Assisi and Perugia (Middle Italy)
Today was wet, lots of rain throughout the morning which really put a drag on our touring of Assisi. Julie, the summer here this year is very mild. Highs only in the low 80s, with rain about once a week. No pushing 100 this year I'm afraid, and I really do because my wardrobe planned on it. Nicole already purchased another pair of jeans, but she's always on the chillier side. But back to Assisi.
Got to visit the famed Basilica of Francis in the heart of Assisi. The building itself is 3 layers really, with the very bottom boasting a very modest (no surprise knowing Francis) tomb of St. Francis surrounding by his 4 Friar buddies. The tomb was magnificent...of course no photos (or TALKING for that matter), but it was very beautiful. Wish I could have spent more time down there, but I was with our school group on this tour leg. The middle section houses a smaller chapel where I would presume the Fanciscans participated in most of their private prayer services. The walls are plastered with wonderful frescoes of Francis throughout his life, particularly by Giotto FYI. Some frescoes focused on Francis receiving the stigmata, others the visions of the pope seeing Francis refocus in essense the entire Catholic church back to a more humble frame of mind. The top layer (basically ground level) was a more grandeur community church with more frescoes, but these have badly deteriorated, to the point where they look like photo negatives. Still lovely...quick trip however, we were out of there within an hour and a half.
Next stop was Perugia, where we saw the Meseum dell'Academia, which basically is the primary art museum in the city. No particular artist stands out in this collection, but it certainly must have been hard to stand out back in the day because every topic is either Madonna with Child or the Annunciation, or the Crucifix. Nice to see artistic differences, but I've seen 50 billion of these by now and I'm getting a little "full". Perhaps I'm still spoiled from the Uffizi. Was a nice tour really, especially since everytime the school takes us on these trips, they pay for everything. This weekend for example, they're busing us all the way down to Naples and Pompeii. Only sacrifice I guess is that you don't get to spend as much time in each destination, but that's not too much of a problem.
Perugia is also known as the best chocolate makers in Italy, much to Nicole's delight. So of course we purchased probably a pound of it before we left. I'm a fan of the late night snack after dinner kind of chocolate eater, while Nicole could probably eat this stuff like its trail mix. :) She likes it, don't mean to poke fun. Steve, Nicole really enjoyed the shops very much on the Ponte Veccio, cuz we thought it would be fun to see if by chance we'd find wedding bands, but to no avail. We actually watched the sun set in Florence the last night we were there, and the Ponte Veccio was the backdrop. It was really pretty. Pictures of course to come.
I don't know how I'm going to show you guys pictures, but I'm trying to figure out if this blog space will actually host some space that I can swap out a picture or two ever so often. Worse case, I'll just zip some up and send them out, although that requires more work on your part. I'll find a way though.
Tomorrow we have our first exam in Classical Art and the Ideal. We are learning about the Orientalizing influence in ancient Greek art around the 6th-7th century BC. Not very thorough class, kind of superficial, but we'll see how the test goes.
Hope you all enjoy seeing each other in Chicago for the weekend. Wish I could be there, really I do. Safe trip for all of you.
Got to visit the famed Basilica of Francis in the heart of Assisi. The building itself is 3 layers really, with the very bottom boasting a very modest (no surprise knowing Francis) tomb of St. Francis surrounding by his 4 Friar buddies. The tomb was magnificent...of course no photos (or TALKING for that matter), but it was very beautiful. Wish I could have spent more time down there, but I was with our school group on this tour leg. The middle section houses a smaller chapel where I would presume the Fanciscans participated in most of their private prayer services. The walls are plastered with wonderful frescoes of Francis throughout his life, particularly by Giotto FYI. Some frescoes focused on Francis receiving the stigmata, others the visions of the pope seeing Francis refocus in essense the entire Catholic church back to a more humble frame of mind. The top layer (basically ground level) was a more grandeur community church with more frescoes, but these have badly deteriorated, to the point where they look like photo negatives. Still lovely...quick trip however, we were out of there within an hour and a half.
Next stop was Perugia, where we saw the Meseum dell'Academia, which basically is the primary art museum in the city. No particular artist stands out in this collection, but it certainly must have been hard to stand out back in the day because every topic is either Madonna with Child or the Annunciation, or the Crucifix. Nice to see artistic differences, but I've seen 50 billion of these by now and I'm getting a little "full". Perhaps I'm still spoiled from the Uffizi. Was a nice tour really, especially since everytime the school takes us on these trips, they pay for everything. This weekend for example, they're busing us all the way down to Naples and Pompeii. Only sacrifice I guess is that you don't get to spend as much time in each destination, but that's not too much of a problem.
Perugia is also known as the best chocolate makers in Italy, much to Nicole's delight. So of course we purchased probably a pound of it before we left. I'm a fan of the late night snack after dinner kind of chocolate eater, while Nicole could probably eat this stuff like its trail mix. :) She likes it, don't mean to poke fun. Steve, Nicole really enjoyed the shops very much on the Ponte Veccio, cuz we thought it would be fun to see if by chance we'd find wedding bands, but to no avail. We actually watched the sun set in Florence the last night we were there, and the Ponte Veccio was the backdrop. It was really pretty. Pictures of course to come.
I don't know how I'm going to show you guys pictures, but I'm trying to figure out if this blog space will actually host some space that I can swap out a picture or two ever so often. Worse case, I'll just zip some up and send them out, although that requires more work on your part. I'll find a way though.
Tomorrow we have our first exam in Classical Art and the Ideal. We are learning about the Orientalizing influence in ancient Greek art around the 6th-7th century BC. Not very thorough class, kind of superficial, but we'll see how the test goes.
Hope you all enjoy seeing each other in Chicago for the weekend. Wish I could be there, really I do. Safe trip for all of you.
posted by John Reagan at 3:38 PM
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