Caprarola

Last week me and a few friends rented a car and made a day trip out to the tiny hill town of Caprarola, just north of the city. The main feature of the area is the Palazzo Farnese, which is spectacular for many reasons, but for me it is especially significant because there is a ceiling incredibly similar to my own in the Vatican. (Yes, I call it "mine".) I was out here three years ago, but wanted to go back and see the ceiling again now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing. So, we made a day out of it, and hit the baths in Viterbo afterward.

Our little Fiat Panda. It was cute, but totally gutless.


The Palazzo Farnese, designed by Jacopo Vignola in the 1550s. One of the most unique features of the palace is unfortunately not visible from this view...


...so here is an aerial view from google. The entire palace is shaped like a pentagon with a circular courtyard in the center. The palace sits atop a hill at the top of the city and completely dominates the entire town below. Definitely not the subtlest of statements.


View of the gorgeous spiraling staircase.


The astrological ceiling, painted by the same artist as mine a mere year earlier. At first glance they seem identical but there are several significant differences that I won't bore you with.


Behind the palace are extensive gardens and a small Casino (a small, day retreat).




Me, three years ago.


And me, now.








View of the town.


The smallest of vineyards. Enough to make a few bottles maybe?

The End of the World is Coming

Last Monday Katie and I were out and about and got caught in a freak hail storm. It was really intense!! This, combined with all the earthquakes and volcanoes lately... maybe the Aztecs were on to something and the world will end in 2012.

Not quite golf-ball size, but definitely marble-sized.


Just a few minutes prior it was warm (in the high 60s) and sunny.

Ferrara

 The last day trip was to the small town of Ferrara, which is incredibly cute.

I had read that, like many small towns in the area, Ferrara is a bicycle town. This is the "parking lot" just outside the train station.




I hope I can still ride a bike when I'm that old!


Not wanting to stand out we decided to rent bikes ourselves! There was a rental place just outside the train station and we each got a bike for a few hours for only a couple of euro. I don't remember the last time I rode a bike, but it was so much fun!! A little wobbly at first (okay, a lot wobbly), but like they say, you never really forget how. Unfortunately I didn't realize I had a bell on my bike until we were heading back to the train station. Don't worry though, I more than made up for this by ringing it the entire way back. I'm sure the town loved me.


Typical of Italy, many of the streets are cobblestone, which doesn't make the ride so comfortable. These don't look so bad you say??


Here's a close up view. I'm not even sure you could call them proper cobblestones but rather rocks on the ground. Needless to say we were very sore the next few days.


The medieval Castello Estense.




The original moat still survives! How cool is that? This picture was taken from the drawbridge. THE DRAWBRIDGE! God I love what I do.




The Renaissance Palazzo dei Diamanti, so named because of the diamond-shaped stones on the exterior.


My hand is on the middle section of the exterior, where the points stick straight out. See the ones below? Those are on the bottom of the palace and angle down. The ones above (not shown) angle up. It creates a really cool and imposing surface.

Padua

One of my main goals while up in Venice was to do a bit of traveling around the area to see some ceilings and other art. On Monday I made my way to Padua.

The duomo of Padua, S'Antonio, nicknamed simply the Santo.




Breathtaking Gothic architecture inside the Santo.


The high altar contains several sculptures by Donatello, but unfortunately, unless you are a nun, you can't get up close to them :/


The high altar itself.


Outside is a bronze equestrian monument to the mercenary Gattamalata by Donatello. It was the first large bronze equestrian monument since antiquity. Notice how the front leg of the horse rests on a canon ball? This is because artists of the time had yet to perfect the necessary interior supports.


Apparently the Paduan tradition for college graduates involves a poster describing some of your most embarrassing college moments...


...and public humiliation while being forced to read from that poster, drink, and be covered in slime. It was really fun to watch for a bit, and the whole town gets involved, young and old alike.


Frescoes by Mantegna inside the church of the Eremitani. The church was partially destroyed by allied bombing in WWII, and so these frescoes are in a sad state.


Some pictures of the church after the bombing.




The gray areas mark where the walls were completely destroyed.


The lighter colored areas show where parts of the wall survived, but without fresco.


And the little pieces show surviving frescoes. There really isn't anything left at all, but the reconstruction is really well done.


A detail of the fresco. Hate it when that happens!


One of the major sites in Padua is the Arena Chapel, decorated by Giotto in 1305. Giotto is often called the father or alternately the grandfather of the Renaissance, largely because of the frescoes in this chapel that usher in a new style of art dramatically different than that of the Middle Ages.


There are no pictures allowed inside, so these are from the web. The chapel is quite small and every single surface is covered in fresco. It's absolutely amazing. Given the age and condition of the frescoes you first have to sit in a purifying chamber for 15 minutes, and then are only allowed inside the chapel itself in groups of no more than 20 people for 15 minutes.


The main narratives are from the lives of Joachim and Anna (Mary's parents), Mary, and Christ. This is a scene with Joachim and some shepherds that I absolutely love because of the little sheep that look like bubbles.


I also love the camels in this scene of the nativity. Giotto painted everything so sweetly.


This is the scene we teach in our survey classes because it is a great example of Giotto's revolutionary style. For example, the simple decision to make the sky blue rather than gold was extraordinary. Some other aspects include showing figures in intense grief, painting figures who face away from the viewer, and modelling the drapery with light and shadow so that it looks like there is an actual body underneath.


Back in Venice, walking back to Michael's apartment we came across some interesting activity.


Turns out they were filming scenes for a new movie starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie right next to his apartment.


Filming...


More filming...


Even more filming. These pictures are all blurry because I had to sneak them, but you get the idea. Unfortunately we didn't see the big stars, but surely we were caught on film at some point and will soon be famous!