Art Tag

08 Dec COPING IN THE YEAR OF COVID

Posted at 00:28h in Destinations, Travel Tips by Italian Tours

2020 has been a devastating year for so many of us, and while the pandemic has completely knocked our business over, Luca and I are so fortunate that our friends and family have all remained safe and well. And particularly so when so many of our family, friends and colleagues live in Italy where the pandemic has been so much worse.

While our tours have been suspended in 2020, Luca and I have turned our attention to a new initiative, that we hope will go some way towards easing your ‘homesickness’ for all things Italian, as well as supporting some of the Italian artisan producers who are missing us as much as we are missing them.

Over many years of taking travellers to Italy we’ve built close relationships with local people who produce specialised products including oils and vinegars, distinctive Venetian glass jewellery, handmade olive oil cosmetics and beautifully patterned tableware and linens.

And so we have launched Origine Italiana, a small online boutique dedicated to beautiful things, all 100% made-in-Italy! We’ve started with a small but gorgeous range of Italian gifts and homewares: Florentine table cloths and tea towels, Venetian glass jewellery and a line of cosmetics for men and women, made in Tuscany.

If you’re still looking for Christmas gifts or would like to treat yourself, head across to our online store to browse the collection!

Shop Now!

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12 Oct PALAZZO SCHIFANOIA – A RENAISSANCE TREASURE IN FERRARA

Posted at 02:24h in Destinations, Travel Tips by Italian Tours

Article by Emanuela Mari.

After well over two years of renovations, the Great Hall of the Months in Ferrara’s Palazzo Schifanoia, one of the most extravagant and fascinating residences of the Italian Renaissance, has reopened to the public gaze. Borso d’Este commissioned a group of local artists to complete the celebrated fresco cycle that decorates its walls in 1469. The careful restoration, complemented by the new and much-improved lighting, has given it new life.

Borso d’Este was an illustrious member of Ferrara’s Este family, which ruled over the city for around 400 years from the 13th Century. He was very fond of sumptuous and magnificent displays of grandeur, which he used to great success to impress his subjects as well as neighbouring States. He wasn’t alone in this type of exercise: it was common in most Renaissance courts, where culture and shows of magnificence were often used as a political tool.

The fresco cycle of the months on the walls of Palazzo Schifanoia’s Great Hall is a result of these attitudes. The whole palace itself is a celebration of leisure and frivolous diversion as the name of the palace suggests — Schifanoia derives from the court’s use of the palace to avoid boredom (schifar la noia). It was also used to entertain and house foreign dignitaries and important guests.

The artwork is an enormous calendar that represents and glorifies the good acts and positive outcomes of Borso d’Este’s government. These are set out month-by-month and are depicted as being influenced and protected by the classical divinities and the stars according to the medieval astrological tradition.

The fresco portrays a loggia in the foreground with various scenes playing out behind it. The columns of the loggia frame the months, and each frame is divided horizontally into three sections. The top section portrays one of the classical divinities (on a triumphal float surrounded by followers and proteges). The middle is an astrological representation, with the sign of the Zodiac, surrounded by the three patrons of that month according to an Arabic reading of astrology and magic. The bottom section depicts scenes of Borso d’Este surrounded by his court, busy with the activities of government and court life, such as hunting with falcons.

Detail from the month of March by Francesco del Cossa – The Triumph of Minerva
Image by Sailko / CC BY-SA and found on Wikimedia Commons

The details of the frescos are so intricate and astounding that the meaning of some, especially in the middle section, are today shrouded in mystery. The fresco cycle, with its sophisticated and complex iconographic language, was conceived by the great Pellegrino Prisciani, Borso d’Este’s court intellectual. He was an important and influential figure in the cultural scene of the Ferrara court, an all-round humanist, well-versed in many disciplines, including astrology.

As for the artists and their work, they were a very talented group that created one of the most extraordinary works of art of the Renaissance. There is one artist in particular whose talent stands out from the rest. Francesco Del Cossa’s superior technique and exceptional artistic style make his contribution to the hall’s Eastern wall the most impressive. His work has survived the test of time much better than that of his colleagues.

Francesco Del Cossa is one of the most noteworthy, yet forgotten artists of the 15th Century. We know very little about his formative years. What we do know is that he worked between Ferrara and Bologna and that he was sought-after and much respected by his contemporaries and peers, including Michelangelo. So much so, that his work inspired an important school of followers.

As a final note, a warning to the prospective visitor. Unfortunately, not all of the fresco cycle has survived intact. If Del Cossa’s work on the Eastern wall (the months of March, April and May) is still in exceptional shape, and that of various masters (June to September) on the Northern wall is well maintained, the same cannot be said about much of the rest, where only faint traces of the old decorations remain. This is in part due to the ravages of time and partly because the fresco was painted over and forgotten for centuries.

In 1598, when the Este could not provide a direct line of succession, the Pope, who had granted the Este feudal rights to Ferrara, expelled them from the city and annexed it to the Papal States. Palazzo Schifanoia like the majority of the more than 50 leisure residences interspersed throughout the territory, fell into decay.

The Este’s expulsion brought to an end an era of fervid artistic activity and arguably the most prosperous period in Ferrara’s history. Their court was considered one of the most refined and progressive in all of Europe. They left the city of Ferrara a fantastic blueprint to their Ideal City they had cultivated for centuries, echoes of which are still evident today. The fresco cycle of the months in Palazzo Schifanoia is a magnificent example of this.

We visit Ferrara on our Undiscovered Riches – Discovering Emila Romagna tour, next scheduled for September 2021 and Emanuela will take us on a guided visit to the Palazzo Schifanoia.

Thank you to Emanuela Mari, local tour guide from Ferrara for contributing this article.

Emanuela fell in love with her city from a very early age — its art, history and culture were so intriguing that she decided to turn it into a career. She first completed a humanities degree (Lettere Moderne) at the University of Ferrara. She then undertook additional studies to become a licensed tour guide for the province.

She’s been working as a tour guide for more than twenty years and loves introducing her clients to Ferrara and its treasures. She speaks Italian, French and English fluently.

If you’re thinking of visiting Ferrara once this pandemic is over, you should definitely book a guided tour of Palazzo Schifanoia with her! You can contact her via her Facebook page, or of course, through us.

Detail from the month of April by Francesco del Cossa
Image by Sailko / CC BY-SA and found on Wikimedia Commons

Detail from the month of March by Francesco del Cossa
Image by Sailko / CC BY-SA and found on Wikimedia Commons

20 Nov CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT DA VINCI’S LAST SUPPER

Posted at 04:37h in Art by Italian Tours

Most visitors to Milan will make the pilgrimage to see Leonard da Vinci’s Last Supper in the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. This massive painting covered the back wall of the dining hall, inspiring silent reflection among the inhabitants. Most people are also familiar with the subject: the moment at the Last Supper when Jesus announces that one of those present will betray him.

However, there are other aspects to this painting that may well surprise you.

1. The Last Supper is not a fresco: it’s a mural using a technique known as fresco secco. Unlike normal fresco, where painters work on wet plaster so that the pigments become part of the wall, fresco secco mixes pigments with a binding agent, which is applied to a dry wall. The colours are bolder and brighter but, unfortunately, less durable. Within twenty years of its completion the Last Supper began to flake and had almost entirely disappeared a hundred years later.

2. The painting has survived many different violations. In 1625 the monks, believing the painting to be of no further value, cut a doorway through the painting, destroying Jesus feet and part of the table.
– In 1796, Napoleon’s troops used the space as a stable and amused themselves by throwing clay at the Apostles’ faces.
– In 1800 the building was flooded and the painting covered with green mould.
– Many of the seven documented attempts to restore the painting did more harm than good. In the 19^th century restorers, using alcohol and cotton swabs, removed an entire layer of paint.
– In 1943 Allied bombers destroyed the entire monastery. Despite sandbagging, the painting still suffered damage.

3. The most recent restoration was completed in 1999, a 22 year, 50,000 hour project. The project was controversial, with criticism of the type water colour paint and the intensity of colour used. It is estimated that some seventeen per cent of the surface has been completely lost and that less than half of the surface currently visible was actually painted by Da Vinci.

4. This painting continues to excite the imagination with speculation about the recurrence of the number three; the meaning of the spilled salt in front of Judas and the leavened bread; the theory that Da Vinci himself is represented in the figure of St James the Lesser (second Apostle from the left).[/vc_column_text]

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And if you’re interested in more, thriller writer Dan Browne has gone to town with all kinds of mysterious and mystical references in his book The Da Vinci Code.

To visit The Last Supper, you’ll need to book online some months in advance. The convent admits only small groups of about twenty people, for about twenty minutes at a time. Book at the official website to avoid the many scalpers and resellers and their ridiculous fees.

We always visit the Last Supper as part of our Milan and the Italian Lakes tour, next scheduled for June 2017.

06 May THE STORY BEHIND APOLLO AND DAPHNE

Posted at 02:55h in Art by Italian Tours

First time visitors to the Galleria Borghese are often surprised and a little annoyed that they must leave all their belongings outside the gallery. Not even small handbags are allowed inside. But as soon as you enter the gallery the reason is obvious: it’s more like visiting a private home, with artworks not only on the walls but intimately located in the middle of rooms as well. No place for a carelessly swinging handbag here!

In a treasure house boasting works by Caravaggio, Titian, Raphael and Rubens, it’s asking for trouble to single out one masterpiece. But the collection boasts about half a dozen sculptures by the darling of the Baroque popes, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and it is justifiable to nominate Apollo and Daphne as the most spectacular of these.

This dynamic marble sculpture stands in the middle of the room and tells the story of the warrior god Apollo and his relentless love for the nymph Daphne. According to the myth Apollo, full of warrior-like chutzpah, came across the love god Eros who was using his bows and arrows to shoot darts of love into his targets. Apollo sneered at Eros, telling him that he should not be playing with warriors’ weapons. Incensed Eros prepared two arrows, one of lead to incite hatred and one of gold to incite unquenchable love. He shot the lead arrow into Daphne’s heart and the gold into Apollo’s heart.

Daphne had already spurned many potential lovers and had begged her father, the river god Peneus, to let her remain unmarried so Apollo’s prospects were never rosy. Nevertheless he pursued her and she, filled with loathing, fled. Intent on further mischief, Eros intervened again, helping Apollo to catch up to the desperate girl. Seeing that Apollo was about to catch her, Daphne called to her father, asking him to change her shape to save her. And with the cruelty that characterised so many of the gods, Peneus did just that, transforming her into a laurel bay tree. Realising he could never have her as his wife, Apollo vowed to tend the laurel tree, promising that her leaves would crown victors and that she would remain evergreen.

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Bernini’s statue captures the very moment of Daphne’s transformation. At the instant Apollo lays hands on her, her outstretched fingers grow leaves, her skin turns to bark and her feet are rooted to the ground. She looks wildly into space, doubtless appalled by what is happening to her, while Apollo realises he will never possess her.

It was originally placed so that the observer’s first view was from behind Apollo and so that the rest of the story could unfold as the observer walked around the statue. So take a few moments to walk slowly round this statue and let the story emerge.

Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul IV amassed the significant collection in the Gallery Borghese in the 17th Century and housed it in his newly built villa on the family estate. Today, the museum strictly controls numbers, with visitors being admitted at two-hourly intervals, so be sure to pre-book your tickets for a designated entry time on the gallery’s website. Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne is located on the ground floor of the museum, with his other masterpiece The Rape of Propserpina.