Italian Renaissance art
Long lost painting by Leonardo, new auction record
The marble mountains of Carrara
All the marble from the Italian Renaissance came from these mountains in Carrara. I had a fly-by view of them from the train last summer. I plan to visit Carrara again soon.
Basilica Santo Spirito, Firenze
Brunelleschi, Michelangelo and many other important artists have major works within this Renaissance architectural masterpiece in the Oltrarno that is so easy to miss. The church’s facade is so unimposing, it is almost invisible.
But step inside and behold: Brunelleschi’s lovely basilica.
Brunelleschi began designs for this interior as early as 1428. The first pillars to the building were delivered in 1446, ten days before his death. After his death, his plans for the church were carried on by his followers Antonio Manetti, Giovanni da Gaiole, and Salvi d’Andrea; the latter was also responsible for the construction of the cupola.
Unlike the Basilica of San Lorenzo, where Brunelleschi’s ideas were thwarted, his designs were carried through here with some degree of fidelity, at least in the ground plan and up to the level of the arcades.
The Latin cross plan was realized and the contrast between the nave and the transept, that caused such difficulty at S. Lorenzo, was here also avoided. The side chapels, in the form of niches, all the same size and 40 in number, run along the entire perimeter of the basilica.
Brunelleschi’s facade was never built and left blank. In 1489, a columned vestibule and octagonal sacristy, designed by Simone del Pollaiolo, known as Il Cronaca, and Giuliano da Sangallo respectively, were built to the left of the building. A door was opened up in a chapel to make the connection to the church.
Dominating the interior of the basilica is a Baroque baldachin with polychrome marbles, by Giovanni Battista Caccini and Gherardo Silvani, and placed over the high altar in 1601.
The church remained undecorated until the 18th century, when the walls were plastered. The inner façade is by Salvi d’Andrea, and has still the original glass window with the Pentecost designed by Pietro Perugino. The bell tower (1503) was designed by Bacio d’Agnolo.
The exterior of the building was restored in 1977-78.
The Augustinians had begun building the church and the convent in 1252. It was originally dedicated to Mary, All Saints and the Holy Spirit, changing by the end of the century to Mary, the Holy Spirit and Matthew.
The churches and convents of various mendicant orders were constructed with the financial support of the commune; the same is true for Santo Spirito beginning in 1267, and then again from 1292 to 1301.
The convent of S. Spirito became a center of scholarly activities and was recognized as Studium Generale of the Augustinian order in 1284. The first Rule and Constitutions of the Augustinians were approved in 1287 by the general chapter of the order that was held in Florence.
Santo Spirito was associated with the early humanism in Florence. One of the groups, led by Bocaccio, gathered there in 1360s and 1370s. Upon his death in 1375, Bocaccio bequeathed his library to the convent.
In the 1380s and early 1390s another circle of humanists met daily in the cell of Luigi Marsili (1342–94). Marsili had studied philosophy and theology at the Universities of Padua and Paris. He came into contact with Petrarch at Padua in 1370 and later became a friend of Bocaccio. This group included Coluccio Salutati (1331-1406), Chancellor of Florence from 1375. He soon became the central figure of the circle.
The most important of Salutati disciples was Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444), a future Chancellor of Florence. Another member of the circle was Niccolo de’ Niccoli, a humanist and an associate of Cosimo de Medici.
It was after the Florentine victory over the Milanese in 1397 during the second Milan war on the feast day of Saint Augustine (28 August), that the Florentine signoria decided to rebuild this church to honor the saint, and placing it under the patronage of the city.
Despite this decision, nothing much happened until 1434, when the operai retained the services of Filippo Brunelleschi. Work on the new church progressed slowly until March 1471. During the Descend of the Holy Spirit sacra rappresentazione organized by the laudese in honor of the visit of Galeazzo Maria Sforza the old church caught fire and was heavily damaged, together with parts of the convent.
The walls of the cloister to the left of the basilica are lined with tombstones from all nationalities and eras.
The convent attached to Santo Spirito has two cloisters; they are known as the Chiostro dei Morti (cloister of the dead) and Chiostro Grande (Grand Cloister). The former takes its name from the great number of tombstone decorating its walls, and was built c. 1600 by Alfonso Parigi. The latter was constructed in 1564-1569 by Bartolomeo Ammannati in a classicistic style.
The former convent also contains the great refectory (Cenacolo di Santo Spirito) with a large fresco portraying the Crucifixion over a fragmentary Last Supper, both attributed to Andrea Orcagna (1360–1365). It is one of the rare examples of Late Gothic Art which can still be seen in Florence.
The room also boasts a collection of sculptures from the 11th-15th centuries, including two low reliefs by Donatello, a high relief by Jacopo della Quercia (Madonna with Child) and two marble sculptures by Tino da Camaino (1320–1322).
The central courtyard of the cloister is lovely and green.
The bellower, as seen from within the cloister.
A fountain graces the center of the garden within the cloister.
One of the hundreds of tombstones within the cloister walls.
Michelangelo’s Crucifix
The young Michelangelo was allowed was allowed to make anatomical studies of the corpses coming from the convent’s hospital; in exchange, he sculpted this wooden crucifix, which was originally placed over the basilica’s high altar. Today the crucifix is in the octagonal sacristy that can be reached from the west aisle of the church.
Frescoes Crucifixion and The Last Supper were painted by Andrea Orcagna and his workshop in the 1360s.
Rock-a-bye Renaissance baby
I paid a visit to the Museo Horne in Florence today and among the treasures housed there is this ornate rocking baby bed.
Can’t you just imagine all of the happy babies who were once cradled in this lovely objet?
On the Piero (della Francesca) trail
First stop: Arezzo, San Francesco. If you get no further, you are good. You’ve seen the best there is.
Want more info?: http://www.travelingintuscany.com/art/pierodellafrancesca2.htm
and http://www.museistataliarezzo.it/en/scopri-arezzo
I’m going to Arezzo today and I cannot wait! Non vedo l’ora!!
Dante
His cenotaph is in Florence in Santa Croce, but his body is in Ravenna. But Florence celebrates him, as seen below.
Palazzo Farnese, Roma
The French Embassy: I made a quick trip to Rome this past week to visit the Palazzo Farnese, a reservation made several months ago. You have to reserve early and provide lots of personal information if you want to pay a visit to the French Embassy in Italy!
Today the Palazzo is owned by the Italian Republic. In 1936 an arrangement was made with the French to house their embassy for 99 years at the high cost of $1.00 per annum. The Italians have a similar arrangement in Paris.
See those men behind me? They are there to make sure only authorized people enter the Embassy. Trust me, they do a good job! Even with my reservation, I almost wasn’t let in (it seems they needed my actual passport, not just a photocopy that serves me in 99.9% of cases….ummmm… I won’t be making that mistake again).
This pair of matching fountains stand symmetrically in front of the Palazzo.
I was there as an art lover, of course, scheduled to take a tour in Italian of the many beautiful objets that adorn the fabulous palace. Chief among them being the fabulous frescoes by Carracci!
But, before moving to the frescoes, let’s look at the incredible building!
Above is an overview of this very important Renaissance palazzo, located in a prime area of central Rome. First designed in 1517 for the Farnese family, the building expanded in size and conception to designs by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger when Alessandro Farnese became Pope Paul III in 1534.
The palazzo’s construction involved some of the most prominent Italian architects of the 16th century, including Michelangelo, Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola and Giacomo della Porta.
Above is an engraving of the Palazzo with the two matching fountains.
Let’s talk frescoes!
Several of the palazzo’s main salons were painted with elaborate allegorical programs including the Hercules cycle in the Sala d’Ercole or the Hercules Room; the “Sala del Mappamondo” or The Room of Maps; and the well known The Loves of the Gods (1597–1608) by the Bolognese painter Annibale Carracci.
In 1595, Annibale and Agostino Carracci had traveled to Rome to begin decorating the Palazzo with stories of Hercules, appropriate since the it housed the famous Greco-Roman antique sculpture of the hyper muscular the so-called Farnese Hercules.
Annibale developed hundreds of preparatory sketches for the major work, wherein he led a team painting frescoes on the ceiling of the grand salon with the secular quadri riportati of The Loves of the Gods.
Although the ceiling is riotously rich in illusionistic elements, the narratives are framed in the restrained classicism of High Renaissance decoration, drawing inspiration from, yet more immediate and intimate, than Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling as well as Raphael’s Vatican Logge and Villa Farnesina frescoes.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Farnese Ceiling was considered the unrivaled masterpiece of fresco painting for its age. They were not only seen as a pattern book of heroic figure design, but also as a model of technical procedure; Annibale’s hundreds of preparatory drawings for the ceiling became a fundamental step in composing any ambitious history painting.
The lucky French, to occupy this magnificent building!
What if?
What if you woke up today in Florence and decided you wanted to live in a fantasy world?
Let’s say you thought to yourself “wouldn’t it be cool if I could go into a Renaissance palace in the center of Florence, and be a welcome guest?”
And, further, wouldn’t it be groovy if, when you were in that Renaissance palace, as a welcome guest, you could sit down for a while on a very comfortable, velvet covered chair, and enjoy a glass of nice local wine, while something amazing entertains you.
And, to increase the fantasy, what if this entire experience was air-conditioned, while Florence sizzles in the heat of the summer outside?
And what if I told you that this is actually not a fantasy, but something you could truly experience?! How fast would you beat it there?
One of my favorite places in Florence ticks all of the boxes above. I love going to this place!
The classic art nouveau/deco interior is gilded and gorgeous and makes an average evening at the movies feel like an elegant affair! And an added bonus is, it has air conditioning! A great place to pass a summer evening in broiling Florence.
So, let’s start with the building, which is the Palazzo Stozzino, constructed in 1450s and 60s. Here t’is!
Work on the palace began in 1457. None other than Filippo Brunelleschi is thought to have designed it, but several other architects, among them Michelozzo, also had a hand in the edifice. The façade is attributed to Michelozzo, at least in the lower part, with its rusticated stone facing. Higher floors have been changed during various periods of renovation; they were changed a lot in the 19th century.
Inside the Renaissance palace was a courtyard surrounded by an elegant porch with columns; it is thought Michelozzo designed the cortile and that it was built around 1460. The Palazzo Strozzino took its name after the larger Palazzo Strozzi.
The entire area around the palazzi Strozzi and Strozzini was changed during the 1860s, when Florence became the capitol of Italy. Many buildings were razed. Fortunately, these two palaces were spared.
The story goes that it was the suggestion of a famous Italian actress, Eleonora Duse, to transform the Strozzino into a cinema. Apparently the people who owned the palace in the 1920s were considering turning the building into a luxury hotel. Duse is said to have convinced them into building this stately cinema instead.
At any rate, it was somehow decided to create a cinema in the Strozzino’s courtyard. The Cinema Teatro Savoia was designed by noted architect Marcello Piacentini in 1920 and finished in 1922; the theatre was lavishly inaugurated in December of 1922.
At the same time, two of the palace’s facades were redesigned, and a circular temple-shaped lantern was placed on a corner with bronze nude efibici, by the sculptor Marescalchi.
Inside the cinema, the sculptor Giovanni Gronchi created the lacunars and stucco plaques, and sculptor Antonio Maraini designed the three Muses in gilded and polychromed wood on the boccascena. Other specialized artists and firms created the elaborate decorative interior.
The theatre was later re-named Cinema Teatro Odeon, and it is now operated by the Cinehall Group. It remains a first-run single screen cinema. Many films are shown in their original language version (with Italian sub-titles).
The Odeon has long been a preferred meeting point for members of Florentine cultural and artistic life. Guests such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald visited the theatre, as have directors and actors of Italian neorealist cinema, as well as contemporary artists such as Isabelle Adjani, Angelica Houston, Bernando Bertolucci, Kenneth Branagh, Roberto Benigni, Nanni Moretti and Paolo Sorrentino.
The prestigious and elegant spaces of the Cinema Odeon Theater include a large open room, with a stage holding the movie screen, and has a total capacity of 594 seats, divided into the large stall (with 334 seats) and stylish balcony (seats 260).
Fortunately for us, the Odeon still maintains the harmony and beauty of its original art deco/nouveau style; its tapestries, statues, and colored glass skylight are admired by its many visitors.
The original furnishings of the grand room were red velvet; the furnishings were renewed in 1987 and replaced with yellow gold velvet. Theoriginal wooden chairs remain in the balconies.
On Via dei Sassetti a plaque reads: "Built in the MCMXXII on behal of S.A. Toscano Immobiliare Sindacato - Restored in the MCMXXXVIII". The Odeon Cinema is a vibrant cultural centre, often hosting cinema festivals. One of the leading is “50 Giorni di Cinema Internazionale”, which takes place in winter, showcasing movies and directors from diverse cultures. In addition to the entertainment venues and offices of the German Management, the building houses the Departmental Department of Tobacco Growth and the Department of Economic Development of the City of Florence, and in the basement a historic disco, the Yab.
get back, lauretta! 
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