Florence 2012 Journal: Santa Croce

Santa Croce

Santa Croce began construction (possibly under the instruction of Anolfo di Cambio) on top of an earlier site  in the 13^th century alongside the arrival of Franciscan friars to Florence and became the biggest Franciscan church to exist. As is typical of Franciscan churches, it is ‘T’ shaped instead of being shaped like a cross. It wasn’t until the 19^th century that the facade that stands now was finished. It is Neo-Gothic in style. It has flying buttresses and pointed windows/arches.

Inside it has only one floor, with arcades; instead of boasting a number of floors like you would find in other European Gothic churches. This is mainly because the Florentines were renowned for being earthbound and merchant. Florence was an affluent centre of trade and invented the Gold Florin that was used as international currency throughout the Renaissance years. Therefore, Gothic never quite broke through and while their Gothic buildings are beautiful and in some cases overwhelming, they do not intimidate or frighten you with a sense of the sublime in the way a Gothic church would elsewhere. However, the impressive structure of the church did in fact survive bombing in the Second World War.

Florence although clearly religious in the centuries throughout the Renaissance did not wholly succumb to the trend of Gothic churches. The Florentine bankers and numerous trades and guilds asserted their dominance and therefore the churches were influenced as so. All churches in Florence will have the emblem/crest of their contributor somewhere, and often quite obviously. The church Orsanmichelle particularly epitomises the importance of trade when it was rebuilt in 1344 to be used to store grain.

Santa Croce translates into ‘the Holy Cross’. The reason for this name is the illustration of the story ‘Legend of the True Cross’ situated in the ‘cappella maggiore ‘of the church. The frescoes were done by Agnolo Gaddi, the son of Taddeo and collaborator of Giotto. Running along the walls also once stood another fresco cycle of the life of Jesus.

The story tells of the Roman Emperor Constantine who had a dream where an angel held out a cross and said he would be victorious in battle under ‘this sign’. As the battle ensued, Constantine instructed his soldiers to use no weaponry, only the cross and march towards the opposition. As the angel had promised, Constantine won the battle with no bloodshed whatsoever and as consequence became the first baptised Roman Emperor in 312 ad.

The mother of Constantine, Helena, wanted to find the ‘true cross’ that Jesus was crucified on and therefore tortured a Jewish man who she believed knew where the cross was. The Jewish man supposedly took her to the three crosses that were used the day of Jesus’ crucifixion and in order to find out which one was the ‘true cross’, she put each one in front of an ill man. The cross that cured him was the ‘true cross’.

At the left hand side of the altar above (of which was a later addition by Vasari), an unveiled part of a fresco cycle can be seen (the Passion scene). Note how the altars also cover up some of the original windows.

There are a total of 16 chapels; chapels were often sold to rich families thus each chapel is decorated in their preferences and will no doubt have their family crest present and a number of tombs where family members have been buried.

The most notable tomb in Santa Croce is that of Michelangelo Buonarroti (above). It has the crest of the Buonarroti family (See left, zoomed) covered in drapery.

Below the family crest is a bust of Michelangelo  himself. Further down, the three women sitting on the marble represent architecture, sculpture and painting – homage to his crafts. It is believed that Michelangelo had been making his ‘Pieta’ to be put on his tomb however it was left unfinished in his workshop and his tomb was therefore made by Vasari. Vasari encouraged Michelangelo’s nephew to hand over the unfinished Pieta to the Grand Duke Cosimo; it can now be found in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome.

Alongside the many notable pieces of artwork in the church are the crucifixes by Donatello and Cimabue. The wooden crucifix by Donatello dates back to the early 15^th century, the exact date remains disputed among art historians although it is estimated to have been made somewhere in between 1412-1425. The pieces are movable, therefore during mass and prayers the passion scene can be acted out. Cimabue’s crucifix was finished during the 1280’s and suffered water damage in the 1966 flood.

Florence 2012 Journal: Perception & Effects of Images

Perception & effects of images

The earliest fresco decorations date back to the 5^th century in the Basilica of St. Felix in Nola. However it wasn’t until under Gregory the Great (pope 540-602) that Frescoes had begun to be commissioned in order to educate ‘instructio & edificatio’ the ignorant ‘illeterati’.

Instruction: ‘Picture service to instruct the uneducated’                                                   

Edification: ‘To recall the mystery of the incarnation of Christ and the exemplary lives of saints’ remembrance to reinforce feeling of reverence’ (Aquinas)

Christian services were held in Latin and therefore the illiterate or the otherwise known as ‘ignorant’ could not understand or be involved in their religion. The policies pushed forward by Gregory the Great meant that they could begin to understand the stories from the bible and live their life accordingly. The ancient frescoes were naturalistic because nature was believed to have been as divine as the saints themselves and acknowledged as a product of God; the notion of ‘Visible Parlare’ by Dante further enhanced this in that the subjects in frescoes and art work would be visibly interacting – something that was lost under the ‘Greek manner’ or otherwise ‘byzantine style’.

Cimabue was the supposed master of Giotto and was said to have worked in the ‘Greek Style’, whereas Giotto began to employ aspects of a revived ‘Latin Style’. The Latin Style is clearly the beginnings of the Renaissance as it resorts back to the Aristotelian theory that ‘Ars imitator naturam’ – Art imitates nature. Unlike the Latin manner, the Greek manner was not conscious of proportion and perspective. Cimabue and his contemporaries were said to have used a compass to get the length of a nose in a painting and use multiples of the ‘nose length’ to determine where other features go. On the other hand, the Latin manner incorporated the ‘naturalism’ of classical art, however it hadn’t been perfected until the likes of Michelangelo and Leonardo as, for example, it was not acceptable to paint a commissioner or a ‘normal person’ to the scale of the saints until at least the 1420’s. This is where we see diminution; the sizes of subjects are not depicted in terms of reality but rather in terms of importance. 

Florence 2012 Journal: Analysis of the Baptistery Doors

Analysis of the Baptistery doors.

At the turn of the 15^th Century, a competition arose to find the man who would complete the trio of doors at the Battistero di San Giovanni. Out of this came Lorenzo Ghiberti, who finished the north doors by 1424 and the east by 1449. The south doors had been completed by Ghiberti’s predecessor Andrea Pisano, whose work was completed in 1336.

The bottom two rows of reliefs on the north door (1424) are of the Bishop of Hippo, Jerome, Gregory the Great and Ambrose; followed by John, Matthew, Luke and Mark. These are, in the words of George Robinson, the first ‘promulgators and first interpreters of Christ’s teaching’.[1] Therefore, the consolidation of their place on the door lays in the fact that without them, we may not know (or understand for that matter) the teachings of the life of Christ that are so essential to the Christian faith. The remaining 20 quatrefoils go on to portray these teachings with scenes from the annunciation to the Pentecost.  

Similarly, Pisano’s door (1336) has 28 quatrefoils of which 8 do not portray the subject matter (in this case, the life of St. John the Baptist). The bottom two rows are virtues personified: Hope, Faith, Charity, Humility, Fortitude, Temperance, Justice and Prudence. The first three are theological virtues while the last four are cardinal virtues. It has been argued that the Humility relief was an addition ‘to lend greater harmony to the composition’ as 7 virtues were not enough to complete two rows.[2] This is unlikely because the people who lived during the Renaissance viewed art and architecture as ‘functional objects’ for ‘sacred or secular purposes’.[3] Thus, aesthetics came second to functionality. What’s more, if you were to consider the status of the project and the fact that bronze was extremely expensive at the time (often had to melt old works of art in order to obtain it), it is unlikely Pisano would have been negligent to the underlying meaning of his work. The more likely observation is that the panel pays homage to the humility of the Franciscan and Dominican orders that were came to prominence in light of the construction of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella.

Ghiberti’s final door (1449) is different in that it has only 10 panels that are also larger. They are all scenes from the Old Testament. The most significant aspect is the radical change in style in terms of not only Pisano’s work, but also of his own. It has been acknowledged that Ghiberti’s first door was subtly changing within the parameters of what style had been ‘acceptable’ up until the 1400’s (for example, Pisano’s ‘birth of the Baptist’ was conventional in that there was no care for perspective). However, the real emergence of naturalism can be seen in Ghiberti’s last door and is arguably comparable to Renaissance paintings in that it shows ‘the same innovations in naturalism and perspective’.[4] Depictions of saints and biblical scenes were no longer confined to the simplicity found in Byzantine art.

Early Renaissance art therefore began to explore the human form, nature and perspective as the taboo lifted on drawing a saint in any way other than holy and not of this world. To conclude, Ghiberti’s own accession to naturalism through his Baptistery doors epitomises the slow emergence of the renaissance in both architecture and art.     

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[1] K. Clark, D. Finn, G. Robinson, the Florence Baptistery Doors (The Viking Press, 1980), 107.

[2] A. Giusti, the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence (Mandragora, 2000), 30.

[3] G. Johnson, Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2006), 3.

[4] R. Viladesau, The Triumph of the Cross: The Passion of Christ in Theology and the Arts from the Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation (Oxford University Press, 2008), 62.

Florence 2012 Journal: Piazza del Duomo

Piazza Del Duomo

Florence is a city where the period of Renaissance has boldly left its mark, and on the 10th October I was able to see this first hand with a visit to the Piazza del Duomo, where Santa Maria del Fiore and the Battistero di San Giovanni are situated.

. The Battistero di San Giovanni was built on 11th century ruins and is a stylistic crossover of Romanesque and gothic style. The Romanesque aspect uses and recycles elements of roman architecture (which lends itself to much of ancient Greek architecture) such as the triangular pediments that are similar to ones that can be found on the Parthenon in Greece. The Gothic element is very much an influence of Christianity. Its shape is octagonal which represents the number ‘8’ and is a reference to the symbol of infinity (∞) and also therefore the possibility of resurrection. Furthermore, the architecture of the Baptistery refers to the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in that it has three levels with each side having three windows, three arcades etc.

Andrea Pisano’s door and Lorenzo Ghiberti’s first door contain 28 quatrefoils each, whilst the ‘Gates of Paradise’ have only 10 panels. Ghiberti’s first door uses 20 of the quatrefoils in portraying the life of Jesus whilst the others have a depiction of the four fathers of the church (Augustine, Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose) followed by the four evangelists (John, Matthew, Luke, Mark). The evangelists are sculpted alongside the ‘living creatures’ with which they are commonly associated from the theological works of St. Jerome. (John: Eagle, Matthew: Winged man (Ghiberti portrays this as an angel), Luke: Ox, Mark: Lion)

Opposite the east door of the Baptistery is the cathedral named Santa Maria del Fiore. The cathedral was built to replace what had stood in its place beforehand – the Basilica de Santa Reparata. The side facades are largely a 19^th century addition after the shoddily made walls of the Medici era where no longer adequate. Construction began in 1296, engineered in the gothic style by Alnorfo Di Cambio after which a handful of architects would take his place. Two prominent features of the cathedral are Giotto’s campanile (14^th century) and Brunelleschi’s Dome (15^th Century).  In order to understand how to construct the dome, Brunelleschi studied the Pantheon (Hadrian, 125 AD), and from there incorporated a double shell structure of the dome using herringbone (Opus Spicatum) brickwork into Santa Maria del Fiore.  The underbelly of this construction was to then be painted under the leadership of Vasari.

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Florence 2012 Journal: Introduction to the Renaissance

Introduction to the Renaissance

Renaissance, meaning quite literally the ‘rebirth’ of the arts, and perhaps a period which saw the transition of the middle ages into the modern world, spanned 300 years. Commonly believed to have begun with the likes of Giotto and finishing in excellence (the High Renaissance) with the likes of Michelangelo, Rafael and Leonardo. 

An illustration depicting Dante with the Divine comedy in his hand. With the city of Florence to the right and the gates to hell to the left.

Throughout the 300 years mentioned, the Renaissance is said to have been affected by three events of the middle ages: the 100 year war, Black Death and the ’great schism‘. 

Firstly, the 100 year war shifted the power held over mainland Europe to the French, removing British control. Here in Florence, the Benci family had lent money to the English king, thus with the English demise of power also came the bankruptcy of what had been the most powerful family in Florence; effectively handing over the power to the Strozzi family and as consequence changing what influenced the arts. 

Secondly, the Black Death that first appeared in Italy in 1347, gave the church (which had become decreasingly influential) leverage by which to claim that the Black Death was punishment from God for all of their sins. Particularly in calling upon ‘the Divine Comedy’ did they manipulate the populous into abiding by the rules of the church. 

Lastly the ‘great schism’ or split between the church, came after the movement of the Church from Rome to Avignon. From 1305 - 1378 all popes were French until Pope Gregory XI eventually returns the papacy to Rome and forces an election of an Italian pope. The French disagreed with this, and from this came the election of a pope in both Rome and Avignon – again, both elements changing and influencing art.

The Grammar of Ornament

The Grammar of Ornament was essentially a book comprising of design sources published in 1856 and put together by Owen Jones, an English-born architect with Welsh ancestry. 

The publication roughly coincides with the formation of the Victorian and Albert museum in South Kensington (formally a run down suburb of London called Brompton). 

Owen Jones was born in 1809 and died in 1874. He was an important figure in the Design Reform Movement which was largely concerned with the improvement of British design and manufacture via a new set of design principles. The main principle which is evident in his book is that design must be stylised - thus two dimensional and simple. 

This fits in nicely with the work of Henry Cole, of whom was the first director of the V&A. Before he became the director, he was the head of the Museum of Ornamental Art at Marlborough house. It was here, after having worked closely together at the Great Exhibition of 1851, that Jones advised Cole on his collection to be displayed; more importantly, what was to be displayed in the Chamber of Horrors. The Chamber of Horrors was the name coined by Charles Dickens for the room within the museum that displayed examples of bad design. This was to (hopefully) inspire the new generation of designers to steer clear of what was considered bad design - the bad design of which was considered to be a contributing factor to the triumph of French design (and others!) over British Design at the Great Exhibition.

Despite the intention to inspire a whole generation through one house in the middle of London, the reality of it was that the location was not always accessible. The Schools of design (of which Jones was a visiting lecturer and closely tied) were logically the target audience. However the location of the schools were spread nation wide because manufacture was increasingly the speciality of the northern counties. London based industry began to slow down and would struggle to catch up with their northern neighbours later on during the late Victorian Period as London resisted machinery in turn for traditional practices amid an escalating social crisis. How then, could he disseminate good design in an effective way and ensure England was at the forefront of international design? The answer was: The Grammar of Ornament.

Two of his most notable influences were Medieval and Islamic design. Many (note-not all!) people at this time were inspired by medieval art and culture as industrial England left them feeling a little nostalgic. What had happened to the cute little vernacular practices and the good ol countryside? Medieval culture came to embody this. In terms of the Islamic design, Jones had visited Granada and most importantly the Alhambra; he was one of the many people (myself included) to be enchanted by the place and wanted to show everyone at home what it looked like.

 

Below I have uploaded a few pictures I took of the Grammar of Ornament whilst at the prints room of the V&A with my class and lecturer.

Have a butchers here for the collection at the V&A and here to read up on the Alhambra. 

Beautiful aren't they! 

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Gustave Dore's Illustrations of Victorian London

Gustave Dore (1832-1883) was a 19th century French artist that specialised in a variety of practices. He was a talented sculptor, painter and printmaker. Perhaps though, it was his printmaking that made him the venerated figure he is today. Throughout his life he was commissioned to illustrate, via the means of his woodcut and engraving skills, a large number of literature.The majority of his work seems to have been for French authors/publishers. However there is a sizeable amount of work commissioned by English patrons. Some notable works of which he was the illustrator include William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1860), Louis Viardot's French translation of Cervantes' Don Quixote (1863), Dante Alighieri's The Vision of Hell (1866), Milton's Paradise Lost (1866), Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1870) and William Blanchard Jerrold's London: A Pilgrimage (1872).

William Blanchard Jerrold joined forces with Dore in 1869 and together they painted a rather grisly portrayal of Victorian London (for the most part anyway). Although London: A Pilgrimage was a commercial success, it was heavily criticised for highlighting a lot of what proud Victorian Londoners would not like the world to see: overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, the unemployed poor etc. In the early 1870's Victorian London was fastly approaching the end of the 'Age of Equipoise' (we will get back to this later...).

The early Victorian Period was plagued by the fear of revolution (e.g the Chartists), political unrest (e.g 'Stop the Duke, Go for Gold'), tensions between civilians and the organisations that tried to control them (e.g Peterloo Massacre), a sharp rise in population (the population was 6.6 million in 1900 despite having started the Victorian Era as approx. 1 million) and deadly outbreaks of diseases like Cholera. 

However, after all the issues found in the early period the middle of the Victorian Era is considered the age of balance, hence 'the Age of Equipoise' as mentioned earlier. We held the most spectacular exhibition the world had seen in 1851 (the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace), Londoners had begun to adapt to cosmopolitan living, unemployment basically did not exist and the failure of the Chartist Movement laid to rest any worries about revolution. Londoners thought of themselves as above the rest of Europe because unlike the rest, England did not stage a revolution in 1848. 

This was short lived though, and to bring it back to Dore's time London was leaving this age of balance for a darker, more difficult late Victorian Era. Unemployment was back up as casual employers began to replace permanent employers (for example working at the docks) and horrific crime began to dominate the underdeveloped and overpopulated East End. For example, Jack the Ripper in the late 80's.

 Not surprising though that Dore should choose to illustrate such images, given the latest trend back home in Paris was realism: a real portrayal of everyday life for the largest section of the population - the lower classes. Dore was paid handsomely and because of the nature of his work (walking around the streets to observe the conditions) he had to stay in London for about 3 months at a time. The book included 180 illustrations. It is near impossible to find all of them on the internet however the British Library have quite a comprehensive collection which I have uploaded below:

P.S if the images appear pixelated click on one of them to open the picture library and navigate that way.