case of the Composite Order, in conjunction with a dosserets was novel
10.
Bronze
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These additions produce a range of alloys that may be harder than copper alone, or have other useful properties, such as stiffness, ductility, or machinability. The archeological period where bronze was the hardest metal in use is known as the Bronze Age. In the ancient Near East this began with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC, with India and China starting to use bronze around the same time, everywhere it gradually spread across regions. The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age starting from about 1300 BC and reaching most of Eurasia by about 500 BC, the discovery of bronze enabled people to create metal objects which were harder and more durable than previously possible. Bronze tools, weapons, armor, and building such as decorative tiles were harder and more durable than their stone. It was only later that tin was used, becoming the major ingredient of bronze in the late 3rd millennium BC. Tin bronze was superior to arsenic bronze in that the process could be more easily controlled. Also, unlike arsenic, metallic tin and fumes from tin refining are not toxic, the earliest tin-alloy bronze dates to 4500 BCE in a Vinča culture site in Pločnik. Other early examples date to the late 4th millennium BC in Africa, Susa and some ancient sites in China, Luristan, ores of copper and the far rarer tin are not often found together, so serious bronze work has always involved trade. Tin sources and trade in ancient times had a influence on the development of cultures. In Europe, a source of tin was the British deposits of ore in Cornwall. In many parts of the world, large hoards of bronze artefacts are found, suggesting that bronze also represented a store of value, in Europe, large hoards of bronze tools, typically socketed axes, are found, which mostly show no signs of wear. With Chinese ritual bronzes, which are documented in the inscriptions they carry and from other sources and these were made in enormous quantities for elite burials, and also used by the living for ritual offerings. Pure iron is soft, and the process of beating and folding sponge iron to wrought iron removes from the metal carbon. Careful control of the alloying and tempering eventually allowed for wrought iron with properties comparable to modern steel, Bronze was still used during the Iron Age, and has continued in use for many purposes to the modern day. Among other advantages, it does not rust, the weaker wrought iron was found to be sufficiently strong for many uses. Archaeologists suspect that a disruption of the tin trade precipitated the transition. The population migrations around 1200–1100 BC reduced the shipping of tin around the Mediterranean, limiting supplies, there are many different bronze alloys, but typically modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin
11.
Florence Baptistery
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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
12.
Binding of Isaac
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The Binding of Isaac, also known as The Binding and the Akedah or Aqedah, is a story from the Hebrew Bible found in Genesis 22. In the biblical narrative, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah, Abraham begins to comply, Abraham then sees a ram and sacrifices it instead. This episode has been the focus of a deal of commentary in traditional Jewish, Christian. According to the Hebrew Bible, God commands Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, after Isaac is bound to an altar, a messenger from God stops Abraham at the last minute, saying now I know you fear God. Abraham looks up and sees a ram and sacrifices it instead of Isaac, the passage states that the event occurred at the mount of the LORD in the land of Moriah. The location believed to be the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the majority of Jewish religious commentators argue that God was testing Abraham to see if he would actually kill his own son, as a test of his loyalty. However, a number of Jewish Biblical commentators from the medieval era, the early rabbinic midrash Genesis Rabbah imagines God as saying I never considered telling Abraham to slaughter Isaac. Rabbi Yona Ibn Janach wrote that God demanded only a symbolic sacrifice, rabbi Yosef Ibn Caspi wrote that Abrahams imagination led him astray, making him believe that he had been commanded to sacrifice his son. Ibn Caspi writes How could God command such a revolting thing, hertz interprets the Akedah as demonstrating to the Jews that human sacrifice is abhorrent. However, the actions and words of angels are generally understood to derive directly from Gods will, according to this view, Abraham failed to show compassion for his son, so God punished him by ostensibly failing to show compassion for Abrahams son. This is a flawed theory, since the Bible says that God agreed with Sarah. In The Binding of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah, Lippman Bodoff argues that Abraham never intended to sacrifice his son. Rabbi Ari Kahn elaborates this view as follows, Isaacs death was never a possibility — not as far as Abraham was concerned and this is precisely how the sages of the Talmud understood the Akeida. Citing the Prophet Jeremiah’s exhortation against child sacrifice, they state unequivocally that such behavior never crossed God’s mind, though readers of this parashah throughout the generations have been disturbed, even horrified, by the Akeida, there was no miscommunication between God and Abraham. The thought of actually killing Isaac never crossed their minds, others suggest that Abrahams apparent complicity with the sacrifice was actually his way of testing God. Abraham had previously argued with God to save lives in Sodom, by silently complying with Gods instructions to kill Isaac, Abraham was putting pressure on God to act in a moral way to preserve life. More evidence that Abraham thought that he would not actually sacrifice Isaac comes from Genesis 22,5, the boy and I will go up there, we will worship and we will return to you. By saying we, he meant that both he and Isaac would return, thus, he did not believe that Isaac would be sacrificed in the end
13.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
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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
14.
Boy with Thorn
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Boy with Thorn, also called Fedele or Spinario, is a Greco-Roman Hellenistic bronze sculpture of a boy withdrawing a thorn from the sole of his foot, now in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome. A Roman marble of this subject from the Medici collections is in a corridor of the Uffizi Gallery, the sculpture was one of the very few Roman bronzes that was never lost to sight. It was noted in the twelfth or early thirteenth century by the English visitor, Magister Gregorius. It must have one of the sculptures transferred to the Palazzo dei Conservatori by Pope Sixtus IV in the 1470s. For a fountain of 1500 in Messina, Antonello Gagini made a variant, probably the bronze that is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the sixteenth century, bronze copies made suitably magnificent ambassadorial gifts to the King of France and the King of Spain. For Francis I of France, the gift came from Ippolito II dEste, his copy was overseen by Giovanni Fancelli and Jacopo Sansovino, for Philip II of Spain, the copy was the gift of Cardinal Giovanni Ricci. In the following century Charles I of England had a bronze Spinario by Hubert Le Sueur, small bronze reductions were suitable for the less grand. A Still Life with Spinario by Pieter Claesz,1628, is conserved at the Rijksmuseum, among the riches emblemmatic of the good life, such a story was already deflated in Paolo Alessandro Maffeis Raccolta di statue antiche e moderni. Heinrich von Kleist Boy with Thorn in Austrian Sign Language taken from The Theatre of Marionettes, a production of ARBOS - Company for Music and Theatre
15.
Goldsmith
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A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Goldsmiths must be skilled in forming metal through filing, soldering, sawing, forging, casting, the trade has very often included jewellery-making skills, as well as the very similar skills of the silversmith. Many universities and junior colleges also offer goldsmithing, silversmithing, compared to other metals, gold is malleable, ductile, rare, and it is the only solid metallic element with a yellow color. It may easily be melted, fused, and cast without the problems of oxides and gas that are problematic with other such as bronzes. It is fairly easy to weld, wherein similarly to clay two small pieces may be pounded together to make one larger piece. Gold is classified as a noble metal—because it does not react with most elements and it usually is found in its native form, lasting indefinitely without oxidization and tarnishing. Gold has been worked by humans in all cultures where the metal is available, either indigenously or imported, and the history of these activities is extensive. Superbly made objects from the ancient cultures of Africa, Asia, Europe, India, North America, Mesoamerica, some pieces date back thousands of years and were made using many techniques that still are used by modern goldsmiths. Techniques developed by some of those goldsmiths achieved a level that was lost and remained beyond the skills of those who followed. In medieval Europe goldsmiths were organized into guilds and usually were one of the most important, the guild kept records of members and the marks they used on their products. These records, when they survive, are useful to historians. Goldsmiths often acted as bankers, since they dealt in gold and had sufficient security for the storage of valuable items. The Sunar caste is one of the oldest communities in goldsmithing in India, in India, Vishwakarma are the goldsmith caste. The printmaking technique of engraving developed among goldsmiths in Germany around 1430, the notable engravers of the fifteenth century were either goldsmiths, such as Master E. S. or the sons of goldsmiths, such as Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. A goldsmith might have an array of skills and knowledge at their disposal. Gold, being the most malleable metal of all, offers opportunities for the worker. In todays world a variety of other metals, especially platinum alloys. 24 Carat is pure gold and historically, was known as fine gold, because it is so soft, however,24 Carat gold is rarely used
16.
Humanism
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The term was coined in 1808 by the early nineteenth century German educational reformer and theologian Friedrich Niethammer and gradually adopted into English. Niethammer had wished to introduce into German education the humane values of ancient Greece, the word Humanism is ultimately derived from the Latin concept humanitas, and, like most other words ending in -ism, entered English in the nineteenth century. Those who earnestly desire and seek after these are most highly humanized. For the desire to pursue of that kind of knowledge, and the training given by it, has granted to humanity alone of all the animals. Gellius says that in his day humanitas is commonly used as a synonym for philanthropy – or kindness and he himself was involved in public affairs. By assigning pride of place to Paideia in his comment on the etymology of humanitas, gelliuss writings fell into obscurity during the middle ages, but during the Italian Renaissance, Gellius became a favorite author. Teachers and scholars of Greek and Latin grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, during the French Revolution, and soon after, in Germany, humanism began to refer to an ethical philosophy centered on humankind, without attention to the transcendent or supernatural. The designation Religious Humanism refers to organized groups that sprang up during the late-nineteenth and it is similar to Protestantism, although centered on human needs, interests, and abilities rather than the supernatural. The first Humanist Manifesto was issued by a conference held at the University of Chicago in 1933, signatories included the philosopher John Dewey, but the majority were ministers and theologians. But in the century, during the French Enlightenment, a more ideological use of the term had come into use. In 1765, the author of an article in a French Enlightenment periodical spoke of The general love of humanity. A virtue hitherto quite nameless among us, and which we will venture to call humanism, for the time has come to create a word for such a beautiful and necessary thing. The latter part of the 18th and the early 19th centuries saw the creation of numerous philanthropic and benevolent societies dedicated to human betterment. Humanism began to acquire a negative sense, the Oxford English Dictionary records the use of the word humanism by an English clergyman in 1812 to indicate those who believe in the mere humanity of Christ, i. e. Unitarians and Deists. Human-centered philosophy that rejected the supernatural may also be found circa 1500 BCE in the Lokayata system of Indian philosophy, nasadiya Sukta, a passage in the Rig Veda, contains one of the first recorded assertions of agnosticism. Another instance of ancient humanism as a system of thought is found in the Gathas of Zarathustra. Zarathustras philosophy in the Gathas lays out a conception of humankind as thinking beings, dignified with choice, in China, Yellow Emperor is regarded as the humanistic primogenitor. Sage kings such as Yao and Shun are humanistic figures as recorded, king Wu of Zhou has the famous saying, Humanity is the Ling of the world
17.
Donatello
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Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance sculptor from Florence. He worked with stone, bronze, wood, clay, stucco and wax, and had several assistants, with four perhaps being a typical number. Though his best-known works were mostly statues in the round, he developed a new, very shallow, type of bas-relief for small works, and a good deal of his output was larger architectural reliefs. Donatello was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a member of the Florentine Arte della Lana, Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. He apparently received his artistic training in a goldsmiths workshop. While undertaking study and excavations with Filippo Brunelleschi in Rome, work that gained the two men the reputation of treasure seekers, Donatello made a living by working at goldsmiths shops. In 1409–1411 he executed the colossal seated figure of Saint John the Evangelist, which until 1588 occupied a niche of the old cathedral façade and this work marks a decisive step forward from late Gothic Mannerism in the search for naturalism and the rendering of human feelings. The face, the shoulders and the bust are still idealized, while the hands, in 1411–13, Donatello worked on a statue of St. Mark for the guild church of Orsanmichele. In 1417 he completed the Saint George for the Confraternity of the Cuirass-makers, the elegant St. George and the Dragon relief on the statues base, executed in schiacciato is one of the first examples of central-point perspective in sculpture. From 1423 is the Saint Louis of Toulouse for the Orsanmichele, Donatello had also sculpted the classical frame for this work, which remains, while the statue was moved in 1460 and replaced by Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Verrocchio. Between 1415 and 1426, Donatello created five statues for the campanile of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, also known as the Duomo. These works are the Beardless Prophet, Bearded Prophet, the Sacrifice of Isaac, Habbakuk, and Jeremiah, from the late teens is the Pazzi Madonna relief in Berlin. In 1425, he executed the notable Crucifix for Santa Croce, this work portrays Christ in a moment of the agony, eyes and mouth partially opened, the body contracted in an ungraceful posture. From 1425 to 1427, Donatello collaborated with Michelozzo on the monument of the Antipope John XXIII for the Battistero in Florence. Donatello made the recumbent bronze figure of the deceased, under a shell, in 1427, he completed in Pisa a marble relief for the funerary monument of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci at the church of SantAngelo a Nilo in Naples. In the same period, he executed the relief of the Feast of Herod, the relief is mostly in stiacciato, with the foreground figures are done in bas-relief. Around 1430, Cosimo de Medici, the foremost art patron of his era and this is now Donatellos most famous work, and the first known free-standing nude statue produced since antiquity. Also from this period is the disquietingly small Love-Atys, housed in the Bargello, some have perceived the David as having homo-erotic qualities, and have argued that this reflected the artists own orientation
18.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
19.
Loggia
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A loggia is an architectural feature which is a covered exterior gallery or corridor usually on an upper level, or sometimes ground level. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns or arches, Loggias can be located either on the front or side of a building and are not meant for entrance but as an out-of-door sitting room. From the early Middle Ages, nearly every Italian comune had an arched loggia in its main square which served as a symbol of communal justice and government. The main difference between a loggia and a portico is the role within the layout of the building. The portico allows entrance to the inside from the exterior and can be found on vernacular, the loggia is accessed only from inside and intended as a place for leisure. Thus, it is mainly on noble residences and public buildings. A classic use of both is that represented in the Mosaics of Basilica of Sant Apollinare Nuovo of the Royal Palace, a double loggia occurs when a loggia is located on an upper floor level above a loggia on the floor beneath. In Italian architecture, a loggia often takes the form of a small, often ornate, summer house built on the roof of a residence to enjoy cooling winds and they were especially popular in the 17th century and are prominent in Rome and Bologna, Italy. Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, contains three sets of dorms connected by loggias. In the town center of Chester in the United Kingdom, a number of timber-framed buildings dating from the Tudor to Victorian periods have first-floor loggias called the Chester Rows, in Russia, a loggia can be a recessed balcony on a residential apartment building. A loggia was added to the Sydney Opera House in 2006, at the archeological site of Hagia Triada on the Greek island of Crete, several loggias constructed around 1400 BC have been located and whose column bases still remain. Peristyle Portico Veranda Curl, James Stevens, a Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The dictionary definition of loggia at Wiktionary Media related to Loggias at Wikimedia Commons
20.
Marble
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Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Geologists use the marble to refer to metamorphosed limestone, however. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material and this stem is also the basis for the English word marmoreal, meaning marble-like. In Hungarian it is called márvány, Marble is a rock resulting from metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks, most commonly limestone or dolomite rock. Metamorphism causes variable recrystallization of the carbonate mineral grains. The resulting marble rock is composed of an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals. Primary sedimentary textures and structures of the carbonate rock have typically been modified or destroyed. Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a very pure limestone or dolomite protolith, green coloration is often due to serpentine resulting from originally magnesium-rich limestone or dolostone with silica impurities. These various impurities have been mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure, examples of historically notable marble varieties and locations, White marble has been prized for its use in sculptures since classical times. This preference has to do with its softness, which made it easier to carve, relative isotropy and homogeneity, construction marble is a stone which is composed of calcite, dolomite or serpentine which is capable of taking a polish. More generally in construction, specifically the dimension stone trade, the marble is used for any crystalline calcitic rock useful as building stone. For example, Tennessee marble is really a dense granular fossiliferous gray to pink to maroon Ordovician limestone that geologists call the Holston Formation. Ashgabat, the city of Turkmenistan, was recorded in the 2013 Guinness Book of Records as having the worlds highest concentration of white marble buildings. According to the United States Geological Survey, U. S. domestic marble production in 2006 was 46,400 tons valued at about $18.1 million, compared to 72,300 tons valued at $18.9 million in 2005. Crushed marble production in 2006 was 11.8 million tons valued at $116 million, of which 6.5 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate. For comparison,2005 crushed marble production was 7.76 million tons valued at $58.7 million, of which 4.8 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate, U. S. dimension marble demand is about 1.3 million tons. The DSAN World Demand for Marble Index has shown a growth of 12% annually for the 2000–2006 period, the largest dimension marble application is tile. In 1998, marble production was dominated by 4 countries that accounted for almost half of production of marble
21.
Classical antiquity
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It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and Southwestern Asia. Conventionally, it is taken to begin with the earliest-recorded Epic Greek poetry of Homer, and continues through the emergence of Christianity and it ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity, blending into the Early Middle Ages. Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many disparate cultures, Classical antiquity may refer also to an idealised vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poes words, the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome. The culture of the ancient Greeks, together with influences from the ancient Near East, was the basis of art, philosophy, society. The earliest period of classical antiquity takes place before the background of gradual re-appearance of historical sources following the Bronze Age collapse, the 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely proto-historical, with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing in the first half of the 8th century. Homer is usually assumed to have lived in the 8th or 7th century BC, in the same period falls the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games, in 776 BC. The Phoenicians originally expanded from Canaan ports, by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean, carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in Sicily, Italy and Sardinia, which created conflicts of interest with Etruria. The Etruscans had established control in the region by the late 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic. According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21,753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus and Remus. As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines. Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid-8th century BC, the seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus. As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and the son-in-law of Servius Tullius, Superbus was of Etruscan birth and it was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock, the people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of Lucretia, a patrician Roman, at the hands of his own son. Lucretias kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus, summoned the Senate and had Superbus, after Superbus expulsion, the Senate voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government in 509 BC. In fact the Latin word Rex meaning King became a dirty and hated throughout the Republic. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias, cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras. Greece entered the 4th century under Spartan hegemony, but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Athens, Argos, Thebes and Corinth, the two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BC
22.
San Jacopo sopr'Arno
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San Jacopo soprArno is a church in Florence, Italy. The church was built in the 10th–11th centuries in Romanesque style and it subsequently experienced heavy modifications including the addition of a triple-arched portico. Since 1542 it was held by Franciscans of the Minorite Order, the entrance portico was remade by order of Cosimo I de Medici in 1580, using the architect Bernardino Radi. The bell tower was designed by Gherardo Silvani in 1660, the church was damaged when the Arno River flooded Florence in 1966. Media related to San Jacopo soprArno at Wikimedia Commons Official website
23.
Capponi Chapel
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The Barbadori Chapel, later Capponi Chapel, is a chapel in the church of Santa Felicita in Florence, central Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, and was decorated by a cycle of works by the Mannerist painter Pontormo. Bartolomeo Barbadori commissioned the construction of a chapel in the church around 1420. After the destruction of the Ridolfi chapel in San Jacopo soprArno, dedicated to the Virgin, it was most likely built to honor a fresco of the Annunciation, painted on the counter-façade. In the same point Pontormo frescoed the same subject, in 1487 the chapel was acquired by Antonio Paganelli, whose heir, Bernardo Paganelli, sold it to the Capponi family in 1525. The latter had it restored and decorated by Jacopo Pontormo, with help from a young Agnolo Bronzino, in 1722 Ferrante Capponi had the chapel restored again, adding a new altar with polychrome marble and closing it with a wrought iron enclosure which still exists. A tondo by Pontormo, depicting the Madonna with Child, was moved in this period from the chapel to the Capponi private palace. The chapel was built by Brunelleschi in the period in which he was active in the Spedale degli Innocenti, originally, the semi-spherical dome was supported by a cubic hall with four pendentives between the round arches of the walls. In each of the pendentives was a circular window, now replaced by the frescoes by Pontormo. Also a new feature for the time was the use of double Ionic semicolumns, the two columns, on the external side, are supported by angular Corithian pilasters. The theme, already used for the portico of the Spedale degli Innocenti, was repeated by Brunelleschi with little variants in the Sagrestia Vecchia and the Pazzi Chapel. At the high altar, enclosed in its original 16th century frame, is the masterwork of the Mannerist painter Pontormo, depicting the Deposition from the Cross, on the western wall are other works by Pontormo, the Annunciation and the three Evangelists in the domes pendentives. St. Mark is a work by Agnolo Bronzino, the fresco on the vault is lost. The tabernacle was designed by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola, in its antependium was Pontormos Madonna with Child, now in a private chapel in the Palazzo Capponi alle Rovinate Capretti, Elena
24.
Santa Felicita, Florence
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Santa Felicita is a Roman Catholic church in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy, probably the oldest in the city after San Lorenzo. In the 2nd century, Syrian Greek merchants settled in the south of the Arno and are thought to have brought Christianity to the region. The first church on the site was built in the late 4th century or early 5th century and was dedicated to Saint Felicity of Rome. A new church was built in the 11th century and the current church dates from 1736–1739, under design by Ferdinando Ruggieri. The monastery was suppressed under the Napoleonic occupation of 1808-1810, in the piazza in front of the façade, stands the rebuilt 15th-century Column of Santa Felicita. Only the 14th century Chapter House survives from the Romanesque with fragmentary frescoes by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, the Brunelleschian sacristy dates from 1473 and was under the patronage of the Canigiani family. There are the 14th century Madonna with Child and Saints by Taddeo Gaddi, the stained glass window depicting the Journey to the Sepulchre is a copy of the one done by Guglielmo da Marcillat in 1526. The desire to create a space to this led to the decoration of the opposite Canigiani chapel by Bernardino Poccetti. Cigoli was responsible for the design of the chancel whose patrons were the Guicciardini family, the work continued until the vault was decorated by Cinganelli, on the altar is the Adoration of the Shepherds attributed to Francesco Brina. The sacristy has a crucifix attributed to Pacino di Buonaguida
25.
Pazzi Chapel
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The Pazzi Chapel is a chapel located in the first cloister on the southern flank of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Commonly credited to Filippo Brunelleschi, it is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Renaissance architecture. Though funds for the chapel were assembled in 1429 by Andrea Pazzi, head of the Pazzi family, whose wealth was only to the Medici. The chapel was completed in 1443, almost two decades after the death of Brunelleschi. The building is considered to be an Early Renaissance masterpiece, the main purpose of the building was the cathedral chapter house and use as a classroom for the teaching of monks and other religious purposes. There was also a chapel behind the altar where the family had the right to bury its dead. The Pazzis ulterior motive in building the chapel was probably to make their mark on the city of Florence and to emphasize their wealth and power. The fact that the city was at war with a city at the time and still acquired the funds to build this chapel showed the importance it had to the Pazzi family. A façade that he had begun, and of only the lower register can be seen, was partially obscured by the addition of a porch. The main inspiration for this piece was the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella, between the pilasters in the transept there are tall, blank, round headed panels and, above them, roundels, common Renaissance decorative motifs. The architectural elements of the interior are all in pietra serena, the building also used bearing masonry in its construction, which is mason units or concrete blocks with lime and man made adhesives to stick them together. As to the architect, scholars argue that it is not actually by Brunelleschi, no period sources nor period documents support this theory, with the first written mention of Brunelleschi as the architect first appearing with an anonymous author who wrote in the 1490s. Scholars now consider the chapel as possibly the work of Giuliano da Maiano or Michelozzo, the tondi of the seated Apostles are by Luca della Robbia, who also did the terracotta decorations in the cupola of the porch. It has been suggested that the roundels of the Evangelists may have been the work of Donatello
26.
Sagrestia Vecchia
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The Sagrestia Vecchia, or Old Sacristy, is a Christian building in Florence, Italy, one of the most important monuments of the early Italian Renaissance architecture. It is accessed from the inside of San Lorenzo off the left transept, the space came to be called the “Old Sacristy” after a new one was begun in 1510 on the other side of S. Lorenzo’s transept. The structure was begun 1421 and largely complete in 1440, when finished, it was, however, quite isolated, the reason being that construction for the new building for San Lorenzo, the design for which Brunelleschi was also responsible, was not far along. It was only in the years after 1459 that the Old Sacristy was unified with San Lorenzo, the plan is a perfect square with a smaller square scarsella or altar on the south side. The scarsella is axially positioned in the wall, and connected to the space by an arched opening. The interior of the space is articulated by a rhythmic system of pilasters. The pilasters are for visual purposes, and it was this break between real structure and the appearance of structure that constituted one of the important novelties of Brunelleschi’s work. The pilasters support an entablature, the purpose of which is to divide the space into two equal horizontal zones. The upper zone features pendentives under the dome, another relative novelty, the dome is actually an umbrella dome, composed of twelve vaults joined together at the center. It was not a design and Brunelleschi may have learned the technique from a visit to Milan or other places where such domes existed. What was new was the way in which the dome was integrated into the proportion of the space below, the use of color is restricted to grey for the stone and white for the wall. The correct use of the Corinthian order for the capitals was also new, the decorative details are by Donatello, who designed the tondoes in the pendentives, the lunettes, the reliefs above the doors and the doors themselves. In the center is the sarcophagus of Giovanni di Bicci de Medici and Piccarda Bueri, set along one of the walls is the porphyry and bronze sarcophagus of Giovanni and Piero de Medici by Verrocchio. Media related to Sagrestia Vecchia at Wikimedia Commons
27.
Dome
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A dome is an architectural element that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. The precise definition has been a matter of controversy, there are also a wide variety of forms and specialized terms to describe them. A dome can rest upon a rotunda or drum, and can be supported by columns or piers that transition to the dome through squinches or pendentives, a lantern may cover an oculus and may itself have another dome. Domes have a long architectural lineage that extends back into prehistory and they have been constructed from mud, snow, stone, wood, brick, concrete, metal, glass, and plastic over the centuries. The symbolism associated with domes includes mortuary, celestial, and governmental traditions that have developed over time. Domes have been found from early Mesopotamia, which may explain the forms spread and they are found in Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Chinese architecture in the Ancient world, as well as among a number of contemporary indigenous building traditions. They were popular in Byzantine and medieval Islamic architecture, and there are examples from Western Europe in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance style spread from Italy in the Early modern period, advancements in mathematics, materials, and production techniques since that time resulted in new dome types. The domes of the world can be found over religious buildings, legislative chambers, sports stadiums. The English word dome ultimately derives from the Latin domus —which, up through the Renaissance, labeled a revered house, such as a Domus Dei, or House of God, the French word dosme came to acquire the meaning of a cupola vault, specifically, by 1660. A dome is a rounded vault made of either curved segments or a shell of revolution, sometimes called false domes, corbel domes achieve their shape by extending each horizontal layer of stones inward slightly farther than the lower one until they meet at the top. A false dome may also refer to a wooden dome, true domes are said to be those whose structure is in a state of compression, with constituent elements of wedge-shaped voussoirs, the joints of which align with a central point. The validity of this is unclear, as domes built underground with corbelled stone layers are also in compression from the surrounding earth, as with arches, the springing of a dome is the level from which the dome rises. The top of a dome is the crown, the inner side of a dome is called the intrados and the outer side is called the extrados. The haunch is the part of an arch that lies halfway between the base and the top. The word cupola is another word for dome, and is used for a small dome upon a roof or turret. Cupola has also used to describe the inner side of a dome. Drums, also called tholobates, are cylindrical or polygonal walls with or without windows that support a dome, a tambour or lantern is the equivalent structure over a domes oculus, supporting a cupola
28.
Pantheon, Rome
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The Pantheon is a former Roman temple, now a church, in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus. The present building was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD and he retained Agrippas original inscription, which has confused its date of construction as the original Pantheon burnt down so it is not certain when the present one was built. The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns under a pediment, a rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheons dome is still the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome, the height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same,43.3 metres. Mary and the Martyrs but informally known as Santa Maria Rotonda, the square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a property, ruled by Italys Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. The Pantheons large circular domed cella, with a temple portico front, is unique in Roman architecture. Nevertheless, it became a standard exemplar when classical styles were revived, Pantheon is derived from the Ancient Greek Pantheion meaning of, relating to, or common to all the gods. His uncertainty strongly suggests that Pantheon was merely a nickname, not the name of the building. In fact, the concept of a dedicated to all the gods is questionable. The only definite pantheon recorded earlier than Agrippas was at Antioch in Syria and it seems highly significant that Dio does not quote the simplest explanation for the name—that the Pantheon was dedicated to all the gods. Godfrey and Hemsoll maintain that the word Pantheon need not denote a group of gods, or, indeed, even all the gods. Certainly the word pantheus or pantheos, could be applicable to individual deities…, bearing in mind also that the Greek word θεῖος need not mean of a god but could mean superhuman, or even excellent. It seems likely that the Pantheon and the Basilica of Neptune were Agrippas sacra privata and this less solemn designation would help explain how the building could have so easily lost its original name and purpose in such a relatively short period of time. However, archaeological excavations have shown that the Pantheon of Agrippa had been destroyed except for the façade. Lise Hetland argues that the present construction began in 114, under Trajan and her argument is particularly interesting in light of Heilmeyers argument that, based on stylistic evidence, Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajans architect, was the obvious architect. The form of Agrippas Pantheon is debated and this description was widely accepted until the late 20th century. The only passages referring to the decoration of the Agrippan Pantheon written by an eyewitness are in Plinys Natural History, from him we know that the capitals, too, of the pillars, which were placed by M
29.
Buttress
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A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the forces arising out of the roof structures that lack adequate bracing. The term counterfort can be synonymous with buttress, and is used when referring to dams, retaining walls. Early examples of buttresses are found on the Eanna Temple, dating to as early as the 4th millennium BCE, in addition to flying and ordinary buttresses, brick and masonry buttresses that support wall corners can be classified according to their ground plan. The gallery below shows views of various types of buttress supporting the corner wall of a structure
30.
Scaffolding
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Bamboo scaffolding is a type of scaffolding made from bamboo and widely used in construction work for centuries. Many famous landmarks, notably The Great Wall of China, were built using bamboo scaffolding and it was first introduced into the building industry in Hong Kong immediately after colonization in the 1800s. It was widely used in the building of houses and multi-story buildings prior to the development of metal scaffolding and it was also useful for short-term construction projects, such as framework for temporary sheds for Cantonese Opera performances. There is three types of scaffolding in Hong Kong,1, in 2013, there were 1,751 registered bamboo scaffolders and roughly 200 scaffolding companies in Hong Kong. The use of scaffolding is diminishing due to shortages in labor. Despite the lack of force and material, recently the safety problem has become another serious concern. The labor shortage may be due to the reluctance of younger generations to become scaffolders, “They even think that it’s a dirty and dangerous job. “They refuse to step in, although we give them high pay. Young generations do not like jobs that involve hard work. ”Another reason fewer people are becoming scaffolders is that new recruits need to undergo training with the Hong Kong Construction Industry Council in order to acquire a license. Older scaffolders generally learned in apprenticeships, and may have been able to gather more hands-on experience, material shortages are also a contributing factor to the decline. The bamboo scaffolding material was imported from mainland China, bamboo—which matures after three years to the wide diameter and thick skin perfect for scaffolding—came from the Shaoxing area in Guangdong. Over the past two decades, firms have had to look to Guangxi instead, the industrys fear is that one day supplies will be blocked due to export embargoes and environmental concerns. Attempts to import bamboo from Thailand, or switch to synthetic or plastic bamboo, have so far proved unsuccessful, in many African countries, notably Nigeria, bamboo scaffolding is still used in small scale construction in urban areas. In rural areas, the use of scaffolding for construction is common. Some of the structures in relaxation and recreation centres both in urban and rural areas of Nigeria are put in place using bamboo materials and this is not for reasons of poverty but to add more aesthetics to these centres. Bamboo materials are used in the construction of some bukas in rural areas. Content about specifications Double-row Scaffold Only double-row bamboo scaffold is allowed to use for working at height, nylon Mesh The perimeter of bamboo scaffold shall be covered by nylon mesh against falling objects. The lapping of nylon mesh should be at least 100mm wide, access and Egress Suitable means of access shall be provided from the building or ground level to the scaffold such as gangway, stairs and ladder etc
31.
Cylinder stress
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In mechanics, a cylinder stress is a stress distribution with rotational symmetry, that is, which remains unchanged if the stressed object is rotated about some fixed axis. The classical example of hoop stress is the applied to the iron bands, or hoops. In a straight, closed pipe, any force applied to the pipe wall by a pressure differential will ultimately give rise to hoop stresses. Similarly, if this pipe has flat end caps, any force applied to them by static pressure will induce a perpendicular axial stress on the pipe wall. Thin sections often have negligibly small radial stress, but accurate models of thicker-walled cylindrical shells require such stresses to be taken into account, the hoop stress is the force exerted circumferentially in both directions on every particle in the cylinder wall. It is usually useful to any force applied to an object with rotational symmetry into components parallel to the cylindrical coordinates r, z. These components of force induce corresponding stresses, radial stress, axial stress and hoop stress, for the thin-walled assumption to be valid the vessel must have a wall thickness of no more than about one-tenth of its radius. The hoop stress equation for thin shells is also valid for spherical vessels, including plant cells. In practical engineering applications for cylinders, hoop stress is often re-arranged for pressure, inch-pound-second system units for P are pounds-force per square inch. Units for t, and d are inches, SI units for P are pascals, while t and d=2r are in meters. When the vessel has closed ends the internal pressure acts on them to develop a force along the axis of the cylinder and this is known as the axial stress and is usually less than the hoop stress. These stresses and strains can be calculated using the Lamé equations, note that a hoop experiences the greatest stress at its inside, hence cracks in pipes should theoretically start from inside the pipe. This is why pipe inspections after earthquakes usually involve sending a camera inside a pipe to inspect for cracks, yielding is governed by an equivalent stress that includes hoop stress and the longitudinal or radial stress when absent. In the pathology of vascular or gastrointestinal walls, the wall represents the muscular tension on the wall of the vessel. As a result of the Law of Laplace, if an aneurysm forms in a vessel wall. This means that the force on the vessel decreases. A similar logic applies to the formation of diverticuli in the gut, the first theoretical analysis of the stress in cylinders was developed by the mid-19th century engineer William Fairbairn, assisted by his mathematical analyst Eaton Hodgkinson. Their first interest was in studying the design and failures of steam boilers, Fairbairn realised that the hoop stress was twice the longitudinal stress, an important factor in the assembly of boiler shells from rolled sheets joined by riveting
32.
Mortar (masonry)
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In its broadest sense mortar includes pitch, asphalt, and soft mud or clay, such as used between mud bricks. Mortar comes from Latin mortarium meaning crushed, mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder, and water. The most common binder since the early 20th century is Portland cement, there are several types of cement mortars and additives. The first mortars were made of mud and clay, because of a lack of stone and an abundance of clay, Babylonian constructions were of baked brick, using lime or pitch for mortar. According to Roman Ghirshman, the first evidence of using a form of mortar was at the Mehrgarh of Baluchistan in Pakistan. The ancient sites of Harappan civilization of third millennium BCE are built with kiln-fired bricks, gypsum mortar, also called plaster of Paris, was used in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids and many other ancient structures. It is made from gypsum, which requires a firing temperature. It is therefore easier to make lime mortar and sets up much faster which may be a reason it was used as the typical mortar in ancient, brick arch. Gypsum mortar is not as durable as other mortars in damp conditions, in early Egyptian pyramids, which were constructed during the Old Kingdom, the limestone blocks were bound by mortar of mud and clay, or clay and sand. In later Egyptian pyramids, the mortar was made of gypsum or lime. Gypsum mortar was essentially a mixture of plaster and sand and was quite soft, in the Indian subcontinent, multiple cement types have been observed in the sites of the Indus Valley Civilization, such as the Mohenjo-daro city-settlement that dates to earlier than 2600 BCE. Bitumen mortar was used at a lower-frequency, including in the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro. Historically, building with concrete and mortar next appeared in Greece, the excavation of the underground aqueduct of Megara revealed that a reservoir was coated with a pozzolanic mortar 12 mm thick. This aqueduct dates back to c.500 BCE, pozzolanic mortar is a lime based mortar, but is made with an additive of volcanic ash that allows it to be hardened underwater, thus it is known as hydraulic cement. The Greeks obtained the volcanic ash from the Greek islands Thira and Nisiros, or from the then Greek colony of Dicaearchia near Naples, the Romans later improved the use and methods of making what became known as pozzolanic mortar and cement. Even later, the Romans used a mortar without pozzolana using crushed terra cotta, introducing aluminum oxide and this mortar was not as strong as pozzolanic mortar, but, because it was denser, it better resisted penetration by water. Hydraulic mortar was not available in ancient China, possibly due to a lack of volcanic ash, around 500 CE, sticky rice soup was mixed with slaked lime to make an inorganic−organic composite mortar that had more strength and water resistance than lime mortar. It is not understood how the art of making hydraulic mortar and cement, during the Middle Ages when the Gothic cathedrals were being built, the only active ingredient in the mortar was lime
33.
Egg of Columbus
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An egg of Columbus or Columbus egg refers to a brilliant idea or discovery that seems simple or easy after the fact. After his challengers give up, Columbus does it himself by tapping the egg on the table to flatten its tip, the story is often alluded to when discussing creativity. The term has also used as the trade name of puzzles. The Columbus story may have originated with Italian historian and traveler Girolamo Benzoni, Columbus did not respond to these words but asked for a whole egg to be brought to him. They all tried without success and when the egg returned to Columbus, he tapped it gently on the table breaking it slightly and, with this, the egg stood on its end. All those present were confounded and understood what he meant, that once the feat has been done, anyone knows how to do it. The factual accuracy of this story is called into question by its similarity to another tale published fifteen years earlier by painter and architect Giorgio Vasari. According to Vasari, the young Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi had designed a large and heavy dome for Santa Maria del Fiore. Taking an egg, therefore, all those Masters sought to make it stand upright, whereupon Filippo, being told to make it stand, took it graciously, and, giving one end of it a blow on the flat piece of marble, made it stand upright. The craftsmen protested that they could have done the same, but Filippo answered, laughing, and so it was resolved that he should be commissioned to carry out this work. When the church was built it had the shape of half an egg slightly flattened at the top. Invention consists in the capacity of seizing on the capabilities of a subject, adolf Hitler uses the metaphor is his autobiographical Mein Kampf, saying that Columbuss eggs lie around by the hundreds of thousands, but Columbuses are met with less frequency
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Exedra
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In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a buildings façade or is free-standing. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, an exedra may also be expressed by a curved break in a colonnade, perhaps with a semicircular seat. The exedra would typically have a podium that supported the stone running bench. Monument architects have used this free-standing style in modern times. The exedra achieved particular popularity in Roman architecture during the Roman Empire, an exedra was normally a public feature, when rhetoricians and philosophers disputed in a Roman gymnasium it was in an exedra opening into the peristyle that they gathered. A basilica featured a large exedra at the far end from its entrance and this was called a tribuna in Latin, and tribune is used for an area of raised floor backing onto a wall, often in an exedra. Following precedents from Rome, exedrae continued to be in widespread use architecturally after the fall of Rome, in Byzantine architecture and Romanesque architecture, this familiar feature developed into the apse and is fully treated there. A famous use of the exedra is in Donato Bramantes Cortile del Belvedere extension of the Vatican Palace, in Muslim architecture, the exedra becomes a mihrab and invariably retains religious associations, wherever it is seen, even on the smallest scale, as a prayer niche. Both Baroque and Neoclassical architecture used exedrae, Baroque architects, used them to enrich the play of light and shade and give rein to expressive volumes, Neoclassical architects, to articulate the rhythmic pacing of a wall elevation. The interior exedra was richly exploited by Scottish neoclassical architect Robert Adam, a classic example of a Baroque exedra on a reduced scale within its context, is the central niche of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, sheltering a statue of Neptune. Many classicizing bandshells in public parks are exedrae, for the shape, with its half-dome heading, the Hollywood Bowls shell takes the form of the head of a gargantuan exedra, stripped of classicizing details. During the 18th century, a became an popular garden feature or folly. Examples can be found at Belton House and West Wycombe Park, an exedra can be used in landscape design to visually terminate a garden axis. They can incorporate seating, a fountain, tile-work, and landscape lighting, in traditional or contemporary styles
35.
Vitruvius
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His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture and the human body, led to the famous Renaissance drawing by Da Vinci of Vitruvian Man. By his own description Vitruvius served as an artilleryman, the class of arms in the military offices. He probably served as a officer of artillery in charge of doctores ballistarum. Little is known about Vitruvius life, most inferences about him are extracted from his only surviving work De Architectura. Even his first name Marcus and his cognomen Pollio are uncertain. Cetius Faventinus writes of Vitruvius Polio aliique auctores, this can be read as Vitruvius Polio, and others or, less likely, as Vitruvius, Polio, Vitruvius was a military engineer, or a praefect architectus armamentarius of the apparitor status group. He is mentioned in Pliny the Elders table of contents for Naturalis Historia, frontinus refers to Vitruvius the architect in his late 1st-century work De aquaeductu. Likely born a free Roman citizen, by his own account, Vitruvius served the Roman army under Caesar with the otherwise poorly identified Marcus Aurelius, Publius Minidius and these names vary depending on the edition of De architectura. Publius Minidius is also written as Publius Numidicus and Publius Numidius, as an army engineer he specialized in the construction of ballista and scorpio artillery war machines for sieges. It is speculated that Vitruvius served with Caesars chief engineer Lucius Cornelius Balbus, the locations where he served can be reconstructed from, for example, descriptions of the building methods of various foreign tribes. Although he describes places throughout De Architectura, he not say he was present. His service likely included north Africa, Hispania, Gaul and Pontus, the position of the camp, the direction of the entrenchments, the inspection of the tents or huts of the soldiers and the baggage were comprehended in his province. His authority extended over the sick, and the physicians who had the care of them and he had the charge of providing carriages, bathhouses and the proper tools for sawing and cutting wood, digging trenches, raising parapets, sinking wells and bringing water into the camp. He likewise had the care of furnishing the troops with wood and straw, as well as the rams, onagri, balistae, at various locations described by Vitruvius, battles and sieges occurred. He is the source for the siege of Larignum in 56 BC. The broken siege at Gergovia in 52 BC, and the siege of Uxellodunum in 51 BC. These are all sieges of large Gallic oppida, a legion that fits the same sequence of locations is the Legio VI Ferrata, of which ballista would be an auxiliary unit. Mainly known for his writings, Vitruvius was himself an architect, frontinus mentions him in connection with the standard sizes of pipes
36.
Baths of Diocletian
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The Baths of Diocletian were public baths in Rome, in what is now Italy. Named after emperor Diocletians Baths and built from 298 to in 306, the project was originally commissioned by Maximian upon his return to Rome in the autumn of 298 and was continued after his and Diocletians abdication under Constantius, father of Constantine. The Baths occupy the high-ground on the northeast summit of the Viminal and they served as a bath for the people residing in the Viminal, Quirinal, and Esquiline quarters of the city. The Quadrigae Pisonis, a 2nd-century monument with various reliefs, some homes. The water supply was provided by the Aqua Marcia, an aqueduct that had served the city of Rome since the early 2nd century. To properly supply the baths, the supply of water to the city was increased under the order of Diocletian, the baths may have also been supplied by the Aqua Antoniniana, which was originally positioned to supply Caracallas baths in the early 3rd century. The Baths were commissioned by Maximian in honor of co-Emperor Diocletian in 298, evidence of this can be found in bricks from the main area of the baths, which distinctly show stamps of the Diocletianic period. These, according to the ancient guidebook Mirabilia Urbis Romae, were known as Palatium Diocletiani and this evidence shows the effect of the massive project on the brick industry in that all work by them was redirected and under control of the emperor. Building took place between the year it was first commissioned and was finished sometime between the abdication of Diocletian in 305 c. e. and the death of Constantius in July 306 AD. The Baths remained in use until the siege of Rome in 537 when the Ostrogothic king Vitiges cut off the aqueducts. ”The bath complex took up 120,000 square metres or 30 acres of the district, about the same size as the Baths of Caracalla. The central block of the baths was 280 by 160 meters or 10.85 acres, however, the capacity of the Baths of Diocletian was said to be much greater than the Baths of Caracalla. This could be because the entrance and rooms were larger than its predecessor in block size. According to Olympiodorus, the baths were able to hold up to 3,000 people at one time, however, this claim is disputed because Olympiodorus never mentioned how he came about this figure in the first place. The word frigidarium originates from the Latin word frigeo, which means to be cold, the prominence of the room and its conjoining rooms showed the increase in popularity cold baths had during the early 4th century compared to the hot baths. This also could have been a result of the depletion of the surrounding forests, the frigidarium, or Cella frigidaria consisted of a pool and a host of smaller baths connected to the main room. Water entering the room would come from a pipe or cistern, the water from the pool was thought to have been reused to flush latrines within the complex. The frigidarium was used mainly as a pool or a cold-water bath. Normally, one would continue on to the frigidarium after using the baths or after exercising in the palaestra
37.
Hydraulic machinery
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Hydraulic machines are machinery and tools that use liquid fluid power to do simple work. Heavy equipment is a common example, in this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is transmitted throughout the machine to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders and becomes pressurised according to the resistance present. The fluid is controlled directly or automatically by control valves and distributed through hoses and tubes, hydraulic machinery is operated by the use of hydraulics, where a liquid is the powering medium. In normal cases, hydraulic ratios are combined with a force or torque ratio for optimum machine designs such as boom movements. Examples Two hydraulic cylinders interconnected Cylinder C1 is one inch in radius, if the force exerted on C1 is 10 lbf, the force exerted by C2 is 1000 lbf because C2 is a hundred times larger in area as C1. The downside to this is that you have to move C1 a hundred inches to move C2 one inch, the most common use for this is the classical hydraulic jack where a pumping cylinder with a small diameter is connected to the lifting cylinder with a large diameter. This combination is actually the same type of force multiplication as the cylinder example just that the force in this case is a rotary force. Both these examples are referred to as a hydraulic transmission or hydrostatic transmission involving a certain hydraulic gear ratio. For the hydraulic fluid to do work, it must flow to the actuator and/or motors, the fluid is then filtered and re-pumped. The path taken by hydraulic fluid is called a hydraulic circuit of which there are several types, open center circuits use pumps which supply a continuous flow. Otherwise, if the valve is actuated it routes fluid to and from an actuator. The fluids pressure will rise to meet any resistance, since the pump has a constant output, if the pressure rises too high, fluid returns to tank through a pressure relief valve. Multiple control valves may be stacked in series and this type of circuit can use inexpensive, constant displacement pumps. Closed center circuits supply full pressure to the valves, whether any valves are actuated or not. The pumps vary their flow rate, pumping very little hydraulic fluid until the operator actuates a valve, the valves spool therefore doesnt need an open center return path to tank. Multiple valves can be connected in an arrangement and system pressure is equal for all valves. The closed center circuits exist in two configurations, normally related to the regulator for the variable pump that supplies the oil, Constant pressure systems. Pump pressure always equals the pressure setting for the pump regulator and this setting must cover the maximum required load pressure
38.
Republic of Pisa
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The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late 10th and 11th centuries. It rose to become a powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and superseded by the Republic of Genoa. The power of Pisa as a mighty maritime nation began to grow, during the High Middle Ages the city grew into a very important commercial and naval center and controlled a significant Mediterranean merchant fleet and navy. It expanded its influence through the sack of Reggio di Calabria in the south of Italy in 1005, Pisa was in continuous conflict with the Saracens, whose bases were in the Italian astersa, for control of the Mediterranean. In alliance with Genoa, Sardinia was captured in 1016 with the defeat of the Saracen leader Mujāhid al-‘Āmirī and this victory gave Pisa supremacy in the Tyrrhenian Sea. When the Pisans subsequently ousted the Genoese from Sardinia, a new conflict, between 1030 and 1035 Pisa went on to successfully defeat several rival towns in the Emirate of Sicily and conquer Carthage in North Africa. In 1051-1052 Admiral Jacopo Ciurini conquered Corsica, provoking more resentment from the Genoese. In 1063, the Pisans approached the Norman Roger I of Sicily, Roger declined due to other commitments. With no land support, the Pisan attack against Palermo failed, in 1060 Pisa engaged in its first battle against Genoa and the Pisan victory helped to consolidate its position in the Mediterranean. This was simply a confirmation of the present situation, because at the time the marquis of Tuscany had already excluded from power. Pisa sacked the Zirid city of Mahdia in 1088, four years later, Pisan and Genoese ships helped Alfonso VI of Castile force El Cid out of Valencia. In 1092 Pope Urban II awarded Pisa supremacy over Corsica and Sardinia, a Pisan fleet of 120 ships participated in the First Crusade and the Pisans were instrumental in the siege of Jerusalem in 1099. On their way to the Holy Land the Pisan ships did not miss the opportunity to sack several Byzantine islands, the Pisan crusaders were led by their archbishop, Dagobert, the future Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Pisa and the maritime republics took advantage of the crusade to establish trading posts and colonies in the eastern coastal regions of Syria, Lebanon. In particular the Pisans founded colonies in Antioch, Acre, Jaffa, Tripoli, Tyre, in all these cities the Pisans were granted privileges and immunity from taxation, but had to contribute to their defence in case of attack. In the 12th century the Pisan quarter in the part of Constantinople had grown to 1,000 people. For some years of that century Pisa was the most prominent merchant and military ally of the Byzantine Empire, Pisa, as an international power, was destroyed forever by the crushing defeat of its navy in the Battle of Meloria against Genoa in 1284. In this battle, most of the Pisan galleys were destroyed, in 1290, an assault by Genoese ships against the Porto Pisano sealed the fate of the independent Pisan state
39.
Republic of Siena
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The Republic of Siena was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It existed for four hundred years, from 1125 to 1555. In the Italian War of 1551–59 the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown, after 18 months of resistance, Republic of Siena surrendered to the Spanish Empire on 21 April 1555, marking the end of the republic. The oldest aristocratic families in Siena date their line to the Lombards surrender in 774 to Charlemagne, Siena prospered as a city-state, becoming a major centre of money lending and an important player in the wool trade. It was governed at first directly by its bishop, but episcopal power declined during the 12th century, by 1179, it had a written constitution. In 1286 the Nova government was established to rule Siena, the Nova was backed by the Noveschi, a political party formed by the noble families that sat on the council. Eventually, the Noveschi Party grew to not only include members of the Nova council. Under the guide of the Nova and the Noveschi, Siena grew in economic and militaristic dominance. In the 13th century, Siena was predominantly Ghibelline, in opposition to Florences Guelph position, on 4 September 1260 the Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of King Manfred of Sicily, defeated the Florentine Guelphs in the Battle of Montaperti. Before the battle, the Sienese army of around 20,000 faced a much larger Florentine army of around 33,000, prior to the battle, the entire city was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The man given command of Siena for the duration of the war, Bonaguida Lucari, walked barefoot and bareheaded, leading a procession composed of all the citys residents, he was met by all the clergy. Lucari and the bishop embraced to show the unity of church and state, then Lucari formally gave the city, legend has it that a thick white cloud descended on the battlefield, giving the Sienese cover and aiding their attack. Almost half the Florentine army were killed as a result, so crushing was the defeat that even today if the two cities meet in any sporting event, the Sienese supporters are likely to exhort their Florentine counterparts to Remember Montaperti. Siena was devastated by the Black Death of 1348, and also suffered from ill-fated financial enterprises. In 1355, with the arrival of Charles IV of Luxembourg in the city and they established a Dodici, assisted by a council with a popular majority. Only five years later, the House of Visconti was expelled in 1404, and a new government of Ten Priors was established, this time in alliance with Florence against King Ladislaus of Naples. In 1472 the Siena magistrates founded a mount of piety, the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena - which would survive into the 21st Century, the Noveschi returned to the city under Pandolfo Petrucci in 1487. Though a tyrant, Pandolfo brought Siena back to prosperity, favoring arts and sciences, Pandolfo was succeeded by his son Borghese Petrucci
40.
Arno
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The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber, the river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, with a length of 241 kilometres, it is the largest river in the region. It has many tributaries, Sieve at 60 kilometres long, Bisenzio at 49 kilometres, and the Era, Elsa, Pesa, the Val di Chiana, a plain drained in the 18th century, which until then had been a marshy area tributary of the Tiber. The upper Valdarno, a valley bordered on the east by the Pratomagno massif. The Sieves basin, which flows into the Arno immediately before Florence, the middle Valdarno, with the plain including Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Prato, and Pistoia. The lower Valdarno, with the valley of important tributaries such as the Pesa, Elsa, and Era and in which, after Pontedera, the Arno flows into the Ligurian Sea. The river has a variable discharge, ranging from about 6 cubic metres per second to more than 2,000 cubic metres per second. The mouth of the river was once near Pisa but is now several kilometres westwards and it crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge. The flow rate of the Arno is irregular and it is sometimes described as having a torrentlike behaviour, because it can easily go from almost dry to near flood in a few days. At the point where the Arno leaves the Apennines, flow measurements can vary between 0.56 and 3,540 cubic metres per second, new dams built upstream of Florence have greatly alleviated the problem in recent years. The flood on November 4,1966, collapsed the embankment in Florence, killing at least 40 people and damaging or destroying millions of works of art, new conservation techniques were inspired by the disaster, but even decades later hundreds of works still await restoration. The philologist Hans Krahe related this toponym on a paleo-European basis *Ar-n-, derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *er-, flow, move
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Ambrogio Lorenzetti
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Ambrogio Lorenzetti was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active from approximately 1317 to 1348 and he painted The Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the Sala dei Nove in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena. His elder brother was the painter Pietro Lorenzetti, Lorenzetti was highly influenced by both Byzantine art and classical art forms, and used these to create a unique and individualistic style of painting. Individuality at this time was due to the influence of patronage on art. Because paintings were commissioned, individualism in art was infrequently seen. His body of work shows the innovativeness that subsequent artists chose to emulate. His work, although more naturalistic, shows the influence of Simone Martini, the earliest dated work of the Sienese painter is a Madonna and Child. His presence was documented in Florence up until 1321 and he would return there after spending a number of years in Siena. Later he painted The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, the frescoes on the walls of the Room of the Nine or Room of Peace in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena are one of the masterworks of early Renaissance secular painting. The nine was the assembly of guild and monetary interests that governed the republic. Three walls are painted with frescoes consisting of an assembly of allegorical figures of virtues in the Allegory of Good Government. In the other two facing panels, Ambrogio weaves panoramic visions of Effects of Good Government on Town and Country, the better preserved well-governed town and country is an unrivaled pictorial encyclopedia of incidents in a peaceful medieval borgo and countryside. The first evidence of the existence of the hourglass can be found in the fresco, Allegory of Bad Government and Its Effects on Town, like his brother, he is believed to have died of bubonic plague in 1348. Giorgio Vasari includes a biography of Lorenzetti in his Lives, annunciation,1344 Lorenzettis final piece, telling the story of the Virgin Mary receiving the news from the Angel about the coming of baby Jesus, contains the first use of clear linear perspective. Though it is not perfect, and the background that is traditional for the time renders a flat feeling. Madonna and Child,1319 In Madonna and Child, there is a debt to Byzantine art. The image of the Madonna is noted for its frontality, which is a characteristic of Byzantine art. The Madonna faces the viewer, as the Child gazes up at her, though not as emotionally intense as subsequent Madonnas, in Lorenzetti’s Madonna and Child, the Virgin Mary belies a subtle level of emotion as she confronts the viewer
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Presentation at the Temple (Ambrogio Lorenzetti)
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The Presentation at the Temple is a painting by the Italian late medieval painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti, signed and dated 1342, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy. It is one of the largest works by the Italian medieval painter, all the paintings should represent stories of the Life of the Madonna, and were crowned by Duccio di Buoninsegnas Maestà. The use of lacquer in the paintings and lapis lazuli shows the prestige of the commission. Two 15th century descriptions mention the work as a triptych, with two side panels portraying St. Michael Archangel and St. Crescentius Martyr and, below, a century later, artists including Giovanni di Paolo and Bartolo di Fredi executed copies of the painting. It was later disassembled and placed in a nunnery in Siena, grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany had his transferred to Florence in 1822. It became part of the Uffizi collection in 1913, the painting depicts the presentation at the temple, an event which, according to the Hebraic Law, should occur forty days after a childs birth, to allow the mother to purify herself. Within two central, slender columns are the Madonna, the child, and Simeon the Righteous, at the far left is Joseph, preceded by two women, the latter have no aureolae, to mark that they have no holy status. At the right is Anna, accompanied by a Latin cartouche with a citation from the Gospel of Luke Behind the altar is a priest with the doves for the sacrifice and, in the left hand, in front of him a flame is burning on the sacrifice altar. Two other priests are partly visible at his left behind the architectural elements, the scene is set within church, finely decorated in Gothic style with a nave and two aisles, each surmounted by three-foiled ogival arches. Above the priests, within the church, is an arch with two angels, they hold a clipeus with the Blessing Christ. In the upper part, above the marble intarsia of the arches, finally, the central top arch includes the figures of Moses and Malachi, who also have cartouches with Latin verses taken from the Bible
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San Felice, Florence
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The Chiesa di San Felice is a Roman Catholic church in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. It is located on the bank of the River Arno. It is predominantly Gothic, but has a Renaissance façade by Michelozzo, over the high altar is a large Crucifix attributed to Giotto or his school. A church at the site was built about the 10th-century outside one of the gates of early walls of Florence and it first belonged to the Monastery of San Silvestro of Nonantola, and in 1413 it was transferred to the Camaldolese Order. In 1552, it became property of the Dominican nuns of San Pietro Martire, the church provided a sanctuary to women fleeing from abusive husbands. The interior had a Madonna with Child and Saints by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, another chapel has a fresco by Giovanni da San Giovanni, depicting San Felice reviving St Massimo, the angels gathering the grapes in the painting are by Baldassare Franceschini. It had a triptych by Neri di Bicci, depicting St Augustin and St John Baptist, another chapel had a Madonna and Child with St Hyacinth, by Jacopo da Empoli. The church has a Last Supper by Matteo Rosselli
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Epitaph
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An epitaph is a short text honouring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves before their death, while others are chosen by those responsible for the burial. An epitaph may be written in prose or in verse, poets have been known to compose their own epitaphs prior to their death. Most epitaphs are brief records of the family, and perhaps the career, of the deceased, often with an expression of love or respect—for example. Notably, the Laudatio Turiae, the longest known Ancient Roman epitaph, exceeds almost all of these at 180 lines, it celebrates the virtues of an honored wife, some are quotes from holy texts, or aphorisms. One approach of many epitaphs is to speak to the reader, a wry trick of others is to request the reader to get off their resting place, inasmuch as the reader would have to be standing on the ground above the coffin to read the inscription. Nearly all note name, year or date of birth, many list family members and the relationship of the deceased to them. Heroes and Kings your distance keep, In peace let one poor poet sleep, Who never flattered folks like you, Let Horace blush, — Alexander Pope Wir müssen wissen. — David Hilbert He never killed a man that did not need killing, — Clay Allison Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water — John Keats Undefeated — Hans-Joachim Marseille And the beat goes on. — Sonny Bono Sleep after toyle, port after stormie seas, Ease after warre, death after life, — Joseph Conrad Thats all folks. — Mel Blanc Ive finally stopped getting dumber, — Paul Erdős Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by that here, obedient to their law, we lie. — Simonidess epigram at Thermopylae I told you I was ill, — Spike Milligan Here sleeps at peace a Hampshire Grenadier Who caught his early death by drinking cold small beer. Soldiers, be wise at his fall, And when youre hot. — Thomas Thetcher tombstone epitaph in Winchester Cathedral To save your world you asked this man to die, Would this man, could he see you now, ask why. — Epitaph for the Unknown Soldier, written by W. H. Auden There is borne an empty hearsecovered over for such as appear not. Heroes have the earth for their tomb. — Unknown Soldiers epitaph, Athens, passages taken from Pericles Funeral Oration Against you I will fling myself, unvanquished and unyielding, O Death. — Virginia Woolf Good frend for Iesvs sake forebeare, To digg the dvst encloased heare. Bleste be man spares thes stones, Good friend for Jesus sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he moves my bones
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Alessandro Preziosi
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Alessandro Preziosi is an Italian actor. Later he left the soap, reads in Trilogy by Aeschylus, always directed by Calenda, in Herald garments in Agamemnon and Orestes in The Libation Bearers and Eumenides getting critical acclaim. In 2007 he appears on the big screen in the film The Viceroys by Roberto Faenza, in 2008 he returned to television on Rai Uno with Commissioner De Luca,4 TV movie, taken from the novel by Carlo Lucarelli, directed by Antonio Frazzi. With this realization, the also won the international award Golden Chest. The Hamlet directed by Armando Pugliese debuts in July at the Roman Theatre in Verona, on the occasion of La Versiliana, crowning a commitment in the theater, he was awarded the Golden Talent in the first edition of the Franco Martini Prize, a theater a lifetime. The film was presented as an event in October 2008 at the Rome Film Festival. The Hamlet with Preziosi and a company of actors, both young and long career, is represented during a double tour which reaches theaters in 50 Italian cities. In summer 2009, confirming the continuing support of civic and cultural values, kennedy Foundation of Europe Onlus in coproduction with Khora Theatre and the Museum of Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci. Inaugurated the Shakespearean Festival of Verona 09 with an innovative Twelfth Night, in September 2009 Preziosi plays in Mine Vaganti, award-winning comedy set in Salento with Riccardo Scamarcio and Ennio Fantastichini, directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, in theaters in March 2010. In January 2010, he plays St. Augustine in the miniseries of Lux Vide directed by Christian Duguay, in the same year he joined the cast of the new work by Fausto Brizzi, double Males film against females and males against females. Meanwhile the artist works as Programs Leader DAMS Link Academy - European Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome and, since 2011, for three years he was Artistic Director of the Teatro Stabile of Abruzzo. In the period of Aquila, the promoter of the imaginary Shipyards, processes, the cooperation of TSA and Khora. Teatro born Cyrano de Bergerac starring and directed by Preziosi, who in two seasons of replicas broad support of the public and critics. In 2014 the artist carefully and interprets the monologue Cyrano on the moon that will be awarded the Golden Mask of the Italian theater, the delicate and sensitive rendering of the role earned him awards and critical accolades. He has two children, Andrea Eduardo was born from the relationship with Rossella Zito and Elena by the relationship with Vittoria Puccini, in 2016 he played Filippo Brunelleschi in the tv series Medici, Masters of Florence, also with Dustin Hoffman and Richard Madden. Official website Alessandro Preziosi at the Internet Movie Database
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San Lorenzo, Florence
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It is one of several churches that claim to be the oldest in Florence, when it was consecrated in 393 it stood outside the city walls. For three hundred years it was the cathedral before the official seat of the bishop was transferred to Santa Reparata. San Lorenzo was also the church of the Medici family. In 1419, Giovanni di Bicci de Medici offered to finance a new church to replace the 11th-century Romanesque rebuilding, though considered a milestone in the development of Renaissance architecture, S. Lorenzo has a complicated building history. Even though it was at least partially built under the direction of Filippo Brunelleschi, the project was begun around 1419, but lack of funding slowed the construction and forced changes to the original design. By the early 1440s, only the sacristy had been worked on as it was being paid for by the Medici, in 1442, the Medici stepped in to take over financial responsibility of the church as well. Brunelleschi died in 1446, however, and the job was handed either to Antonio Manetti or to Michelozzo, scholars are not certain. Though the building was “completed” in 1459 in time for a visit to Florence by Pius II, by the time the building was done, many aspects of its layout, not to mention detailing, no longer corresponded to the original plan. Despite its history, the building is seen as one of the examples of the new style. Its more notable include, the attempt to create a proportional relationship between nave and aisle. The articulation of the structure in pietra serena, the use of an integrated system of column, arches, entablatures. There are significant problems in the design, most, however, already Giorgio Vasari thought that the columns along the nave should have been elevated on plinths. That the pilasters along the wall of the side aisles rest on a floor that is three steps higher than the nave, is considered an error. San Lorenzo is often compared with Santo Spirito, also in Florence, Santo Spirito, which Brunelleschi began somewhat later, is considered to have been constructed more or less in conformity with his ideas, even though Brunelleschi died before most of it was built. The Medici Pope Leo X gave Michelangelo the commission to design a façade in white Carrara marble in 1518, Michelangelo did, however, design and build the internal facade, seen from the nave looking back toward the entrances. It comprises three doors between two pilasters with garlands of oak and laurel and a balcony on two Corinthian columns, in recent years, the association of “Friends of the Elettrice Palatina” and the Comune of Florence re-visited the question of completing the outer facade according to Michelangelos designs. To assist with the debate, a computerized reconstruction was projected onto the plain brick facade in February 2007. As yet, no decision has made on the project
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