Archive for the Arezzo Category

Wine In Tuscany Part VII, Central Tuscany: Wines Other Than Chianti, Brunello & Montepulciano

On November 26, 2016 / Arezzo, Pomino, San Gimignano, Siena

Carmignano, Pomino, Colline Aretine, Colline Senesi, San Gimignano, Siena, Val d’Arbia and Val d’Orcia

Colline Fiorentine and Colline Pratesi (hills around Florence and Prato).

Carmignano is in the hills to the west of Florence, there are 200 hectares of vineyard here. The area has traditionally grown the uva francese, (better known as cabernet sauvignon) and blended it with sangiovese, long before this blend became fashionable all over central Italy. In 1975 the area was awarded its own DOCG which stipulates that the wine should be at least 50% sangiovese, a maximum of 20% canaiolo, between 10 and 20% cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc and other varieties up to 10%. Because these rules are flexible Carmignano DOCG wines can vary greatly in style: alcoholic and structured if the maximum amount of cabernet (20%) and other international grapes (10%) are used; softer and full of minerals if the maximum 80% sangiovese is used. You may also come across another wine from Carmignano called Barco Reale Rosso DOC, it has the same blending rules but shorter ageing in oak.

Pomino is to the north east of Florence and overlaps with the Chianti Rufina zone. Like Carmignano, it is an area where French grapes have been traditionally grown. Pomino is available as both white and red wines. Pomino Bianco DOC can be made from 100% chardonnay or blended with pinot bianco and pinot grigio. Pomino Rosso is made with sangiovese, pinot nero and merlot.

Colline Aretine (hills around Arezzo) there are three distinct areas to this wine growing area, Valdarno Aretino, Valdichiana and Cortona. As well as producing Chianti Colli Aretini DOCG, a wide range of wines are made in the Valdarno and highly regarded Syrah is produced around Cortona.

The Valdichiana (the wide flat valley floor below Cortona) was once known only for Bianco Vergine della Valdichiana DOC (current rules stipulate that it should be made with at least 20% trebbiano and up to 80% chardonnay, in addition pinot grigio, pinot bianco and grechetto are also permitted). Today there are several DOCs from the area that include whites made with chardonnay and grechetto and reds made from sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. There are also DOCs for sparkling wines, rosé and Vin Santo.

Colline Senesi (Sienese Hills). This area includes San Gimignano, Val d’Arbia, Montalcino, Montepulciano and the Val d’Orcia.

San Gimignano The white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG, is made with the vernaccia grape (vernaccia has the same latin root as the English “vernacular” and therefore implies that the grape is specific to the area, just to add to the confusion, I have come across another (red) grape with the same name in Umbria). There are 800 hectares of vineyard around San Gimignano producing Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG wine. The wine is soft and has a decisive minerality with notes of dried fruit, flint and hydrocarbons. Look out for the Riserva, which has had a year ageing in oak.

Siena look out for Terre di Casole and Grance Senesi, both wines with a sangiovese base.

Val d’Arbia produces vin santo and some dry white wines.

Val d’Orcia is between Montalcino and Montepulciano, it includes the towns of Pienza and San Quirico Val d’Orcia. The wines vary in type thanks to soils that range from clay in the north to more sandy and rocky, becoming volcanic further south, the reds are sangiovese based.

Monte Amiata & The Val d'Orcia

Other Wines From Central Tuscany

Piero della Francesca Trail – Sansepolcro, Monterchi and Arezzo

On January 6, 2015 / Arezzo, Art, Monterchi, Piero della francesca, Sansepolcro

Piero della Francesca’s Paintings

Piero della Francesca (1416/17-1492) was a Renaissance artist and mathematician, perhaps because of his interest in mathematics his paintings are noted for their perfect perspective and the solid, almost sculptural, quality of his figures. Art historians often cite the way he painted his figures as being directly influenced by Masaccio, regarded by many as the first (but short lived) Renaissance painter, whose paintings he would have seen in Florence. Piero della Francesca is claimed by both the Tuscans and the Umbrians as one of their artists because the town where he was born, Borgo San Sepolcro (now San Sepolcro), was sold by a pope to the Tuscan dukes when he was short of money.

The Madonna Di Senigallia by Piero della Francesca

Piero della Francesca is probably not as well known as he should be because most of his paintings are in out of the way places. Many were commissioned by Federigo di Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, Urbino is a small town in the Marchè that was transformed into a Renaissance court by this cultured mercenary captain. Two of his paintings are still there, the Flagellation of Christ and the Madonna di Senigallia, but his famous portrait of the Duke and his wife, Battista Sforza, are in the Uffizi gallery in Florence. Others are still in situ in Sansepolcro, Monterchi and Arezzo and it is possible to easily see all of these in a day if you are based on the Tuscany Umbria border near the Upper Tiber Valley, Lake Trasimeno, Cortona or Arezzo. There is another incredible altarpiece in the Galleria Nazionale dell’ Umbria in Perugia but it would be too much to try and fit this in to a one day excursion, it’s best to visit Perugia and Urbino on separate days to complete the trail. I’ll write as if you are starting the trail in Sansepolcro, then visiting Monterchi and Arezzo but feel free to reverse the order of towns. Note that you have to book a time slot to see the frescoes in Arezzo, otherwise you may not be able to get in, you are asked to arrive 30 minutes before your viewing so allow plenty of time to park and make your way to the church of San Francesco.

Piero della Francesca Trail, Day 1

Sansepolcro, Monterchi, Arezzo

Piero della Francesca in Sansepolcro

Once at Sansepolcro park outside the town walls and head into the centro storico, following signs to the Museo Civico. Sansepolcro still has two of Piero della Francesca’s works, the Resurrection of Christ fresco and the Madonna della Misericordia, an altarpiece.

Piero della Francesca’s Misericordia tryptych in Sansepolcro

The Resurrection Of Christ

Described by Aldous Huxley as “the greatest painting in the world” Piero della Francesca’s Reurrection of Christ is still in place in the exact spot where it was frescoed onto the wall. the painting is heavy with the symbolism of re-birth and renewal, The pink tinged clouds of the dawn mirror Jesus’ cloak as he emerges from the tomb, look at the trees on the left of the painting, they are are bare whereas on the right there are in leaf. The broad triangular base formed by the sleeping soldiers forces the eye upwards to the emerging Jesus who completes the top of the triangle. Jesus is painted as if we are looking straight at him, whereas we should should be looking from below, this deliberate trick of perspective serves to make him jump out of the painting. It is thought that the sleeping soldier without the helmet is a self portrait of Piero Della Francesca.

The Madonna della Misericordia

Painted over several years for a religious order with traditional artistic tastes, the flat gold leaf background to this painting only serves to make the figures look more three dimensional. Unlike medieval paintings with flat gold backgrounds, the Madonna’s cloak with which she shelters members of the order is painted in perfect perspective.

Museo Civico, Sansepolcro Opening Times:

15 June to 15 September 9.30-13.30 / 14.30-19.00

16 September to 14 June, 9.30-13.00 / 14.30-18.00

Closed 25 December and 1 January

Piero della Francesca in Monterchi

Madonna del Parto (Pregnant Madonna, or, Madonna in Labour)

The heavily pregnant Madonna depicted in this fresco is quite unusual subject matter, very few other examples exist. Painted on a wall of the cemetery in Monterchi, the fresco was moved in the 199o’s to the old school building which has been converted into a one painting museum, much to the benefit of Monterchi’s tourist industry.

The Madonna del Parto (Madonna in Labour) in Monterchi

The Madonna del Parto in Monterchi

The fresco is a great example of less being more, two mirror image angels draw back the curtains of a tent to reveal the heavily pregnant Madonna, who stands supporting the weight of her child with her left hand on her hips and the right hand on her belly. The opening of the curtains and the slit allowing the front of her dress to expand could be construed as symbolic of the birth that is shortly to come. It is said that Monterchi was associated with a fertility cult and Piero della Francesca’s mother was from the village, so it is quite a suitable location for this painting.

Madonna del Parto Opening Times:

April to October 9.00-13.00/14.00-19.00, ticket office closes at 18.30

November to March 9.00-13.00/14.00-17.00

Piero della Francesca in Arezzo

The Story Of The True Cross, Cappella Bacci, San Francesco, Arezzo

This fresco cycle is one of the great masterpieces of Renaissance art. the story is a convoluted medieval tale telling the story of cross on which Jesus was crucified.

A detail from the Proof of The Cross by Piero della Francesca showing the same faces

Proof of the Cross – detail, note the repetition of the faces. Piero della Francesca, Arezzo.

It starts with the death of Adam and an acorn being planted in his mouth from which the tree grows. Instead of following a chronological order, similar scenes from this tale are juxtaposed on opposite walls of the apse, for example, the battle scene of the Byzantines defeating the Persians in the 7th Century is opposite the scene depicting Constantine’s victory at the Milivian Bridge over Maxentius in the 4th Century. Higher up, you can see the Queen of Sheba recognising the power of the tree that the cross is later to be made from when she tries to cross the bridge it is made from. This is juxtaposed against Helena, Constantine’s mother, using the cross to resurrect a dead man. Note in a scene on the back wall of the apse, the angel visiting Constantine in a dream to tell him to paint the sign of the cross on his army’s shields, the composition has a remarkable similarity to the Madonna del Parto.

Piero Della Francesca’s Legend Of The True Cross Frescoes In Arezzo, Opening Times:

Monday to Friday 9:00 – 18:30
Saturday: 9:00 – 17:30
Sunday: 13:00 – 17:30

Visits last 30 minutes

For information telephone 0575 352727

Mary Magdelene Fresco, Arezzo Duomo

From San Francesco, it’s a short walk uphill to visit the Duomo where you will find a small fresco of Mary Magdelene with her oil container on the left hand wall.

Search Villas By Size & Date

The Paintings Of Piero Della Francesca

On August 1, 2013 / Arezzo, Art, Monterchi, Perugia, Piero della francesca, Sansepolcro, Urbino

Art lovers who holiday on the Tuscany Umbria border are spoilt for choice when it comes to galleries and paintings, one painter, whose work you should try and see, is the Renaissance master Piero della Francesca. A mathematician and artist, Piero della Francesca spent much of his life working in the towns of the Tuscany Umbria border and the Renaissance court of mercenary soldier Federigo da Montefeltro in Urbino (in the neighbouring region of Le Marche). Determined fans of this remarkable painter can follow a Piero della Francesca Trail, taking in the towns of Arezzo, Sansepolcro, Monterchi, Urbino, Perugia and even Rimini on the Adriatic coast. A visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence can also be included in the Piero Trail as you will find his famous portraits of the aforementioned Duke of Urbino, Federigo di Montefeltro and his wife, Battista Sforza. The Piero della Francesca Trail forms the background to John Mortimer’s novel Summer’s Lease, if you haven’t already read it and you are interested in following the Piero Trail, it’s worth bringing a copy for holiday reading.

The Madonna Di Senigallia by Piero della Francesca

The faces in Piero della Francesca’s painting display an unusual lack of emotion, the solid figures draw their inspiration from classical sculpture and seem to be frozen in a moment in time. In 1897, the art critic Bernard Berenson wrote “Impersonality – that is the quality whereby (Piero) holds us spellbound, that is his most distinguishing virtue”.

Proof of the Cross – detail, note the repetition of the faces. Piero della Francesca, Arezzo.

The same faces reappear throughout the paintings, and are sometimes repeated within the same scene with altered characteristics such as facial hair.

The same faces appear in different guises

Perhaps it’s stretching things a bit far to claim that this repetition influenced the Pop Art of Andy Warhol, but the overall effect is quite modern in style. The mastery of perspective and foreshortening in Piero’s painting is incredible. In true Renaissance Man style, Piero della Francesca was also a mathematician as well as an artist and the study of perspective naturally interested him, often the pictures depict Renaissance architecture and intricate floor patterns that show off his skill.

The Piero della Francesca Trail

Arezzo

The Legend of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco – book in advance as spaces are limited. A medieval tale telling the story of the cross on which Jesus was crucified and it’s magical properties throughout the centuries. It starts with the death of Adam and the planting of the acorn in his mouth, it ends with the defeat of the Persians by the Byzantine Emperor and the return of the cross to Jerusalem. Restored in the 1990’s, these vivid pictures are a “must see” on a trip to Arezzo.

Sansepolcro

The Resurrection, still in it’s original position and the Misericordia Polyptych are on display in the Museo Civico within the walls of the old town. Described by Aldous Huxley as the “worlds greatest paining”, the Resurrection shows Christ rising from a tomb while guards sleep beneath him. The pink tinged clouds reflecting the light of the rising sun and the bare trees on one side of the painting but in full foliage on the other are symbolic of renewal. The soldier second from the left is said to be a self portrait of Piero della Francesca.

The Resurrection by Piero della Francesca

The Misericordia Polyptych is remarkable in that the traditional medieval style with a flat gold leaf background actually enhances the solidity of the figures, which, unlike medieval paintings, are painted in perfect perspective.

Piero della Francesca’s Misericordia tryptych in Sansepolcro

Monterchi

The Madonna del Parto

The Madonna del Parto in Monterchi

Depicting an unusual subject, the heavily pregnant Madonna del Parto could easily have been lost during the Counter Reformation when it would have been considered inappropriate. It now costs €5.50 to get in to see the Madonna del Parto, making it an expensive entry ticket to see a single painting, For those that are interested, you also get access to Monterchi’s museum of scales and balances with the same ticket. However, if you have never seen it, it is worth gritting your teeth and paying the extortionate entrance fee, this seemingly simple painting will stay in your memory for years to come.

Urbino

The Flagellation of Christ

In the Ducal Palace in Urbino you can see two paintings by Piero della Francesca, the Flagellation of Christ and the Madonna di Senigallia. The Flagellation is the subject of much debate, what are the three men on the right talking about? Why are they ignoring the scene in the background? There are two sources of light in the painting, the interior is illuminated from the right and the exterior of the building from the left, does this mean that the two scenes are occurring at different times?

The Madonna di Senigallia (shown at the start of this post) is influenced by artists from the Low Countries who depicted biblical scenes in ordinary contemporary settings. Piero della Francesca would have met northern European artists at the court in Urbino.

Perugia

The Annunciation on the Perugia altarpiece

One of the masterpieces in the collection of the National Gallery of Umbria, the Polittico di San Antonio has a remarkable Annunciation, the perspective of columns in the background draw your eye to the back of the cloister. Look out lower down for St. Agatha, holding her breasts on a plate.

St Agatha holding her breasts on a plate

Rimini

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta praying in front of St Sigismund

In the Adriatic town of Rimini, Piero della Francesca met another famous Renaissance man, Leon Battista Alberti, an architect and mathematician. Alberti started to remodel the 13th Century church of San Francesco as a Renaissance building, now known as the Tempio Malatestiano. The redesign was never finished but Piero della Francesca left this painting of Sigismondo kneeling in front of his patron saint.

Florence / Uffizi

In the Uffizi Gallery in Florence you can see the portraits of the successful mercenary soldier Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and his wife Battista Sforza. In the background of his wife’s portrait it is thought that the town is Gubbio in Umbria where the Duke built a Renaissance palace. Most books will tell you that the Duke lost an eye and part of his nose in a jousting accident, however, I overheard a guide at the Uffizi saying he had the top of his nose removed after the accident to improve his vision. The side on profile may have hidden his missing eye but it also copied the profile of Roman Emperors on coins, something the Duke would have been keen to allude to.

Portraits of Federigo Da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza

Search For Your Holiday Villa

Arezzo

On April 3, 2013 / Arezzo, Cimabue, Piero della francesca, Uncategorized

Today we went on a day trip to the Tuscan city of Arezzo. We had booked ahead to see the frescoes by Piero della Francesco in the church of San Francesco. Do not forget to do this if you want to see the frescoes as you have to book a time slot and spaces are limited.

Piero Della Francesca, Legend Of The True Cross, Arezzo

These beautiful frescoes show the Story Of The True Cross, a convoluted medieval tale about the crucifix on which Jesus died. Because Piero della Francesca was a mathematician as well as a painter, he has chose to give the paintings symmetry by juxtaposing similar scenes across the apse rather than sticking to a chronological order, for example, the two battle scenes are opposite each other.

Proof of the Cross – detail, note the repetition of the faces. Piero della Francesca, Arezzo.

Pieve Di Santa Maria, Arezzo

Once we had admired the paintings we wandered past the impressive church of Pieve di Santa Maria, built in the Tuscan Romanesque style more commonly found in the northern Tuscan towns of Pisa and Lucca. The church is also unusual because the facade faces the street rather than the Piazza Grande.

The Pieve di Santa Maria in Arezzo

Piazza Grande, Arezzo

The Piazza Grande is one of the sights you should not miss when visiting Arezzo, as its name suggests, this is a large piazza surrounded by beautiful buildings including the Loggia di Vasari which runs along the eastern edge. Giorgio Vasari was born in Arezzo, he was famous as the first art historian, an architect (he designed the Ufizzi in Florence) and as a painter (although in this role he is not so highly regarded). The piazza slopes upwards towards the south eastern corner and is the main area for Arezzo’s monthly antiques market (1st Sunday of every month).

The Piazza Grande in Arezzo, Tuscany

Views From The Palazetto Della Fraternita Dei Laici, Arezzo

While standing in the Piazza Grande, I noticed that people were on top of the Palazetto della Fraternita dei Laici. I enquired at the entrance and found that you could enter the Palazetto for a reasonable €2 fee and, after a short climb, get up to the clock tower. Up here there were great views of the Piazza Grande and across the rest of town.

View down onto the Piazza Grande in Arezzo

The Duomo, Arezzo

From the Piazza Grande, we wandered on to the Duomo to see another small fresco by Piero della Francesca, Mary Magdelene. You can find this fresco on the wall at the far left of the nave from the entrance.

The Duomo in Arezzo

San Domenico, Arezzo

The next stop on our lightning tour of Arezzo was the church of San Domenico to see Cimabue’s crucifix which hangs above the altar. There are beautiful travertine windows in the apse that are cut very thinly so that they are translucent and show off the patterns in the stone. The nave of this large church is covered with badly damaged frescoes.

Crucifix by Cimabue in Arezzo

We stopped at little enoteca / delicatessan for a superb light lunch of cheeses meats, olives and artichokes served with bread. You can find this enoteca in Corso Cavour at the south east end of town.

The Primo Enoteca in Arezzo

Search For Your Holiday Villa