Monday, May 23, 2016

RAVENNA , MOVING ON TO PADUA


After drinking in the mosaics of Ravenna ( and some local wine) we set our sights on
 Padua ( Padova), a city just north of Venice and about a two hour drive up the coast.
But before we shove off there is one more person we must visit in Ravenna....



DANTE'S TOMB



Dante Alighieri was about as Florentine as you can get. He is what you might refer to as a Medieval Romantic. Example: One day he just caught a glimpse of the beautiful Beatrice as she walked along the Arno and he was smitten for life. One glance!
Why mess up a good thing with familiarity. Anyway, he ran afoul of the higher-ups of Florence so they threw him out of town...ejected...exile...the worst punishment. Dante spent his exile in Ravenna until he died of Malaria. And guess what? The City of Florence wants him back! After all, now he's the hometown hero. Ravenna's response?...a flick of the hand under the chin...."Basta!" You didn't want him then and he ain't moving' now!





So, what does Dante have to do with Padua? Well, it seems plenty.


THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL




As the story goes, Reginaldo degli Srovegni was an important Paduan Financier in the 13th Century. He made his fortune as a Usurer, a lender of money who extracted large interest payments from his clients. Nothing like making yourself rich on the misery of others. However, according to the Medieval Code, Usurey was a sin, a big sin. Dante, in The Inferno, being a guy who liked to put people in their place, placed old Reginaldo in the inner ring or the Seventh Circle of Hell where the violent are eternally punished by fire. Users were considered violent because as Virgil explains in Canto XI:

"Usurers sin against Art
and 
Art is the grandchild of God.: 





The tomb of Enrico degli Scrovegni

THE APPLE DOES NOT FALL FAR FROM THE TREE

Eternal damnation is a long stretch to serve and it just so happens that Reginaldo's son, Enrico picked up Dad's dirty business and figured he needed a couple of 'get out of jail free' cards real fast. So, to save his and pop's eternal souls he built a Chapel and to cover all the bases he dedicated it to the lives of Mary and Jesus. To decorate the Chapel walls he hired the top gun painter out of Florence....
his name was....

GIOTTO




THE BEST MONEY CAN BUY

Scrovegni spared no expense, a lot was riding on this. Giotto was on top of his game and came with a large contract. The dominate blue is crushed lapis lazuli, a semi- precious stone from Persia. The reds were Vermillion and Dragonsblood ( try buying that at your local art store). Everything was top drawer. At one end of the Chapel rests the Scrovegni Tomb with sculptures by Andrea Pisano, from Pisa.




The other end depicts Giotto's The Last Judgement
which Michelangelo surely saw before he painted his in The Sistine Chapel in Rome



The walls are arranged on three themes: The Lives of Joachim and Anna.


A most sweet kiss under the original Golden Arch. Giotto was really the first artist to embrace tactile humanity into his paintings.





A domestic scene of the birth of Mary.






Jesus: not such a sweet kiss.








Once again we leave under a star studded lapis lazuli sky. and without a doubt, this is one of the highest levels of artistic achievement in all the Western Civilization .
It was an honor to be there.





For further information and reservations:
Padua, Italy


Photos courtesy of Stew Vreeland
Mille grazie, Stew!



















Wednesday, May 18, 2016

RAVENNA




KATIA:   "Dove vuoi andare oggi, James?"  ( Where do you go today, James?)

JAMES:  " Ravenna"

KATIA:   "Dove? "  (where?)

JAMES:    "RAVENNA"

KATIA:    "No lo so, non capisco" ( I don't know. I don't understand)

JAMES:    One more time..."R A V E N N A!"

KATIA:    "Ahhh!", "You mean, Ra  van na."  ( Rah  vayn  na )  don't forget to roll the 'r'.

JAMES:    " Yes, there too!"





IN ORDER TO GET THERE
 YOU HAVE TO GO THERE






When the crowds of Rome and Florence get to you and the physical challenge of walking six miles a day on worn and uneven cobbles break your knees and you are up to your neck in the Renaissance and Baroque and you have "done" it what seems like a million times, then it is time to refresh yourself and head to the Adriatic to the jewel that is Ravenna.


Ravenna is not on the way to somewhere else. It is a destination and expect an overnight. Ravenna sits on what was an old Roman Naval Port on Italy's Adriatic shore. The sea has receded  a bit so now the town is slightly inland. Ravenna is now known for it's amazing collection of glorious mosaics.


A BIT O' HISTORY OR GETTING OUT OF DODGE



Remember when Rome was coming apart, the orgies were over, the aqueducts destroyed, the population decimated by disease...well, it became clear that the only option left was to get out of town and head east to Constantinople ( named for the Emperor Constantine, now Istanbul). As an interim  stop along the way Ravenna became the new 'Eastern" Capitol of the Roman Empire. There, the now Christian Emperors built Churches, Baptistries and Tombs. To decorate these buildings they brought in artists trained in mosaics, creating images using tiny pieces of  colored glass. Think of covering the hull of a cruise ship with stamps...in other words, it took a lot of glass pieces ( tessera) to make a picture.



SANT' APOLLONARE IN CLASSE



Since we were coming up from Umbria, our first stop was the church of Sant' Apollinare in Classe on the outskirts of town. As an introduction, it did not disappoint.







FESTA DI CAPPELLACCI
( the original  bad cheese hats)



After arriving in town we were greeted in the Piazza Popolo with the Festival of the local pasta, Cappellacci ( little  bad hats), egg pasta bundles stuffed with cheese. All the restaurants in town were there for a Cappellacci Smack Down. After eating more than we needed to it was time to move on, but not before coffee.






SAN VITALE
( the real big cheese)





What can I say, simply amazing!








Empress Theodora was a beautiful actress who married well.





The first beardless depiction of Christ.





"It was at times like being in an M.C. Escher print."
                                    - Paul Turina






MAUSOLEUM  of GALLA PLACIDIA

"The best is yet to come."
                             -Elida Wassman

Elida led us to the last building of the day as I was well past my 35 minutes of art tolerance. Galla Placidia was in her day the most powerful person in the Empire, but, she ain't here, she is in Rome. It don't matter.


THIS PLACE IS HOT



As alabaster ages it develops a beautiful golden hue.




St. Lawrence shown here with his implement of  martyrdom, the grill.




As we leave we look up to those stars that have been shining in Ravenna for fifteen hundred years...
Buonanotte Ravenna.


Next stop - Padua and the Blue Scrovegni Chapel of Giotto.









Tuesday, May 17, 2016

SOLOMEO [ Umbria ]



It sounded familiar,'Solomeo', and then I remembered it was the town in Umbria, not far from Panicale, that was the topic of an article I had read some months back. Then, James saw in The International New York Times a page, in graphics, about Italian landmarks that are being restored with the help of businesses.

Brunello Cucinelli, the crowned prince of cashmere had been looking for a place to expand his industry.


The Umbrian hill town of Solomeo dated from the late 12th century, but was falling into ruin.
His vision was to build his factory and world headquarters here. But, his vision was not just focused on business, his intend was to restore the town and bring a new life energy to it. Creating jobs was only the beginning.



Cucinelli is a humanist. Here in Solomeo his mission was not only to bring work to the people of the region and to restore the town, but to create a place of beauty and culture. His plans included a theatre, school, garden and library. Those plans have been realized. The church in the center of town is being restored, and the interior is really quite amazing. Currently there are artisans working on the interior, and were working the day we visited.

Looking down from the hill town to the valley just below is the factory as well as a newly planted vineyard and olive grove....all part of Cucinelli's plan for this place of industry, culture and beauty.


We were all hungry....


Just down the hill from the center of town is a Bar / Bottega where we thought we might get a panini or something for a light lunch.  The woman at the back counter suggested a plate of local cheese and cured meats. A good idea we thought and order that. The four of us relaxed at a small table outside. The weather was perfect. This is what arrived at our table!



A fantastic selection of local Umbrian cheeses and meats as promised!
It was perfectly delicious.
Umbrians take great pride in the food from their region, and why not, when this is what they offer.

All in all, an interesting visit to a place we had never visited before.


Oh, and by the way, there is a Brunello Cucinelli retail store in the center of town. The cashmere products he makes are of the finest quality. The clothes are beautiful and refined.
There is a renaissance in the making here in Solomeo, lead by a creative thinker Brunello Cucinelli who has looked to the creative minds of the past and brought those ideas forward to now  and acted upon it all.
One disappointment.......Debbie and I were hoping to find an 'outlet store' here!
It no longer exists.....darn!







Friday, May 13, 2016

A POSTCARD FROM ROME




The other day, just before the rain I took this photo from the rooftop of the Hotel Raphael where we met friends for a cocktail. The tallest spire is Sant' Ivo in Sapienza, one of Borromini's masterpieces. Unfortunately, we have never had a chance to visit due ti the fact it is only open on Sunday mornings for mass, and it seems that we are never in Rome on a Sunday morning.
Prossima volta!