Italia--Steeped in Art; Overwhelmed By Art

In Volterra and Pisa we had a wonderful guide named Vincenzo.  He provided the most sensible and beautiful explanation of the early purposes of Renaissance painting, and connected it to modern forms of art.

Painting, especially religious painting, was created to help common people, who were unable to read, understand the formative stories and legends of their culture, especially Biblical stories.  The story of the Assumption, for instance, in which the Virgin Mary was visited by an angel and proclaimed the mother of God, was painted and repainted countless times.

The compositions and characters were similar in each "version" of the story in every painting, even though the depictions changed according to accepted cultural norms.  But the stories were the same, and by using iconic imagery, they could be passed down through the generations.

In a similar way, said Vincenzo, essential stories, from fairy tales to Shakespeare, are re-told many times; and our evolving forms of art, like graphic novels and 3-D movies, provide contemporary culture new modes of delivery for familiar stories that are the foundation of our artistic traditions.

I was consumed by sculptures, frescoes, paintings, and other forms of visual expression.  It is no wonder so many in Italy seem to grow up inspired to develop talent in visual arts. 

The art around me was overwhelming.  Here is just a sampling of the artifacts and images I managed to capture on my camera... I tried to do them justice....

                                  The Vatican--St. Peter's Square and one of many amazing obelisks.

A detail of one of thousands of paintings covering almost every wall and ceiling surface in the Vatican halls.

The dome of St. Peter's..Surrounded by lush green, a perfect compliment to its formal beauty and perfection.

The Gallery of Maps at the Vatican, and the breathtaking golden ceiling...

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) in Florence was the only bridge in Italy purposely not destroyed in WWII by enemy explosion. The exterior of the bridge appears to be a small villlage. Inside on the the well-traveled walkway are a number of jewelers.

The Opera Museum on Rome. An interesting edifice flanked by angelic sculptures on the bridge that leads to it.

Inside the Colosseum there is a mural that depicts the common activities that took place there at the time. Men would gather to talk politics, play board games, sleep, relax, as well as witness the violent games in the "arena", from the Latin word for "sand" which was spread on the floor to clean the blood from these spectacles.  "Gladiators" were named for the Latin word "glateus", the short heavy sword they used in their staged battles.

A look at the dome in the pantheon, a famous ancient cathedral with a hole in the top of its dome.  It is conjectured that the design was patterned on the movement of celestial bodies, and the light coming in was carefully modulated because of it.

Just one of the stunning design structures and arches on the site of the excavated Forum.  One can spend weeks here for serious study of this site.

Paintings, mosaics, and murals like this appeared regularly above doorways all over Rome.  This was on a small church. 

Some of the fourteen medieval towers that fortified the medieval town of San Gimignano, that look something like a hi-rise skyline from the distance.  For this reason the town was dubbed "the Manhattan" of Tuscany".

ANIMALS were a welcome inspiration for beautiful artifacts, from the most ancient times:

A simple iron horse-tie still affixed to a wall in Sienna. 

Part of a massive fresco on a wall in the burial hall in Pisa.  I love the expression in the horses' eyes, and the little dog curled in the arms of its mistress.

(I learned that Frescoes are so fragile because they are painted on wet plaster, which dries very quickly.)

A Vatican sculpture of the goddess Diana, goddess of the hunt, with a faithful dog at her side.

Even the common lamp-posts in Florence had leonine feet!

This print was hanging in our room in Florence..at the hotel Caravaggio, naturally!

A Cathedral bedecked with all sorts of awesome white scupltures...Closer inspection revealed a lone angel with black wings... Maybe just needs some restoration? It was haunting anyway.

A detail of the famous Duomo in Florence.  My photographs could not possibly convey its magnificence.

From the terrace at the famous Uffizi gallery, near the Accademia (home of the "David"), and which contains the renowned paintings of Botticelli among others.  Just an "artsy" composition to showcase the layers of beauty.

A replica of David in the square next to the Uffizi. (In the sculpture to the right, what is the kneeling man gazing at so intently??)

Modern Art is also highly represented.  Outside of the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens in Florence was this startling and unusual piece, which I believe is by sculptor Robert Barni.



Italia: Breaking Language Barriers; and A Shopper's Gallery

In San Gimignano, a beautiful medieval village in the Tuscan countryside, we did a good deal of browsing and shopping.  One store, La Luna nel Pozzo, offered the kinds of souvenir items, kitchen gadgets and such, that we wanted to purchase as gifts, and that were small and durable enough to pack easily. 

I was not sure what the store's name meant...I knew "luna" was moon...so, The Moon in the---Pozzo?

I asked the shopkeeper, "Come se dice en inglese, pozzo?"  What is the English word for pozzo? Without hesitation he took from under the counter a well-worn English-Italian dictionary. He looked it up.  Pozzo means "well".  Thus: The Moon in the Well.  We both learned something that morning.

Most of the locals I spoke to in Italy knew English, or several other languages, but nevertheless allowed me to practice my Italian, and were patient and even happy to allow for my fractured sentences and hesitations.  One hotel manager even assured me that he would prefer to practice English (I think he was being kind and polite).  No matter who you encountered, just about everyone had a language in common, and I was able to get by in Italian, some German, and a good deal of Spanish as well as English.

When you're trying to learn a language, there is nothing better than visiting the country where it is spoken, and plunging in and speaking it.  That way, you know what you need to learn more of.

*     *     *     *     * 

Here's a photo gallery for all of you shoppers.  Mark and I tended to avoid the high-end districts and chain stores, preferring instead to frequent those small, individually-run stores and open-air markets that offered unique merchandise, and not just tourist-trap junk.  I enjoyed recording the images of these various experiences in shopping.

The above photo was of a small sundry-winery-bakery we discovered on our first day In Rome.

Mark is buying a card for his Mom at an open-air market in Rome near the Tiber River.

A couple of entrepreneurs selling souvenirs outside of the Colosseum.  The euro-dollar exchange rate was not in our favor, so it was rather expensive to make purchases.  At least SOMETHING was free...!

Mark and our leader Yvette browsing and buying goods in a typical food market.

A photo taken through the front door of this gorgeous store of dishware.

The Gelateria, or the gelato shop, was ever-present throughout our travels.  Notice the sign in English and German.

A sumptuous baker's shop window.  The chain-mail was also for sale...I wanted to buy it to wear to the office..

An alabaster shop where you could see the artisans at work creating all sorts of lovely pieces.  (Notice the print of Picasso's "Guernica" behind him.  He is inspired by the best!)

Peppers are a staple of Italian cooking.  Here's a chart to help one decide the appropriate level of heat.

This shop traded in gold-leaf artifacts. The shop itself was the site of an historic excavation.  There was a glass floor so you could see the finds underneath.

"Genuine Products of Tuscany"...Indeed!

Notice how the grocer arranges the produce for a pleasing composition of color. This was in the Florence Food Market.

A Florentine Jewelry Store.  Images of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn were all over the towns we visited.

A refuge from the busy streets of Florence was this garden-like porcelain shop.

FINALLY...ONE OF MY FAVORITE SPOTS, IN SAN GIMIGNANO
   ...Still-Life with Cookies!



Italy: A Small, Fun Tour Group

(... Mark is wondering what street to explore next....)

We are strangers in a land overseas.  I barely have the language (although people are patient and wonderful communicators, as I will have discussed in another post). Aside from the obvious landmarks, which are teeming with tourists---where do we stay?  Where are the best, out-of-the-way eateries?  How do we get from one wonderful destination to another?  In fact, where are the can't-miss but hidden destinations, given a limited amount of time?

A guided tour is a terrific way to be introduced to a new place.  But then, large groups are difficult to corral, and hard to keep together, with more potential for delay.  It is more difficult to get into smaller restaurants or shops.  A large group can't travel as quickly together, and members have less freedom to explore on their own.

Our little group, coordinated by a travel-tour agency called Outgoing Adventures, was a hearty six people, plus our leader. The group was all guys, men of about the same age, with similar interests and political leanings. 

Along with Mark and me, there were: a professional couple from Washington, D.C, Michael and Paul; a retired nurse from China now living in Vancouver, also named Michael; and a photographer and dog-lover from San Francisco named Steve.

We had varied backgrounds and personalities, and widely diverse travel experience and expertise.  Still, we shared many common interests in art and "beauty"--we were always on the lookout for the most aesthetically pleasing men: 

We shared our stories, often personal details about our lives, which bonded us. We got lost in small towns together, consoled a lost wallet together, and endured teasing together.

For 10 days we became a family, under the caring and hilarious guidance of our heroine and guide, Yvette.

Yvette was an astonishing storehouse of knowledge about European and North African history and current politics.  I learned everything from the state of the Italian economy and political turmoil, the role of Gadaffi investments in Italy, the sources for unrest in areas around her home country of Tunisia, the long-standing feuds between Italians and Turks, and the roadblocks for journalists in reporting of everyday life in Israel.  All of this she made part of a world-community, rather than isolating it to just Italy.

She effortlessly provided us with bits of information that enhanced our travel, and that were also easy to digest.  She facilitated our easy entree into our hotels, our restaurants, and our destinations (like the Vatican, the Volterra museum, and the Colosseum.)   She toiled behind the scenes to line up drivers, boats, trains and small vans for our cross-country treks.  She provided us with guides who gave us fascinating histories of the small towns, as well as a wealth of art appreciation.  She arranged for our last dinner to be a group cooking class in a country house in the Tuscan countryside. 

Yvette knew EVERYONE.

And she assisted us with things like using ATM's, tipping the hotel workers, and ordering authentic food.

Our dinners, after some wine (every night!) were laugh-fests, one more festive than the next.  We always had red and white wine from the region, which enhanced our giddiness and a natural wit that emerged from around our table.  I may have to devote an entire post to our dinner-table hilarity.  For example, who knew that a proper "drag" name should combine one's first pet with the name of your childhood street of residence?  (My name, Bonnie Robert, was cause for one of our most extended laughs.) 

And the food was always diverse, and we never had to go over our budgets.  Italian food, the authentic stuff, is a lot more than spaghetti and Ragu, and pizza loaded with mozzarella and sauce.  Ingredients are fresh daily from various markets.  Bruschette could come topped with mushrooms, or "lard" (like a bacon) as well as tomato.  A "first plate" usually meant a small portion of pasta with a variety of sauces.  A "second plate' was a simple entree, either a cut of meat or piece of fish.  Side dishes like fresh vegetables were ordered a la carte.  We were often too full for dessert...but indulged all the same.  We were on vacation, far from home.

I shall miss our traveling family.  We shared an experience many real families often do not.