On a relatively recent visit to San Miniato, we were treated to the beautiful sounds of Gregorian chanting monks:
After enjoying the interior of the church, we went out back to visit the extensive cemetery. While there, the church bells rang.
Digging deeper: Ognissanti, Firenze. Botticelli, Ghirlandaio & Amerigo Vespucci
Ah, Firenze: the more I discover, the more I learn I know almost nothing. It’s even hard to find the right metaphor to describe Florence.
But, let me try: Florence is like a puzzle, ready to shape itself in many different levels such as beginner’s, intermediate, and mature. Within each of these categories are almost infinite gradations.
For example, you can slip together the main sites of the city to form a large, easily managed puzzle for children. The beginners. Most tourists are satisfied with this strata.
But, for the truly curious, digging deeper in any particular area will reward in spades. Case in point: the Baroque church of La chiesa di San Salvatore di Ognissanti, better known simply as the Ognissanti in the Borgo Ognissanti quartiere. Yesterday I posted twice about this fine church, and still I find I haven’t gone below the surface level. So, today I am back with more.
The Chiesa di Ognissanti or All Saints’ church, as it is now known, was founded in 1256 by the Umiliati, a Benedictine order that played a very significant role in the development of the wool industry in Florence.
The Umiliati moved into the city in the 13th century, bringing with them from Germany techniques for improving the quality of cloth, and they established their workshops next to the Arno, a short distance from their convent (in Italy, the word “convent” is used to describe what an American would call a monastery).
You can see on the map above just how close Ognissanti is to the river. Commerce such as wool drove the Florentine economy, helping to make the city great. Any important guild, such as the wool guild, would sponsor the creation or improvement of the religious orders and church building within the city.
The Umiliati, by the dedication and probity of the lay brothers and sisters, gained a solid reputation in Florence. Important works of art began to accumulate in their severely simple church.
For example, Giotto’s celebrated Madonna and Child with angels (now in the Uffizi), was painted for the high altar of the church, and it is thought that the same master painted the Crucifix now displayed in the church’s left transept.
Other signs of devotion and wealth are the nave chapels frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio and Sandro Botticelli. Below is Botticelli’s 1480 Saint Augustine in His Study,
representing Augustine of Hippo:
While Domenico Ghirlandaio’s similarly composed frescoed Saint Jerome in his Study faces the Botticelli in the opposite chapel.
There’s a shallow chapel dedicated to the Vespucci family, frescoed (c. 1472) by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his brother Davide.
The central fresco is a Lamentation:
Above the main fresco is a Ghirlandaio painting in this chapel is the lunette containing the fresco of the Madonna della Misericordia. The Madonna is shown holding open her cape to envelope and protect the members of the Vespucci family. There is reputedly a portrait of Amerigo Vespucci as a child within this fresco. And we all know that Amerigo Vespucci would be of great importance for the later designated western continents.
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The young boy, whose head appears under the Virgin’s right arm, between her and the man in the red cloak, is thought to be a portrait of the explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. A plaque marking his tombstone can be seen in the floor to the left of the altar.
This Vespucci was, of course, an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia’s eastern outskirts as initially conjectured from Columbus’ voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass hitherto unknown to Old Worlders. Colloquially referred to as the New World, this second super continent came to be called “America,” deriving its name from Americus, the Latin version of Vespucci’s first name.
Moreover, when Amerigo Vespucci would come upon a bay in what would later become Brazil, he named it San Salvatore di Ognissanti, which in Portuguese is San Salvador de Todos os Santos: this is the origin of the name of the city of Salvador and Bahia de Todos os Santos. Could Vespucci have been thinking of his old neighborhood in Firenze? I think so.
But, perhaps the greatest of Ognissanti’s frescoes is Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper in the refectory between the two cloisters, a work with which Leonardo was intimately familiar. So important is this fresco that I will write a separate post about it.
During the 16th century, the Umiliati declined in energy, and the Franciscan order assumed control of the church in 1571, bringing precious relics such as the robe Saint Francis of Assisi wore. The Franciscans remodeled the church to conform with the newer Baroque style and the church was re-consecrated in 1582. It was renamed San Salvatore a Ognissanti (St. Saviour at All Saints)
In 1571 the Franciscans brought from this other church their most precious relic, which is still to be seen at Ognissanti: the habit worn by St. Francis of Assisi when he received the sacred Stigmata on Mount Verna in 1224. As far as I can tell, the Ognissanti relic is no longer accepted as true; no stone is left unturned in Florence: https://www.livescience.com/1855-tunic-worn-saint-francis-identified.html
But we do know that Domenico Ghirlandaio painted frescoes of the Madonna of Mercy and the Pietà (1470-72) over the Vespucci altar. 
Palazzo Vecchio
I walk by the Palazzo Vecchio almost daily. This big set of photos are from a fairly recent tour I took of the Palazzo.
Ognissanti, Firenze
The moon shone brightly last night (which was Thanksgiving night, in the United States) over the Renaissance city.
Earlier today I posted about a concert I once heard at the Franciscan church called Ognissanti. As luck would have it, I had the chance to spend some time last night admiring the interior of the church when it was beautifully lit up in the early evening.
Ognissanti has a harmonious Baroque facade, as seen from the piazza that separates it from the Arno river. The chiesa was originally built in the 1250s by the Umiliati, but it later became a Franciscan church. It was renovated c. 1627 in the Baroque style, by architect Bartolomeo Pettirossi.
Here’s how it looks in the daytime:
In 1637 the church was given this façade, based up designs by Matteo Nigetti. Fortunately, the glazed terracotta lunette depicting the Coronation of the Virgin and placed over the central doorway was conserved. While the lunette resembles the work of Luca Della Robbia, it is now attributed to Benedetto Buglioni. Buglioni was almost the only artist working in the glazed terra-cotta style made famous by the Della Robbia workshop after that enterprise ended.
Ognissanti was among the first examples of Baroque architecture to penetrate this Renaissance city. Its two orders of pilasters enclose niches and windows with elaborate cornices. The campanile, of late 13th and early 14th-century construction, sits back from the front of the church, on the east side.
The church’s interior is equally grand and richly ornamented. It received the same Baroque style remodeling as the exterior in the early 17th-century, when the apse was rebuilt with a pietre dure high altar and, later, in 1770, the incredible sotto in su perspective painting was added to the vaulted nave ceiling.
To start with the perhaps the most important aspect of this venerated church, we turn to Giotto’s celebrated Madonna and Child with Angels (c. 1310), which was painted for the high altar of this church.
This outstanding painting by Giotto was completed in Florence. Today, if you wish to see the masterpiece, you will find it in the collection of the Uffizi. Giotto’s capolavoro is not only one of the finest works in the Uffizi, but it shows the exact moment when painting in Italy turned from Gothic to a proto-Renaissance style.
In the Uffizi galleries, Cimabue’s celebrated altarpiece (above), which was created for the same type of setting and dealing with the same subject matter as Giotto’s altarpiece, one can witness the changes in artistic approach.
But, although the Ognissanti is missing its famous and beautiful altarpiece, it is fortunate to have another work now attributed by Italian scholars to Giotto: the large crucifixion. Giotto painted this large-scale (15 feet tall) cross c. 1315 for the Umilati friars who then held this church.
The Crucifixion is displayed under the Medici coat of arms in the left transept of the church.
Only recently was this Crucifixion recognized as a work by Giotto. For decades it sat, unappreciated, in the storerooms of Ognissanti. There was a rumor that it was by Giotto, but no one was certain. But then, it was restored!
The restoration of Giotto’s Ognissanti Crucifix was started by Paola Bracco in 2002. The majestic tempera on panel, now believed to have been painted by Giotto and his workshop around 1310-1320, had been sadly neglected for centuries. Kept in the sacristy of the church of Ognissanti, it was rarely seen and the vigorous modelling of the flesh tones of the figures, and the many precious details of the pictorial surface, were hidden by layers of varnish from previous “restorations” and centuries-old grime.
Fortunately, this monumental work is now back in the Florentine church, after a careful 8-year restoration.
In the Crucifix (painted in egg tempera), Christ is represented as Christus patiens, suffering, about to expire. The tension in the muscles of the arms is treated with delicacy, and the ashen flesh colors are very impressive. The body hangs on a very decorative Cross, an overflowing mosaic of starred crosses, squares and ellipses. The ‘beams’ of the Cross are painted in bright, but deep and intense blue, the precious lapis lazuli inlaid with greater or lesser amounts of lead white, as in the sloping pedestal to which Christ’s feet are pinned (by a single nail). The blue is crossed by thin red lines, cinnabar blood with more purplish glazes. On the forehead are a few drops of “pure red lacquer,” the color of blood, which springs from Christ’s flesh in response to the crown of thorns.
Here are some other fascinating artifacts from Ognissanti:
Last night I discovered that Sandro Botticelli is buried within the church, near his beloved Simonetta Vespucci.
Botticelli who is buried in the church near his beloved, Simonetta Vespucci.
Amerigo Vespucci is also interred here:
Here’s an unusual funerary monument found within the church. I am not certain whose head this portrays…
And I end this long post with a photo of a significant Neoclassical funerary monument, found within the center of this important church.
Unexpected music, Ognissanti, Firenze
It’s been a while since I heard these unexpected chorale performances at Ognissanti. I wanted to post them, however late. It was a magical experience. I wish you lots of unexpected music as well!
The 4 Seasons sculptures on Ponte Santa Trinita, Firenze, will get a cleaning
The iconic statues of the 4 seasons on the Ponte Santa Trinita are going to get cleaned up soon. Florence has announced (http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2018/07/ponte-santa-trinita-statues-cleaning/) that the sculptures need some TLC.
Interestingly, these 4 statues (only 2 of the 4 are in my pictures above) were sculpted to celebrate the marriage between Cosimo II de’ Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria in 1608.
Even more interestingly, they were originally intended to be placed in niches or against a wall in the giardino of Villa Corsini al Prato in Florence. They were not designed to be seen in the round, but in the round they have always been on the bridge.
The following artists were commissioned to create: Primavera by Pietro Francavilla; L’estate e L’autunno by Giovanni Caccini; and L’inverno by Taddeo Landini.
On the night between 3 and 4 of August 1944, the bridge was destroyed by retreating German troops on the advance of the British 8th Army. A Bailey bridge was built for temporary use by the Royal engineers.
The Renaissance replica bridge was constructed in 1958 with original stones raised from the Arno or taken from the same quarry, under the direction of architect Riccardo Gizdulich and engineer Emilio Brizzi.
Miraculously, the statues were more or less intact and returned to the replacement bridge upon its completion. Only the head of Primavera was missing. The missing head was recovered from the bed of the Arno in October 1961 and added to the sculpture we see today.
The cleaning, which will involve the Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, will include ridding the statues of the layers of soot that has settled on them over the years and treating the works with a waterproof layer to protect them from further damage by atmospheric agents.
Go get truffled! San Miniato, Tuscany
Want to see a darling hill town in Tuscany? Then head for the hills! Get yourself to San Miniato, a very lively and attractive hill town near Pisa, famous for the white truffles found in the surrounding area.
Want to see truffles? The famous tartufo aren’t very pretty, but oh my goodness, do they taste good in Italian cuisine! Here’s a basket full of them:
I visited San Miniato yesterday, 17 November, during the annual truffle sagra held by the town. Fall has definitely arrived in Tuscany and it was cold and overcast. It almost makes me wistful about the heat of last July. Almost. The next 2 pictures capture the weather as well as the beautiful vistas as seen from San Miniato of the beautiful Valdarno.
The truffle festival also features artiginale production of prosciutto, and there were lots of pork products on show, to taste, to purchase, and you could even buy specialized equipment for the home to slice the hams. All shown below:
But the truffles are the raison d’être: The festival San Miniato hosts every November is devoted to the gastronomically precious white truffle found locally. The white truffle is more highly valued than the black truffles found in Umbria and the Marche, and commands very high prices, reflected in the cost of restaurant dishes that incorporate truffles. In 1954 a record-breaking truffle found close to the nearby village of Balconevisi weighed in at 2,520 grams (5.56 lb) and was sent to the United States of America as a gift for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
But even if you aren’t a fan of truffles or hams, there is still much to enjoy about this little gem of a town. For example, there is a lovely church with important Quattrocento frescoes:
The ceiling and upper sections of the basilica walls are painted with trompe’oeil marble architecture:
And the town’s Duomo has a simple Tuscan facade which doesn’t prepare you for the opulent interior filled with porphyry marble columns and a gorgeous, gold leafed ceiling:
The Duomo is dedicated to both Sant’ Assunta and Santo Genesio of Rome. It was originally a Romanesque building, but it has been remodelled several times and exhibits Gothic and some Renaissance arcchitectural elements. The façade incorporates a number of colorful majolica bowls. The interior has Latin cross plan with a central nave with two side aisles. The cathedral’s campanile, a fortification annexed in is called the Matilde Tower and features an asymmetrical clock. Very charming.
In medieval times, San Miniato was on the via Francigena, or the main connecting route between northern Europe and Rome. It also sits at the intersection of the Florence-Pisa and the Lucca-Siena roads. Over the centuries San Miniato was therefore exposed to a constant flow of friendly and hostile armies, traders in all manner of goods and services, and other travelers and pilgrims from near and far.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the site of the city and surrounding area has been settled since at least the paleolithic era. It would have been well known to the Etruscans, and certainly to the Romans, for whom it was a military post called “Quarto.”
The first mention in historical documents is of a small village organized around a chapel dedicated to San Miniato built by the Lombards in 783. By the end of the 10th century, San Miniato boasted a sizeable population enclosed behind a moat and protected by a castle built by Otto I.
In 1116, the new imperial vicar for Tuscany, Rabodo, established himself at San Miniato, supplanting Florence as the center of government. The site came to be known as al Tedesco, since the imperial vicars, mostly German, ruled Tuscany from there until the 13th century.
During the late 13th-century and the entire-14th century, San Miniato was drawn into the ongoing conflict between the Ghibelline and Guelph forces. Initially Ghibelline, it had become a Guelph city by 1291, allied with Florence and, in 1307, fought with other members of the Guelph league against the Ghibelline Arezzo.
By 1347 San Miniato was under Florentine control, where it remained, but for a brief period from 1367-1370 when, instigated by Pisa, it rebelled against Florence, and for another brief period between 1777 and 1779 during the Napoleonic conquest. It was still part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany when the Duchy was absorbed into the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1860.
The first walls, with defensive towers, were thrown up in the 12th century during the time that Italy was dominated by Frederick Barbarossa. Under his grandson, Frederick II, the town was further fortified with expanded walls and other defensive works, including the Rocca and its tower.
The city is enclosed within a well-preserved medieval precinct. Main landmarks include:
The Tower of Frederick, built by Frederick II in the 13th century on the summit of the hill at an elevation of 192 metres (630 ft), overlooking the entire Valdarno.
I love the frescoes showing all the parts of the Italian peninsula in the corridors of the Vatican. Interestingly enough, the tower and San Miniato is among them:
During World War II the tower was destroyed by the German army to prevent the Allies from using it as a gun sighting tower, but was reconstructed in 1958 by architect Renato Baldi.
The remarkable Seminary, located in the central, unusually shaped Piazza della Repubblica, has a unique and spectacular set of frescos decorating the outside. as you can see in this photo and in my video taken yesterday:
If you can’t get to San Miniato yourself, at least you can enjoy this great Youtube video of the town filmed with the help of a drone.
British doctors prescribe art for multiple ailments
Giotto, father of Renaissance painting, better cover your eyes!
It is a sacrilege. What they have done with your good name….I shudder for you!
Bernini, the film
I was fortunate enough to see the newly-released film, Bernini, in the Odeon Theatre in Florence this week. OMG, it is fantastic.
The director of this beautiful guided tour through the Villa Borghese in Rome was directed by Francesco Invernizzi; Anna Coliva, Luigi Ficacci, and Andrea Bacchi are key presenters. Titolo originale: Bernini. Genere Documentario – Italia, 2018.
From the movie release, we are informed: La selezione di oltre 60 capolavori in esposizione alla Villa Borghese di Roma è stata definita dagli esperti di arte come il ritorno a casa di Bernini. A cinque secoli dalla nascita dei maestosi gruppi scultorei dell’artista, attraverso riprese inedite ed esclusive, i protagonisti di questa grande Mostra raccontano ed analizzano i dettagli delle opere giunte dai più prestigiosi musei del mondo per questa straordinaria occasione.
The selection of more than 60 masterworks on exhibition at the Villa Borghese in Rome has been defined by experts as a return to the home of Bernini. Five centuries after his birth, we appreciate the majestic sculptural groups Bernini created, through the unprecedented and exclusive shots. Experts of this great exhibition recount and analyze the infinite details of the sculpture, with Bernini works borrowed from the most prestigious museums in the world for this extraordinary event.
“No artist defined 17th-century Rome more than Gian Lorenzo Bernini did, working under nine popes and leaving an indelible mark on the Eternal City. And there is probably no better place to appreciate his talent and genius than the Borghese Gallery in Rome, the villa — now a museum — built by his first patron, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, where Bernini revealed his talent for capturing tension and drama in stone. But during the remarkable exhibition titled “Bernini,” visiting may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” The New York Times
get back, lauretta! 
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