When I was in Florence three years ago, I did a post about street art depicting women. Much of that random art has disappeared so I have expanded to street art in general, in all its iterations
When I was in Florence three years ago, I did a post about street art depicting women. Much of that random art has disappeared so I have expanded to street art in general, in all its iterations
This may seem like a strange image in a post about looking up. But it tells a story, a story of the 1966 flood that devastated Florence, destroying or damaging millions of books and manuscripts and countless works of art.
Look up to the highest label on the wall. That is the high water mark, about 22 ft., on November 4, 1966. Lower sections of buildings and damaged art works are still undergoing restoration.
The frescoes in the chancel above the high altar and its vaulte dome are beautiful.
The Baroncelli Chapel, by Taddeo Gaddi, shows scenes from the life of Mary. The three following photos show details from the frescoes.
Transept and side chapels have ceiling frescoes depicting the lives of the saints and the four evangelists.
The central dome of the Pazzi Chapel and its chancel dome. Designed by Brunelleschi but not finished until after his death, (1443-1478), the chapel is one of the earliest Florentine Renaissance structures.
The giant crucifix wooden by Cimabue (c. 1265) was heavily damaged in the flood. Over 60 percent of the paint was lost. Even after extensive restoration, damage is still visible. It is considered one of greatest losses from the flood. It now hangs high in the sacristy.
The Renaissance arches of the second cloister.
Mary Magdalene the Penitent, wood, Donatello, 1453-1455.
Carved of white poplar in 1453-1455, the statue was originally at least partly polychrome and gilded. Its realism was startling.
Probably carved for the baptistry in Florence, it is now in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.
Apparently, medieval iconography of Mary Magdalene mixed her with that of other Mary’s, including St. Mary of Egypt, who spent 30 years in the desert. This may have influenced Donatello’s work.
The Riace Bronzes or Riace Warriors, found off the coast of Calabria in 1972, are incredible. Sculpted of bronze in the mid-5th century BCE, probably in Greece, they are thought to be part of a cargo from a sunken ship. After years of conservation, the two statues are housed at the National Museum of Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria.
Each life-sized bronze figure would have held a weapon in their right hand and have worn a shield on their left forearm.
Join Marsh and Cee for the Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC) #5: Brilliant Art. This mural is in downtown Oakland, California.
Also posted to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (CFFC): Pink
Street Art, Florence, Italy, 2019
The New 3 Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect 