Artists in Flornce #3

Around the corner from our apartment is a contemporary art gallery, Galeria Gentili.  We pass it often while strolling in our neighborhood. 

A recent exhibition caught our attention.  The artist, Bernard Frize, a Frenchman working in Berlin, has an interesting style and technique for painting eye-catching colorful abstract images.  Below are a couple of photos of his latest works. 

After looking at the paintings, you might guess the technique.  The artist employs a very wide bush, about 6 inches wide.  Various paint colors are loaded thickly onto the wide brush.  Then, the brush is pulled across and down the canvas, creating a textured, multi-colored checkerboard pattern.  Many of the paintings are quite large, about 4'x6'.

Greg especially likes abstract art because much is left to the viewer's imagination.

What do you see in the two paintings above?

Churches: San Marco (Part 5 of 5)

From the San Marco convent, we walked next door to the San Marco church.  Like many churches in Florence, San Marco was started long ago, in the 1100's, and updated over the centuries until it was completed in the 1700's.  Over time, wonderful works of art have been added to the church.  Today, the church is decorated with an art collection that spans more than a 1,000 years.

Below are some highlights from our visit.

Diagram of the church and convent of San Marco, Florence.  The church appears in the lower left of the diagram.

The neoclassical façade of San Marco church by Fra Giovan Battista Paladini (1777-1778)

The nave of the church looking toward the altar.  The church is medium-sized relative to Florence's cathedral and basilicas.

The ceiling of the church was designed and carved by Pier Francesco Silvani (1679), with a painting added later tine, The Assumption by Giovanni Antonio Pucci (1725).

Above the alter is the dome decorated with frescoes by Alessandro Gherardini (1717).

The church's altar and pipe organ.  On the altar is a gold crucifix by Fra Angelico (1425-1428).

Bronze statue of Fra Angelico

The Annunciation possibly by Jacopo di Cione (1375).  This early fresco survives while some others have been plastered over or destroyed.   

A mosaic from the 800's.  It originally was located in Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome before being moved to San Marco in 1596. 

Bronze statue of Savonarola by R. Biggi (19th century)

Savonarola in profile with his distinctive nose

The Transfiguration by Giovan Battista Paggi (1596).  Greg especially liked this painting because the white image is so stark and draws the eye to it. 

We enjoyed touring San Marco.  Thanks for touring with us. 

Churches: San Marco (Part 4 of 5)

One of Dominicans who lived at San Marco was Girolamo Savonarola.  He was a Dominican friar, the Prior of the San Marco Convent and, for a while, the de facto ruler of Florence.

Depending on what you read and who is giving an opinion, Savonarola was either saint-like or mentally disturbed.

Here is some background.  Girolamo Savonarola was born in Ferrara, Italy, in 1452.  He was educated and, before joining the Dominicans, he wrote about the corrupted state of the world and the church, including the Papacy in Rome.  In 1475, he joined the Dominican order, the Order of Preachers, in Bologna and was ordained a priest in 1476.  He continued his education and writing, while teaching and preaching.  Over the course of 14 years, he traveled in northern Italy, teaching and preaching in different convents, including a time in San Marco.  He preached against corruption in the world and the church and managed to alienate his superiors in the order.  During this period, Savonarola later said he received religious revelations about .

Savonarola found a kindred spirit in Florence (the philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola) who arranged for Lorenzo d'Medici to have Savonarola assigned to San Marco in 1490.  That was the beginning of Savonarola's end.  He continued preaching about the corruption of the world and the church and the coming of new world.  He preached to larger and larger crowds, starting in the San Marco church, moving to the square in front of the church and then to the cathedral which could hold up to 30,000 people. Apparently, he was a gifted preacher who could talk for hours.  He attracted a large number of followers whom others derisively dubbed the "piagioni", or wailers.

In 1492, Lorenzo d'Medici died and was succeeded by first son, Piero, a much weaker leader.  By 1494, Florence was ready for a change.  Savonarola had prophesied about an invader from the north who would help purify Florence and usher in a new age.  In late 1494, King Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in an effort to occupy and rule Naples.  As Charles VIII's army approached Florence, the people of Florence ousted Piero d'Medici and Savonarola arranged to pay off Charles VIII.  The king's army left Florence and headed south to Naples, leaving Florence to Savonarola ad his many followers. 

With the ouster and exile of the Medici family, Savonraola, who could not hold public office, became the de facto ruler of Florence.  His followers held key posts in the government and took their cues from Savonarola.

For four years, Savonarola ruled Florence, preaching purity and renewal while continuing to stridently rail against worldly vice and the corrupt church.  During this period, Savonrola arranged for bonfires of the vanities--public burning of secular objects, including non-religious paintings and other worldly valuables. 

After 4 fours of secular rule, in 1498, Savonarola's reign ended.  He had refused the Pope's command to join an alliance against the French and also to come to Rome.  As a result, the Pope excommunicated Savonarola and banned him from preaching.  For a while, Savonarola obeyed the ban but resumed preaching.

Savonarola had indicated he was on a mission from god, having had visions and performed miracles.  A rival preacher, a Franciscan, proposed to test Savonarola's divine mission with a trial by fire.  The people of Florence wanted to see whether divine intervention would save Savonarola or not.  The day of the test arrived.  Stalling followed by a downpour led to cancellation of the trial. 

Public opinion turned against Savonarola.  Shortly after the test, Savonarola was arrested and then tortured.  Under torture, he confessed that his visions and prophesies were fabricated. 

Savonarola was then condemned to death as a heretic and a schismatic and then hanged and burned in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.  His ashes were scattered in the river to prevent veneration of his remains. 

Savonarola's legacy is mixed.  Some members of the Dominican order have venerated Savonarola and they studied and followed some of his teachings, as have some religious and political figures and philosophers.  Others dismiss Savonarola.  Putting aside Savonarola's mixed legacy, he was a powerful religious and political force during the Renaissance in Florence. 

A portrait of Savonarola (with some dude reflected in the glass)

Savonarola's robe on display in the San Marco convent

In the San Marco convent, a plaque marks the place where Savonarola was arrested.

A painting depicting Savonarola's end in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. 

A plaque marks the approximate spot where Savonarola met his end.

A bell on display in the San Marco convent.  The bell hung in the San Marco bell tower and was rung continuously when Savonarola was arrested.  The continuous ringing was a call to his followers, the piagnioni (or wailers), to come and defend the convent against attacks by anti-Savonarola factions.  Later, once Savonarola was convicted, the anti-Savonarola factions took the bell from the tower and dragged it through the streets of Florence while flogging it.  (The description below explains more about the bell and its history.) 

Not far from San Marco is a lovely square dedicated to Savonarola, Piazza Savonarola.

A statue of Savonarola in the middle of Piazza Savonarola

Thanks for joining our tour of the San Marco convent and church. 

Churches: San Marco (Part 3 of 5)

While visiting San Marco, we were shushed.  Three times we were shushed. 

The shushers in this case were Saints Dominic and Peter of Verona, shushing us from their perches on the frescoed walls of San Marco.

Background:  The Dominicans are known as the Order of Preachers.  Dominic founded the order, in part, to train priests to better teach the masses through preaching.  Ironically, Dominic also greatly valued silence--silence in every part of a monastery.

To the uninitiated like us, preaching and silence do not seem to go together.  Well, it turns they fit together nicely. The silence practiced by Dominicans is not perpetual silence. Instead, it is silence in large doses punctuated by preaching.  Apparently, the cultivation of silence is considered the "doorway to contemplation" and listening for what is most meaningful while in deep thought and prayer.  So, silence leads to profound understanding and then to inspired preaching.

Silence in San Marco:  In the convent, the dozens of Dominicans living there were silent throughout much of their daily routine. The Dominican constitution calls for: “Silentium fratres nostri teneant in claustro in dormitorio in cellis in refectorio et oratorio.” ("Silence hold our brothers in the cloister, in the dormitory, in cells, in the refectory and the oratory of his brethren.")  So, San Marco was a very quiet place.

While silence might have been easy for some Dominicans, others probably had a hard time keeping mum.  For the more verbal Dominicans, there were reminders throughout San Marco to practice silence.  The reminders were none other than St. Dominic and another revered Dominican, St. Peter of Verona (also known as St. Peter Martyr).  Below are photos of three frescoes in San Marco that shushed would-be talkers.

 

A word about Peter of Verona--has was one tough person.  Peter was the Pope's General Inquisitor for northern Italy in the mid-1200's and he preached against the Cathar heresy.  His preaching greatly angered one heretic who decided to silence Peter with an axe to the head.  Rather than fall silent, Peter knelt and recited part of the Apostle's Creed.  Before dying, he wrote a sentence of the creed in the dirt in his own blood.  The Pope, knowing a saint when he saw one, expedited Peter's canonization. So, when St. Peter shushes you, you had better shush. 

Next Up:  Possibly the greatest of Dominican preachers who did not observe silence when perhaps he should have.

Churches: San Marco (Part 2 of 5)

The San Marco convent houses a large library that was added when the Dominicans moved in and the convent was rebuilt with Medici money. 

The library was designed by Michelozzo.  Its Renaissance architecture is beautiful in its symmetry and it resembles the nearby Basilica of San Lorenzo built during the same era.

The library was once filled with books and with monks illuminating manuscripts.  The book collection included ancient Greek and Roman books that were frequently consulted by Florentine thinkers and writers.  The library also housed religious texts and scientific texts covering many subjects, including medicine, geometry, mathematics and astronomy.

Today, the library is home to a museum that displays rare illuminated manuscripts and the tools used to make them.

Here are some photographic highlights from our visit to the library.

The library is a very long rectangular room with a triple nave and barrel vaulted ceiling. 

At each end of the room is a fresco with a painting of a renowned Dominican friar philosopher in the center. 

St.. Thomas Aquinas

St. Albert the Great

 

The ancient illuminated manuscripts were created in the library by highly skilled Dominican friars.  As many as 64 friars could work on manuscripts at the same time.  Pages of some of the manuscripts were painted by Fra Angelico.  Below are two examples along with photos of some of the materials used to create the manuscripts.

Next Up: San Marco's most controversial resident.

Churches: San Marco (Part 1 of 5)

Not far from where we live in Florence are the San Marco church and convent.

San Marco church and convent

In fact, the section of Florence where we live is called San Marco.

We recently toured San Marco and were truly amazed by the art there.  Here is some background about San Marco.

   •   A Benedictine church and monastery first occupied the site in the 1100's.

   •   In the mid-1400's, the Benedictines were moved out and Dominicans moved in.

   •   Cosimo d'Medici the Elder was responsible for recruiting the Dominicans and rebuilding San Marco.

   •   Two famous Dominicans lived at San Marco:

• Renaissance artist Guido di Pietro, better known as Fra Angelico; and
• Girolamo Savonarola, preacher and de facto ruler of Florence, 1494-1498.

San Marco's convent has been transformed into a museum where you can view great Renaissance art and also see how the Dominicans lived.  Throughout the museum are works by Fra Angelico (who lived at San Marco 1436-1445), along with works by other artists, such Fra Bartolomeo. 

Below are some highlights of our tour.

Two of the most famous paintings at San Marco are frescoes by Fra Angelico.  They are pictured below.  Each fresco was intended to inspire the Dominican brothers.  Each is located where the brothers would see them in their daily life--in the cloister where they would walk daily in silent contemplation and in the entrance to the dormitory they would pass through every day. 

The Annunciation by Fra Angelico (1450)

The painting above is considered a great masterpiece.  For that reason, the museum provides a tactile version that visitors with limited or no sight can touch, together with a braille description.

The Crucifixion by Fra Angelico (1442)

The Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1486).  The painting above is a fresco on the wall of a refectory (or dining hall) of the convent. The subject matter of the painting is appropriate for a refectory.  What seems inappropriate is that the refectory now doubles as a gift shop.  No joke.  Check out the next photo.   

The gift shop

Fra Angelico's body of work at San Marco is extensive.  His frescoes appear throughout the convent, including in each cell of the dormitory.  In addition, he illuminated manuscripts.  He lived at San Marco for nearly a decade and he must have been painting every waking moment.  Apparently, he had help with some of the painting from others working under his supervision.  Otherwise, he might have never slept. 

A 500-year-old fresco by Fra Angelico in a dormitory cell 

Another Fra Angelico fresco in a cell.  Greg especially liked this painting because of the depiction of hell's defeated minions.

Another Fra Angelico fresco in a cell--St. Dominic and the cross

"Sister Susan" in the convent

The convent's patron, Cosimo d'Medici the Elder, was apparently very religious and had his own cell in the dormitory (pictured below).  It was a retreat from his very large palazzo just down the street.

 

A view from the convent--the top of the nearby cathedral seen through antique window glass

The bell tower as seen from inside the San Marco convent

A small courtyard in the convent

Lovely roses in bloom in the convent.

Next Up:  The Library.