Ambrogio Lorenzetti in Maremma

Pubblicato il 15 Giugno 2018 da Genni

The Museum of Sacred Art of Massa Marittima is hosting an exhibition on “Ambrogio Lorenzetti in Maremma. The masterpieces of the Grosseto and Sienese territories”. The exhibition of this master of Italian painting, born in Siena towards the end of the 13th century,  is on show in the town which preserves his grandest masterpiece, the Maestà.

There are 11 works by Ambrogio Lorenzetti on display at the  Museum Complex of San Pietro all’Orto by this great exponent of the Sienese School of the 14th century, known as the painter of the “Good Government”, a series of frescoes to be found in Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti was an overwhelmingly creative artist who profoundly renewed many iconographic traditions. He was an innovator of altar paintings and of sacred stories who widened the artistic vision also to the narration of landscape and environment, yet paradoxically was little known until recently.

The exhibition wishes to offer an overall vision of the various seasons the artist crossed during his career. Amongst the works on display is the figure of King Salomon (c. 1320/1325), a fragment which was originally part of a frame connecting Ambrogio’s scenes to those of his brother, Pietro, painted for the Sala Capitolare of the Sienese Convent of St Francis. The polyptych of St. Peter in Castelvecchio, the polyptych of Madonna with Child and the Saints Peter and Paul painted for the Church of Roccalbegna, instead, all date back to 1340.

Between these two dates belong all the other works: the painted cross of Pieve di Montenero d’Orcia, the glass window portraying the Archangel Michael winning the demons, the sinopites of the Annunciation from the Chapel of San Galgano in Montesiepi, the Four Saints of the Opera della Metropolitana Museum of Siena, the frescoes on the eastern side of the Cloister of St Francis, Siena, and the Allegory of Redemption from the Pinacoteca di Siena.

The exhibition proceeds in other two venues where Lorenzetti worked: the Church of San Pietro all’Orto, where there is a fragment of a fresco, and the Cathedral of San Cerbone, where recently other frescoes by the Maestro where discovered.

Open until September 16th, the Museum will be open until June 30th from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 7 pm; from July to September it will be open every day from 10 am to 12 pm and from 4 pm to 8 pm. Full ticket costs 7 Euros.

Pubblicato in Art exhibitions in Tuscany, Art in Maremma, Churches and cathedrals in Tuscany, Culture in Tuscany, Exhibitions in Maremma, Exhibitions in Tuscany, Grosseto, Maremma, Masterpiece's of Tuscany, Museums in Tuscany, Tuscan art, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , | Lascia un commento

Benvenuto Vermentino

Pubblicato il 6 Giugno 2018 da Genni

Every year in the month of June, the major Vermentino wineries of Liguria, Tuscany, Sardinia and Corsica meet up in Castelnuovo Magra, between La Spezia and Carrara, to celebrate and present their wine. This event is called Benvenuto Vermentino.

For the event, the village’s 18th-century residences open their doors to host the Vermentino wine makers. Here visitors have the opportunity to taste over one hundred wine labels paired to local products.

Throughout the historic centre of Castelnuovo Magra, in fact, it is possible to attend guided tastings, workshops and cooking shows. There are stalls for olive oil producers and gastronomic specialities, and at the local promotional hall, in the main square, it is possible to taste traditional dishes. The food is offered by the local restaurants which have studied dedicated menus so as to pair the dishes to the Vermentino Wine.

Highly recommended is a visit to the medieval tower of the Palace of the Bishops of Luni, from which one enjoys a breathtaking view of the Magra Valley and seacoast. Furthermore, during the year the tower always hosts extraordinary photographic exhibitions worth seeing. Nature lovers, instead, will be delighted to discover that CAI, the Italian Alpine Club, organizes walks through vineyards and olive groves, suitable for everybody, of variable length of time.

For those who wish to deepen their knowledge of Vermentino wine and its four producing regions, it is advisable to visit the Vermentino Wine Multimedia Museum. Here visitors will find digital touch system screens which will lead them to discover the appellation of this wine, the rules that govern it, its organoleptic characteristics, the territorial maps and a list of the wineries and their labels.

Not to miss, a visit to the archaeological excavations and museum of the ancient Roman city of Luni, a military stronghold whose harbour flourished with the exploitation of the white marble quarries up in the nearby Apuan Alps. Here, both a theatre and an amphitheatre are distinguishable on site.

So why don’t we all pay a visit to Castelnuovo Magra and bring our own personal Benvenuto –Welcome- to Vermentino and its makers?

Pubblicato in Events in Liguria, Italian food and wine, Liguria, Ligurian towns and cities, Ligurian wine, Luni, Museums in Liguria, Not Only Tuscany, Tuscan wineries | Contrassegnato , | Lascia un commento

Cartasia 2018, Lucca

Pubblicato il 13 Aprile 2018 da Genni

The International Biennial Paper Festival, Cartasia, returns to Lucca from August 3rd to September 30th. This event is about paper in all its shapes, as a means to express art, for games and other fun activities and as a versatile element of design. The theme of this 9th edition will be “Chaos and Silence”.

There will be outdoor exhibitions with monumental paper sculptures in the squares and on Lucca’s lovely Renaissance walls; indoor exhibitions from all over the world within the halls of Palazzo Ducale; design exhibitions showing both interior furniture and innovative prototypes; conferences on various topics; creative labs for children; and events around town such as performances and concerts.

The Festival is held in Lucca since 2004 because it is one of the biggest paper production centres of Europe. Here the Biennial unites its elements of sustainability and environmentalism, promoting and encouraging collaborations with paper companies that share the same philosophy.

Pubblicato in Events in Lucca, Exhibitions in Lucca, Festivals and feasts in Tuscany, Italian design, Lucca, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , | Lascia un commento

Pistoia Blues Festival 2018

Pubblicato il 5 Aprile 2018 da Genni

Pistoia Blues Festival has been giving this well-preserved medieval city and its regulars excellent blues music since 1980. Legends like Muddy Waters, Fats Domino, B. B. King, Alexis Kerner and Dizzy Gillespie have trod its stage. Following editions have also seen rock, soul and jazz stars like Chuck Berry, Frank Zappa, Jimmy Page, Buddy Guy, Pat Metheny, Jeff Healey, Carlos Santana, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Robert Plant and Skunk Anansie, just to name a few.

On July 4th, British Rock legend Graham Nash will be at Teatro Manzoni for “Road to Pistoia Blues”. The 39th edition of Pistoia Blues will officially begin on the 10th in Piazza Duomo with Alanis Morrissette, who returns in Italy after 6 years. James Blunt will be on stage on July 13th while on the 14th it will be the turn of Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. On Sunday 15th Pistoia Blues closes with Mark Lanegan Band and Supersonic Blues Machine, featuring Billy F. Gibbons, guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band ZZ Top.

Pubblicato in Events in Pistoia, Festivals and feasts in Tuscany, Music and events, Pistoia, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , | Lascia un commento

Piero Della Francesca. The seduction of prospective.

Pubblicato il 26 Marzo 2018 da Genni

To coincide with the presentation of the restoration of “The Resurrection” by Italian painter, mathematician and geometer Piero della Francesca, the Museo Civico of Sansepolcro, in the province of Arezzo, inaugurated on March 25th the exhibition “Piero della Francesca. La seduzione della prospettiva”. Della Francesca was born in San Sepolcro in 1415 and became a living testimony of the Early Renaissance. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes “The History of the True Cross” in the church of San Francesco in Arezzo.

Trained in mathematics during his youth, Della Francesca wrote three treatises known to modern mathematicians which cover the subjects of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, solid geometry and perspective. Della Francesca’s deep interest in the theoretical study of perspective is apparent in all his work. Now his hometown, where he died in 1492 on the same day Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, has organized this exhibition to illustrate his immense scientific culture with reproductions of drawings, perspective models, scientific instruments, plaquettes and videos. All this incredible mathematical research turned out to be Piero della Francesca’s legacy to artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Daniele Barbaro, just to name a few.

The exhibition also aims to reveal to the public the two souls of Piero della Francesca, the refined painter and the great mathematician. In addition to being Master of the abacus, an Euclidean geometer, a scholar of Archimedes, Della Francesca was also an innovator in the field of painting. For him, painting obtained its substantial foundation from both mathematics and geometry. His writings, especially “De Prospectiva Pingendi” (On Perspective for Painting), written both in vernacular for the artists and in Latin for the Humanists, commenced the great Renaissance perspective experience.

On until 9 January 2019 the museum is open from 25 September to 9 June from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2.30 pm to 6 pm, and from 10 June to 24 September from 10 am to 1.30 pm and from 2.30 pm to 7 pm. Full ticket costs 10 Euros. If you’re visiting the area around Arezzo be sure not to miss this great tribute to Sansepolcro’s favourite son.

Pubblicato in Arezzo, Exhibitions in Arezzo, Masterpiece's of Tuscany, Museums in Tuscany, Tuscan art, Tuscany | Contrassegnato , , | Lascia un commento