ALL I NEED IS MY PASSPORT

November 2, 2022

Il Campianto sul Cristo Morto by Niccolò dell’Arca 1463

“Compianto sul Cristo Morto” (Lamentation over Dead Christ)

Inside the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita are two spectacular works of art in terra cotta.

First is the Il Campianto sul Cristo Morto (Lamentation Over Dead Christ) by Niccolò dell’Arca. This dramatic depiction of sorrow and death was commissioned by the brotherhood of the Battuti Bianchi around 1463 and consists of a group of life-sized figures, the Madonna and the Three Marys, St John the Apostle, and Joseph of Arimathea weeping over the dead body of Christ. Christ is laid out and ready for deposition in the tomb.

A 17th-century Emilian writer described them as the “endless weepers”. The piece is best described as a bold work for its time and restless synthesis of late-Gothic and Tuscan humanism, an art-historical diamond in the rough forever able to move, shake and seduce.

I was unable to photograph Jesus due to the small fence, this photograph is from Pinterest

Christ lies at the center with his head reclining on a pillow. The most dramatic of the figures and the one that instantly draws your eyes is Mary Magdalen. Screaming in grief while her clothes appear to be blowing in the wind, she is traditionally shown at the feet of Christ for she was the sinner forgiven by him who had washed his feet and dried them with her hair.  She is pictured here in the act of entering the Holy Sepulcher.

The next is Mary of Clopas (sometimes Cleophas ) shown in the act of keeping back the horror of the dead Christ with her hands and crying out her grief at the top of her lungs.  She is traditionally identified as the wife of Clopas and as a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

St John the Apostle, Mary of  Clopas, and Mary Magdalen

In the middle of the piece is St. John the Apostle, standing erect with his left hand under his chin.  He seems to have a feeling of sadness and at the same time serenity.

Next is the Virgin Mary, the woman whose son lies in death before her.  Her face appears, in my opinion, to express the greatest sense of grief.

Giuseppe D’Arimatea, Salome, The Virgin Mary, St. John

To her left is Salome (mother of Santiago and Juan Evangelista), who appears to be holding back her pain and tears by clutching her legs with both hands.

The figure to the farthest left, kneeling and looking towards the observer is Giuseppe D’Arimatea.  This is the man that asked Pilate for Christ’s body and provided a sepulcher for it.  He was a wealthy man and faithful to Jesus, who bought the holy shroud and laid Christ’s body in the tomb he had set up for himself.

Little is known about Niccolo dell’Arca. The first mention of him was in September 1462 in Bologna as Maestro Nicolò da Puglia, a “master of terracotta figures”, most likely for this piece.

Other works of dell’Arca include the terracotta high relief of Madonna di Piazza (1478) on the wall of the Palazzo Comunale in Bologna. Some other important works include the terracotta bust of Saint Dominic (1474) (in the museum of the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna), a marble statue of St. John the Baptist in Madrid, and the terracotta figure of Saint Monica (c. 1478-1480) in Modena.

Madonna di Piazza on the wall of the Palazzo Comunale in Bologna

Transito della Vergine by Alfonso Lombardi 1519-1522

Transito della Vergine was commissioned for the oratory by the confraternity of Santa Maria Della Vita.

Transito della Vergine by Alfonso Lombardi

The subject was inspired by an episode of the apocryphal gospels, at the funeral of the virgin.  A jew, who approached the coffin with the intention of profaning the body by tipping it over is thrown to the ground by divine intervention while an angel descends from heaven with his sword drawn for cutting off the hands of the profane.  The whole scene pivots on the central figure of the jew.  Crushed to the ground and surrounded by the twelve apostles depicted in various attitudes of anger rage and despair.

*

*

The use of terracotta for these images is historically important.

Following the collapse of the Roman Empire (c.450), the use of terracotta declined dramatically. The early Renaissance saw its revival as an artistic medium. Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti were among the first Renaissance sculptors to rediscover its potential for making Christian images, in particular, the Virgin and Child.

Clay was molded to replicate devotional images, and other figures, which were then fired, painted, and gilded, thus creating a low-cost alternative to more expensive materials, such as marble and bronze. Soon other artists, most notably, the Della Robbia family, popularized the use of glazed terracotta for relief sculpture and church altarpiece art.

Renaissance sculpture was responsible for reintroducing terracotta as a major medium for sculpture.

November 2022

A 30-minute walk from Piazza Maggiore, sitting in an open field, is the Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau. Originally the project was a model home constructed for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.

The Pavillon was conceived as a modular dwelling that could be combined with others like it to form a larger block. The building utilized an open plan measuring 2,200 square feet. The lower floor held living spaces and a kitchen while the second floor housed bedrooms and a bathroom. The house itself, in an attempt to reduce the need for furniture, included a myriad of built-in furniture, cabinets, and shelves.

At the end of the 1925 exhibition, the Pavillion was destroyed. Then, in 1977 Glauco Gresleri, Giuliano Gresleri, and Jose Oubrerie constructed an exact replica of the building in the Fiera District of Bologna, in collaboration with Fondation Le Corbusier.

*

The Pavillion has been closed for many years.  I have read that the Bologna Visitors Bureau is known to give tours, but I was unable to find any information as to how to get a tour, how to access the interior, or even if it was still being taken care of by any organization.

May 2022

This is a whirlwind trip via train through Europe.  While I am accustomed to slow travel, I am traveling with a special friend for a special reason and I have put myself in her capable hands.  This was an eight hour day in Bologna, a lifetime would not be enough.

The lunch meat of America, one I could never stomach, Baloney has its origins in Bologna.  In Bologna it is called Mortadella and is made exclusively from pork meat and pork neck fat, seasoned with black peppercorns, salt and myrtle berries.  Boloney is made from any type of meat and contains black pepper, salt, myrtle berries, cloves, anise, caraway, coriander, marjoram, paprika, allspice and other spices in an attempt to reproduce the taste of mortadella.  Now that we have that out of the way, let us move on to the glorious city of Bologna, Italy.

Under the Salabrosa Library  ruins from the ancient city of Bononia, which dates back to 189 BCE as well as remnants of the Etruscan and Roman eras.

Beginning with the Etruscans, Bologna has been one of the most important urban centers for centuries, first for the Celts and then the Romans and then again in the Middle Ages when it was among the largest of European cities by population.

Bologna is known for its arcades

Bologna’s arcades are a UNESCO world heritage site.  Originally made of wood, plaster and brick have taken over to prevent fires.  The arcades, all 31 miles of them, are regulated.  The height must correspond to be comfortable for a man, riding a horse, wearing a hat, to pass through.  You will find the color red throughout Bologna.   Bologna is known as the Fat, Red, and the Learn’d City due to its rich cuisine, red Spanish tiled rooftops, left wing politics, and being home to the oldest university in the western world.

Piazza Maggiore

Dominated by the statue of Neptune, Piazza Maggiore is one of the very first squares built in Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire. The square was built starting in the year 1200, when locals felt the need for a central market and a public meeting area.  In the 15th century the square took on its present form thanks to the papacy.

Basilica of San Patronio

Construction began on San Patronio  in 1390 with the goal of becoming the largest church of the Christian world. The Pope was not happy with anything that might be larger than St. Peter’s in Rome and the project was abandoned.  It is still one of the largest Catholic churches in the world.

Pope Gregorious XIII

Pope Gregorious XIII gave us the Gregorian calendar, the international calendar in use today, but I show you his statue for a different reason.

The statue was installed in 1580 during his pontificate and dominated the main square unchanged for two centuries. When Napoleon marched in and ended the rule of Papal States over Bologna, the populace was afraid the statue would be taken down, and melted into canon balls.

The city council had the bright idea of turning Gregorius XIII into Saint Petronius, the patron saint of Bologna. So, between 1796 and 1797, they added a miter and a crosier with the inscription above that reads, “Divus Petronius Protector et Pater” (“Saint Petronius Protector and Father”). In this form it survived the Napoleonic Wars and the unification of Italy.  The statue was once again Pope Gregorious XIII in 1895 when all the modifications were removed, but as you can see, the inscription remained.

Memorial to Fallen Partisans

Also found in the square is a memorial to the fallen partisans of Bologna’s World War II-era resistance movement. Family members of partisans killed in the square whom were either hanged in the square or shot against this wall, began putting up photos of the dead, leaving flowers and funerary offerings.   Eventually this impromptu memorial was placed behind glass, there are over 2,ooo men and women honored here.

*

A vestige of the canals of Bologna

Starting in the 12th century, around 40 miles of canals were dug to connect the city with the rivers Reno and Savena. The canals were used to drive water mills and were rumored to have done so for 15 large grain mills, operating through a series of artificial level changes and movable sluice gates.  At one time Bologna was the most technologically advanced silk producing town utilizing water in production.  Much of the canals have been rerouted into pipes and are no longer visible, but if you wander the streets a little outside of downtown, you can glimpse them here and there.

The 320-foot Asinelli Tower

Between the 12th and the 13th century, Bologna was full of towers. Almost all the towers were tall defensive stone towers. The reasons for the construction of these towers is a bit of a mystery. One hypothesis is that the richest families used them for offensive/defensive purposes during the period of the Investiture Controversy (a power struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV i.e. between church and state).

Part of the University of Bologna in Italy, founded in 1088

The hallway off of the courtyard at the University

In the building that houses the lovely square above is the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio.

Inside the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio are two famous statues of the “Spellati” (skinned) are the work of the well-known artist of anatomical wax displays, Ercole Lelli.

The theater is completely carved from spruce. Started in 1636 and completed in 1737, it was heavily damaged during World War II.  Fortunately it was painstakingly recreated using all of the original pieces recovered among the rubble of the building.

The dissection table

The students benches and stunning wood walls

Wandering Bologna

The ceiling of the Salabrosa Library

****