Tuesday (1/5/16)

Today we visited two sites!

We first went to the Basilica de Santa Croce. We spent a good deal of time going to the different chapels within the church. In each chapel, we’d discuss the different paintings, most of which were done by Giotto, that together formed a narrative. We also discussed the importance of where certain paintings were placed. During our time to ourselves, I inspected the places where Michelangelo and Galileo were buried (very cool).

After an early afternoon break, we all put on our hiking shoes and proceeded to the Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte. In our travels, we ascended one of the longest, steepest sets of stairs I had ever encountered. Shout out to Ellie and Sang Woo for the cardio (we needed it after all of the pasta and gelato)! After taking time to stop for (many) pictures, we walked to the church. On the outside, we contrasted the style of the building’s facade to that of the other buildings we’ve seen. Once inside, we examined the sacristy and an altar. In the sacristy, we were told of how the paintings were painted over in order to preserve the image. We also discussed the recurring motif of constant temptation, depicted in the sacristy as a devil on top of a rock. The discussion I found most interesting came at the altar, when we contrasted how images were depicted on an altar vs on a wall. We discussed the concepts of iconic representation and narrative and how the difference in viewers dictates whether one or the other is used. 

That evening, everyone went out to celebrate Joby’s birthday! It was a great way to end a great day

Monday (1/4/16)

Today we kickstarted our class by visiting three sights.

First, we went to the Church of Santo Spirito, one of Italy’s largest churches. In my opinion, the piece of greatest interest was the sculpture supposedly done by Michelangelo. It was interesting to contrast the differences between this sculpture and his usual works, and getting into a discussion of how the divine manifestation was represented in the proportions of the human body.

Next, we went to the Il Grande Museo Del Duomo, followed by the dome itself. Out of all of the information learned today, I most enjoyed discussing about the competition between Bruneschelli and Ghiberti over who would create the doors. This competition was widely considered the start of the artistic Italian Renaissance, which is very significant! Also, it will be interesting to see how this theme of competition continues to motivate Renaissance artists throughout the other works we visit!

We concluded our day by visiting the Bracchi Chapel within the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Among other things, we discussed the painting techniques that allowed the images to be preserved with such great quality (*warning, very cool*), how the artist established perspective, and how Peter’s depicted actions represented the Catholic Church’s actions.

All in all, it was a great start to what is looking to be an intriguing course!