1.
Roman Catholic
–
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
Roman Catholic
–
Saint Peter's Basilica,
Vatican City
Roman Catholic
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St. Peter's Basilica,
Vatican City
Roman Catholic
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Pope Francis, elected in the
papal conclave, 2013
Roman Catholic
–
Traditional graphic representation of the Trinity: The earliest attested version of the diagram, from a manuscript of
Peter of Poitiers ' writings, c. 1210
2.
Florence
–
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
Florence
–
A collage of Florence showing the
Galleria degli Uffizi (top left), followed by the
Palazzo Pitti, a sunset view of the city and the
Fountain of Neptune in the
Piazza della Signoria
Florence
–
A wooden model of Florence as it would have probably looked during Roman times, showing the ancient amphitheatre
Florence
–
The façade of the Cathedral
Florence
–
Leonardo da Vinci statue outside the
Uffizi Gallery.
3.
Tuscany
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Tuscany is a region in central Italy with an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy, Tuscany produces wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, it is considered a nation within a nation. Tuscany is traditionally a popular destination in Italy, and the main tourist destinations by number of tourist arrivals are Florence, Pisa, Montecatini Terme, Castiglione della Pescaia and Grosseto. The village of Castiglione della Pescaia is also the most visited destination in the region. Additionally, Siena, Lucca, the Chianti region, Versilia and Val dOrcia are also internationally renowned, Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year. In 2012, the city of Florence was the worlds 89th most visited city, roughly triangular in shape, Tuscany borders the regions of Liguria to the northwest, Emilia-Romagna to the north and east, Umbria to the east and Lazio to the southeast. The comune of Badia Tedalda, in the Tuscan Province of Arezzo, has an exclave named Ca Raffaello within Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany has a western coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea, containing the Tuscan Archipelago, of which the largest island is Elba. Tuscany has an area of approximately 22,993 square kilometres, surrounded and crossed by major mountain chains, and with few plains, the region has a relief that is dominated by hilly country used for agriculture. Hills make up nearly two-thirds of the total area, covering 15,292 square kilometres, and mountains. Plains occupy 8. 4% of the total area—1,930 square kilometres —mostly around the valley of the River Arno, many of Tuscanys largest cities lie on the banks of the Arno, including the capital Florence, Empoli and Pisa. The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron Ages parallels that of the early Greeks, following this, the Villanovan culture saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms. City-states developed in the late Villanovan before Orientalization occurred and the Etruscan civilization rose, the Etruscans created the first major civilization in this region, large enough to establish a transport infrastructure, to implement agriculture and mining and to produce vibrant art. The Etruscans lived in Etruria well into prehistory, throughout their existence, they lost territory to Magna Graecia, Carthage and Celts. Despite being seen as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks, the cultures of Greece, one reason for its eventual demise was this increasing absorption by surrounding cultures, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans. Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace. These developments included extensions of existing roads, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, however, many of these structures have been destroyed by erosion due to weather. The Roman civilization in the West collapsed in the 5th century AD, in the years following 572, the Longobards arrived and designated Lucca the capital of their Duchy of Tuscia
Tuscany
–
Hilly landscape in
Val d'Orcia
Tuscany
–
Tuscany Toscana
Tuscany
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Tuscan landscape near
Siena
Tuscany
–
Cinerary urns of the
Villanovan culture
4.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
5.
Vallumbrosan Order
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Vall. the Vall. to distinguish themselves from the Benedictines, who use the abbreviation O. S. B. The founder, a Florentine named Gualberto Visdomini, was born in the year 985 or 995, because one of his relatives was murdered, his duty was to avenge the deceased. On his way home, he entered the Benedictine Church at San Miniato to pray, and this story forms the subject of Burne-Joness picture The Merciful Knight, and has been adapted by Shorthouse in John Inglesant. John Gualbert became a Benedictine monk at San Miniato, but left that monastery to lead a perfect life. His attraction was for the cenobitic, and not eremitic life, so after staying for some time with the monks at Camaldoli, he settled at Vallombrosa, mabillon estimates its foundation at a little before 1038. Here, it is said, he and his first companions lived for years as hermits. The chronology of the days of Vallombrosa has been much disputed. The dates given for the founders conversion varying between 1004 and 1039, and a recent Vallumbrosan writer places his arrival at Vallombrosa as early as 1008. The abbess retained the privilege of nominating the superiors, but this right was granted to the monks by pope Victor II, two centuries later, in the time of Alexander IV, the nunnery was united with Vallombrosa in spite of the protests of the nuns. Thus only one monastery, that of San Salvi at Florence, was founded during this period. But when the founder had mitigated his rule somewhat, three monasteries were founded and three others reformed and united with the order during his lifetime. Shortly before this the monastery of S. Salvi had been burned and these events still further increased the reputation of Vallombrosa. After the founders death the order spread rapidly, a papal bull of Urban II in 1090, which took Vallombrosa under the protection of the Holy See, enumerated fifteen monasteries aside from the motherhouse. Twelve more are mentioned in a bull of Paschal II in 1115, by the time of Innocent III they numbered over sixty. All were situated in Italy, except two monasteries in Sardinia, there are no grounds for the legend given by some writers of the order of a great Vallombrosan Congregation in France with an abbey near Paris, founded by king St. Louis. The Vallombrosan Congregation was reformed in the middle of the century by Cassinese Benedictines. In 1485, certain abbeys with that of San Salvi at Florence at their head and it was rebuilt by Abbot Nicolini in 1637, and in 1634 an observatory was established. From 1662–1680 the order was united to the Sylvestrines, in 1808 Napoleon Is troops plundered Vallombrosa, and the monastery lay deserted till 1815
Vallumbrosan Order
–
St. John Gualbert with other Vallumbrosan
saints and
beati
Vallumbrosan Order
–
San Salvi (Florence)
6.
Palazzo Spini Feroni
–
Palazzo Spini Ferroni is a large Gothic palace located along Via de Tornabuoni at the corner of Piazza Santa Trinita, in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. It stands across from the church of Santa Trinita, the palace was commissioned in 1289 by the rich cloth merchant and banker Geri Spini, on plots that he had bought after the 1288 flood of the Arno, from the monks of Santa Trinita. At the time, it was the largest privately owned palazzo in Florence, rivaling in size the contemporary Palazzo Vecchio, the design of Palazzo Spini Feroni has been attributed to list of architects including Arnolfo di Cambio or Arnolfos father, Lapo Tedesco. The edifices original appearance can be seen in Ghirlandaios frescoes in the Sassetti Chapel of the church of Santa Trinita. In the 14th century, the palazzo was divided between the two branches of the Spini, the section facing the piazza was sold in the 17th century. In the 1670s, Marquis Francesco Antonio Ferroni, a member of Grand Duke Cosimo III ruling circle, had it redecorated with stuccoes by Giovan Battista Foggini and Lorenzo Merlini. During this refurbishment, the frescoes by Bernardino Poccetti depicting Paradise with a Choir of Musician Angels and Adoration of the Shepherds were moved from their original location. In 1846, after a spell as a hotel, the palace was purchased by the comune of Florence, in the 1930s, it was bought by the shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. Since 1995 the Palazzo has housed a museum dedicated to Ferragamo
Palazzo Spini Feroni
–
Palazzo Spini Ferroni.
Palazzo Spini Feroni
–
Detail of the fresco of the Resurrection of the Boy by
Domenico Ghirlandaio, in the
Sassetti Chapel of
Santa Trinita.
7.
Sassetti Chapel
–
The Sassetti Chapel is a chapel in the basilica of Santa Trinita in Florence, Italy. It is especially notable for its frescoes of the Stories of St. Francis, Francesco Sassetti was a rich banker and a member of the Medici entourage, for which he directed the Medici Bank. In 1478 he acquired the chapel of St and he commissioned the execution of the frescoes from the most famed artist of the city, Domenico Ghirlandaio. The date of the contract is that next to the portraits of Sassetti and his wife. The central altarpiece, depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds, is dated 1485, Ghirlandaio portrayed numerous figures of contemporary Florentine society in the scenes. All the work shows the importance of the influence on Ghirlandaio of Flemish school, in particular the Portinari Triptych by Hugo van der Goes, taken by him to Florence in 1483, the Chapel was restored in 2004. The chapel, like the church in which it is located, is in Gothic style, the fresco cycle covers three walls framed by fictive architectural elements. The altarpiece is framed by a painted marble decoration. The two side walls house the tombs of Francesco Sassetti and his wife Nera Corsi, under a gilded arch, Ghirlandaios frescoes can also be seen in the upper transept wall, outside the chapel. This area was plastered in the 18th century, the paintings being rediscovered only in 1895, the work outside the Sassetti chapel is attributed to the three Ghirlandaio brothers and assistants. Its perspective was devised to offer a view from below. The first scene painted above the chapel is the Tiburtine Sibyl Announces Jesus Coming to Augustus, the Sibyl is probably a portrait of Sassettis daughter, Sibilla. On the pilaster dividing the Sassetti Chapel from the subsequent one is a painted statue of David. Only the faces of the Sibyls are attributed to Ghirlandaio, the bodies were probably executed by his workshop. This scene is located on the left wall, and portrays the young Francis who having renounced all his assets by removing his clothes publicly, is protected by the bishop of Perugia. Francis raging father is shown with some people restraining him, the scene is set in a northern European city which had been identified as Geneva or Lyon, where Sassetti had served for the Medici. The secondary figures could be work by Domenicos brothers and workshop, the figures are portrayed in a cathedral interior, so that the chapels arch resembles the triumphal arch of the church. The scene is set in Florence instead of Rome, the showing the Piazza della Signoria, the Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia dei Lanzi
Sassetti Chapel
–
Overview of the Chapel
Sassetti Chapel
–
Donor portrait of Francesco Sassetti
Sassetti Chapel
–
The Renunciation of the Worldly Goods
Sassetti Chapel
–
The Confirmation of the Franciscan Rule
8.
Domenico Ghirlandaio
–
Domenico Ghirlandaio was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the third generation of the Florentine Renaissance, along with Verrocchio. Many apprentices passed through Ghirlandaios workshop, including the famous Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio was born Domenico di Tommaso di Currado di Doffo Bigordi. Tommaso had two children by his second wife, also named Antonia, whom he married in 1464. Domenicos half-sister Alessandra married the painter Bastiano Mainardi in 1494, both Ghirlandaios father and his uncle, Antonio, were setaiuolo a minuto. Giorgio Vasari reported that Domenico was at first apprenticed to his father, the nickname Il Ghirlandaio came to Domenico from his father, who was famed for creating the metallic garland-like headdresses worn by Florentine women. He was eventually apprenticed to Alesso Baldovinetti to study painting and mosaic, according to the art historian Günter Passavent, he was apprenticed in Florence to Andrea del Verrocchio. He maintained an association with other Florentine painters including Botticelli. Ghirlandaio excelled in the painting of frescos and it is for his fresco cycles that he is best known, an early commission came to him in the 1470s from the Commune of San Gimignano to decorate the Chapel of Santa Fina in the Collegiate Church of that city. The frescos, executed from 1477 to 1478, depict two miraculous events associated with the death of Saint Fina, in 1480, Ghirlandaio painted St. Jerome in His Study as a companion piece to Saint Augustine in His Study by Botticelli in the Church of Ognissanti, Florence. He also painted a life-sized Last Supper in its refectory, from 1481 to 1485, he was employed on frescoes at the Palazzo Vecchio, painting among other works an Apotheosis of St. Ghirlandaio painted the Vocation of the Apostles. He also painted the now lost Resurrection of Christ, the Crossing of the Red Sea has also been attributed to him, but is consistent with the style of Cosimo Roselli who was also part of the commission. Ghirlandaio is known to have created works in Rome, now lost. The first of these paintings contains portraits of Lorenzo de Medici, Sassetti and Lorenzos children with their tutor, the Resuscitation shows the painters own likeness. In 1483, there arrived in Florence a masterpiece of the Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes, now known as the Portinari Altarpiece, it was an Adoration of the Shepherds, commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, an employee of the Medici Bank. The painting was in oil paint, not the tempera employed in Florence, the aspect of the painting that had a profound effect on Ghirlandaio was the naturalism with which the shepherds were depicted. Ghirlandaio painted the altarpiece of the Sassetti chapel, an Adoration of the Shepherds and it is in this painting that he particularly shows his indebtedness to the Portinari Altarpiece. The shepherds, among whom is a portrait of the artist himself, are portrayed with a realism that was an advance in Florentine painting at that time, the altarpiece is still in position in Santa Trinita, surrounded by the frescos of which it was the centrepiece
Domenico Ghirlandaio
–
Supposed
self-portrait, from
Adoration of the Magi, 1488
Domenico Ghirlandaio
–
Pope Gregory announces the death of Santa Fina, in the Collegiate Church of San Gimignano (about 1477)
Domenico Ghirlandaio
–
The Adoration of the Shepherds,
Sassetti Chapel, contains a portrait of Ghirlandaio as one of the Shepherds.
Domenico Ghirlandaio
–
The Confirmation of the Franciscan Rule from the
Sassetti Chapel, with portraits of
Lorenzo de' Medici and his family occupying prominent positions as spectators to the event.
9.
Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
–
The Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel is a chapel in the church of Santa Trinita, Florence, central Italy. Its decoration by Lorenzo Monaco, dating to the 1420s, are one of the few surviving examples of International Gothic frescoes in Italy, the chapels has kept other original elements, such as its altarpiece, an Annunciation, also by Lorenzo Monaco, and the railings. Their residence, the Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni, is located in the square as the church. Around 1390, the chapel had already decorated by Spinello Aretino. The frescoes were covered by white plaster in 1740, and were rediscovered in 1885-1887 by Augusto Burchi, in 1944, the retreating German forces blew up the nearby Ponte Santa Trinita, causing damage also to the frescoes. They were restored in 1961 and again in 2004, the frescoes, fragments of which are now lost, occupy the chapels walls, vault, arch and lunette. Lorenzo Monaco was initially a miniaturist, however, he worked on panels. Lorenzo Monacos frescoes were inspired by the apocryphal Gospel of James, dealing with Marys infancy, the cycle begins in the lunette on the left wall, portraying the Espulsion of Joachim from the Temple and the Annunciation to Joachim. Below are the Meeting of Joachim and Anne and Anne at the Golden Gate, set in a fanciful Jerusalem with high tower, belfries and other edifices painted in pink. The water of a stream where several youths are drinking is a symbol of Mary as the source of life, while the sea is a hint to her attribute as Stella Maris, the latter scene contains several numerology hints in the steps and in the arches of Solomons Temple. The scene on the wall, perhaps the sole executed by Lorenzo Monaco alone. The next scene is that of the Annunciation, whose predella has scenes of the Visitation, Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds, Adoration of the Magi, the next episodes depicted include some miracles connected to Mary, the Dormitio, the Assumption and the Miracle of the Snow. In the cross vault are portrayals of Prophets David, Isaiah, Malachi, la Cappella Bartolini Salimbeni a Santa Trinita
Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
–
View of the chapel
Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
–
Marriage of the Virgin
Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
–
The Prophet Micah
Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
–
St. John the Baptist
10.
Lorenzo Monaco
–
Lorenzo Monaco was an Italian painter of the late Gothic-early Renaissance age. He was born Piero di Giovanni in Siena, little is known about his youth, apart from the fact that he was apprenticed in Florence. He was influenced by Giotto and his followers Spinello Aretino and Agnolo Gaddi, in 1390 he joined the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli. He was thenceforth known as Lorenzo Monaco. In the 1390s he executed three panels of the Biblioteca Laurenziana for his convent, starting from around 1404 his works show the influence of the International Gothic, of Lorenzo Ghibertis earliest works and of Gherardo Starnina. From this period is the Pietà in the Gallerie dellAccademia in Florence and his works, often over a gilded background, showed in general a spiritual value, and usually did not feature profane elements. In 1414 he painted the Coronation of the Virgin, characterized by a number of saints. In the late part of his life, Lorenzo did not accept the early Renaissance innovations introduced by such as Masaccio. This is visible in the Adoration of the Magi of 1420–1422, giorgio Vasari includes a biography of Lorenzo Monaco in his Lives. According to the Florentine historian, he died from an unidentified infection, madonna of Humility, Treasure Museum of the Basilica of Saint Francis, Assisi Sienese School Pope-Hennessy, John & Kanter, Laurence B. The Robert Lehman Collection I, Italian Paintings, new York, Princeton, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Biography and works Italian Paintings, Florentine School, a collection catalog containing information about Monaco and his works
Lorenzo Monaco
–
Adoration of the Magi
11.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
Italian language
–
Dante Alighieri (above) and
Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their
Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of
Italy in the
Late Middle Ages
Italian language
–
The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.
Italian language
Italian language
–
Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage
12.
Mannerist
–
Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, lasting until about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style began to replace it. Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century, stylistically, Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo. Where High Renaissance art emphasizes proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, Mannerism exaggerates such qualities, Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. Mannerism favors compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting, Mannerism in literature and music is notable for its highly florid style and intellectual sophistication. The definition of Mannerism and the phases within it continue to be a subject of debate among art historians, for example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature and music of the 16th and 17th centuries. The term is used to refer to some late Gothic painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530. Mannerism also has been applied by analogy to the Silver Age of Latin literature, the word mannerism derives from the Italian maniera, meaning style or manner. Like the English word style, maniera can either indicate a type of style or indicate an absolute that needs no qualification. Vasari was also a Mannerist artist, and he described the period in which he worked as la maniera moderna, james V. Mirollo describes how bella maniera poets attempted to surpass in virtuosity the sonnets of Petrarch. This notion of bella maniera suggests that artists thus inspired looked to copying and bettering their predecessors, in essence, bella maniera utilized the best from a number of source materials, synthesizing it into something new. As a stylistic label, Mannerism is not easily defined, “High Renaissance” connoted a period distinguished by harmony, grandeur and the revival of classical antiquity. The term Mannerist was redefined in 1967 by John Shearman following the exhibition of Mannerist paintings organised by Fritz Grossmann at Manchester City Art Gallery in 1965. The label “Mannerism” was used during the 16th century to comment on social behaviour, however, for later writers, such as the 17th-century Gian Pietro Bellori, la maniera was a derogatory term for the perceived decline of art after Raphael, especially in the 1530s and 1540s. From the late 19th century on, art historians have used the term to describe art that follows Renaissance classicism. By the end of the High Renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis, no more difficulties, technical or otherwise, remained to be solved. The young artists needed to find a new goal, and they sought new approaches, at this point Mannerism started to emerge. The new style developed between 1510 and 1520 either in Florence, or in Rome, or in both cities simultaneously and this period has been described as a natural extension of the art of Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Michelangelo from an early age had developed a style of his own, one of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and subsequent artists attempted to imitate it
Mannerist
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In
Parmigianino 's
Madonna with the Long Neck (1534-40), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, highly stylized poses, and lack of clear perspective.
Mannerist
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Mannerism role-model:
Laocoön and His Sons, an ancient sculpture, rediscovered in 1506; now in the
Vatican. The artists of Mannerism greatly admired this piece of sculpture.
Mannerist
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Ignudi from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Mannerist
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The Libyan Sibyl from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
13.
Bernardo Buontalenti
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Bernardo Buontalenti, byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole, was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist. He entered the service of the Medici as a youth and remained with them the rest of his life and he executed a number of miniatures for Francesco, the son of Cosimo I. He was also a mechanic, and an excellent mathematician. In 1562 he travelled to Spain and his first known work is from 1568, the Palazzo di Bianca Cappello in Florence. In the Uffizi Palace of Florence, he built a great court stage and he designed costumes for the Medici extravaganzas. Despite his successes, his prodigality led Buontalenti to financial ruin, dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical. York St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell, Bernardo Buontalenti and the Grotta Grande of Boboli, Florence, Maschietto Editore,2012
Bernardo Buontalenti
–
The famous Mannerist Buontalenti Grotto in the
Boboli Gardens.
14.
Pietro Bernini
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Pietro Bernini was an Italian sculptor. He was the father of one of the most famous artists of Baroque, Bernini was born in Sesto Fiorentino, Tuscany. He moved to Naples to work on the Certosa di San Martino there, in 1605 the family moved to Rome under the protection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese. In Rome he worked on projects for Pope Paul V, another Borghese. One of Pietro Berninis best known contributions to the city of Rome is the Fontana della Barcaccia which resembles a ship and is located at the foot of the Spanish Steps. It was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII and built in 1627 and he also contributed to the Fountain of Neptune, Naples, completed between 1600 and 1601. Overshadowed by the talent of his son, the elder Bernini ended his career as an independent sculptor around 1617 and he died in Rome, aged 67
Pietro Bernini
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Saint Martin Dividing his Cloak,
Certosa di San Martino, Naples
Pietro Bernini
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Flora by Pietro Bernini, 1616
15.
Giovanni Battista Caccini
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Giovanni Battista Caccini or Giovan Battista Caccini was an Italian sculptor from Florence, who worked in a classicising style in the later phase of Mannerism. Caccini was in cooperation with Pietro Tacca and the rest of Giambolognas pupils in the prolonged cooperation over the bronze doors for Pisa Cathedral. Fragmentary antiquities were not to the sixteenth-century collectors taste, Caccini produced a head for an antique torso, and a further, crouching figure to produce the Bacchus and Ampelos in the Uffizi, which was once attributed to Michelangelo. He restored a fragmentary Apollo Sauroctonos as an Apollo with the Lyre and his garden sculptures produced the bold silhouettes and copious attributes that the genre requires. As an architect, his one work is the portico of the Santissima Annunziata. Caccini died in Rome in 1613, Giovanni Gualberto, Badia di Passignano, Val di Pesa,1580 Bust of Christ, c.1595 Temperance,1583 Charles V crowned by Clement VII, Salone del Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Among his numerous allegorical statues in the Boboli Gardens, Florence, Seasons, four figures in the Boboli Gardens, Florence Youthful Jupiter, Seasons, two of the figures for the Ponte Santa Trinita, Florence Media related to Giovanni Battista Caccini at Wikimedia Commons
Giovanni Battista Caccini
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Bust of
Cosimo I de' Medici by Giovanni Caccini,
Royal Castle in
Warsaw.
16.
Baths of Caracalla
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The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy, were the second largest Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD212 and 217, during the reigns of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. They would have had to install over 2,000 t of material every day for six years in order to complete it in this time. Records show that the idea for the baths were drawn up by Septimius Severus and this would allow for a longer construction timeframe. Today they are a tourist attraction, the baths remained in use until the 6th century when the complex was taken by the Ostrogoths during the Gothic War, at which time the hydraulic installations were destroyed. The bath was free and open to the public, the earthquake of 847 destroyed much of the building, along with many other Roman structures. The building was heated by a hypocaust, a system of burning coal and it was in use up to the 19th century. The Aqua Antoniniana aqueduct, a branch of the earlier Aqua Marcia and it was most likely reconstructed by Garbrecht and Manderscheid to its current place. At the 1960 Summer Olympics, the hosted the gymnastics events. The baths were the archaeological site in Rome damaged by an earthquake near LAquila in 2009. They were again damaged, though minor, in August 2016 by an earthquake in central Italy, the baths were originally ornamented with high quality sculptures. One of the statues is the colossal 4 m statue of Asclepius. The Caracalla bath complex of buildings was more a leisure centre than just a series of baths, the baths were the second to have a public library within the complex. Like other public libraries in Rome, there were two separate and equal sized rooms or buildings, one for Greek language texts and one for Latin language texts. The baths consisted of a central frigidarium measuring 55.7 by 24 m under three groin vaults 32.9 m high, a double pool tepidarium, and a caldarium 35 m in diameter, the north end of the bath building contained a natatio or swimming pool. The natatio was roofless with bronze mirrors mounted overhead to direct sunlight into the pool area, the entire bath building was on a raised platform 6 m high to allow for storage and furnaces under the building. The libraries were located in exedrae on the east and west sides of the bath complex, the entire north wall of the complex was devoted to shops. The reservoirs on the wall of the complex were fed with water from the Marcian Aqueduct. The mithraeum was approximately 23 m long and 10 m wide with a cross-vaulted ceiling, the bath complex covered approximately 25 ha
Baths of Caracalla
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Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
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One of the statues that adorned the baths was the
Farnese Hercules.
Baths of Caracalla
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A section of the complex mosaic floor tiling found in the baths
17.
Pope Pius IV
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Pope Pius IV, born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was Pope from 25 December 1559 to his death in 1565. He is known for presiding over the session of the Council of Trent. Giovanni Angelo Medici was born in Milan on 31 March 1499 as the second of eleven children to Bernardino de Medici and he was not closely related to the Medicis of Florence. Giovanni Medici was the brother of condottiero Gian Giacomo Medici. Medici studied philosophy and medicine in Pavia, after studying at Bologna and acquiring a reputation as a jurist he obtained his doctorate in both canon and civil law on 11 May 1525. Medici went in 1527 to Rome, and as a favourite of Pope Paul III was rapidly promoted to the governorship of several towns, the archbishopric of Ragusa, in April 1549, Pope Paul III made Medici a cardinal. Under Papal authority, he was sent on missions to Germany. On the death of Pope Paul IV, he was elected pope on 25 December 1559, taking the name Pius IV. and installed on 6 January 1560. His first public acts of importance were to grant a pardon to the participants in the riot after the death of his predecessor. One, Cardinal Carlo Carafa, was strangled, and Duke Giovanni Carafa of Paliano, on 18 January 1562 the Council of Trent, which had been suspended by Pope Julius III, was convened by Pius IV for the third and final time. The more marked manifestations of stringency during his pontificate appear to have been prompted rather than spontaneous, his personal character inclining him to moderation, in the same year he published a bull granting the use of the cup to the laity of Austria and Bohemia. A conspiracy against Pius IV, headed by Benedetto Accolti the Younger, katherine Rinne said in her book Waters of Rome that Pius IV also ordered public construction to improve the water supply of Rome. Pius IV died on 9 December 1565 and he was buried in Santa Maria degli Angeli. Cardinals created by Pius IV List of popes from the Medici family House of Medici Bonora, roma 1564, La congiura contro il papa. Freedberg, Sydney J. Pelican History of Art, ed, catholic Hierarchy, Pope Pius IV Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Medici
Pope Pius IV
–
Pope Pius IV
18.
Siena
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Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena, the historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nations most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008, Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year. Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans when it was inhabited by a called the Saina. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus, the first document mentioning it dates from AD70. Some archaeologists assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Senones, according to local legend, Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus and thus nephews of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Supposedly after their fathers murder by Romulus, they fled Rome, taking them the statue of the she-wolf suckling the infants. Additionally they rode white and black horses, giving rise to the Balzana, some claim the name Siena derives from Senius. Other etymologies derive the name from the Etruscan family name Saina, Siena did not prosper under Roman rule. It was not sited near any major roads and lacked opportunities for trade and its insular status meant that Christianity did not penetrate until the 4th century AD, and it was not until the Lombards invaded Siena and the surrounding territory that it knew prosperity. Siena prospered as a trading post, and the constant streams of pilgrims passing to, the oldest aristocratic families in Siena date their line to the Lombards surrender in 774 to Charlemagne. This ultimately resulted in the creation of the Republic of Siena, the Republic existed for over four hundred years, from the late 11th century until the year 1555. During the golden age of Siena before the Black Death in 1348, 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, Siena surrendered to Spain on 17 April 1555, the new Spanish King Felipe II, owing huge sums to the Medici, ceded it to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until the unification of Italy in the 19th century. A Republican government of 700 Sienese families in Montalcino resisted until 1559, the picturesque city remains an important cultural centre, especially for humanist disciplines. The city lies at 322 m above sea level, the Siena Cathedral, begun in the 12th century, is a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture. Its main façade was completed in 1380, the original plan called for an ambitiously massive basilica, the largest then in the world, with, as was customary, an east-west nave. However, the scarcity of funds, in due to war and plague, truncated the project
Siena
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View of downtown Piazza del Campo (Campo Square), with the Mangia Tower (Torre del Mangia) and Santa Maria Church
Siena
–
Piazza del Campo.
Siena
–
Capitoline Wolf at
Siena Duomo. According to a legend Siena was founded by
Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus. When they fled
Rome, they took the statue of She-wolf to Siena, which became a symbol of the town.
Siena
–
Siena Cathedral
19.
Cimabue
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Cimabue, also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was a Florentine painter and designer of mosaics. Although heavily influenced by Byzantine models, Cimabue is generally regarded as one of the first great Italian painters to break from the Italo-Byzantine style, according to Italian painter and historian Giorgio Vasari, Cimabue was the teacher of Giotto, the first great artist of the Italian Proto-Renaissance. However, many scholars today tend to discount Vasaris claim, citing earlier sources which suggest this was not the case, little is known about Cimabues early life. One source that recounts his career is Giorgio Vasaris Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and he was born in Florence and died in Pisa. Hayden Maginnis speculates he could have trained in Florence under masters culturally connected to Byzantine art, many scholars today discount Vasaris claim that he later had Giotto as his pupil, citing earlier sources which suggest this was not the case. Cimabues Christ is bent and the clothes have the golden striations introduced by Coppo di Marcovaldo, around 1272 Cimabue is documented as being present in Rome, and a little later he made another Crucifix for the Florentine church of Santa Croce. In the same period, Cimabue painted the Maestà, originally displayed in the church of San Francesco at Pisa and this work established a style which was followed subsequently by numerous artists, including Duccio di Buoninsegna in his Rucellai Madonna, as well as Giotto. A workshop painting, perhaps assignable to a later period, is the Maestà with Saints Francis. During the pontificate of Pope Nicholas IV, the first Franciscan pope, at Assisi, in the transept of the Lower Basilica of San Francesco, he created a fresco named Madonna with Child Enthroned, Four Angels and St Francis. The left portion of this fresco is lost, but it may have shown St Anthony of Padua, Cimabue was subsequently commissioned to decorate the apse and the transept of the Upper Basilica of Assisi, in the same period of time that Roman artists were decorating the nave. The cycle he created there comprises scenes from the Gospels, the lives of the Virgin Mary, St Peter and these paintings are now in poor condition due to the oxidation of the brighter colors which the artist used. The Maestà of Santa Trinità, dated to c, 1290–1300, which was originally painted for the church of Santa Trinità in Florence, is now in the Uffizi Gallery. The softer expression of the characters suggests that it was influenced by Giotto, Cimabue spent the last period of his life,1301 to 1302, in Pisa. There he was commissioned to finish a mosaic of Christ Enthroned, originally begun by Maestro Francesco, Cimabue was to create the part of the mosaic depicting St John the Evangelist, which remains the sole surviving work documented as being by the artist. Cimabue died around the year 1302. he would destroy the work. His nickname, Cenni di Pepo, translates as ‘bull-head’, but also possibly as ‘one who crushes the views of others’, from the Latin word cimare, meaning top, shear, and blunt. The conclusion for the meaning is drawn from similar commentaries on Dante. History has long regarded Cimabue as the last of an era that was overshadowed by the Italian Renaissance, in painting Cimabue thought he held the field but now its Giotto has the cry, so that the others fame is dimmed
Cimabue
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Maestà, 1280–1285,
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Cimabue
–
Fresco in the Lower Basilica of Assisi
Cimabue
–
St. Francis of Assisi
Cimabue
–
Crucifix, 1287–1288, Panel, 448 cm × 390 cm (176.4 in × 153.5 in),
Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence
20.
Uffizi
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The Uffizi Gallery is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, the construction was later continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and completed in 1581. The niches in the piers that alternate with columns filled with sculptures of artists in the 19th century. The Uffizi brought together under one roof the administrative offices, the Tribunal and the Archivio di Stato, the state archive. He commissioned from the architect Buontalenti the design of the Tribuna degli Uffizi that collected a series of masterpieces in one room, over the years, more sections of the palace were recruited to exhibit paintings and sculpture collected or commissioned by the Medici. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, because of its huge collection, some of its works have in the past been transferred to other museums in Florence—for example, some famous statues to the Bargello. A project was finished in 2006 to expand the exhibition space some 6,000 metres² to almost 13,000 metres². On 27 May 1993, a car exploded in Via dei Georgofili and damaged parts of the palace. The most severe damage was to the Niobe room and classical sculptures and neoclassical interior, the identity of the bomber or bombers are unknown, although it was almost certainly attributable to the Sicilian Mafia who were engaged in a period of terrorism at that time. Today, the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence, in high season, waiting times can be up to five hours. In early August 2007, Florence experienced a heavy rainstorm, the Gallery was partially flooded, with water leaking through the ceiling, and the visitors had to be evacuated. There was a more significant flood in 1966 which damaged most of the art collections in Florence severely. Here is a selection from the collection, The collection also contains some ancient sculptures, such as the Arrotino. Collections of the Uffizi Official website Uffizi – Google Art Project
Uffizi
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Narrow courtyard between palace's two wings with view toward the
Arno.
Uffizi
–
Restored Niobe room represents Roman copies of late
Hellenistic art. View of daughter of
Niobe bent by terror.
Uffizi
–
Niobide rises on a rock
Uffizi
–
View of hallway. The walls were originally covered with tapestries.
21.
Medici Bank
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The Medici Bank was a financial institution created by the Medici family in Italy during the 15th century. It was the largest and most respected bank in Europe during its prime, there are some estimates that the Medici family was, for a period of time, the wealthiest family in Europe. Estimating their wealth in money is difficult and imprecise, considering that they owned art, land. With this monetary wealth, the family acquired political power initially in Florence, the Medicis were not only bankers but innovators in financial accounting. At one point, the Medicis managed most of the fortunes in the European world. There was even a time when the currency issued by the Medicis, giovannis father Averardo was not a very successful businessman or banker. A distant cousin, Vieri di Cambio, however, was one of Florences more prominent bankers and his banking house trained and employed Giovanni and his elder brother Francesco, who eventually became partners in the firm. Vieri was long-lived, but his bank split into three separate banks sometime between 1391 and 1392, the second, managed by Francesco and later his son, survived until 1443, a little less than a decade after Averardos death. The third bank was controlled by Giovanni in partnership with Benedetto di Lippaccio de Bardi, the branch in Rome was entrusted to Benedetto, and Giovanni took on Gentile di Baldassare Buoni as a partner. They raised 10,000 gold florins and began operating in Florence, but the Alberti firm split over internecine quarrels, and the clan was banished from Florence in 1382, creating yet another void. Giovannis choice proved to be prescient, especially since what Florence was lacking was a port on the Mediterranean—which it would obtain in 1406 with the conquest of Pisa. A factor was dispatched to Venice to seek out investment opportunities and he did well and on March 25,1402, the third branch of the Medici bank was opened. It suffered from some initial mismanagement, but soon was prospering and it was this branch that established the practice of having a general managers remuneration be paid through shares in the branch that he purchased with his investment. Also in 1402, the first Medici factory was established for the production of woolen cloth, by this point, the Rome branch had established a branch in Naples and Gaeta. In 1420, Benedetto di Bardi died, and was succeeded by his younger brother Ilarione di Bardi and he dissolved one of the wool factories, along with other reorganizations occasioned by partnerships coming to their designated end. Two Portinaris were put in charge of the Florence and Venice branches, according to Lorenzo, his fortune upon his death was worth around 180,000 gold florins. His death did not greatly affect the operations, and the transition to Cosimo went smoothly, aided by Ilarione. At this time, the Medici bank was flourishing, besides the branches in Rome and Florence, Ilarione would not last long in his position, and is mentioned as dead in a letter written in February 1433
Medici Bank
–
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
Medici Bank
–
The Medici Bank
Medici Bank
–
Cosimo de' Medici
Medici Bank
–
Lorenzo de' Medici
22.
Gherardo Silvani
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Gherardo Silvani was an Italian architect and sculptor, active mainly in Florence and other sites in Tuscany during the Baroque period. His son Pierfrancesco also became an architect and he worked on the Palazzo Corsini al Prato, Palazzo Capponi-Covoni, Palazzo Fenzi, Palazzo Pallavicini, Palazzo di San Clemente. He also helped design and construct the altar of the Basilica di Santo Spirito and he helped in the reconstruction of the churches of San Frediano, Santi Simone e Giuda, SantAgostino, and the Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore, among others. He helped design the façade of the Basilica of Santa Maria at Impruneta and his model for the façade of the cathedral of Florence was not adopted. His masterpiece remains the church and façade of San Gaetano in front of Piazza Antinori in Florence, the work was commissioned by the Cardinal Carlo de Medici, and dedicated to the founder of the Theatine order. The building work was shared with Matteo Nigetti, the church is also known as the Church of San Michele and San Gaetano, because it was built on the site of a Romanesque church of San Michele Bertelde. The façade with its sculptural decorations is highly atypical for Florentine churches, which had a predilection for iconoclastic geometrically ornamented façades
Gherardo Silvani
–
Façade of
San Gaetano, Florence.
Gherardo Silvani
–
The portal of
Palazzo Fenzi.
23.
Neri di Bicci
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Neri di Bicci was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. A prolific painter of religious themes, he was active mainly in Florence. His father was Bicci di Lorenzo and his grandfather, Lorenzo di Bicci was also a painter in Florence, a pupil of Spinello Aretino. Neri di Biccis main works include a St and he also painter numerous works in the area of Volterra. His journals from the years 1453–1475, including the rates of remuneration for his work, are preserved in the library of the Uffizi Gallery. Ralph Nicholson Wornum, ed. Biographical catalogue of the principal Italian painters, woodfall & Kinder, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London, Digitized by Googlebooks from Oxford University copy on Jun 27,2006. Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical, York St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell and Sons. The Robert Lehman Collection I, Italian Paintings, new York, Princeton, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press
Neri di Bicci
–
Madonna and Saints, San Sisto,
Viterbo,
Italy.
24.
Spinello Aretino
–
Spinello Aretino was an Italian painter from Arezzo, whose style influenced the development of late 14th- and early 15th-century painting in Tuscany. Spinello Aretino was the son of a Florentine named Luca, who had taken refuge in Arezzo in 1310 when the rest of the Ghibelline party was exiled from Florence and his family name Aretino means from Arezzo. In the past it was believed that Spinello was a pupil of Jacopo del Casentino, however, this is no longer accepted by art historians. Spinellos style was a sort of link between the school of Giotto and that of Siena, in the early part of his life he worked in Florence as an assistant to his master Jacopo while painting frescoes in the church of the Carmine and in Santa Maria Novella. Between 1360 and 1384 he was occupied in painting frescoes in and near Arezzo. These still exist, though in a restored condition, they are very Giotto-like in composition. In 1391-1392 Spinello was painting six frescoes, which remain on the south wall of the Pisan Campo Santo, representing miracles of St. Potitus. For these he received 270 gold florins, frescoes in Sala di Balia of the Palazzo Pubblico represent the war of Frederick Barbarossa against the Pope Alexander III. Spinello died at Arezzo about 1410, Spinellos frescoes are all strong and highly decorative works, drawn with much spirit, and are very superior in style to his panel pictures, many of which appear to be mere bottega productions. The academy of Florence possesses a panel of the Madonna and Saints, the easel pictures which are to be found in the various galleries of Europe give little or no notion of Spinellos power as a painter. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Pope-Hennessy, John & Kanter, Laurence B, the Robert Lehman Collection I, Italian Paintings. New York, Princeton, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, Spinello Aretino e la pittura del Trecento in Toscana. Media related to Spinello Aretino at Wikimedia Commons
Spinello Aretino
–
Totila and
St. Benedict,
San Miniato al Monte,
Florence.
25.
Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation
–
The panel follows the same stylistic and narrative pattern as the other frescoes in the chapel, also by Lorenzo Monaco. It shows the Annunciation and, in the predella, other episodes of the Life of the Virgin which do not feature in the frescoes, the panel is intermediate between a medieval polyptych and a Renaissance altarpiece. It is generally described as the first work in which the subject has a relationship with the surrounding architecture. Another innovation is the side pillars with saints, later used also by Masaccio. The central panel depicts the Annunciation in a painted surface whose rounded top arches recall however the shape of a triptych. Above the three arches are medallions with prophets, of only the middle one has been identified. Below, the scene is completed by a predella with four scenes, Visitation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and these shows typical elements of the International Gothic style, such as the fine arabesques in the drapes and the delicate tonalities in contrast with the dark backgrounds. In the Adoration, the detail of the old king kneeling to kiss the Child is taken from a Ghibertis tile, in the Flight, the palm is taken from the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, which describes the tree that bent itself to allow the passage of the holy family. The Annunciation depicts a sitting Madonna, with an angel arriving from the left to stop her reading and she looks at God, who is portrayed in the middle arch, surrounded by seraphims, and who sends her the dove of the Holy Ghost
Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation
–
Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation
Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation
–
Predella panels
Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation
Bartolini Salimbeni Annunciation
26.
Benedetto Grazzini
–
Benedetto Grazzini, best known as Benedetto da Rovezzano was an Italian architect and sculptor who worked mainly in Florence. He was born in Pistoia in 1474, and adopted the name Rovezzano from the quarter of Florence in which he lived and his most important works include, Pandolfini Chapel and cloister of the Badia Fiorentina. Remains of the monument of St. John Gualbert and a chimney, portal of the Church of Santi Apostoli. Marble cenotaph of Pier Soderini, church of the Carmine, tabernacle of St. John the Evangelist, Santa Maria del Fiore. Three bas-reliefs in the church of San Salvi, pope Leo X sent twelve terra cotta medallions by Rovezzano to Cardinal Wolsey. The sculptor himself went to England in 1524, Wolsey commissioned a tomb for himself, but fell from royal favour before its completion, but King Henry VIII of England ordered its completion. King Charles I of England wished to be buried in it although it remained empty until Nelson was buried in it, four bronze angels designed by Rovezzano for Wolseys tomb have come to light and will be acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum
Benedetto Grazzini
–
Panel from the sarcophagus of St.
John Gualbert, Museum of San Salvi, Florence.
Benedetto Grazzini
–
Relief from an altar, carved between 1517 and 1520, in the
National Gallery of Art
27.
Piazza della Signoria
–
Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called Palazzo Vecchio and it is the focal point of the origin and of the history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political hub of the city. It is the place of Florentines as well as the numerous tourists, located near Plazzo Vecchio and Piazza del Duomo. The impressive 14th-century Palazzo Vecchio is still preeminent with its crenellated tower, the square is also shared with the Loggia della Signoria, the Uffizi Gallery, the Palace of the Tribunale della Mercanzia, and the Palazzo Uguccioni. Located in front of the Palazzo Vecchio is the Palace of the Assicurazioni Generali, the Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of the city. This massive, Romanesque, crenellated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany, the building acquired its current name when the Medici dukes residence was moved across the Arno to the Palazzo Pitti. The Loggia dei Lanzi consists of wide open to the street. The arches rest on clustered pilasters with Corinthian capitals, the wide arches appealed so much to the Florentines, that Michelangelo even proposed that they should be continued all around the Piazza della Signoria. The vivacious construction of the Loggia is in stark contrast with the architecture of the Palazzo Vecchio. It is effectively an open-air sculpture gallery of antique and Renaissance art including the Medici lions, the Tribunale della Mercanzia is a building where in the past lawyers judged in the trial between merchants. Here was a porch painted by Taddeo Gaddi, Antonio del Pollaiolo and Sandro Botticelli, built for Giovanni Uguccioni since 1550, its design has been variously attributed to Raphael, Michelangelo, Bartolomeo Ammannati or Raffaello da Montelupo. The Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali was designed in the Neo-Renaissance style in 1871, on the ground floor of this palace is the historical cafè Rivoire. Other palaces are the palazzo dei Buonaguisi and the palazzo dellArte dei Mercatanti, various imposing statues ring this square including, Copy of Michelangelos David. At the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio, the original by Michelangelo is housed in the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts, later there was a church San Romolo, a loggia and an enormous 5th-century basilica. This was shown by the treasures found beneath the square when it was repaved in the 1980s. Even remains of a Neolithic site were found, the square started taking shape from 1268 on, when houses of Ghibellines were pulled down by the victorious Guelphs. The square remained a long time untidy, full of holes, in 1385 it was paved for the first time. In 1497 Girolamo Savonarola and his followers carried out on this square the famous Bonfire of the Vanities, burning in a large books, gaming tables, fine dresses
Piazza della Signoria
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Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della Signoria
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Panorama of the piazza
Piazza della Signoria
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Palazzo Vecchio
Piazza della Signoria
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Loggia dei Lanzi
28.
Cigoli
–
Lodovico Cardi was born at Villa Castelvecchio di Cigoli, in Tuscany, whence the name by which he is commonly known. Initially, Cigoli trained in Florence under the fervid mannerist Alessandro Allori, for the Roman patron, Massimo Massimi, he painted an Ecce Homo. Supposedly unbenknownst to any of the painters, two other prominent contemporary painters, Passignano and Caravaggio, had been requested canvases on the same theme and this work was afterwards taken by Napoleon to the Louvre, and was restored to Florence in 1815. One of his paintings was of Cain slaying Abel. He then gained the employ of the Grand-Duke in some works for the Pitti Palace, where he painted a Venus and Satyr, other important pictures are St. Peter Healing the Lame Man in St Peters, an unfinished Burial of St. Francis at Florence. In Baldanuccis Notizie or lives of the artists, Cigoli is the only artist, along with Michelangelo and this is the first extant example of Galileos discoveries about the physical nature of the moon having penetrated the visual arts practice of his day. Until this image, the moon in pictures of the Virgin had always been mythical and smooth and his pupils include Cristofano Allori, the Fleming Giovanni Biliverti, Domenico Fetti, Giovanni Antonio Lelli, Aurelio Lomi, Pietro Medici, Gregorio Pagani, and Andrea Comodi. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, a digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Cigoli
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Cigoli, self-portrait
Cigoli
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The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Ludovico Cigoli
29.
Mariotto di Nardo
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Mariotto di Nardo was a Florentine painter. He was the son of the sculptor Nardo di Cione and his style belongs to the Florentine Gothic, and shows the influence of Spinello Aretino and Lorenzo Monaco. He worked at the Duomo of Florence, at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in 1400 he worked with Lorenzo Ghiberti on an altarpiece for Pesaro. Annunciation, Hermitage, Saint Petersburg Madonna and Christ Child with Angels and Saints Mary Magdalene, Francis, Dorothy, Saint Bartholemew and Saint Anthony, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis. Mariotto di Nardo in the archive of the Fondazione Federico Zeri Mariotto di Nardo on Web Gallery of Art Mariotto di Nardo on sito Artcyclopedia. com Mariotto di Nardo on encyclopedie. bseditions. fr
Mariotto di Nardo
–
Christ in Majesty (c. 1395),
Czartoryski Museum,
Kraków
Mariotto di Nardo
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Mariotto di nardo, dottore della chiesa 1404 01
Mariotto di Nardo
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Natività, ca. 1385, now in the
Vatican Museums
30.
Bernardino Poccetti
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Bernardino Poccetti, also known as Barbatelli, was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker of etchings. Born in Florence, he was trained as a decorator of facades and ceilings, enrolling in 1570 in the Florentine painters guild for such work. He is also referred to as, Bernardino Barbatelli or Bernardino delle Grottesche, delle Facciate and he initially worked in the shop of Michele Tosini, and he participated in the broadly shared decoration of the Chiostro Grande of Santa Maria Novella in 1580s. In 1583–85, he helped decorate panegyric frescoes for the Palazzo Capponi and he also completed frescoes in San Pier Maggiore in San Pierino. In 1592–93, he worked on frescoes in the Certosa di Galluzzo relating to Life and he painted scenes from the life of founder of the Convent of the Servites for the Annunziata. He painted scenes from the Life of St. Anthony for San Marco and he frescoed scenes from the Life of Cosimo I as decoration of great Salon of the Pitti Palace. He also labored for other charterhouses in Pisa and Siena and he also painted frescoes, considered his masterpiece, in the Cappella del Giglio in Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi. Among the painters he trained or influenced was Michelangelo Cinganelli, dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical. York St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell and Sons
Bernardino Poccetti
Bernardino Poccetti
–
Bernardino Poccetti
Bernardino Poccetti
Bernardino Poccetti
31.
Fra Angelico
–
Fra Angelico was an Early Italian Renaissance painter described by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having a rare and perfect talent. He was known to contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole and Fra Giovanni Angelico, in modern Italian he is called il Beato Angelico, the common English name Fra Angelico means the Angelic friar. In 1982 Pope John Paul II proclaimed his beatification in recognition of the holiness of his life and he is listed in the Roman Martyrology as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento Angelicus—Blessed Giovanni of Fiesole, surnamed the Angelic. Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro at Rupecanina in the Tuscan area of Mugello near Fiesole towards the end of the 14th century, nothing is known of his parents. He was baptized Guido or Guidolino, the earliest recorded document concerning Fra Angelico dates from October 17,1417 when he joined a religious confraternity or guild at the Carmine Church, still under the name of Guido di Pietro. The first record of Angelico as a friar dates from 1423, Fra, a contraction of frater, is a conventional title for a mendicant friar. According to Vasari, Fra Angelico initially received training as an illuminator, possibly working with his older brother Benedetto who was also a Dominican and an illuminator. The former Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence, now a state museum, the painter Lorenzo Monaco may have contributed to his art training, and the influence of the Sienese school is discernible in his work. He had several important charges in the convents he lived in, but this did not limit his art, according to Vasari, the first paintings of this artist were an altarpiece and a painted screen for the Charterhouse of Florence, none such exist there now. Between 1418 and 1436 he was at the convent of Fiesole, where he executed a number of frescoes for the church and the Altarpiece. A predella of the Altarpiece remains intact and is conserved in the National Gallery, London and it shows Christ in Glory surrounded by more than 250 figures, including beatified Dominicans. In 1436, Fra Angelico was one of a number of the friars from Fiesole who moved to the newly built convent or friary of San Marco in Florence, in 1439 Fra Angelico completed one of his most famous works, the San Marco Altarpiece at Florence. The result was unusual for its time, but in this instance, the saints stand squarely within the space, grouped in a natural way as if they were able to converse about the shared experience of witnessing the Virgin in glory. Paintings such as this, known as Sacred Conversations, were to become the major commissions of Giovanni Bellini, Perugino and Raphael. In 1445 Pope Eugene IV summoned him to Rome to paint the frescoes of the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament at St Peters, later demolished by Pope Paul III. Vasari claims that at this time Fra Angelico was offered the Archbishopric of Florence by Pope Nicholas V, the story seems possible and even likely. However, if Vasaris date is correct, then the pope must have been Eugene IV and not Nicholas, moreover, the Archbishop in 1446–1459 was the Dominican Antoninus of Florence, canonized by Pope Adrian VI in 1523. In 1447 Fra Angelico was in Orvieto with his pupil, Benozzo Gozzoli, among his other pupils were Zanobi Strozzi
Fra Angelico
–
Detail from Deeds of the Antichrist by
Luca Signorelli (c. 1501) in
Orvieto Cathedral,
Italy
Fra Angelico
–
The Virgin of the Annunciation
Fra Angelico
–
San Marco Altarpiece.
Fra Angelico
–
The Crucified Christ
32.
Deposition of Christ (Fra Angelico)
–
The Deposition from the Cross is a painting of the Deposition of Christ by the Italian Renaissance master Fra Angelico, executed between 1432 and 1434. It is now housed in the National Museum of San Marco, giorgio Vasari defined it to have been “painted by a saint or an angel”. Angelico intervened to complete this altarpiece when it had already begun by Lorenzo Monaco for the Strozzi Chapel in the Florentine church of Santa Trinita. It portrays Christ supported by people, with Mary Magdalene keeping his feet. A figure on the right, with a red hat, is showing the cross nails, Mary, wearing a dark dress, is shown in the traditional gesture of keeping hands joined
Deposition of Christ (Fra Angelico)
–
Deposition from the Cross
33.
San Marco, Florence
–
San Marco is the name of a religious complex in Florence, Italy. It comprises a church and a convent, the convent, which is now a museum, has three claims to fame. During the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the painter Fra Angelico and the preacher Girolamo Savonarola, also housed at the convent is a famous collection of manuscripts in a library built by Michelozzo. The present convent occupies the site where a Vallombrosan monastery existed in the 12th century, both of these groups were branches of the Order of St. Benedict. In the time of the Sylvestrines at least, the church was used both for monastic liturgical functions and as a parish church, from this initial period there have recently been rediscovered some traces of frescoes below floor level. They appealed to Cosimo de Medici the Elder, who lived nearby in the palace, now known as the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. So it was that in 1437 Cosimo commissioned Michelozzo, the Medici’s favourite architect to rebuild the San Marco convent on Renaissance lines. By 1438 the work was underway and the final dedication took place on Epiphany night 1443 in the presence of Pope Eugene IV. These years marked in fact the height of the Medici family’s artistic patronage, the church has a single nave with side chapels designed in the late 16th century by Giambologna, and housing paintings from the 16th–17th centuries. In the late 17th century the tribune and the ceiling were also realized. A further renovation was carried on in 1678 by Pier Francesco Silvani, the façade, in Neo-Classical style, was built in 1777–1778. Among the artworks, the most ancient is a 14th-century crucifix in the counter-façade, the crucifix on the high altar is by Fra Angelico. Over the first altar to the right is St. Thomas Praying by Santi di Tito from 1593, Giambologna completed the Cappella di SantAntonino in May 1589. The Salviati family had been linked by marriage to the Medici (Pope Leo XI was the son of Francesca Salviati, the interior was decorated in fresco with a Translation and Funeral of St. Antonino Perozzi by Domenico Passignano. The dome of the chapel is by Bernardino Poccetti, also author of frescoes in the Sacrament Chapel, the latter also has canvases by Santi di Tito, Crespi, Francesco Morandini, Jacopo da Empoli, and Francesco Curradi. The work was planned according to arrangements that took account of simplicity and practicality, but were of great elegance, a sober, though comfortable, Renaissance edifice. The internal walls were covered in whitewashed plaster, layout centred on two cloisters, with the usual features of a chapter house, two refectories and guest quarters on the ground level. On the upper floor were the friars’ cells, small walled enclosures overarched by a trussed roof
San Marco, Florence
–
The façade and the bell tower of San Marco in Florence.
San Marco, Florence
–
The Last Judgement, by Fra Angelico.
34.
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
–
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio was an Italian Renaissance painter active mainly in Florence. Ridolfo Ghirlandaio was the son of the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, being less than eleven years old when his father died, Ridolfo was brought up by his uncle Davide Ghirlandaio, a painter of moderate talents. Vasari states that Ridolfo trained under Fra Bartolomeo and his works between the dates 1504 and 1508 show a marked influence from Fra Bartolomeo and Raphael, with whom he was friends. From Rome in 1508, Raphael asked Ridolfo to join him, in Florence, he became one of the prominent painters of altarpieces, frescoes, and portraits. He was prominent in the execution of vast scenic canvases for various occasions, such as the wedding of Giuliano de Medici. In his old age Ridolfo was greatly disabled by gout and he appears to have been of a kindly, easy-going character, much regarded by his friends and patrons. Works and details Among his masterpieces, mostly oil-pictures are, Christ on the road to Calvary, an Annunciation in the Abbey of Montoliveto near Florence, Leonardesque in style. In 1504, he completed the Coronation of the Virgin and he painted a Nativity and a predella in the Oratory of the Bigallo, Florence, with five panels, representing the Nativity and other subjects. He also painted an Assumption of the Virgin, who bestows her girdle on St Thomas and he also painted a Virgin and various saints at San Pietro Maggiore of Pistoia. In 1521, the Pietà, at SantAgostino, Colle di Val dElsa, towards 1526, the Assumption, containing a self-portrait. Ghirlandaio painted a portrait of a young Cosimo I de Medici, in 1543, a series of frescoes in the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli. In the National Gallery, London is The Procession to Calvary and his Portrait of a Man with a Pink is in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. An Adoration by the Shepherds attributed to Ghirlandaio is displayed at the Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame University in South Bend, a great number of altar-pieces were executed by Ghirlandaio, with the assistance of his favorite pupil, Michele Tosini. Other of his pupils were Mariano Grazidei of Pescia, Carlo Portelli of Loro in the Valdarno, portraits This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
–
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio. A self-portrait.
Galleria Borghese,
Rome.
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
–
Adoration of the Shepherds (detail), 1510
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
–
Madonna and Child
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
–
A detail of a fresco by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio.
35.
Maso di Banco
–
Maso di Banco was an Italian painter of the 14th century, who worked in Florence, Italy. He and Taddeo Gaddi were the most prominent Florentine pupils of Giotto di Bondone, masos name and work are known to us from Lorenzo Ghibertis autobiographical I Commentari, which identifies frescoes in the chapel of the Holy Confessors at Santa Croce, Florence as his chief work. The frescoes, not signed or dated but probably c 1340, represent scenes from the Life of St. Sylvester, the Last Judgment and his fresco of a particular judgment is in the Bardi banking family chapel of Santa Croce. It features Gualtiero de Bardi pleading on behalf of his soul before Jesus Christ, nanni di Banco, a sculptor of the early 15th century, is not related to Maso
Maso di Banco
–
Pope Sylvester I turning away a
dragon and reviving its victims, by Maso di Banco
36.
Desiderio da Settignano
–
Desiderio da Settignano, real name Desiderio de Bartolomeo di Francesco detto Ferro was an Italian sculptor active during the Renaissance. He came from a family of stone carvers and stonemasons in Settignano and it is rather surprising that he would have received such an important commission as the Tomb of Carlo Marsuppini so early in his career. Apparently, his capabilities and sensitivity to the tactile qualities of marble had already been recognized. In composing this wall tomb for the Basilica of Santa Croce, in fact, in his design for the tomb, Desiderio was paying homage to Bernardos example in much the same fashion as Marsuppini did when he had composed the epitaph for the Bruni Tomb. In the niche itself he ignored the symbolism of the Trinity by using four instead of three panels as the backdrop for the sarcophagus, the motifs used are all classicizing in inspiration and the total effect is light and charming, even joyous, if somewhat unfocused. For his Tabernacle of the Sacrament, Desiderio returned to a prototype originated by his probable master and this time, Desiderio found his inspiration in Rossellinos c.1450 tabernacle for the chapel of the Womens Hospital of Santa Maria Nuovo. What Desiderio produced is unquestionably one of the most decoratively delightful examples of early Renaissance sculpture, the composition consists of a pilaster framed aedicula within which a spatially receding barrel vault leads the eye back to the actual doorway of the sacramental closet. Halfway down this corridor, angels rush in from side passages. The aedicula of the tabernacle is surmounted by an elaborately framed lunette that encloses an image of the blessing Christ Child standing upon the sacramental chalice flanked by bowing angels, two more angels, holding tall candelabra, stand in weight-shift pose to either side of the tabernacle. All of this, apparently, rested upon a base containing a relief of the Lamentation which seems out of place in an otherwise festive context. Yet this remembrance of Christs Passion is essential to Desiderios iconographic program, the body of Christ forms the base upon which his spiritual body is contained and above which the Benediction is given. Whatever its first location, the tabernacle was removed from space in 1677, for the Neroni, the sculptural components of the tabernacle were recomposed, with the flanking candalabra angels and placed in reverse outward facing positions. Console blocks were used to support the tabernacle which, in a final Baroque touch, was set against a background of colored marble slabs. For Desiderios handling of flattened relief we must turn to his panel of Saint Jerome at Prayer in the Desert or his tondo of the Meeting of Christ and John the Baptist as Youths. The extent of his work has been debated, many works sometimes attributed to him might be better given to assistants, followers, or to his brother Geri. Desiderio made great contributions in the field of portriature especially as it came to the representation of children and this was a genre which he practically reinvented, drawing upon Roman examples of the Augustan Age. Such sculptures present their youthful subjects with informality even animation, often with open-mouthed expression and his name has been connected with several marble and wooden female busts. The best of these includes the marble bust of Marietta Strozzi in Berlin that projects a soft, throughout his brief career, one of the most telling characteristics of his technique was his unusual ability to give to his sculptures a textural sensuousness that demands touch
Desiderio da Settignano
–
Christ Child (?), marble of c. 1460, in the
National Gallery of Art
Desiderio da Settignano
–
Jesus and John
37.
Cosimo Rosselli
–
He painted almost entirely religious subjects, with a few portraits. He did other large frescos with his workship, from which Fra Bartolomeo and Piero di Cosimo and these include a chapel in SantAmbrogio, Florence and one of the large spaces in the cloister of Santissima Annunziata, Florence. In 1460, at the age of fourteen, he became a pupil of Neri di Bicci, a first youthful work of Cosimo mentioned by Giorgio Vasari is the Assumption of the Virgin altarpiece in the third chapel on the left of the nave in SantAmbrogio in Florence. In the same church, on the wall of one of the chapels, is a fresco by Cosimo which Vasari praises highly, especially for a portrait of the young scholar Pico of Mirandola. The scene, a bearing a miracle-working chalice, is painted with vigor. A picture painted by Rosselli for the church of the Annunziata, barbara, Matthew and the Baptist, is in the Academy of Florence. Rosselli also spent some time in Lucca, where he painted altarpieces for various churches. A picture attributed to him, taken from the church of St. Girolamo at Fiesole, is now in the National Gallery of London, though dry and hard in treatment, the figures are designed with much dignity. Rosselli and his collaborators executed two or three frescoes, the Descent from Mount Sinai, the Last Supper and, perhaps, the Sermon of the Mount, the Passage of the Red Sea is variously attributed to him, to Ghirlandaio or to Biagio dAntonio. The Gemäldegalerie, Berlin has three pictures by Rosselli, The Virgin in Glory, The Entombment of Christ and The Massacre of the Innocents. In 1480 Rosselli, together with the painters of Florence, was invited by Pope Sixtus IV to Rome to assist in the painting of the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. Three of these were executed by him The Destruction of Pharaohs Army in the Red Sea, Christ Preaching by the Lake of Tiberias and his chief pupil was Fra Bartolomeo. Among Rosellis other pupils were Angelo di Donino and Giovanni Battista Vanni, according to Vasari, Rosselli died in 1484, but this is a mistake, as he was known to have been living on 25 November 1506. Sources This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Pope-Hennessy, John & Kanter, Laurence B, the Robert Lehman Collection I, Italian Paintings. New York, Princeton, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
Cosimo Rosselli
–
Adoration of the Child, tempera on wood,
National Museum in
Wrocław
Cosimo Rosselli
–
Handing over the Tablets of the Law,
Sistine Chapel
38.
Francesco Granacci
–
Francesco Granacci was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. Born at Villamagna di Volterra, he trained in Florence in the studio of Domenico Ghirlandaio and he is featured in Giorgio Vasaris Vite. In 1508, Granacci went to Rome, where he and other artists helped his lifelong friend Michelangelo to transfer cartoons to the Sistine chapel ceiling, in 1519, he painted a Madonna with Child and Saint John. An altarpiece of the Assumption is influenced by Pietro Perugino, in 1527, Granacci painted the Entry of Charles VIII into Florence and a canvas of the Ten thousand martyrs for the Church of San Simone e Giuda in Florence. Granacci is buried in the church of SantAmbrogio in Florence, holst, Christian von, Francesco Granacci, Bruckmann, München,1974 Italian Paintings, Florentine School, a collection catalog containing information about Granacci and his works
Francesco Granacci
–
Illustration of Francesco Granacci from
Le Vite by
Giorgio Vasari, edition of 1568
Francesco Granacci
–
Adoration of the Christ Child,
tempera on panel painting by Francesco Granacci, c. 1500,
Honolulu Museum of Art
Francesco Granacci
–
Granacci's Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist at
Museo de Arte de Ponce,
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Francesco Granacci
–
The Annunciation, Corsham Court,
Bath
39.
Giovanni dal Ponte
–
Giovanni dal Ponte was an Italian painter of the late-Gothic period. He is known by Vasari as dal Ponte, a derived from the location of his studio at Santo Stefano a Ponte. Many other documents cite his name as Giovanni di Marco and he was reputedly a student of Spinello Aretino. He worked in Assisi and Rome as well as his hometown and he shared a studio with Giovanni di Smeraldo in Florence and they worked in the early 1430s in S. Trinita, Florence on frescoes as well as on several major altarpieces. Giovanni dal Ponte is known for works and historical allegories as well as religious works. His output was varied and prolific production. He produced fresco cycles and panels and also decorated small objects and he is not to be confused with the much earlier painter Giovanni da Santo Stefano da Ponte. Media related to Giovanni dal Ponte at Wikimedia Commons
Giovanni dal Ponte
–
Dante and
Petrarch
40.
Luca della Robbia
–
Luca della Robbia was an Italian sculptor from Florence. Della Robbia is noted for his colorful, tin-glazed terracotta statuary, though a leading sculptor in stone, he worked primarily in terracotta after developing his technique in the early 1440s. His large workshop produced both cheaper works cast from molds in multiple versions, and more expensive one-off individually modeled pieces, the vibrant, polychrome glazes made his creations both more durable and expressive. His work is noted for its charm rather than the drama of the work of some of his contemporaries, two of his famous works are The Nativity, c.1460 and Madonna and Child, c. In stone his most famous work is also his first major commission, Vasari, Gaurico, and several other early writers give contradictory accounts of Luca della Robbias youth, training, and early works. He was born in Florence, the son of a member of the Arte de Lana or wool-workers guild and he may have trained as a goldsmith under Leonardo di Ser Giovanni according to Vasari, before working with Ghiberti on the famous doors of the Florence Baptistry. He was heavily influenced by Donatello, and in the 1420s was used by the architect Filippo Brunelleschi for sculpture on his buildings and his important commission for the Cantoria of Florence Cathedral came before he joined the sculptors guild in 1432. According to Vasari, the Medici family were responsible for securing him the commission and his first documented commission, the Cantoria for the organ loft of Cathedral of Florence. During the seven years it took della Robbia to carve the reliefs under the supervision of Brunelleschi, while the earliest carved panels are fairly symmetric and lack movement, in later panels the movement of the singers becomes much more evident and dynamic. The Singing Gallery shows children singing, dancing, and making music to praise the Lord in the words of Psalm 150 and their figures are at once lively, finely observed, and gracefully combined in groups designed to fit the ten panels of the gallery. The advanced nature of the work has seen to establish Luca della Robbias skill in stone as well as secure his place as a major Florentine artist. Maria in Peretola, bronze angels to enrich the Singing Gallery, and, in collaboration with Michelozzo, in 1898 it was again removed to the church of Santa Trinita in Florence. An effigy of the bishop in a restful pose lies on a sarcophagus sculptured with graceful reliefs of angels holding a wreath which contains the inscription, above are three-quarter length figures of Christ between St John and the Virgin, of conventional type. The whole is surrounded by a frame formed of painted tiles. On each tile is painted, with pigments, a bunch of flowers. Della Robbias earliest surviving freestanding sculpture is the white tin-glazed terracotta Visitation in the church of San Giovanni Fuoricivitas of Pistoia, working with assistants, including members of his own family, della Robbia produced a number of decorative reliefs and altarpieces until the end of his life. One of the arguably finest examples is the enameled terra-cotta ceiling of the Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal in San Miniato and this medallion was set up on the facade of the Pazzi Palace to commemorate Renés visit to Florence in 1442. His works were popular in his time, and many were sent outside Florence
Luca della Robbia
–
Roundel by Luca and
Andrea della Robbia
Luca della Robbia
–
Cantoria (singing loft) by Luca della Robbia, 1431-38, his first known commission -
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
Luca della Robbia
–
Another panel of the Cantoria
Luca della Robbia
–
Nativity,
National Gallery of Art
41.
Web Gallery of Art
–
The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual art gallery website. It displays historic European visual art, mainly from the Baroque, Gothic and Renaissance periods, the website contains reproductions of over 35,000 works and includes accompanying text on the artworks and artists, accessible through a searchable database. The site is an example of an independently established collection of high-quality historically important pictures. The viewer can select the size of the image, associated music is included to accompany viewing. The facility was created by Emil Kren and Daniel Marx, most of the images in the gallery are of works that are out of copyright, as they were all produced before 1900 and all named artists in the collection were born well before 1900. However, copyright for the reproductions displayed on the website may apply within some legal systems, the WGA itself gives the following copyright statement, The Web Gallery of Art is copyrighted as a database. Images and documents downloaded from this database can only be used for educational and personal purposes, distribution of the images in any form is prohibited without the authorization of their legal owner. Very little information is given on the pages presenting the images, copyrights of the sculpture images therefore remain unclear. Their database with over 34,000 artworks created by over 4,000 artists is free to download, artworks installed in churches and from private collections are represented as well as museums. What follows is a list of institutions with more than 50 works represented on their website, based on their downloadable database. List of painters in the Web Gallery of Art List of sculptors in the Web Gallery of Art List of graphic artists in the Web Gallery of Art The Artchive WebMuseum Web Gallery of Art website
Web Gallery of Art
–
Screenshot of the
Domenico Ghirlandaio page.
Web Gallery of Art
–
Number of artworks per period. Data taken from the Web Gallery of Art database downloaded in March 2014
42.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
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A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
43.
Tourism in Italy
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With 48.6 million tourists a year, Italy is the fifth most visited country in international tourism arrivals. People mainly visit Italy for its art, cuisine, history, fashion and culture, its beautiful coastline and beaches, its mountains. Italy also contains more World Heritage Sites than any country in the world. Tourism is one of Italys fastest growing and most profitable industrial sectors, traders and merchants came to Italy from several different parts of the world. Pilgrims, for centuries and still today, would come to the city, the trade empires of Venice, Pisa and Genoa meant that several traders, businessmen and merchants from all over the world would also regularly come to Italy. In the 16th and early 17th century, with the height of the Renaissance, several came to Italy to study Italian architecture. Real tourism only affected in Italy in the half of the 17th century. This was a period in which European aristocrats, many of whom were British, visited parts of Europe, Italy, Greece and this was in order to study ancient architecture and the local culture. The Grand Tour was in essence triggered by the book Voyage to Italy, by Roman Catholic priest Richard Lassels, due to the Grand Tour, tourism became even more prevalent - making Italy one of the most desired destinations for millions of people. Once inside what would be modern-day Italy, these tourists would begin by visiting Turin for a short while. On the way there, Milan was also a stop, yet a trip to the city was not considered essential. If a person came via boat, then they would remain a few days in Genoa, yet, the main destination in Northern Italy was Venice, which was considered a vital stop, as well as cities around it such as Verona, Vicenza and Padua. Tourists rarely, yet occasionally, got to Trieste, as the Tour went on, Tuscan cities were also very important itinerary stops. Florence was an attraction, and other Tuscan towns, such as Siena, Pisa, Lucca. The most prominent stop in Central Italy, however, was Rome, later, they would go down to the Bay of Naples, and after their discovery in 1756, Pompeii and Herculaneum were popular too. Sicily was considered a significant part of the trail, and several, such as Goethe, throughout the 17th to 18th centuries, the Grand Tour was mainly reserved for academics or the elite. Nevertheless, circa 1840, rail transport was introduced and the Grand Tour started to fall out of vogue, hence. The 1840s saw the period in which the Victorian middle classes toured the country, several Americans were also able to visit Italy, and many more tourists came to the peninsula
Tourism in Italy
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The
Amalfi Coast seen from
Ravello in
Campania. This is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy.
Tourism in Italy
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The
Italian Alps.
Tourism in Italy
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Islands such as
Capri became popular in the late 14th century and first decade of the 19th century
Tourism in Italy
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Beach of
Rimini.
44.
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
Florence Cathedral
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Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Italian) Cathedral Sanctae Mariae Floris (Latin)
Florence Cathedral
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Florence Cathedral
Florence Cathedral
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Giotto's bell tower (campanile)
Florence Cathedral
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The Duomo, as if completed, in a fresco by Andrea di Bonaiuto, painted in the 1360s, before the commencement of the dome
45.
Basilica of 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
Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence
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View of the Basilica.
Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence
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Interior looking towards the high altar.
Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence
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Michelangelo's model
Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence
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The cruciform basilica with the vast domed apsidal Medici Chapel; in the cloister is the
Laurentian Library.
46.
Medici Chapel
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The Sagrestia Nuova, was designed by Michelangelo. The larger Cappella dei Principi, though proposed in the 16th century, was not begun until the early 17th century, the Sagrestia Nuova was intended by Cardinal Giulio de Medici and his cousin Pope Leo X as a mausoleum or mortuary chapel for members of the Medici family. The Sagrestia Nuova was entered by an entrance in a corner of San Lorenzos right transept. By order of Cosimo I, Giorgio Vasari and Bartolomeo Ammannati finished the work by 1555, there were intended to be four Medici tombs, but those of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano were never begun. The result is that the two magnificent existing tombs are those of comparatively insignificant Medici, Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino and Giuliano di Lorenzo and their architectural components are similar, their sculptures offer contrast. A concealed corridor with drawings on the walls by Michelangelo was discovered under the New Sacristy in 1976, the octagonal Cappella dei Principi surmounted by a tall dome,59 m. high, is the distinguishing feature of San Lorenzo when seen from a distance. It is on the axis as the nave and chancel to which it provides the equivalent of an apsidal chapel. Its entrance is from the exterior, in Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, the opulent Cappella dei Principi, an idea formulated by Cosimo I, was put into effect by Ferdinand I de Medici. A true expression of art, it was the result of collaboration among designers. For the execution of its astonishing revetment of marbles inlaid with colored marbles and semi-precious stone, the Grand Ducal hardstone workshop, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure was established. The art of commessi, as it was called in Florence, the result was disapproved of by 18th and 19th century visitors, but has come to be appreciated for an example of the taste of its time. Six grand sarcophagi are empty, the Medici remains are interred in the crypt below, in sixteen compartments of the dado are coats-of-arms of Tuscan cities under Medici control. In the niches that were intended to hold sculptures of Medici. The lantern at the top of the Medici Chapel is made out of marble and has an “…. unusual polyhedron mounted on the peak of the conical roof, the orb that is on top of the lantern has seventy-two facets and is about two feet in diameter. But because it is on a mausoleum, the Medici family is promoting their own personal power with the orb and cross, laurel wreath and lion heads. The lantern that holds up the orb helps to accentuate the height and size of the chapel, the lantern is a bit less than seven meters tall and, “…is equal to the height of the dome it surmounts, ”. The lantern metaphorically expresses the themes of death and resurrection, the lantern is where the soul could escape and go from “…death to the afterlife. ”. ISBN 5-98856-012-1 Peter Barenboim, Sergey Shiyan, Michelangelo, Mysteries of the Medici Chapel, SLOVO, ISBN 5-85050-825-2 Peter Barenboim, Sergey Shiyan, Michelangelo in the Medici Chapel, Genius in details
Medici Chapel
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The dome of the Cappella dei Principi dominates the San Lorenzo architectural complex.
Medici Chapel
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Tomb of
Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici with
Night and
Day
Medici Chapel
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Tomb of
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici with
Dusk and
Dawn
Medici Chapel
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A 19th-century photograph of the interior of the Cappella dei Principi
47.
Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence
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The Basilica di Santa Croce is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres south-east of the Duomo, the site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world and its most notable features are its sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils, and its tombs and cenotaphs. Legend says that Santa Croce was founded by St Francis himself, the construction of the current church, to replace an older building, was begun on 12 May 1294, possibly by Arnolfo di Cambio, and paid for by some of the citys wealthiest families. It was consecrated in 1442 by Pope Eugene IV, the buildings design reflects the austere approach of the Franciscans. The floorplan is an Egyptian or Tau cross,115 metres in length with a nave, to the south of the church was a convent, some of whose buildings remain. The Primo Chiostro, the cloister, houses the Cappella dei Pazzi, built as the chapter house. Filippo Brunelleschi was involved in its design which has remained rigorously simple, in 1560, the choir screen was removed as part of changes arising from the Counter-Reformation and the interior rebuilt by Giorgio Vasari. As a result, there was damage to the churchs decoration, the bell tower was built in 1842, replacing an earlier one damaged by lightning. The neo-Gothic marble façade dates from 1857-1863, the Jewish architect Niccolo Matas from Ancona, designed the churchs façade, working a prominent Star of David into the composition. Matas had wanted to be buried with his peers but because he was Jewish, he was buried under the threshold, in 1866, the complex became public property, as a part of government suppression of most religious houses, following the wars that gained Italian independence and unity. The Museo dellOpera di Santa Croce is housed mainly in the refectory, a monument to Florence Nightingale stands in the cloister, in the city in which she was born and after which she was named. Brunelleschi also built the cloister, completed in 1453. In 1966, the Arno River flooded much of Florence, including Santa Croce, the water entered the church bringing mud, pollution and heating oil. The damage to buildings and art treasures was severe, taking several decades to repair, today the former dormitory of the Franciscan friars houses the Scuola del Cuoio. Visitors can watch as artisans craft purses, wallets, and other goods which are sold in the adjacent shop. Sylvester. Henry Moore Andrea Orcagna Antonio Rossellino Bernardo Rossellino Santi di Tito Giorgio Vasari with sculpture by Valerio Cioli, Iovanni Bandini, way to Calvary painted by Vasari. Domenico Veneziano Once present in the churchs Medici Chapel, but now split between the Florentine Galleries and the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan, is a polyptych by Lorenzo di Niccolò
Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence
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Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.
Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence
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Franciscan symbol on the facade of the temple
Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence
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Interior towards the main entrance
Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence
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Michelangelo's tomb
48.
Baroncelli Chapel
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The Baroncelli Chapel is a chapel located at the end of the right transept in church of Santa Croce, central Florence, Italy. It has frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi executed between 1328 and 1338, the fresco cycle represents the Stories of the Virgin. In this work, Gaddi showed his mastership of Giottos style, with a disposition of the characters in the scenes. The two niches with still lifes in the basement are perhaps inspired by Giottos ones in the Scrovegni Chapel, the delicate and soft features are characteristic of Gaddis late style. The adoption of light in the Annunciation to the Shepherds is nearly unique in the mid-14th century painting of central Italy. Gaddi also designed the stained glasses, with four prophets on the exterior, and perhaps had a hand in the altarpiece also,1328, has the signature Opus Magistri Jocti, but the style shows the hands of assistants, including Gaddi himself. It is a polyptych, depicting the Coronation of the Virgin surrounded by a crowded Glory of Angels. The cusp of the altarpiece is now at the San Diego Museum of Art of San Diego, California, the original frame was replaced by a new one during the 15th century. Other artworks in the include, on the right wall. The Baroncelli Polyptych, painted by Giotto di Bondone c.1334, is in the chapel, the Baroncelli family owned the tomb on the external wall, which was designed by Giovanni di Balduccio in 1327. He also sculpted the statuettes of the Archangel Gabriel and the Annunciation on the arcades pillars, the Madonna with Child sculpture inside the chapel was created by Vincenzo Danti in 1568
Baroncelli Chapel
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Baroncelli Chapel.
Baroncelli Chapel
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Baroncelli family tomb.
Baroncelli Chapel
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Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple and Presentation of Jesus at the Temple by Taddeo Gaddi.
49.
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
Pazzi Chapel
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Pazzi Chapel and the cloister
Pazzi Chapel
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Interior of the Pazzi Chapel
Pazzi Chapel
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Dome in the porch
Pazzi Chapel
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Pazzi Chapel Ceiling
