Tag Archives: Italy
My ten favorite works of art in situ and why you should see art in its original context
Of course I had a conversion experience: it happened in Florence, back when I wasn’t such a prepared traveler. HOB and I were on our honeymoon eating too much gelato and wandering through the art historical wonders of this Renaissance city. We entered the Museum of San Marco on a whim and were instantly drawn […]
The Allegory of Good and Bad Government: frescoes as political propaganda in Siena
Throughout Italy you’ll find almost all central town squares dominated by a church. Not Siena: its enchanting Piazza del Campo is presided over by Palazzo Publico, aka City Hall. Inside Palazzo Publico is another delightful surprise: secular frescoes. Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted The Allegory of Good and Bad Government frescoes inside the council chamber of Palazzo […]
Cimabue’s crucifix in Arezzo
We arrived in Arezzo at dusk and by the time we walked to the highest elevation of this medieval hill town night had fallen. The interior of San Domenico, a Gothic church, was dimly lit so we slipped a euro in a pay light-box. Crucifix, Cimabue c 1268-71. San Domenico, Arezzo. Cimabue’s startling crucifix lit up above us. Here was Jesus is […]
Sant’ Apollinare in Classe: giddy with Byzantine mosaics and too much bread
A few years ago I was browsing for cheap airfares (okay, so I do that everyday) when I found a remarkably cheap flight into Northern Italy. People, these tickets were under $400, in late May!!! Obviously I snapped up the tickets in a hot second. Almost as quickly, I drafted an itinerary since I already knew where I […]
Collegio del Cambio: Perugino’s fashionable frescoes in Perugia
It was a great plan, in theory. We’d get up early in Arezzo, take a train to Perugia, stop in Perugia for a few hours to view Perugino’s frescoes and then continue by bus to Gubbio. Here’s what happened: we took a train from Arezzo to Perugia, stopped in Perugia for a few hours, and […]
Ostuni, the other windy city
Italians call it La Citta Bianca–The White City. I call it L‘altra Città Ventosa–The Other Windy City. Ostuni (the official name of this white and windy city) is remarkably picturesque from a distance. We approached by train though silvery rows of olive trees towards a small mountain of whitewashed buildings. After the friendly owner of our B&B picked us […]
Mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale
We’ve already established that I suck at history, and while we’re on the topic of embarrassing self-disclosures, I confess I didn’t realize until recently that Normans were French. Here’s what I do know about Normans (other than that they all seem to have been named William): they built some gorgeous Romanesque buildings. In Sicily, once […]
Pienza: all Renaissance towns should have a bird that talks like a refrigerator
During a fascinating period of the Italian Renaissance, humanist scholars and architects set out to create the ideal city. Surprisingly, one of these urban planners was a pope–Pope Pious II. Pius II (formerly known as Enea Silvio Piccolomini) transformed his home town, Cosignano, into a miniature urban Renaissance Utopia. He hired the architect Rossellino to […]
In which St. Francis preaches to the birds, tames a wolf and jumps the shark
What saint could be more endearing than St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals? St. Francis (1182 – 1226) grew up as a rich, fashionable boy in Assisi, but a religious epiphany turned him from a dandy to a monk. He “married” poverty, founded the Franciscan order of friars, and was a hugely influential […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 