Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
contours using shading. This technique is called sfumato and it is perfectly displayed in
his
Mona Lisa
(now in the Louvre in Paris). Few of his works live in her birthplace; the
exceptions are his
Adoration of the Magi
and
Annunciation,
both in the Uffizi.
In 1542 the Inquisition arrived in Italy, marking a definitive end to the Renaissance ex-
ploration of humanity in all its glorious imperfections. Tuscan art and architecture would
never again lead the world by example.
RENAISSANCE FRESCOES
They may look like ordinary bible stories now, but in their heyday, Renaissance frescoes provided
running social commentary as well as religious inspiration. In them, human adversity looked divine,
and vice versa.
Fantastic examples are found throughout Tuscany, but to see the very best head to the following
churches and museums:
»
Collegiata, San Gimignano
(
Click here
) There are hardly any undecorated surfaces in this cathed-
ral, with every wall sporting huge, comic-strip-like frescoes by Bartolo di Fredi, Lippo Memmi, Do-
menico Ghirlandaio and Benozzo Gozzoli. The highlight is Taddeo di Bartolo's gleefully grotesque
Final Judgment
(1396).
»
Libreria Piccolomin i, Duomo, Siena
(
Click here
) Umbrian artist Bernardino Pinturicchio extols
the glory of Siena in 10 vibrant fresco panels (c 1502-1507) celebrating Enea Silvio Piccolomini, aka
the humanist Pope Pius II. St Catherine of Siena makes a cameo appearance.
»
Museo di San Marco, Florence
(
Click here
) Fra' Angelico's frescoes portray religious figures in
all-too-human moments of uncertainty, reflecting the humanist spirit of the Renaissance. The highlight
is his
Annunciation
(c 1440).
»
Museo Civico, Siena
(
Click here
) Magnificent is the only word to use when describing Ambrogio
Lorenzetti's
Allegories of Good and Bad Government
(1338-40) and Simone Martini's
Maestà
(Virgin
Mary in Majesty; 1315).
»
Cappella Brancacci, Florence
(
Click here
)
Masaccio's
The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from
Paradise
and
The Tribute Money
(c 1427) showcase architectural perspective and sly political satire.
»
Cappella Bacci, Chiesa di San Francesco, Arezzo
(
Click here
) Piero della Francesca's
Legend of
the True Cross
(c 1452-66) displays a veritable smorgasbord of Renaissance painting tricks (direc-
tional lighting, steep perspective etc).
»
Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano
(
Click here
) Benozzo Gozzoli's bizarre fresco of San
Sebastian (c 1464) shows the fully clothed saint protecting the citizens of San Gimignano, helped by a
bare-breasted Virgin Mary and semi-robed Jesus. Wins the prize for the weirdest religious icono-
graphy.
»
Cappella dei Magi, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence
(
Click here
) More Gozzoli, but this time
there's nothing strange about his subject matter, which has members of the Medici family making a
guest appearance in the
Procession of the Magi to Bethlehem
(c 1459-63).
