Inside the Baptistry
If character behind the”Where’s Waldo?” books existed in Italy, the Florentine version has traded the ubiquitous Waldo with his red and white sweater for Dante and his long scarlet robes because, while it may difficult to find that cute little shop or bistro from the day before, finding Dante references is fairly easy.
For instance, this morning we walked down the cobblestones of Via del Purgatorio and Via del Inferno (an intersection which doesn’t deliver the terrifying despair the names imply) in order to reach the Bargello. The Bargello began it’s life in the 13th century as government building where the Priori (the title of Florentine’s political leaders), including Dante himself, served their two-month terms before it was converted by some Medici or other into a prison/torture facility, then a storeroom, and finally the museum that stands today. The Bargello houses many statues, including a collection by Michelangelo, as well as medieval tapestries, reliquaries, rings, brooches, and carved ivory boxes and knives to name but a small fraction of the inventory. On the upper level, there is a small chapel dedicated Mary Magdalen and Dante is actually painted into fresco depicting Paradise that stretches up to the high Gothic ceilings.Dante is granted his own painting in a work by Domnico di Michelino that hangs in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore as well as given giant marble statue outside the Santa Croce.
It is evident that Dante has made an incredible impact on Florence but Dante was also heavily influenced by the city. He references well-known local figures, from popes to political leaders and includes actual locations like the Arno River (which are now marked by plaques with line numbers). But the Baptistry of San Giovanni, which we also saw today, is the place that truly inspired Dante to write the Inferno. The Baptistry, located in the Piazza del Duomo, a separate church from the cathedral that was used for centuries only for baptisms that were held twice a year. It is eight-sided to represent the “eighth day” when Christ will resurrect the dead to enter heaven and has an enormous dome, the inside of which depict scenes from the Bible. Made of tiled mosaics, these scenes begin at the base of the dome with stories from Genesis, then the stories of John the Baptist, Mary, Joseph, and Christ and finally at the very top are choirs of angels. An entire third of the dome is dedicated to the Last Judgement and features the three-faced Satan who also appears in Dante’s Inferno and again in the Duomo.
This overlap of cultural influences amazes me; never before have I been able to so clearly see the give and take interaction between culture and artist (or if you want to get technical, “interpellation”–Thank you, Eng. 390 & Prof. Buttram!). It is so different from the United States, and I wonder what would be the American equivalent? Frank Lloyd Wright? Carnegie or Rockefeller? Perhaps Ernest Hemingway or Robert Frost or maybe a president like Lincoln or Washington. I’m not sure. American culture seems so transient but maybe that is an unfair comparison to make against Italy’s ancient roots. In any case, my “Where’s Dante?” game continues for another week before I turn the final page of this Travel-Study-louge.
Me at the top of the Duomo
This afternoon we visited the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo as it is more commonly known, a famous church with an enormous dome that was engineered by Brunelleschi in the 15th century. While we didn’t really tour the church proper (that is planned for tomorrow’s adventure), we did climb up to the top of the dome. Well, at least most of us did. I and 11 other intrepid adventurers made it up the 463 stairs to the top. It was a harrowing journey; the steep stairs were enclosed in a narrow hallway, sometimes in tight spirals and while other times straight though the walls and ceiling started curving as we climbed higher up the inside of the dome. It was very dark and everything was carved out of stone, so that it was easy to imagine I was climbing into the earth. By about the 350th stair, it was as if I was climbing into Hell as my calf muscles burned and my breath came more and more raggedly.
About halfway up the dome, the stone stairs let out onto a walkway that circled the inner side of the dome. Looking out past the safety glass, I could see the marble floor of the church spread out far below which was rather dizzying so I didn’t look long. Instead, I focused my gaze upward on the magnificent fresco paintings covering the entire interior of the dome. These paintings were actually inspired by Dante and depicted scenes from the Inferno, albeit mostly scenes of demons punishing sinners and Satan devouring the wicked. Being so close to the ceiling , I was able to see the details on the images really well and the artistry was simply incredible.
Though I could have contemplated the frescoed ceiling much longer, it was onward and upward through more narrow, twisting staircases if I was to reach my goal. Once I finally made it to the top, there was Florence laid out like a beautiful patchwork of orange tiled rooftops, cream stone towers and silver intersecting streets all bordered by dark green hills on all sides. The view was perfection: I could see Santa Croce, the church/museum we toured this morning, as well as the fresh food market and the street where our apartments are located. If the climb was Hell, then this view from the top of the dome was Paradise. And even though I had to descend back down through Hell again, it was worth it for that breathtaking glimpse of Heaven.
Yeah, I made this.. 🙂
Ok, I’ll start by explaining the title: according to Dante, the third circle of Hell is reserved for gluttons and today was all about food. At 9:00 this morning we went up into the hills of Tuscany to tour a place where olive oil and wine are made. We learned all about the process of picking the olives and grapes, pressing them and then storing the fresh oil and wine in enormous earthenware jars or special oak barrels.Then we indulged our taste buds as well as our ears as we ate fresh bread dipped in olive oil and sprinkled with salt while being serenaded by a trio of very talented musicians/vocalists.
After our tour, we traveled by van down the narrow, winding hillside lanes to a private home for a cooking lesson that started quite innocently. We learned how to make ravioli stuffed with spinach and fresh ricotta cheese, the traditional Italian stuffing. Making homemade pasta is surprisingly simple with just a few ingredients: a single egg, a cup of semolina flour, and an Italian (read generous) pinch of salt. You mix these ingredients by kneading the dough with your fingers and then run the dough through a pasta press several times until it becomes a very long, very thin sheet. Then you cut it up into whatever type of pasta you desire. It’s that easy!– though I will admit time-consuming.
And what do you do with freshly made ravioli? Eat it, of course! The meal, cooked by our lovely host Christiana and tour guide Alexander, began with a plate of artichoke frittatas, quiche, pizza, and bruschetta. After that, there was a bowl of our beautiful ravioli in a butter and sage sauce. Then, though belts were beginning to constrict and prayers of thanksgiving were offered for skirts with elastic waistbands, a bowl of taglitelli (which we also made) in a red sauce. Finally, there was tira misu for dessert; and how could you resist that?!? I certainly couldn’t–I ate it all and, as the Italians say, it was squisito.
Even the forecast seems to agree with Dante: like the gluttons in Hell who are punished by a downpour of cold rain, rain is expected for the rest of this week. But I have an umbrella so bring on the gelato, the cappuccinos, and the paninis–I’m ready for it!
And this is how I saw Rome.
Hello!
After nearly 36 hours and over 4,500 miles, I have finally made it to Italy! Well, Florence, Italy that is. Our flight from Chicago to Rome was delayed by several hours which caused us to miss our final flight to Florence. And, given the option to hang around the airport all afternoon waiting for the next flight to Florence or to explore Rome for a few hours, we chose to see the sights of Italy’s capital city. (Professor) Andrew was able to score us seats on a open double-decker bus for a quick tour of the city.
Now, there is no way to get the full experience of the historical significance of the monuments on a two-hour bus tour but I did get to see the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Fountain of the Four Rivers among many other sites. It was amazing to see in person the art and architecture that I’ve heard so much about. Like the Colosseum, for instance; it is hard to imagine that that structure has stood for hundreds of years and people long dead have looked upon the same walls that I saw today. It is fascinating how much physical history remains in Rome today. Everywhere I looked there was a mixture of crumbling ruins, weathered bricks and smooth marble from every era of architecture pressed up against each other.
Andrew described the juxtaposition of ancient, somewhat less ancient, and modern as “layers” of the city, an image that conveys a sense of renewal or change but not in way that discards the old, the original. This made me think about Dante’s Inferno because it too has layers. The top most layer is my own 21st century mind frame, beneath that is the work’s venerated history in the literary canon, but even further down is the layer of the Inferno‘s significance in it’s own time and place. So on this trip as we tour Florence and see the places that inspired Dante, we will be peeling back the layers and attempting to take ourselves back in time to that first layer of the 13th century.
And to think, there are those who say that traveling back in time is ALWAYS the wrong thing to do. I, for one, definitely disagree.
Hello---wherever you are! 