Italy: Florence Part 24 - Final Images of Basilica Santa Croce: Here are some final images taken on our private tour of the Santa Croce Basilica. We returned to the Piazza Santa Croce...

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

Here are some final images taken on our private tour of the Santa Croce Basilica. We returned to the Piazza Santa Croce for dinner on the patio at Ristorante Finisterrae. The final image of the Basilica facade at sunset was taken with Gail's iPhone 13.

A description of the first image from the website: https://guidaturistica-michelebusillo.com/an-ancient-representation-of-saint-francis-to-be-discovered-in-florence/
The Tavola Bardi is an ancient representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence. The work is a tempera on panel illustrating episodes of St. Francis of Assisi’s life. Preserved in the chapel with the same name, inside the Santa Croce Basilica in Florence, the work represents one of the most important figurative testimonies relating to the Assisi saint’s cult in the years immediately following his canonisation. Moreover, due to its iconographic richness, the Florentine table is truly unique thanks to the presence of scenes from Saint Francis’s life that are inspired by the first hagiographies of the saint that were widespread, the same ones that were almost completely destroyed later on because of systematic work of purification and edulcoration implemented by San Bonaventura.

He was the General of the Franciscan Order who, from the sixties of the thirteenth century, undertook to reform the vision of St. Francis’s poverty ideal, going as far as to partially change the most intransigent image of the Franciscan message.

To do this, St. Bonaventure understood that there was a need to change the perception of the poor man of Assisi, starting from the literary transmissions of the life of Francis, to even come to revise the artistic representations of the saint’s life. The revision action therefore implied the diffusion of an official hagiography of St. Francis, the Legenda Major, written by San Bonaventura himself in Latin.

Since the Santa Croce altarpiece, one of the representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence, precedes the revision of San Bonaventura, the scenes that we find here reflect what is no longer possible to see today in the official texts of the life of Francis.

The different version of San Bonaventura
The fascinating meaning of some of these scenes, voluntarily excluded in the hagiographic description of San Bonaventura with the intent to sweeten some aspects, can be opportunely discovered thanks to a guided visit of the Basilica of Santa Croce, one of the most interesting churches to see in Florence. The Basilica began as a Franciscan foundation as early as the thirteenth century and is also one of the first in the history of the franciscan Order. The first project of the church is due to the great sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.

Thanks to its centuries-old history and the complex succession of artistic commissions that have affected the building – from the chapels by Giotto to the series of illustrious personalities of Italian history burials – the Basilica of Santa Croce is one of the most fascinating churches, as well as the ancient representation of Saint Francis that is unmissable to see during a visit to the church

For more images of Santa Croce and a narrative, please see my previous posts:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783557-1.html#14104018
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783668-1.html#14105912

I hope you enjoy these!
Mark

The Tavola Bardi, an ancient representation of Saint Francis

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Frescoes by Matteo Civitali in the main chapel of the Basilica di Santa Croce (est. 1294)

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The top marker is where the flood waters of the Arno reached Nov. 4, 1966

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Cypress trees surrounding the monument to the fallen soldiers of World War I in the cloister of the Basilica. Each tree is dedicated to one fallen Gold Medalist

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Altar, Filippo Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel

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The Pazzi Chapel from the courtyard

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srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

Location Map:

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Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

srfmhg wrote:

Here are some final images taken on our private tour of the Santa Croce Basilica. We returned to the Piazza Santa Croce for dinner on the patio at Ristorante Finisterrae. The final image of the Basilica facade at sunset was taken with Gail's iPhone 13.

A description of the first image from the website: https://guidaturistica-michelebusillo.com/an-ancient-representation-of-saint-francis-to-be-discovered-in-florence/
The Tavola Bardi is an ancient representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence. The work is a tempera on panel illustrating episodes of St. Francis of Assisi’s life. Preserved in the chapel with the same name, inside the Santa Croce Basilica in Florence, the work represents one of the most important figurative testimonies relating to the Assisi saint’s cult in the years immediately following his canonisation. Moreover, due to its iconographic richness, the Florentine table is truly unique thanks to the presence of scenes from Saint Francis’s life that are inspired by the first hagiographies of the saint that were widespread, the same ones that were almost completely destroyed later on because of systematic work of purification and edulcoration implemented by San Bonaventura.

He was the General of the Franciscan Order who, from the sixties of the thirteenth century, undertook to reform the vision of St. Francis’s poverty ideal, going as far as to partially change the most intransigent image of the Franciscan message.

To do this, St. Bonaventure understood that there was a need to change the perception of the poor man of Assisi, starting from the literary transmissions of the life of Francis, to even come to revise the artistic representations of the saint’s life. The revision action therefore implied the diffusion of an official hagiography of St. Francis, the Legenda Major, written by San Bonaventura himself in Latin.

Since the Santa Croce altarpiece, one of the representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence, precedes the revision of San Bonaventura, the scenes that we find here reflect what is no longer possible to see today in the official texts of the life of Francis.

The different version of San Bonaventura
The fascinating meaning of some of these scenes, voluntarily excluded in the hagiographic description of San Bonaventura with the intent to sweeten some aspects, can be opportunely discovered thanks to a guided visit of the Basilica of Santa Croce, one of the most interesting churches to see in Florence. The Basilica began as a Franciscan foundation as early as the thirteenth century and is also one of the first in the history of the franciscan Order. The first project of the church is due to the great sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.

Thanks to its centuries-old history and the complex succession of artistic commissions that have affected the building – from the chapels by Giotto to the series of illustrious personalities of Italian history burials – the Basilica of Santa Croce is one of the most fascinating churches, as well as the ancient representation of Saint Francis that is unmissable to see during a visit to the church

For more images of Santa Croce and a narrative, please see my previous posts:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783557-1.html#14104018
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783668-1.html#14105912

I hope you enjoy these!
Mark

Here are some final images taken on our private to... (show quote)

Spectacularly dazzling work yet again, Mark

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

srfmhg wrote:

Here are some final images taken on our private tour of the Santa Croce Basilica. We returned to the Piazza Santa Croce for dinner on the patio at Ristorante Finisterrae. The final image of the Basilica facade at sunset was taken with Gail's iPhone 13.

A description of the first image from the website: https://guidaturistica-michelebusillo.com/an-ancient-representation-of-saint-francis-to-be-discovered-in-florence/
The Tavola Bardi is an ancient representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence. The work is a tempera on panel illustrating episodes of St. Francis of Assisi’s life. Preserved in the chapel with the same name, inside the Santa Croce Basilica in Florence, the work represents one of the most important figurative testimonies relating to the Assisi saint’s cult in the years immediately following his canonisation. Moreover, due to its iconographic richness, the Florentine table is truly unique thanks to the presence of scenes from Saint Francis’s life that are inspired by the first hagiographies of the saint that were widespread, the same ones that were almost completely destroyed later on because of systematic work of purification and edulcoration implemented by San Bonaventura.

He was the General of the Franciscan Order who, from the sixties of the thirteenth century, undertook to reform the vision of St. Francis’s poverty ideal, going as far as to partially change the most intransigent image of the Franciscan message.

To do this, St. Bonaventure understood that there was a need to change the perception of the poor man of Assisi, starting from the literary transmissions of the life of Francis, to even come to revise the artistic representations of the saint’s life. The revision action therefore implied the diffusion of an official hagiography of St. Francis, the Legenda Major, written by San Bonaventura himself in Latin.

Since the Santa Croce altarpiece, one of the representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence, precedes the revision of San Bonaventura, the scenes that we find here reflect what is no longer possible to see today in the official texts of the life of Francis.

The different version of San Bonaventura
The fascinating meaning of some of these scenes, voluntarily excluded in the hagiographic description of San Bonaventura with the intent to sweeten some aspects, can be opportunely discovered thanks to a guided visit of the Basilica of Santa Croce, one of the most interesting churches to see in Florence. The Basilica began as a Franciscan foundation as early as the thirteenth century and is also one of the first in the history of the franciscan Order. The first project of the church is due to the great sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.

Thanks to its centuries-old history and the complex succession of artistic commissions that have affected the building – from the chapels by Giotto to the series of illustrious personalities of Italian history burials – the Basilica of Santa Croce is one of the most fascinating churches, as well as the ancient representation of Saint Francis that is unmissable to see during a visit to the church

For more images of Santa Croce and a narrative, please see my previous posts:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783557-1.html#14104018
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783668-1.html#14105912

I hope you enjoy these!
Mark

Here are some final images taken on our private to... (show quote)

Another interesting set Mark.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Very, very good.

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

Longshadow wrote:

Thanks Bill.

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

joecichjr wrote:

Spectacularly dazzling work yet again, Mark

Thank you so much for your most kind superlatives Joe!

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

bcheary wrote:

Another interesting set Mark.

Thanks very much Brian.

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

NMGal wrote:

Very, very good.

Thank you very much Barbara.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Outstanding. Colorful and nicely composed, Mark.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Excellent architectural work, Mark! But I can handle only so many without Gail.

MosheR Loc: New York City

srfmhg wrote:

Here are some final images taken on our private tour of the Santa Croce Basilica. We returned to the Piazza Santa Croce for dinner on the patio at Ristorante Finisterrae. The final image of the Basilica facade at sunset was taken with Gail's iPhone 13.

A description of the first image from the website: https://guidaturistica-michelebusillo.com/an-ancient-representation-of-saint-francis-to-be-discovered-in-florence/
The Tavola Bardi is an ancient representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence. The work is a tempera on panel illustrating episodes of St. Francis of Assisi’s life. Preserved in the chapel with the same name, inside the Santa Croce Basilica in Florence, the work represents one of the most important figurative testimonies relating to the Assisi saint’s cult in the years immediately following his canonisation. Moreover, due to its iconographic richness, the Florentine table is truly unique thanks to the presence of scenes from Saint Francis’s life that are inspired by the first hagiographies of the saint that were widespread, the same ones that were almost completely destroyed later on because of systematic work of purification and edulcoration implemented by San Bonaventura.

He was the General of the Franciscan Order who, from the sixties of the thirteenth century, undertook to reform the vision of St. Francis’s poverty ideal, going as far as to partially change the most intransigent image of the Franciscan message.

To do this, St. Bonaventure understood that there was a need to change the perception of the poor man of Assisi, starting from the literary transmissions of the life of Francis, to even come to revise the artistic representations of the saint’s life. The revision action therefore implied the diffusion of an official hagiography of St. Francis, the Legenda Major, written by San Bonaventura himself in Latin.

Since the Santa Croce altarpiece, one of the representation of Saint Francis to see in Florence, precedes the revision of San Bonaventura, the scenes that we find here reflect what is no longer possible to see today in the official texts of the life of Francis.

The different version of San Bonaventura
The fascinating meaning of some of these scenes, voluntarily excluded in the hagiographic description of San Bonaventura with the intent to sweeten some aspects, can be opportunely discovered thanks to a guided visit of the Basilica of Santa Croce, one of the most interesting churches to see in Florence. The Basilica began as a Franciscan foundation as early as the thirteenth century and is also one of the first in the history of the franciscan Order. The first project of the church is due to the great sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.

Thanks to its centuries-old history and the complex succession of artistic commissions that have affected the building – from the chapels by Giotto to the series of illustrious personalities of Italian history burials – the Basilica of Santa Croce is one of the most fascinating churches, as well as the ancient representation of Saint Francis that is unmissable to see during a visit to the church

For more images of Santa Croce and a narrative, please see my previous posts:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783557-1.html#14104018
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-783668-1.html#14105912

I hope you enjoy these!
Mark

Here are some final images taken on our private to... (show quote)

I always love the medieval colors on the walls around the altars of old churches and cathedrals, and you caught them perfectly, Mark.

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

kpmac wrote:

Outstanding. Colorful and nicely composed, Mark.

Thank you very much Ken.

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

UTMike wrote:

Excellent architectural work, Mark! But I can handle only so many without Gail.

Thanks so much Mike. She will reappear, I promise!