Tag: Italian
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A Guide to Classical Roman Architecture
Understand the major ideas and components of classical Roman architecture. What was its context, and what later monuments did it influence?
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A Guide to Renaissance Architecture
A guide to recognizing and appreciating Renaissance architecture. Includes background, key ideas, important architects, and examples.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Casa della Vittoria, Turin
This dragon grotesque and his twin live on the Casa della Vittoria in Turin, Italy. The building is also sometimes called Casa dei Draghi, presumably because of decorations like this one. (“Drago” is the Italian work for “dragon”.) I’m having trouble finding out more about the building, on account of the fact that my Italian is currently a bit rusty,…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Today’s grotesque came to my attention via Atlas Obscura, a fantastic place to find fun, quirky facts and interesting locations to visit. This little bull figure lives on one side of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. The church is heavily-laden with sculptural decorations of many styles and subjects, but this bull has a story separate…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Duomo, Milan
In 2012, Milan’s Duomo came up with a pretty cool fundraising idea. In order to come up with the necessary funds to support restorations efforts, this massive Gothic cathedral decided to put its 135 gargoyles up for adoption. Donors could pick a gargoyle to contribute to, receiving a little name plaque underneath “their” gargoyle. This article on swide.com…
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Madonna d’Orleans by Raphael (December 18th)
For the 18th day of a fine art Advent calendar, one of Raphael’s famous Madonna and Child paintings – the Orleans Madonna of 1506.
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Annunciation by Fra Angelico (December 8th)
Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so it seems appropriate to feature this Annunciation by Fra Angelico for the Advent Calendar. I have known that I wanted to use this painting since the beginning of the month, it was just a question of when. I love the work of Italian monk Guido di Pietro,…
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Saint Nicholas of Bari by Carlo Crivelli (December 6th)
December 5th’s Advent Calendar post is a painting of Saint Nicolas (the forefather of Santa Claus) by Italian Renaissance painter Carlo Crivelli.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Temple of Nike in Sicily
These lion gargoyles come from the Temple of Nike (Victory) at Himera, Sicily. The ancient temple was probably built to commemorate a military victory of the Syracusans (rulers of Sicily) over the Carthaginians c. 480 BCE, though it was destroyed around 408 BCE in another battle that resulted in victory for the Carthaginians. Ruins of…
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Text in Manuscripts – Day 4
Art historians primarily see manuscripts as works of art, but we shouldn’t forget that they are also books intended to convey the written word.
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A Fourteenth-Century Italian Choir Book – Day 3
Today’s entry features a page from a 14th-century choir book called an antiphonary. Like most medieval choir books, it’s huge and has big illustrations.
