Tuesday 30 April 2013

A compelling exhibition currently at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence

This post is a strong recommendation for a compelling exhibition currently at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, namely "The Springtime of the Renaissance", subtitled Sculpture and the Arts in Florence 1400-60. It might well have been called "The impact of Donatello on his compatriots and Western art."

Madonna Pazzi
Madonna Pazzi
Every year, the Strozzi hosts a major exhibition and they are invariably of high quality. This year, 2013, the organisers have surpassed themselves with this splendid show, the theme of which is the central role played by sculpture in the development of what we call Renaissance art. The exhibition has been organised by the Bargello together with the Louvre, and their joint pull means that we see major works from museums as far afield as Cleveland together for the first and in some cases probably last time. Just one amazing example among these juxtapositions is Donatello's incredibly modern-looking Madonna Pazzi, from Berlin, hanging next to a 1450, painted and gilded, stucco copy from the Bardini collection. Other pairings place sculptures by the early Florentine masters next to the Hellenistic and Roman pieces that inspired them, and sculpture, including painted wooden work, next to "sculptured painting" where the painters are clearly attempting capture the three dimensions of sculpture. Even perspective made an early appearance in carved reliefs, as in Donatello’s use of precise central-point perspective when carving in very shallow relief.

Cumaean Sibyl by Andrea del Castagno
Cumaean Sibyl by Andrea del Castagno

During my visit earlier this month, I was surprised at how few people there were at the exhibition. This is possibly a reflection of the very slow start to the tourist season this year. In any case, if you have the flexibility, a visit earlier in the year will mean more opportunity to enjoy the art without the throng. (I can guarantee that this show will be packed when it moves to Paris in August.) Furthermore, the absence of electronic proximity detectors means that you're free to examine details from an inch away. This can be enlightening, especially when studying some of the pieces restored specially for this exhibition and the miniature pieces. One example is the life-sized St Stephen carved by Francesco di Valdambrino around 1409, placed next to a beautiful gothic Madonna carved in Pickardy in about 1270 and a miniature Parisian ivory Madonna of the same decade.

In last room, we encounter some magnificent portrait busts and medals. Some are old friends, some are easily accessible for the first time. Placed alongside these are classical portrait busts. The Renaissance artists had so completely absorbed the spirit of classical antiquity that sometimes the styles are indistinguishable.

Niccolò da Uzzano
Niccolò da Uzzano
Don't miss this exhibition if you have the chance to see it!

More about La Primavera del Rinascimento.


Borgo di Vagli restored mediaeval hamlet in Tuscany
Borgo di Vagli has been authentically restored as a Tuscan vacation hamlet. The residences can be bought in the form of fractional ownerships, making a holiday home in Tuscany possible at modest cost.

Fulvio Di Rosa
All content copyright © Fulvio Di Rosa 2013. All rights reserved.

A steam engine journey through the Val d'Orcia

I'm not sure how many of my readers used to ride in trains pulled by steam engines during their younger days, but whether you did or not, every year during spring and autumn there are excellent opportunities to go on a whole day steam engine journey through the Val d'Orcia. The "Trenonatura" follows a variety of track loops starting in Siena and dropping off its passengers for a few hours at whichever one of the picturesque towns of the Val d'Orcia has some kind of festa or fair in progress on that day.

A steam engine journey through the Val d'Orcia
The Trenonatura steam engine in the the Val d'Orcia
I seized the opportunity last Sunday to travel to San Quirico d'Orcia where they was a not very good wine festival in progress. Actually, the train took us to Torrenieri where a bus was waiting for the short trip to San Quirico. Here some of the passengers went directly into town while the rest of us continued another 3 km to Bagno Vignoni where we were given a tour of the ancient baths and a guided walk back to San Quirico.

Bagno Vignoni in the Val d'Orcia
The ancient baths at Bagno Vignoni in the Val d'Orcia
San Quirico itself is well worth a visit. Although the old town is somewhat disneyfied - a rare thing in Tuscany - it is the location of a virtually untouched Romanesque church, the Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta di San Quirico, and also of the famous Collegiata di San Quirico, a Romanesque church with a hint of the gothic in its beautifully decorated "portale di mezzogiorno". If the church is open, there is wonderful marquetry and a fine 15 C Siennese polyptych inside. San Quirico is well-provided with restaurants, making it a pleasant place for lunch.

Collegiata di San Quirico
The Collegiata di San Quirico
The locomotive refills with water at Monte Antico where there is plenty of time to take pictures of the engine as it manoeuvers to attach to the other end of the train. The carriages are for the most part Third Class and dating from before WW II. The seats are wooden and remarkably comfortable. Just remember to close the windows as you go through tunnels. The drivers are licensed steam engine drivers and this is work for them, but the people helping out and giving informative talks during the trip are all enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers.

These excursions are great value for money but, of course, they need to be booked a couple of weeks in advance. We set out from Siena at 9 am and were back in Siena by 6.46 pm, meaning that this is an easy one day excursion from Borgo di Vagli.

More about the Trenonatura.

Borgo di Vagli restored mediaeval hamlet in Tuscany
Borgo di Vagli has been authentically restored as a Tuscan vacation hamlet. The residences can be bought in the form of fractional ownerships, making a holiday home in Tuscany possible at modest cost.

Fulvio Di Rosa
All content copyright © Fulvio Di Rosa 2013. All rights reserved.