With the hope of a break in the hot weather, I bravely paid a visit to the lovely church of Santa Maria Novella today. It was a very nice visit, but the weather was suspiciously hot. Seems I had been misinformed.

In the transept of this magnificent church, I always admire the 2 chapels on the proper right side of the center, main altar. The right side = the right side. What I mean is: if you were buying a spot for your family’s chapel in a church in the Renaissance, you’d want to buy this coveted space to the right side. It was the 2nd best space to own, after the main chapel in the dead center. Owning a chapel on the left hand side was good, but not great. The right side is good, the left side is a bit sinister.

And then, ta da! We arrive at the main event:

Here we are, at the gorgeous main chapel, the cappella maggiore aka the “Tornabuoni Chapel.” All of these names are correct. It was painted by Ghirlandaio and his workshop in the late quattrocento. It is magnificent.

Ghirlandaio’s fresco cycles on the left and ride sides of the chapel depict the lives of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist. In the diagram below, we are looking at the proper left hand wall, which treats the subject of Mary’s life.

Below is the fresco panel depicting the birth of the Virgin Mary. The rectangular panel above it shows the marriage of the Virgin to Joseph.

WordPress, with whom I write my blog, has recently changed the formatting style of their website and I am still getting used to it. In the image block below you can have a look at Mr. and Mrs. Tornabuoni, the patrons of the Ghirlandaio painting cycle. In theory, you can move the line with the arrows to the left and right and see all of each picture. Good luck. Let me know if you have any problems.

The donor portraits above show Giovanni Tornabuoni and his wife Francesca Pitti. 

If you are familiar with Italian Renaissance art, you will know that stained glass didn’t place the role here that it had, for example, in France. You will rarely find a major stained glass series in Florence. One of the most elaborate examples is here at Santa Maria Novella in this chapel. It was designed in the quattrocento by Ghirlandaio, the same artist who painted the frescoes.

On the right hand wall, Ghirlandaio painted scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist. You see this 7 panel arrangement behind the main altar in the photo below:

For more information on this wonderful chapel, see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornabuoni_Chapel

I’ll be posting soon about another masterpiece within the walls of Santa Maria Novella. Stay tuned!

I recently bought a tv. While this is hardly noteworthy, it is a departure for me. I’ve lived in furnished apartments in Italy that have tvs, but since I took my current, unfurnished, apartment in March of 2018, I’ve been tv free. Not a big deal, for in the past almost 4 years, while living in Florence, I haven’t watched one solid hour of Italian tv.

This is not to say I don’t watch tv, even without a set. I do. I watch American tv shows on my computer.

But, I recently learned that I’m paying for tv with my regular electric bill, and can’t get out of it. So, I thought to myself, if you can’t beat them, join them.

It took 4 people (including me) to get my new “smart tv” hooked up. But, on Friday, we got it connected. I’ve been watching some Italian tv shows and learning all kinds of new stuff.

What led me to write this post is that today I watched the Pope say mass from his window in the Vatican Palace on tv. It was fascinating to observe and, amazingly, is the first time I’ve ever watched it on tv or in person. I was amused when the Pope ended his sermon by wishing everyone a “Buon pranzo” (good lunch).

I just didn’t realize that the descendant of St. Peter, and the representative of God on earth, would be so folksy! I thought he only proclaimed really important stuff.

I was also entertained when, earlier in his remarks, the thin crowd in the piazza below the window (don’t forget its August, about 100 degrees in the shade in Rome today, and we are still dealing with Covid), clapped. I didn’t know the Pope was cheered for delivering his sermon.

Live and learn. Everyday here brings something new to remark upon!