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Stunning fireworks and reflections captured by Lapo

Our friend Lapo has allowed me to use some of his beautiful photos of travels in Italy, and, inspired by these photos of the ponte vecchio, I figured I should post something about this famous old bridge.

City Panorama featuring the ponte vecchio (Lapo)

There has probably been a bridge at this narrow part of the Arno since Roman times; there is mention of a bridge in the year 996, but earlier versions often succumbed to the force of the water during occasional flooding. The current version was built in 1345 by Neri di Fioravante, with three strong arches in order to support buildings on either side, as if it were a continuation of the street that precedes it (Via Por San Maria).

Ponte Vecchio at Dusk (Lapo)

The particular wooden store fronts that spill out onto the walkway were first home to butchers and vegetable sellers, until, in 1593 the grand duke Ferdinand I de’ Medici decided that this was too smelly. The problem was that the famous VASARI CORRIDOR (that links the Palazzo Vecchio to the Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace - a handy escape route for the family) passes over the tops of the then-butcher-shops: if you look at the top level of the bridge you can see an even row of square windows lined with pietra serena (grey stone). In order to not pass above odors of mature prosciutto and rotting greens, the Duke decided that the new occupants should be goldsmiths - more appropriate to the luxury of the ruling family.

The bridge gets to be extra “Old” as it is the only bridge to survive the German bombing of August 1944, perhaps due to widespread knowledge that the treasures of the Uffizi Gallery were “hidden” here in the corridor above.

For those interested, you can book a visit for 10+ people to the Vasari Corridor by sending an email request here (prenotazioni@operalab.it) or calling Firenze Musei - Opera Laboratori Fiorentini at +39 055 294883. The corridor houses the museum’s collection of artists’ self portraits, which artists have been sending them for free ever since word got out (and apparently, they have way too many to display even here). There are some charming views onto the ponte vecchio, too. I took these two photos during a visit a few years ago.

Through a little round window over ponte vecchio from Vasari's corridorLooking down the corridor

Looking down the corridor

Today we were privileged to have the best kind of guide to the city of Lucca: a local. Or, failing that, try this: Authentic Tuscany (Touring Club Guide). On a cold winter’s day, we managed to see only three of the city’s 100 churches (for which it gained its name “La citta’ delle cento chiese”), consume one long lunch, and make two bar breaks. I came away with the impression that Lucca is a charming city with nice people, good food, and good shopping too. I know I’ll be back as there is a lot more to explore. It’s only 80km from Florence on the A11 highway.

Piazza dell'ampiteatro by day

A bit of HISTORY: Lucca’s indigenous settlers were conquered by the Romans in 180BC, the imprint of whom is still clearly visible in the cardo and decumans that meet at the present piazza San Michele in Foro. The shape of the ampitheatre is preserved as an open, oval piazza of the same name, now surrounded by nicely restored medieval buildings (extremely picturesque, especially at night). Under Lombard rule, Lucca became a powerful city on a handy trade route to the North. Medieval Lucca appears to have been prosperous, as many buildings were begun in the mid 11th century, and still preserve their luccan-pisan romanesque style (which consists, it appears, of many small blind arches in vertical rows).

WALLS: Lucca is pretty much at sea level, and not far from the sea in fact. It is enclosed by an impressive set of walls that were built 1544-1645. For me, I found it interesting to approach a walled city at sea level, being used to coming upon walls built into hillsides, like Cortona and Orvieto, just to name two (although there are obvious exceptions, like Florence, where the walls are however no longer intact). Lucca’s walls are 30 meters wide at the base, and 12 meters high. There are U-shaped enclosures that used to hide canons. Their thick and angled construction is designed to resist gunfire. Apparently, they were built against the threat of Florentine invasion, but never tested. They remain entirely intact, and a park has been created above them that makes for a pleasant picnic or walking place in the warmer months.

UNESCO HERITAGE: Lucca has been proposed as a Unesco heritage site because of its perfectly preserved walls. They write on their website: “As opposed to the few other walled cities in Italy, such as Portoferraio, Ferrara [...], where the walls were built at the same time as the city, Lucca’s Renaissance walls were erected encircling a pre-existing city that had developed harmoniously for several thousand years. Furthermore, the walls of the above-mentioned cities are far less  homogeneous and well-preserved.” I could not agree more.

Duomo (San Martino)

CHURCHES: We made a point of visiting the three most important romanesque churches in the centre of Lucca. The Duomo, or Cathedral, is named after San Martino. Like many churches in Italy, the present church is built on earlier foundations. The 11th-century facade rises up above an irregular piazza. Numerous blind arches and polychrome marble create a sense of movement in the upper storey, while below the portico, carved marble reliefs narrate the Life of Saint Martin and other stories (begun 1233 by the Lombard master Guido da Como). The somewhat dark interior is in the Gothic style (14th/15th centuries), and houses two particularly important works of art, from two distinct periods. Jacopo della Quercia’s marble tomb of Ilaria del Carretto (1407-12) is a transitional tomb sculpture that combines the traditional medieval reclining figure of the defunct with a base of carved putti that imitates Roman garland sarcophaghi very closely, anticipating Renaissance ideas. The artist likely had access to Roman examples in nearby Pisa at the Camposanto. This work can be visited for a fee in the sacristy.

The second important work in the Duomo is the Volto Santo (holy face), conserved inside a freestanding octagonal tabernacle (designed by Matteo Civitali in the 1480s). [See relevant Wikipedia article] The feast day of September 13th is dedicated to this sculpture that miraculously arrived on the shores of Lucchese territory (at Luni) in 742. The Byzantine sculpted christ, with its dark skin and long robe, is said to have been carved by Nicodemus, who had trouble completing the face and was helped by angels. While first collocated in the basilica of S. Frediano, the sculpture apparently wanted to reside elsewhere, and began making trips to San Martino, where the church was eventually restored and redidicated in order to house him. This trip is commemorated by a procession on the abovementioned feast day, although the sculpture itself is no longer transported as it was in earlier years.

The church of san frediano

The church of San Frediano (the volto’s first house) has a flat, rather than articulated facade, in order to accomodate a 13th century mosaic (much restored, however, in the 19th century). Its austere interior conserves a number of gems from various periods. The best known is the Fonte Lustrale, a huge baptismal font to the right of the entrance. More fun is the chapel and “mummy” corpse of Saint Zita, who lived in the 13th century and looks awfully good for a 700 year old. In the chapel to the left of the high altar, worthy of note is a sculpted altarpiece by Jacopo della Quercia. The chapel of Saint Augustine (second chapel left of entrance) has quite nice frescoes by Amico Aspertini (1508-9); of interest, the fresco on the left that illustrates the transferal of the volto santo from Luni to Lucca, which shows what the statue looked like at the time (pretty much the same as it does now).

The church of san michele in foro

I promised a third church, and indeed we did visit the church of San Michele in Foro, begun in 1070 and completed in the late 12th century upon preexisting foundations (as usual). Night was falling, hence the pinkish photo of the facade that is topped by a gigantic sculpture of the saint with bronze wings. Our friend Fabio told me that during the 18th century restoration of the facade, they snuck in portrait heads of contemporary men, so apparently if you bring your binoculars, you’ll spot Napoleon up there.

We returned to Piazza dell’Ampiteatro to witness the murano glass christmas tree lit up for the night, and a play of lights that has been set up against the medieval facades.

LUNCH: Gli Orti di via Elisa is not slowfood, but could well be. While mostly dedicated to Lucchese specialties, I tried the Testarolo “artigianale”, a kind of pasta (more like a pancake cut into pieces) typical of the comune of Pontremoli in the province of Massa Carrara (which honestly is not that far away). This particular Testarolo is a Slowfood Presidia , a kind of recognized heritage object that is subject to various rules about biodiversity and local production. In fact, the special grain used to make this particular pasta is cultivated (according to the pamphlet given to me by the restaurant owner) by exactly three farmers. My Testarolo was served with delicious new oil (locally produced in Lucca), cheese, and basil leaves. The locale is carefully decorated in all its details (nice glasses and linens), and while spacious enough to accomodate large groups, is relatively quiet. Prices very reasonable.

Bibliography: our friends Fabio and Laura; the Touring Club “red guide”; Grove art online; Unesco website

LOCATION

View Larger Map

Firenze Musei, the group that includes the Uffizi, Pitti, and Accademia Museums, now has an official online reservation website. You can still make reservations by phone (the old way) at this number: (+39 (0)55 2654321).

Beware of ticket revendors who charge massive surcharges - only use the official ticket site, accessed at this link, or directly from their website www.firenzemusei.it.

Remember that arttrav has a page with ALL of florence’s museum and church opening hours, which can otherwise be found individually on their websites.

Drawing of Palazzo Rucellai. Image source: www.albertiefirenze.it

Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai envisaged this palace as a statement of his wealth and prominence, and the importance of his family in the Santa Maria Novella neighbourhood. The commission of a family palace must be seen also in light of Rucellai’s other architectural commissions, those for the facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella, the family loggia and piazza out front of his palace, and his personal burial tomb in the shape of the Holy Supulchre annexed to the parish church of San Pancrazio.

To paraphrase what Giovanni wrote in his memoirs, “from 8 houses I made one” – 3 on via della vigna nuova and 5 behind. Having had the old houses practically gutted in a pretty intense rennovation, Giovanni commissioned Alberti to design a facade to unify the hodge-podge structure behind. The very regular facade has been attributed either to Alberti or to Bernardo Rossellino, since we lack documents. There are some equivocal stylistic and iconographical elements that argue for a date beyond that possible for the attribution to Alberti. Nonetheless I’m going to stick with the traditional attribution to Alberti.

The main characteristic of this palace facade, and the one that distinguishes it from its precendents, is the regularization and division of the bays by pilasters. This classical element, borrowed from ecclesiastical architecture, adds a sense of dignity to the palace. The stone is much smoother than that of the Medici palace, which provided the main influence for Florentine domestic architecture in this period. A feature that does seem to come from the Medici palace is the bench that lines the facade. Benches were useful waiting areas for visitors, as well as simply a place to sit for neighbours to chat. This bench is a very dainty version, with a backrest of diamond shapes made to emulate indoor furniture.

The loggia, across the very small piazza in front of this building, was built in the 1460’s after a relative of Giovanni’s charged him, in his will, to build it. The purpose of the loggia was to host family parties - like a grand rec-room. The loggia and palace combined reflect the Renaissance desire to make family lineage visible, and to provide a constant place for it. Giovanni Rucellai wrote that he hoped the Rucellai would always live in his home.

I really encourage travelers to enrich their experience by also reading other types of books about aspects of Italy that interest them. After the guide, you might consider an art history textbook, some historical fiction, something about italian history… There are posts on arttrav with reading lists that might help you choose something fun to read before or during your trip.

Guide books: All Italy
TIP: If touring much of Italy, pick up a general guide and supplement it with regional ones.

Touring Club of Italy in English!!: Seriously, I can hardly contain my excitement about this new series of travel books for Italy and its regions, published by the long-standing Italian institution, the Touring Club. I have relied for many years on its Italian-language travel books (their red hard covers distinguish locals from tourists), but these are not accessible to English speakers. Finally, this information, including an excellent summary of Italian culture, is available in English.

Michelin the Green Guide Italy (Michelin Green Guides) : It’s hard to find a perfect guide to all of italy. This isn’t it, but the nice thing is that it lists all locations alphabetically, and you can find them on their excellent maps.

Italy (Eyewitness Travel Guides): OK. I generally don’t like eyewitness guides because they are too basic in terms of historical information. However, if you really don’t know where you want to go, this is a good place to start. The nice pictures get you interested in certain regions and give you an idea of how much there might be to see. Once you’ve looked at it though, it is necessary to go beyond, by buying regional guides like the Blue Guides. Many towns have much more to offer (or are not even listed) than what is written here. This is a first-time traveller’s book.

The Guide to Jewish Italy: Jewish-specific information, beautifully presented

Guide books to Florence

For most cities, I find it’s fine to rely on the Blue Guide (see Rome, below). The Blue guide is not for hotel planning; it contains detailed walks for the city, and good historical information. As such it is also not important to have the most updated guide.

The companion guide to Florence: This is a classic book to read before you come to florence. So classic, it’s out of print, so you’ll have to buy it used. You’ll get a fantastic historical base and an idea of all the things to see BEYOND the uffizi and the “david”! The author is a respected art historian, and I often use her book to check facts and plan lessons.

Blue Guide Rome, Ninth Edition
The most complete guidebook available in English for this complex city.

Augenti’s art and archeology of Rome An art history textbook with sections on the museums of Rome. A great approach to the city that puts works into their chronological perspective.

Other cities/regions

Venice: Companion Guide to Venice  An oldie but goodie.

Naples: Cadogan’s Bay of Naples and Southern Italy  : one of the few guides available

Naples: In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Cultural History of Naples: Not technically a guide book, but an excellent historical introduction (due to come out in a second, paperback edition, soon - Jan 2009).

Sicily: Blue Guide Sicily

Marche: The Marche (Heritage Guides): The Touring Club Italy’s older guide book series in the english language is the Heritage Guides. If you’re going to the Marche, you’re going to need a non-american guide to hit up some smaller towns, so this might be a good one to pack.

Fresco was used in the Ancient world but fell out of favour in the Middle Ages, when they tended to use more mosaic. It came back around 1300 as it was the best form of painting for monumental architecture, much of which was being built at this time (especially in Florence). It could be done quickly and quite cheaply, it could cover vast surfaces AND it is relatively permanent.

FRESCO (affresco in italian) means WET. The paint is applied to wet plaster. This term thus should not be applied to just any wall painting. Some parts of the fresco are applied A SECCO, which means DRY. Frescos are mostly permanent because of their chemical composition:
1) The active ingredient in fresco is LIME PASTE, which is produced by heating CALCIUM CARBONATE with limestone.
2) LIME PASTE + AIR changes back into calcium carbonate, hard crust (carbonatation). If pigment is applied to this when wet, it becomes trapped into the wall and is fairly permanent because it is very chemically stable.

Cennino Cennini, who wrote an artists handbook around 1400, describes exactly how frescoes were made at his time.

STEP 1: scaffolding. In small space like chapels, scaffolding is built across space, with wooden poles stuck into the walls. These parts are then filled in; if you see square holes in the wall, chances are this is a place where the scaffolding has been, and some plaster has fallen out.

STEP 2: prepare the wall. You’re going to apply plaster to the wall and you want it to stick, so you rough up the surface with a small pick-axe.

STEP 3: ARRICCIO
Arriccio is a layer of rough plaster made of a mixture of lime paste and large granules of sand. You smear it onto the wall and let that dry overnight.

STEP 4: MAP OUT THE DRAWING
The 14th century artist would sketch out the major outlines of his painting with a reddish-brown paint directly onto the arriccio. This part is called the SINOPIA, an underlayer of the fresco that can sometimes be uncovered through restoration and is sometimes displayed in museums. Sometimes you may actually see sinopia on walls where the top layer of the fresco has been ruined. This preparatory drawing in sinopia is a handy guide for the artist and also a way to show patron what he’ll be getting. Later in the 15th century, the practise of direct sinopia painting was used less often. As drawing became more important in the practise of the visual arts, many artists made a series of preparatory designs culminating in a CARTOON, a life-size drawing on paper. They pricked the cartoon with a needle and held it up to the arriccio; this page was then “pounced” with a sack of carbon so that a black outline was made. There were other ways to transfer drawings and to keep them in mind during the process, though these are the two most popular.

STEP 5: INTONACO
The day to paint has arrived. Obviously it’s not all done at once – each day’s work is called a GIORNATA. This corresponds to a plaster patch that is the amount of work the artist could do in one day. You prepare your intonaco plaster, which is made of the same lime and sand as the first layer, but the sand is a finer grain and there is more lime. This mixture is then spread onto the space you intend to work on that day. Interestingly, this covers up the underpainting (or charcoal outline), which the artist had to keep in his mind! If you look closely, sometimes you can see the giornata divisions in a fresco; these were applied judiciously to try to hide the lines but are usually around major shapes.

STEP 6: PAINT
The paint is applied directly to the plaster while it is wet, which is only a 2-4 hour window of opportunity, after which the plaster starts to dry and it gets very difficult to paint. You work from the top down (because the paint drips!) and try to do large areas like sky all at once because it’s very difficult to match colours the next day. This process is very difficult because once you apply the paint, it’s there and you can’t make mistakes. In fact, paint layers are thin to transparent, so the pigment was added in layers. Colours could also be mixed by doing this.

Only certain types of colours are good for fresco painting. These are chemically stable EARTH PIGMENTS like terraverde, yellow ochre, red, white, charcoal black. Other pigments would react with air and discolour – lead white turned black over time, azzurite blue turns green.

STEP 7: A SECCO
Finishing touches were applied after it all dried and tend to be less permanent and fall off with time. Blue pigment was applied often over red underpainting, while gold leaf was applied last, being stuck on with fish glue. Sometimes the finest details in faces and other sections were done a secco. This means that if you see a red sky or a face with no detail, chances are you are looking at a fresco that has lost its a secco treatment.

PRESERVATION
Because of their chemical composition, frescoes are permanent unless they are affected by damaging outside forces. The main one is sulfur, which turns limestone and marble into dust. Sulfur attacks frescoes through air pollution and water. Water also causes blistering and mold. Of course, the ravages of time can also be damaging. The fashions of later centuries meant that often perfectly good frescoes that we would admire today were overpainted or simply white-washed! Vasari did this to Giotto’s frescoes in Santa Croce, which is why they are not in great condition now. Bombings, in Italy mostly from WWII, caused serious damage in other areas, as did the flood of 1966.

Fresco required great skill and speed. The process required artists to plan ahead, to think of space as subdivided into sections, and to think of design in terms of strong shapes. This leads to a new appreciation, especially in early Renaissance Florence, of the monumental, of powerful and large forms.

The Palazzo Davanzati is a grouping of medieval tower-homes joined together, in typical medieval style, in the mid-14th century. It represents a transitional moment between medieval homes and renaissance palaces. Sections of the building re-opened to the public in late 2005 after a long restoration, and parts are still inaccessible.

EARLY HISTORY
The palazzo was commissioned in the mid 14th century by the Davizi family, who were members of the Arte della Calimala (wool guild). The Davizi had to sell in 1516 due to financial difficulty, and the building changed hands twice before being owned by the Davanzati family (that give the building its name), who had it until 1838; at which point it was converted into apartments and fell into a state of disrepair.

Purchased in 1904 by the antique dealer Elia Volpi, It was restored and opened in 1910 as a museum. The collection of this museum was always in flux, since Volpi also used it partially as an antique showroom and the objects were for sale! In his restoration, the frescoes were enthusiastically in-filled, and the furnishings reflected the scholarship of the day on how the early Renaissance palazzo must have looked. This initiative must be taken into consideration in light of the late 19th century revival of the Florentine Trecento, fathered by Americans like Bernard Berenson (the art historian) and Herbert Horne (the collector; his place is also a museum).

A complicated history characterizes the war periods, with lots of changing of hands. In the 50’s the palazzo reopened as a state museum, but the money for restoration was not enough to keep it standing. It was closed in 1995 because the building was falling down. It is now being opened again after 10 years of restoration.

The restoration has been major. The whole building had to be secured; floors were taken up and relaid, walls consolidated and frescoes repainted. The architectural framework is now safe and the work that is left to be done is on the walls and then the refurnishing of the museum. It’s an interesting place to visit already, and will be even more so when completed. Hopefully the scholars on board will take into account the vast scholarship now available on domestic architecture and furnishings, which has blossomed in the past 40 years, when choosing how to set up the new museum. New literature on the Palazzo Davanzati would also be a big step, since there are only a few books on it and they are not highly informative.

EXTERIOR
The facade was added to a grouping of medieval tower houses that were purchased with the intent of unifying them. The topmost level is an open loggia that was added in the 16th century.

INSIDE LAYOUT
The palazzo is in some ways typical of trecento family architecture in that it is rather well reinforced. The ground floor, now accessed by large doors set in arches, was before an open space (loggia) for commercial use. These kinds of spaces were typical of Florentine palaces of the 14th century, and can be related to the city’s strong merchant population. The loggia was used for storage or business, while the family lived upstairs, in this case with two levels of living quarters and the top level dedicated to cooking and servants.

The entrance loggia is now used as an exhibition space. On display is the prized birth tray by Lo Scheggia, the younger brother of Masaccio. A birth tray is an object commissioned either to celebrate or to encourage a birth in the family. The front of Lo Scheggia’s tray shows the “gioco della civetta”, a game that youths played apparently in a piazza. Although this game continued into the 19th century i have been unable to figure out exactly what was involved, other than that three participants are required, and that the one in the middle has to place his feet on top of those of his companions… !! The back of the tray shows two little boys, or “putti”, also playing. They are trying to grab each others’ private parts.

Through the loggia you reach an open courtyard and a stone stairway reaching to the first floor. Notice that, beyond the first floor, the upper part of the stairway is built in wood, not stone. This might be done so that, in case of riot, the family could hole up upstairs and knock down the stairway so that nobody could get at them. This remains part of tower-home mentality. On the other hand, the concept of a courtyard as a communicative space for the whole building is rather new. It indicates a certain amount of spatial planning. Also, the courtyard was a private space for the family. The use of a courtyard as both a practical and a familial space was theorized in the 15th century, and the courtyard became a standart part of palace architecture.

On the first floor above ground, the “piano nobile” in Italian, the front room was for business affairs. In correspondence with the three openings of the loggia below are three holes in the ground that can be revealed by opening up trap doors. These permitted the owner to check who was coming in, and in case of undesireables, drop heavy things on their heads. A storage nook in the wall behind one of these holes now contains a stone ball and I imagine this space was used to store defense objects like that. The room has a few pieces of furniture and paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries now on display, suggestive of what it might have looked like before. On the central wall of this room, adjacent to the courtyard, take note of the well, which permitted residents to draw water throughout the whole house.

A room adjacent to this one is set up like a dining room, and has a large fireplace. The much-restored frescoes on the wall have a pattern of diamonds and parrots. A very small room in between this one and the next was a bathroom, with a potty hole. Florentines reinvented indoor personal hygeine, which was known to the Ancients but lost in the middle ages. Another bedroom on the other side is set up with an antique bed and crib, and has an “ensuite bathroom” with wash basin and other apparatus.

The second floor of the buliding is still under restoration, but has the same layout as the first floor, and was used for family living. The third floor hosted the kitchens, since this was most convenient for dispelling the heat of cooking, as well as in case of fire. Servants’ quarters were also up here.

The walls of all these rooms were once decorated with frescoes; where they do not represent realistic scenes they were patterned in imitation of the tapestries that would have hung on special occasions or in winter to keep warm. Those that are now on view are heavily restored (ie, in-painted). They must be taken only as illustrative of the “early renaissance palazzo” but not considered for stylistic elements.

The art-historic significance of this palazzo is mainly its architecture, as an example of a typical domestic building of the mid trecento. However, the various changes in the quattrocento and the major restorations of the 19th and early 20th century make it hard to use as a “document”. However, many forward thinking elements, like the courtyard that gives access to all the rooms, and the desire to create a logical space for family life, are important predecessors of the great 15th century palaces, like those built by the Strozzi and Medici.

I’m listing the Piero Pilgrimage under Tuscany, but really it just starts there - in the end you cross the entire country, spend some time in the Marches and finish on the East coast in Rimini! This itinerary does not include the museums in Milan and Perugia, nor the Uffizi in Florence, all three of which house important works by Piero. Rather, the trip follows Piero’s path through works still found in-situ, or in their city of production in the case of Urbino.

First let’s start with a map to see the path of travel…

Click to enlarge map

Leaving Florence (or anywhere nearby), take the A1 highway to Arezzo. From Arezzo onwards take small roads - first follow signs for Borgo San Sepolcro. About half an hour outside of Arezzo, stop at Monterchi, then continue to Borgo. From Borgo, cross the mountains on a treacherous pass to Urbino (great views!). To top it off, follow the road to Pesaro, and take a few kilometres of autostrada for just one more fresco (and a cool church by Alberti) in Rimini. The way home (3.5 hours) is all autostrada. This is best done with an overnight stay on the east coast. There are plenty of other wonderful things to see in the area that are not covered in this trip dedicated to Piero.

A little bit about Piero della Francesca (circa 1412/20?-1492) is also de riguer here. Born in the town of Borgo San Sepolcro, Piero trained in Florence, probably in the workshop of Domenico Veneziano. Highly influenced by Masaccio, he can be classified as one of the foundational artists of the Renaissance. He was a skilled mathematician and the author of a treatise on scientific perspective and of other books on math. His style is highly linear and calculated, characterized by an infused calm that derives from a lack of motion.

Following the “Piero Trail” takes you to see the following works and locations:

Arezzo: Church of San Francesco, Fresco cycle of the Legend of the True Cross (circa 1460).
(Click here for an animated diagram of the chapel and its scenes (labels in italian) from the official site.)

The high chapel of this church is decorated with a large fresco cycle commemorating the True Cross, and incorporating a little bit of local propoganda along the way. The story is narrated in ten fields that recount elements of the legend. The theme of the cross is also ingeniously incorporated visually into some of the scenes, for example the Annunciation (left altar wall) has a cross-shape built into the architecture, as does the tent shape to the right of this same wall.

This work makes a nice starting point for understanding Piero’s unique contribution to Renaissance painting. It is not the earliest work on the Piero trail, nor the latest, but it shows his mature style towards 1460. This style is characterized by obsession with perspective to the point of sacrificing movement, monumentality of form, repetition of elements, alternation and variation of colours and figures.

Tickets must be purchased in advance by phoning 0575 352.727 or through this website (which however does not always work). Photos are not permitted inside the church, and after-restoration photos are not available online.

Arezzo, Duomo: Fresco of Saint Mary Magdalen. Located on a wall at the left side of the apse.

arezzo duomo saint

This fresco was probably executed while Piero was working on the nearby cycle mentioned above. Elements such as the figure’s clothing and facial type recall those seen in the Legend of the True Cross frescoes, such as the flipped over cape. The facial shape however is less rigorously oval and may point to a slightly later dating. The form and colour are typically Piero, monumental and clear.

Monterchi: Madonna del Parto

Madonna del Parto at Monterchi (image: web gallery of art)

This deceptively simple fresco hides ingenious compositional tricks and levels of deep meaning. When this small, remote town moved the fresco (already detached over a century ago) to the schoolhouse from its previous location in a cemetary chapel outside of town, local women protested. The work has had a talismanic function for many centuries, due to its representation of the pregnant Virgin Mary. Back in the mid fifteenth-century, when it was painted by Piero (but we’re not sure where or when, exactly), women had a lot to pray for, since pregnancy and childbirth were very dangerous affairs.

Piero’s pregnant Madonna is approachable and human. She looks just about as uncomfortable as any woman would be about eight months along. She stands with her weight in a heavy contrapposto pose, leaning on one foot and holding her back. On the other hand, she is majestic and monumental. Her perfect oval face and eyes open just a slit betray a reassuring calmness. Moving outwards now, she stands in a tent whose rich pomegranite-patterned damask (heavily damaged) sides are being pulled back by two carbon-copy angels. The angels are the same figure, reversed, which gives the composition balance. Nonetheless, Piero introduces variety (another prized element in renaissance composition) by alternating the colours of their robes, wings and boots.

Within this monumental fresco, of which just this detached fragment remains, are the Christian themes of birth and resurrection. Mary is shown here as the container of, or tabarnacle of, Christ. The composition and subject matter hence refer to the miracle of transubstantiation, or the host, the central mystery of Christianity.

Borgo San Sepolcro, Museo Civico

Borgo san Sepolcro (the town of the holy sepulchre) is Piero’s birth place, and he worked here too. The town hall houses a museum, but is also the original locaton of Piero’s fresco of the Resurrection.

Resurrection (image from the Web Gallery of Art)
Although a religious subject, the topic is appropriate to a town named after the holy sepulchre. Piero here plays with perspective, showing us a scene in perfect perspective, with Christ who is entirely frontal and not shown within that perspectival scheme. This is a trick he got from Masaccio’s Trinity (SMN, Florence).

Madonna della Misericordia (image from the Web Gallery of Art)
This altarpiece (shown in a reconstructed state and missing its original frame) was made for a local confraternity, whose members are shown protected by the tent-shape of the Madonna’s robe. This is a very early work by Piero, which shows in the somewhat inept rendering of some of the figures. The use of a gold background was probably something Piero wouldn’t have liked, but perhaps was required by the patron. It didn’t allow him to work in perspective and to create realistic spaces.

Urbino, Galleria Nazionale (in Palazzo Ducale)

Palazzo ducale in Urbino (back view)

This lovely Renaissance palace is entirely due to one man, the patron Federico da Montelfeltro, a powerful condottiere (mercenary soldier) and eventually Duke of Urbino. Besides being a good warrior, Federico was very proud of his humanist education. He learned Latin, astronomy, music, mathematics and all that good stuff. With the profits of warfare, Federico da Montefeltro built up a large court in Urbino to rival all others in Italy. From 1468 onwards, he invested more money in art and architecture than any other italian ruler.

The palace was begun in the 1450’s, and Federico had work done on it for the next 30 years. The architects involved were Maso di Bartolomeo, Luciano Laurana, and finally the Sienese Francesco di Giorgio.

The courtyard is a light and airy renaissance space, in brick and articulated in white local marble. The effect is graceful and sophisticated. All around this courtyard is a long inscription in latin that is practically a biography of the patron! In short form, it says something like: “Federico Duke of Urbino, Count of Montefeltro and Casteldurante, Gonfaloniere of the holy roman church and head of the italian confederation, started from scratch this building for his own glory and those of his ancestors. He, who has fought many wars, six times lead armies, eight times won against the enemy, winner of all wards, has increased his dominion. His justice, clemency, liberality, morality equal and ornament, during peace, his victories.”

Piero's Madonna di Senigallia in Urbino (web gallery of art)

The palace is entirely visitable (no reservation required) and houses the National Gallery of the Marches. This Museum has two important, yet small-sized works, by Piero: The Flagellation and the Madonna di Senigallia.

The Madonna di Senigallia shows the influence Piero felt of Northern european artists in two main ways. First, northern artists used oil paint; here, piero mixed his tempera with a little oil (called “tempera grassa”, or fat tempera), which allowed him a longer drying time. Second, his delicate treatment of light reflects (pun!) northern usage; observe the reflections in the objects on the shelf at right, and the rendering of dust on sunlight streaming through the window at the left.

Rimini, Alberti’s Tempio Malatestiano, Piero’s Sigismondo Malatesta Fresco

Rimini, Tempio Malatestiano by Alberti

In the late 1440’s, the Lord of Rimini, Sigismondo Malatesta, started rennovating this Gothic church in Rimini. He had a builder from Verona, Matteo de’Pasti, get started on the inside, just rennovating one chapel. The project grew exponentially, and eventually he had Alberti on the project. In 1450 Alberti designed the marble encasing for the earlier structure, which is still visible on the side of the building and at the top of the unfinished facade. This expansive restoration project, which was never finished, involved putting a Renaissance marble “icing” on all internal and external features. On the outside, Alberti’s job was to regularize the Gothic structure, whose proportions he found disturbing. The front and sides show his obsession with mathematics and proportion, and his strong reliance on Classical precedents.

The chapels inside are decorated in low-relief sculptures by Agostino di Duccio and his workshop.

A detached fresco by Piero della Francesca (you were probably wondering how he fit in!) has been put on display in one of the chapels in the right aisle. It was originally located above the entrance to the sacristy. The fresco shows the patron, Sigismondo Malatesta, adoring Saint Sigismund. It was originally made for the entrance wall of the church’s sacristy. (It has now been moved into the last chapel on the right for easy access.) It is dated 1451, so is a relatively early work by Piero. The simple composition in accurate perspective and the lack of motion are characteristic. The architecture, with the white pilasters in the background, are clearly Albertian and a reference to the church in which the fresco is located.

Bibliography (just Rimini):
Tavernor: On alberti and the art of buliding (1998)
Wittkower 1949: Architectural principles in the age of humanism.
Stanko Kokole, Agostino di Duccio in the Tempio Malatestiano (PhD Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 1997)
Pasini, Pier Giorgio (ed.): Il tempio malatestiano: Splendore cortese e classicismo umanistico (Skira, 2000) Piero della francesca a rimini: l’affresco nel tempio Malatestiano (1984)
JV Field: Piero della Francesca: A Mathematician’s art (2004) [see amazon link below].

Further reading for your trip from Amazon.com (click this link for search results)