My Place of Serenity in Florence

           It was a pleasant discovery when my English student suggested to have our first lesson here, where she works. She needed English lessons to help her in her work as she comes into contact with the scores of tourists in Florence at the new outlet nearer the historic centre.

       After that first lesson, I found myself drawn to this place again and again. It is such a charming little shop, where customers can purchase tea, or drink tea at the little tables placed around. There is a great variety of tea; white, green, black and many tea fusions to offer the taste palette. The shop is situated in a very local section, where hardly tourists find their way. I hope it remains its tranquility though I did not do a very good job by bringing visiting friends to the shop.

       A perfect place to enjoy a leisure afternoon, in the company of friends or some self-reflection and quiet reading.

1st year in Florence & A Tribute to the Duomo of Florence

             I had just passed my one year mark staying in this beautiful city on 30 April 2013. As I think back to that one year ago where I first landed, I reflected on people I have met, places I have been, what I have learned. It had been a positive and productive year. I'm a little of a Bohemian now, not knowing what's on next year, where I'd be and just taking things one step at a time. But I am happy. Living with less, but also with more. Living out of the security of predictability, yet not totally boundless like no tomorrow.

          How can I express my joy and gratitude to a city I have come to live and love? This one year calls for a little way to mark its significance to me. Perhaps the best I can do not is to pay a small tribute to the city of Florence, starting from one of it's many remarkable icons, the main Cathedral of the Duomo.

      "Duomo" simply means the main cathedral of the city. Hence every Italian city has only one duomo. Florence's main cathedral has the full name of Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore or in English means Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower. Its entire construction is labelled with huge names from the Renaissance period. Brunelleschi's cupola or dome, Giotto's campanile or bell tower, the astronomical clock at the entrance of the church interior designed by Paolo Uccello as well as the frescoes of Giorgio Vasari.

           I had done a series of 8 sketches on the cathedral, the baptistery as well as the bell tower.

         Here's my latest sketch, approaching from Via del Proconsolo. I take this road every weekend on my way to work, but as I am usually in a hurry, I hardly have time to stop and appreciate it properly. It is a re-sketch from the same angle done exactly one year ago on 14 May 2012. I had not realized till I looked at the photo of my old sketch again (which is no longer with me now).

 View from Via Pronconsolo, the path I always take when going to Piazza della Signoria. 

Too dark and perspective of dome is a little off.

        This was my very first glimpse on the icon of Florence, its enormity slowly looming into full view as I approached it with caution from Via de' Cerratani. There are so many details and nothing I've ever seen before that it sent shivers down my spine. I was barely 24 hours in the cradle of the Renaissance and never in my life even know what the word Renaissance means. It was just too much to take in at first sight. 

Giotto's Campanile

          Giotto's campanile is a free standing bell tower. Its polychrome marble is very rich in sculptural decorations, of which, many of the originals are currently housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence. What we see on the bell tower today are replicates made to withstand the elements of nature.  Worth mentioning are the sculptural panels on the lowest two rows which consist of hexagonal panels and lozenges. I always knew lozenges as cough drops for a sore throat, but the actually meaning is a rhombus or diamond shape. The panels and lozenges depict biblical contents from the Book of Genesis, representations of the mechanical arts, creative arts, liberal arts, as well as the theological and cardinal virtues.

 

This sketch was my first attempt at the Duomo. I rather like the perspective of it, focusing on the bell tower rather than the dome. I think it was the 10th sketch after starting on this new interest.

Brunelleschi's Dome

            The ingenuity of Brunelleschi provided the city of Florence with a dome that had been missing for almost a century after the cathedral's construction. With it's massiveness, there weren't sufficient timber in Tuscany to construct its scaffolding and Brunelleschi had to consult the great dome of the Pantheon in Rome for solutions. The Florentines were really looking to build their own unique city as buttresses, a very Gothic architectural feature were forbidden to be used in supporting structures. Besides considering them as "ugly", buttresses were a style favoured in northern Italy, then considered the enemies of central Italy.

                              On the north side, approaching Via dell'Oriuolo, the path that leads to the public library.

  Sketch done from the public library or Oblate of Florence with a terrace that boast a magnificent view of the Duomo. 
Not easy to concentrate on what you have to study with such a view. Better to take a place indoors.

 

The Façade

         Only completed in 1887, the neo-gothic façade or facciata was designed to be in harmony with the bell tower. It had a turbulent and scandalous history and for a long period, the Florence Cathedral had to stand without a face. The entire façade is dedicated to the Mother of Christ.

       

 The one angle outside a cafe where I can capture the all 3 features - façade, baptistery and bell tower. Overcrowding of the sketch with all three together, but challenging to get the perspective right. Bell tower done with pencil to give it a lighter tone.

The Baptistery

       As its name says Battistero di San Giovanni or Baptistery of St. John, this octogonal building is attributed to the patron saint of the city of Florence. In June, the city celebrates the day of the patron saint, with fireworks along the River Arno. Instead of being clad in polychrome of white, green and pink like the façade and bell tower, it is in bi-chrome of green and white. It is famed for its Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti, and a breathtaking mosaic ceiling in Byzantine style that depicts stories from the Book of Genesis, stories of Joseph; stories of Mary and the Christ and finally in the lower tier  - stories of Saint John the Baptist.

View from Via dei Pecori. Wanted to focus just on the baptistery, hence just an impression of the façade

          I hope to approach this magnificent architecture from different angles. There are many streets radiating out from the piazza itself and each boast a different view of the cathedral. That shall be my priority when the Tuscan sun is ready to show its face again.

Art Restoration in Florence

             There is so much Christian Art all over Italy, especially the theme of Madonna and Child that at one point of time, I got almost sick of it. After understanding the different periods in artistic developments - from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, I begin to appreciate the changes represented in a recurring theme; and how challenging it must be for the artists at that time to continually be creative and find a way to breakthrough from their predecessors.

             For me studying art conservation, I was interested about the history of the art piece and even more intrigued by the techniques that go into making it. The study of materials used also involve ancient artistic techniques. When I look at them, I love to detect where they have been restored, the materials used and which techniques applied. 

            Here's a practise piece of restoring Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child with Angels the original in the Uffizi. It's a calendar page, where my teacher selected sections to be cut off. The page is then mounted on a board. Sections that were cut off were mended with stucco or plaster.

The missing sections were then reconstructed by following the lines on sections of the painting that were preserved well. 

After the painting was restored with tempera colours, I worked on the decoration of the border with gold-leafing or known in Italian as doratura. The base was prepared by a clay like material known as bolo. It is a Fiorentine traditinal method, hence you can see a reddish base on most artworks with gold leafing. The design on the sides is a technique known as pastiglia or paste. It is done with thicker plaster and a very fine brush.

It is a technique to provide this relief effect. It is applied commonly to annotate areas of importance, like Madonna's halo or robes of noblemen. One example is in Gentile da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi in Uffizi.

After the preparation of the bolo base, gold leafing technique called missione is applied. There are several methods of applying gold leaf, but for techniques with pastiglia relief, a dry method of the missione technique mentioned above is applied. In order to reduce the luminosity of the gold leaf, a very diluted coat of tempera (colours black and terra d'ombra naturale) is brushed lightly to give it an antique feel. This technique is known as patinatura. Patina the name given to the phenomenon of darkening over age on all materials.

Visiting & Revisiting. Before & After

              The most wonderful thing about living in Florence is learning and looking at the same time. I love to revisit the museums or an architecture after reading about their history, then returning to look at them in detail again. One do not need to know a lot to appreciate art. Our instincts allow us to appreciate the aesthetics, which is why people find different things appealing. Some prefer contemporary art while others are fascinated by the ancient art. However, knowing about history and the motive in its making enable us to do more than look at it, say it's beautiful and walk away after 2 minutes.

            I also love to re-visit the places I have sketched and try to re-do them from a different angle. Especially huge architectures like the many churches, we can only fully appreciate them from different angles.

          One of my favourite churches and piazzas in Florence in Santa Maria Novella. Here's my interpretation of it, first in May 2012 then in March 2013.

       
               Here's Ponte Vecchio done 11 months apart. I made an error in the first sketch, thinking that I was sitting on Ponte alle Grazie which was actually on the other side of Ponte Vecchio. It is really pleasant staring out at the river and this old bridge on a fine spring day. The water quality of the River Arno is not good, being to basic for swimming or consumption. I have never seen fishes in the river. Hence water activities are limited to rowing.

         Ponte Rialto from Venice again. Exactly the same angle but some added details like the silhouettes of people passing the bridge and the water underneath, the little bird resting (if you can spot), relief carvings on the bridge front which I omitted previously. More details on the central portico.

Fiesta delle Donne, Women's Day & Mimosas

             I first saw them in Alberobello, growing in his mom's garden. They were so lovely, brightening the bleak winter, the first signs of spring. My first knowledge of mimosas are little pink balls, and have compound leaves that close up upon your touch. In Chinese, also know as 含羞草（han xiu cao) or "sullen/shy/farouche grass".  I remember enjoy playing with them and watching them response to my touch as a child. Even now, it's simple pleasure to have this "interaction" with a plant.

              Here are what they look like in Italy (or perhaps Europe). I saw them in February and he had plucked them from the garden and adorned the house with it. I couldn't resist having him place in the pouch of his sweater. These yellow balls of lovelies are seen all over in Italy on 8 March, International Women's Day as ladies receive them from friends.

     

              It's funny that Women's Day falls on 8 March. Also know as 三八妇女节 (san ba fu nv jie),  "三八" (san ba) or literally the numbers three and eight in Mandarin. San ba is used to describe people who are nosy or loves to gossip. A stereotype description of women. I was wondering which came first and read up a little on the history of this day. The holiday was predominantly celebrated in communist and socialist countries. After the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1st October 1949, it was proclaimed that March 8 would be made an official holiday with women in China given a half-day off.

              In Florence, many museums and churches are open free of charge to women on International Women's Day. I used this privilege to enter Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, to look at some of the famous frescoes by Filippino Lippi, Ghirlandaio and Orcagna. It's Florence's principal Domenican church and faces the lovely piazza that bears the church's name.

            I love the façade of the church and the above was my second attempt at it, with a slightly different perspective including the sequence of avelli. This array of bichrome arches are the tombs of the church congregation, extending this image of burial at a sacred place to urban periphery.

    19 May 2012

              This was my first attempt of the façade back in May last year. It sparked my interest to learn more about it's architecture and history. The special feature are the ornate scrolls and this I discovered were to solve an geometry problem with something aesthetic. I was able to find more information from this site: http://arthistoryblogger.blogspot.it/2012/05/facade-of-santa-maria-novella.html

           I did a total of 5 sketches of Santa Maria Novella. The expanse of this church, it is impossible to view it in just one single angle. To completely "conquer" it, it was necessary for me to also capture it's side view, viewed from Piazza Unità d'Italia.

   16 June 2012

    04 May 2012
    First sketch of the avelli. 

     16 May 2012
    View behind the glass wall from the tourist centre in Florence near the main train station. I was able to enter on Women's Day to this area that was usually out of bounds to public.

A Mental Conquest

           Sketching is my method of conquesting something I cannot possess. After attempting the impression sketching in class, I realized what really made me enjoy sketching (especially ancient architecture) is the capturing of the details. Florence is so full of symbols, that nothing we observe is there by chance. They usually carry a deeper meaning than just merely an aesthetic function.

            The three great churches in Florence - Santa Maria del Fiore, Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce although very different in their façades, have one common feature. All are adorned with polychrome marble panels of white and green and have classical iconography and geometry. These architectural iconographies fit a rigorous overall geometry. Another church that fits into this category is San Miniato al Monte near Piazza Michelangelo.

              This is my first proper sketch in 2013. I started on a new job and for two consecutive days I get to see the beautiful façade of this church. I should have included the stairs leading to the church. It was the first comment given to me when I showed it to get another opinion. However, I think leaving some details out won't harm it and end up crowding the sketch. Piazza Santa Croce is one of the most visited squares in Florence. I witnessed scores of tour groups passing this square from the nine hours spent looking out. 

            Basilica of Santa Croce is the largest Franciscan church in the world. It has been very particular to me due to several reasons. The symbols it carries on its façade is perplexing; the most striking being the Jewish Star of David. That's because it's 19th century façade was designed by Jewish architecture Niccolo Matas from Ancona. The church is also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'Itale Glorie) as it is the burial place of the most illustrious Italians like Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini. There are two statues of Dante, one of the outside as well. Ironically, due to his Jewish background, Matas was not buried within its walls but under the porch. Yet, something so prominent to be displayed for centuries - the Star of David is allowed as the main composition of the neo-Gothic façade.

               Piazza Santa Croce, perhaps known informally as the "Square of Leather" to tourists, earned it's reputation from the genre of business surrounding it. All around the square and the streets leading to it are shops of leather products - bags, shoes, jackets, accessories. Florence is well-known for it's leather products, with Piazza Santa Croce as one of the most concentrated areas of leather shops.

Art Classes - Creativity shouldn't be taught. Only techniques.

First and foremost Happy 2013! I haven't meant to let such a thick layer of dust to collect on this blog, but many things had been happening all at once (great things) and I had to try to link them with sketches for updates. 

My first attempt to use a pencil for the whole sketch. I started right after Christmas of 2012, but never quite completed it. It is a wall that is part of the Roman ruins in Rome. Also the spot I lost my second pair of sunglasses in Italy. I used the sketching set that was a gift from lovely Melissa to encourage me to try different techniques.

My new term started rather confusingly. I had completed my 3 months summer course in Art Restoration and it was an intensive schedule. So I was expecting this one year course to be more or less the same, but I was wrong! Not informed till the last minute, I was quite confused when I received the timetable for the new term. Painting classes once a week? Hmm, ok, if it's included in the course and I do not have to pay extra (which seems the latest trend) why not? I mean art restoration require also knowing the techniques and process, which are essential for an all-rounded art conservator wannabe.

However, I am only expecting these classes to enhance my art restoration skills. Not having to purchase the whole palette of oil colours, scalpel, watercolour, canvas, entire sets of paintbrushes, cult pens, pastels. For once a week lessons. When I have the money and time to spare, yes. I'd definitely be interested.

Anyway, though the teacher is a "simpatico" elderly gentleman or in Italian means likeable and pleasant, I was rather disturbed for several months with this impromptu "Art Classes". Number one point, I am cheap. I do not wish to have to purchase a whole lot of materials for this less than one year and for perhaps just a few times use. I need to prioritize my funds. Which is why I chose to sketch leisurely by the way. Just paper and pen to take with me everywhere and that's it. So you can expect I wasn't that motivated. But I was obliged to go, and so decided to take things in my own hands. Since I like to sketch, why can't I request sketching lessons from the teacher?

Professor Simpatico was very nice of course and allowed me to do what I liked, but HIS way. My sketches had been all along self-taught. Previously lacking perspectives, light and shadow, but one feature is common. I tend to include all the minute details in the architecture. That was my objective when I started to sketch anyway. To "concur" the building is to know its every feature through sketching. Anyway, Professor wanted me to learn to sketch in just 5-10 min. That means, just an impression to capture the basic features that identifies that particular building. 

Here's after several attempts of Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio. I repeated it so many times and with lots of disapproval from Professor and this finally. He showed me by demonstrating how to do this part and that part of the sketch and for many times, I just stared blankly at the paper, not knowing how to start. Having used my left-brain almost my entire life until now, art classes are one of the most difficult classes ever!! After attending several, I have this feeling that art lessons curb creativity. Or are our ideas of "how to draw" too deeply imprinted in our adults minds, that we paint with my brain, not my eyes. 

Anyhow, I often felt that descriptions of contemporary art often do not make sense. The person viewing often have to understand the process of the artist's mind before understanding the art. So art classes do not make sense to me. Unless I am being taught a technique. How to properly handle a brush, how to do glazing, how to apply varnish etc. Else, I often stare at the piece of paper, trying to connect what the teacher just said with my hand movements. After that, the person should be left on their own to be creative. Creativity should not be taught.

Another attempt at impression sketching on Ponte Vecchio. I did this under 30 minutes as compared to the previous one I did in several hours. I tried. I still prefer to capture all the detailed features. As one of my friend Laura told me when I first started sketching "Chloe, don't let others tell you how to sketch. Do it your own way".