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“Pic of the Week”. April 18, 2014: Michelangelo’s “Other Pieta”
It being Good Friday, I thought it timely to share two of my favorite sculptures with you. The photo above (which you can enlarge by click on the thumbnail below) is from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, highlighting its beautiful Pieta. This was carved by a then unknown young sculpture, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, or as we know him, “Michelangelo”. It is the only one of his sculptings he signed. I think it’s the most amazing sculpture I’ve ever seen and the skill of this artist to breath life and emotion into the cold stone never ceases to amaze me. But this was not his only work on this subject. You’ll see another Pieta in the Duomo Museum in …
.All Trips / Europe / Italy
La Dolce Vita (Part 4) Firenze (Florence)
It’s hard to imagine a prettier setting for an historic city than the heart of Tuscany; that’s where you’ll find Florence, a grand old city, birthplace of the Renaissance and the modern world. So great is the historic influence of Florence that many of its citizens believe the city can’t seem to escape the past to transition into the 21st century….but I’m not into such lofty concepts as I wander these cobble-stoned streets — the same streets that Donatello, Michelangelo, Galileo and da Vinci walked — I’m just visually transported to the fifteenth century as not much seems to have changed. In my wandering and daydreaming I retain a sense of gratitude …
Tagged Cathedral, Florence, Michelangelo, palace, Tuscany, UNESCO World Heritage Site
.All Trips / Europe / Italy / Vatican
La Dolce Vita (Part 3) The Vatican’s Treasures
When visiting the Vatican you leave Italy and enter another country, albeit a very small (110 acre) country with only a few hundred permanent residents. Yet the Vatican is an extraordinary place with an influence that belies its diminutive size. One of the most remarkable travel days we’ve ever experienced was our visit to the Vatican. Here we saw not only the world’s most beautiful church (the Sistine Chapel) but also its largest and most impressive church (St.Peter’s Basilica) and the treasures of an extravagant papal palace (the Vatican Museum). I understand that the massive spending spree by the Catholic Church during the Renaissance lead to the Protestant reformation, but as a Protestant and lover of …
Tagged Cathedral, Michelangelo, Rome, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vatican
.All Trips / Europe / Italy
La Dolce Vita (Part 2) Rome: A City in Renaissance
After the fall of the Roman Empire around 500 A.D., Rome entered a dark age that lasted a thousand years. During this time the only stability and leadership was provided by the Catholic Church and the Pope. But with the Renaissance, spilling from Florence into Rome, a period of rebirth began and a new Rome emerged which eventually developed its own unique Baroque style, fueled by the brilliant art of Bernini. Renovations and new buildings, elegant fountains and art flooded Rome and, with time, it became the energetic city you can visit today.
You can spend weeks exploring today’s Rome, but there’s a lot you can see and do in a few days. …
Tagged Bernini, Cathedral, Michelangelo, Rome, UNESCO World Heritage Site
