Despite Covid’s change to our world, 2020 – 2021 is the year of Raphael in Rome, London, Washington, D.C., and Milan.  All of these cities are home to great museums celebrating the work of Raphael on the 500th anniversary of his death.

 

 

Part 1 of the library, with photos of the foyer and stairs, was posted yesterday.

This is the stairway leading from the cloister at ground level to the entrance of the Laurentian Library.

Below is the painting of the Annunciation that greets each visitor before they enter the upper cloister that leads to the foyer of the library.

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Waiting outside to be let into this hallowed space. Temperature checks, green pass checks, masks in place. Andiamo!

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Above and below are views of the beautiful cortile garden.

From above the cortile, an amazing view of the duomo and Giotto’s campanile. It is arresting to realize how close San Lorenzo and the Medici enclave headquarters were to the duomo.

And here it is, in all it’s Michelangelesque glory! Behold! The entrance to the magnificent library that he designed for the Medici family.

If you are a fan of Elizabeth Barrett or Robert Browning, you will know they spent many years living in Florence. Their former home, which Elizabeth called Casa Guidi is preserved in the city, a stone’s throw from the Palazzo Pitti. I have been meaning to visit this august location for years, and finally made it there last month.

Elizabeth and Robert lived in Casa Guidi from 1847 to 1861. Their apartments were inside the 15th century Palazzo Guidi, at the south end of Via Maggio. The palazzo was originally constructed for the prominent Florentine family, the Ridolfi di Piazza, whose coat of arms adorns the facade.

In the 1840s, the Palazzo Guidi was divided into apartments and in July of 1847 the Browings rented one of the two furnished apartments. They lived in these graceful rooms on the piano mobile for 3 months. A year later, they rented the same rooms, unfurnished, at 25 guineas per year. They purchased their own furniture, had draperies made, and created their home. Their only child, Pen, was born in 1849 and grew up here. He learned to play the piano which was located in the dining room, and kept rabbits on the terrace outside.

Although the Brownings traveled, visiting Siena, Rome, Paris and England, they considered Florence as home.

When Elizabeth died in 1861, Robert commissioned this painting of the drawing room, as the literary sanctum in which she wrote. The painter was George Lignaty.

Below are some details of the lovely frescoed ceiling:

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The sculpture and plaque above are on the wall of the entry to the palazzo.

It was Pen Browning’s greatest wish that Casa Guidi should be recreated and maintained in his parents’ memory, but that did not happen until 1971, when most of the apartment was purchased by the Browning Institute of New York.

The Browning Institute began the restoration process, opening the apartments to visitors and hosting lectures and exhibitions. The Institute restored both the green drawing room and bedroom decoration.

In 1990, the Landmark Trust, a charity which reduces historic buildings and makes them available for holiday rental, became involved with preserving Casa Guidi. The Browning Institute was in the process of transferring ownership of the Casa to Eton College, which is a public school in the town of Eton, near Windsor in Berkshire, England. Eton College approached the Landmark Trust to help with the restoration of the Casa, and to make it available to a wider public.

The transfer to Eton was completed in January 1992 and the Casa rooms were furnished as closely as possible to the Mighty painting. Family letters and the 1913 sale of Pen Browning’s possessions were consulted to make the restoration as authentic as possible.

The furnishings include Pen Browning’s desk, chest of drawers and 2 chairs, busts of Elizabeth and Robert, the sofa Elizabeth used in London, copies of the Mighty painting, the painting of St. Jerome and the portrait of Pen. Other items include the original drawing room mirror, and a copy of a bronze plaque featuring the head of Aeschilus. The brocade curtains match as nearly as possible those described in Elizabeth’s letters and other Browning possessions.

Now operated as a part of the Landmark Trust, the apartment can be leased for holidays throughout the year. Up to 6 people can be accommodated. I had a sneak peak of the accommodations, which include a number of stairs

The principal rooms are open to visitors on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons between 3 and 6 p.m. from April to November.

The Landmark Trust

The Trust maintains 198 historic, interesting and unusual buildings that can be leased for self-catering holidays. They include castles, forts, follies, banqueting houses, a lighthouse, a railway station, a former prison and a stone pineapple. Most of the properties are in Great Britain but 7 are in Italy; 5 in the USA; one in Waterloo, Belgium and 3 in France.

The Trust’s address is:

Shottesbrooke, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 3SW, UK

Telephone: +44 (0) 1628 825925

Website: http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Email: bookings@landmarkturst.org.uk

I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Mantua in October of 2021. I can’t believe it has taken me over a year to post this! Here are some of my first sightings from that travel.

In October 2021, we in Italy were still able to travel freely after the end of the first lockdown. Alas, as I write this, those days are gone again, thanks to COVID.

This ancient church is the Rotondo di San Lorenzo:

The Rotonda di San Lorenzo is the oldest church in Mantova. It is now sunk below the level of the Piazza della Erbe. It probably stands on the site of a Roman temple that was dedicated to the goddess Venus.

It was built at the end of the 11th century or beginning of the 12th century, perhaps at the behest of Matilde di Canossa.
Inspired by the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and dedicated to St. Lawrence (martyred in Rome in the third century), the rotunda has a central plan, with a gallery for females. An ambulatory surrounds the nave, decorated with 10 columns and a small apse.

It is built in terracotta, according to the Lombard tradition of the period, but has two marble columns from the Roman era and stone pillars from the 9th-12th centuries from other buildings.

Originally it was completely frescoed, now many fragments remain, in particular those of some vaults are legible: for the rigid scheme of the composition and decoration of the clothes and the abstract and idealized expression of the faces, it can be deduced that the author is a master from the 11th century, still linked to the Byzantine school.

In the apse a later fragment represents San Lorenzo on the grill (15th century).

In 1579 the church was closed to worship at the behest of Guglielmo Gonzaga and for over three hundred years, altered and covered by walls, it was used for houses and shops. As the dome fell, the nave was used as a courtyard. The church was
“rediscovered” in 1906, it was excavated, restored, and reopened for worship.

It is a subsidiary church of the Parish of Sant’Anselmo and has been entrusted to the Dominican community since 1926.
It is preserved, protected and open to the public by the Association for Dominican Monuments.

Deconsecrated, it was used for dwellings, shops and stores, and at the beginning of the 20th century it was covered by other structures. Later, it was restored and the external additions removed.

Not far from San Lorenzo stands the magnificent Basilica of Sant’ Andrea, with its facade by Alberti. It is one of the major works of 15th-century Renaissance architecture in Northern Italy. Commissioned by Ludovico III Gonzaga, the church was begun in 1472 according to designs by Leon Battista Alberti on a site occupied by a Benedictine monastery, of which the bell tower (1414) remains. The building, however, was only finished 328 years later. Though later changes and expansions altered Alberti’s design, the church is still considered to be one of Alberti’s most complete works. It looms over the Piazza Mantegna.

The façade, built abutting a pre-existing bell tower (1414), is based on the scheme of the ancient Arch of Trajan at Ancona. It is largely a brick structure with hardened stucco used for the surface. It is defined by a large central arch, flanked by Corinthian pilasters. There are smaller openings to the right and left of the arch. A novel aspect of the design was the integration of a lower order, comprising the fluted Corinthian columns, with a giant order, comprising the taller, unfluted pilasters. The whole is surmounted by a pediment and above that a vaulted structure, the purpose of which is not exactly known, but presumably to shade the window opening into the church behind it.

In 1597, the lateral arms were added and the crypt finished. The massive dome (1732–1782) was designed by Filippo Juvarra, and the final decorations on the interior added under Paolo Pozzo and others in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

An important aspect of Alberti’s design was the correspondence between the façade and the interior elevations, both elaborations of the triumphal arch motif, the arcades, like the facade, having alternating high arches and much lower square topped openings.

The nave is roofed by a barrel vault, one of the first times such a form was used in such a monumental scale since antiquity, and probably modeled on the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome. Alberti possibly planned for the vault to be coffered, much like the shorter barrel vault of the entrance, but lack of funds led to the vault being constructed as a simple barrel vault with the coffers then being painted on. Originally, the building was planned without a transept, and possibly even without a dome. This phase of construction more or less ended in 1494.

Below are some painted wall decorations that caught my eye:

Relic of the Holy Blood

The purpose of the new building was to receive the pilgrims for the feast of the Ascension, when a vial, that the faithful believe contains the Blood of Christ, is brought up from the crypt below through a hole in the floor located directly under the dome. The relic, called Preziosissimo Sangue di Cristo (Most Precious Blood of Christ), which is preserved in Sacred Vessels. According to tradition the blood was brought to the city by the Roman centurion Longinus, who had scooped up the earth containing the blood at the foot of the cross.

In 804, the Holy Roman emperor Charlemagne obtained authentication of the relic from Pope Leo III for its veneration. According to many scholars, this resulted in the creation of the diocese of Mantua and the edification of the first nucleus of the Cathedral of St Andrew.  The relic was “rediscovered” (secunda inventio) ca. 1049, in the presence of Matilda of Tuscany. Pope Leo IX  recognized this relic as authentic in 1053, and it was highly venerated throughout the Renaissance. The relic is displayed on Good Friday, in a procession on the city’s streets.

Portions of the relic were extracted and taken by Charlemagne  to the St. Chapelle in Paris, and later to the Weingarten Abbey, to the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, and to the Church of the Holy Cross in Guastalla (built on behalf of Beatrix of Canossa).

Where oh where are my pictures of this elegant place.?

It takes constant conservation to keep the artistic treasures of Italy in good condition. I see work going on all of the time, as well it should!

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There’s a fine street sign near Rivoire in the Piazza della Signoria that points out the Roman foundations of Florence. Be sure to check it when you are around. You’ll learn a lot!

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Above, one of the undeniable conveniences about living in Italy (among so many inconveniences, it’s worth noting!) are the water stations. You can get cold mineral water from these stations, for free, both natural and fizzy. I love that! The one pictured above is near my apartment.

And, last but not least, be sure to check out the windows at Rivoire. They are always lovely. I’m curious about the pink selection in November. Seems more appropriate for spring, but what do I know?!

I love the reflection of the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio in the window!

My favorite view of Florence!

In this Neo Classically facaded palazzo, one can find an amazing period kitchen.

The kitchen dates to the 19th century and is a pleasant, small room where utensils and pots, pans and molds of copper, brass and pewter are displayed. The following description of the kitchen and its implements is taken from the palazzo’s website:

https://www-museodarcomantova-it.translate.goog/joomla30/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=407:cucina&catid=62&Itemid=117&_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

Near the entrance is a pasta press on which an alembic is placed. There is also a beautiful piece of furniture with a 17th-century base on which there are some coffee grinders, a bed warmer, jugs and various plates. There is a stone stove. On this is placed an ancient citrus juicer.

Above the stove a series of molds for figured cakes and puddings, some of which date back to the second half of the 17th century.

There is a spring mechanism for a rotisserie.

Another antique piece of furniture holds on a water tower, and the fireplace which, among other things, contains the springs to toast the coffee.

Running water was accessible to the kitchen by a tank located in the nearby mezzanine.

On this is the plate rack.

Moving along the north wall you will come across some mortars, a small table holding a scale with two plates, a second with a large teapot and a water tower on the wall.

Above this the classic “priest” whose warmer is at the base of the staircase to the attic.

On the steps are hand warmers. Under the staircase is a steelyard, the bottle holder and an ancient coffee grinder.

On the antique fir table, in the center, stands a Russian samovar.

A second with a large teapot and a water tower on the wall.

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