Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Unexpected Bologna

There is lots to explore in Bologna, and and on a recent visit I visited San Giovanni in Monte, with its curious Renaissance façade. Built on an artificial hill, constructed to imitate the Mount of Olives. The church forms part of the nearby Santo Stefano complex.  The interior is mostly Gothic. There are wonderful choir stalls behind the altar. Several of the precious paintings including a Raffaello, that this church once contained, are now to be found in various museums, in Italy and abroad

San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna



San Giovanni in Monte

San Giovanni in Monte

San Giovanni in Monte

San Giovanni in Monte

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, was a nice surprise. Lombard Gothic predominates this church, with the red brick ribbed spiders web effect. I wanted to see the painting by Cimabue, but I had to be content with a copy, as it is away on loan. 

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna


Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Behind the nineteenth century façade of  Saint Vitale Agricola, and below the Baroque church, we descend a flight of stairs and find ourselves in a Paleo Christian crypt that dates back to the year 1000. For a while the church was not consecrated and the crypt was the meeting place of an aristocratic literary circle before disappearing in the nineteenth century. Sever years later when the church was consecrated again and works were being carried out, the crypt remerged. The church is said to be constructed above the Roman arena, where Agricola and his slave Vital were martyred in about 300AD.

One of those little hidden gems that Italian cities conceal, unless you dig them out.

 
Saint Vitale Agricola, Bologna

Saint Vitale Agricola

Saint Vitale Agricola


Saint Vitale Agricola


Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Bologna Gothic

San Francesco, in Bologna has been on my list of places to see for some time. Here late Romanesque mixes with Lombard Gothic and the first Italian incorporation of French Gothic. It was consecrated in 1251.

The Interior is imposing and austere. The red brickwork contrasts with the plain cream painted walls and ceiling. An ornate alter in the apse, is really the only memorable decoration, in the main church. The apse ends with a series of brightly decorated chapel. 

I think I will make another visit to this building as I feel I missed a lot of the things to see on this first visit, including the flying buttresses.


San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna


San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna

They are hard to see and photograph, but this church was one of the first buildings to use the French flying buttress technique.

San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna

San Francesco, Bologna

On the Way to San Francesco, I passed the Renaissance Corpus Domini Monastery, with its wonderful Terracotta doorway. Luigi Galvani who discovered biological electricity, is buried here. The interior dates from the Seventeenth century, and badly damaged during the Second World War..

Corpus Domini, Bologna 

Corpus Domini, Bologna 


Corpus Domini, Bologna 


Corpus Domini, Bologna 


Corpus Domini, Bologna 

Corpus Domini, Bologna 


The Oratorio dello Spirito Santo, is another Renaissance building decorated with terracotta decoration.

Oratorio dello Spirito Santo, Bologna








 

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Ghiara in Perspective

 I wanted to experiment with my new super wide 15mm shift lens. The Ghiara in Reggio Emilia seemed a good place to experiment, with this extreme wide angle shift lens.

The Ghiara is Reggio Emilia's most interesting monument. It is a late Renaissance basilica constructed at the beginning of the seventeenth century, to celebrate a miracle. 

This is a previous post, with a few more details.


The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia

The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia

The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia

The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia

The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia



Sunday, December 31, 2023

2024 Comes to an End

This year has certainly flown quickly by. For family reasons I have been backwards and forwards to the UK, and Terminal 5 at Heathrow is almost a second home. My photography has drifted ever more towards Architectural subjects, and my musical tastes have veered towards the more free edges of Jazz. All in all a year of change and positivity on the professional front, as my Engineering studio continues to grow.

My photographic year started off in Brescia, a city I had always associated with grim industrial estates, but which is a fascinating city, with its Romanesque Rotonda church, amongst other treasures. 

Rotonda Brescia

Rotonda Brescia

San Francesco

I experimented with a Monopod with feet, get around tripod bans in some sites. The Crypt in the Duomo di Reggio Emila made a quite testing ground.

Duomo di Reggio Emilia


The Carbon Fibre monopod hack is nice and light to carry all day and coupled with the in-camera vibration reduction system, that my Z7 is equipped with, can be used at base ISO for up to 30 seconds or more. It is good for HDR composite shots too. It just sometimes needs a camera bag as a counterweight. A pretty good travel solution. But a tripod with a geared head is still by far the best support for Architectural subjects, as it is fast and easy to level. 

Further testing out was done in the wonderfully colourful Renaissance period, Duomo di Carpi.

Duomo di Carpi

Duomo di Carpi

Spent a Sunday afternoon at the end of January in Modena, where I visited a less well known Compianto di Cristo, by Guido Mazzoni, in San Giovanni Battista. The life sizes statues leave you spellbound.  Modena has three sets of these terracotta sculptures.

Compianto di Cristo, by Guido Mazzoni.

Compianto di Cristo, by Guido Mazzoni

San Pietro 

I finished off my afternoon at San Pietro, one of Emilia's major Renaissance monuments.

Baroque this time in Guastalla in the newly restored  Santuario Beata Vergine Della Porta.

Santuario Beata Vergine Della Porta, Guastalla

Santuario Beata Vergine Della Porta, Guastalla

Santuario Beata Vergine Della Porta, Guastalla

The Grim looking, little church of Santa Croce, in Oltre Torrente, Parma, does not look like it might be of any cultural interest. But once inside, this Romanesche church has some wonderful column capitals, with strange warriors and beasts from the medieval Bestiary.

 
Santa Croce, Parma

Santa Croce, Parma

Santa Croce, Parma

Santa Croce, Parma

A Spring Sunday morning outing to see a fortified tower house in the hills above Reggio  


Croveglia, Reggio Emilia

April found me in Bath, for sad family matters. We stayed in a hotel by the Avon, and did get some time to see Bath again. I do not know when I will see my town of childhood memories again.

Bathampton

Bath

Bathampton

Bath

The picture everybody takes of Bath.

The Ghiara, is Reggio Emilia's only really interesting monument. They have redone the lighting, so I went to take a look, at this Baroque extravaganza.

The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia


The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia

The Ghiara, Reggio Emilia

In early May, I was in Pistoia, for work. I had time to explore this quiet Tuscan city, and eat an excellent mixed grill for lunch in one of the city squares. This city seems to have been spared from the mass tourism, that makes visiting most historic Tuscan cities a less than charming experience. 

I wanted to visit the Romanesque San Bartolomeo, amongst other places.

San Bartolomeo, Pistoia

 
San Bartolomeo, Pistoia


San Bartolomeo, Pistoia

Duomo

Also in May I was on site to see a 40m walkway that I have engineered, lifted into place. It is pretty satisfying to see a structure move from the drawing board via a Finite Element mathematical model, to a useful physical object. 



Also in May I had an afternoon in Mantova/Mantua. I wanted to photograph a "Last Supper" fresco in 
the Gothic Santa Maria del Gradaro. 

Santa Maria del Gradaro, Mantova

Santa Maria del Gradaro, Mantova


Santa Maria del Gradaro, Mantova


Santa Maria del Gradaro, Mantova

I used a  strange "Vintage" lens for the exterior shot of the Church. I could not resist this "New old stock" Schneider 35mm shift lens, with a curious shifting mechanism. It turned out to be a pretty good lens. A dial shifts the lens upwards and downwards. 
 
Schneider 35mm shift lens

At the beginning of June I went to see another Compianto in Modena. This one is in Sant'Agostino, and is by Antonio Begarelli. It is in a later more classical style, compared to the other one I saw. The church is  a fairly sober Baroque.

Sant'Agostino,Modena

Sant'Agostino,Modena

Sant'Agostino,Modena

 
At the end of June, whilst I was out and about for work, I added the Rotonda di San Tomè - Almenno San Bartolomeo, BG, to my Romanesque photo project. This is an unusual round church.

Rotonda di San Tomè - Almenno San Bartolomeo, BG

Rotonda di San Tomè - Almenno San Bartolomeo, BG

Rotonda di San Tomè - Almenno San Bartolomeo, BG


July and time for our annual holiday. Grazia decided we must go to the UK to see Richard Ashcroft, at an open air concert. Luckily we had tickets for the VIP area which protected us a bit from the British summer 


The joy of outdoor concerts

But we got to see Battle in Hastings, and I walked the battlefield.

Battle, Hastings


Battle Hastings

We explored the Romney Marsh area, and enjoyed Rye

Rye

We stayed in London, and I returned to a special place for me. Strand on the Green, a place of many booze ups and were I took my first photographs. The pubs are still good, on this pretty stretch of the Thames.

Strand on the Green, London

Strand on the Green, London

In Reims, we discovered an alternative Gothic masterpiece: Basilica di Saint-Remi, that internally, I found more interesting than the more famous Cathedral

Basilica di Saint-Remi, Reims

Basilica di Saint-Remi, Reims

Basilica di Saint-Remi, Reims

In August I was up in Lombardia, to see a new cheese making factory, I was involved with, at Passo Croce Domini, which is at 1800m above SL. Afterwards I went with my client for a short hike in the mountains.

Near Passo Croce Domini

I visited a Malga where cheese is made in a very traditional way. I bought some too to take home. 



In September on the back of a work appointment in Piacenza, I had a nice day in this interesting city. I wanted to see the Romanesque mosaics that lie behind the uninspiring façade of  the Basilica di San Savino. The Chess player and the other mosaics must be one of most interesting places I have seen this year.

Basilica di San Savino, Piacenza

Basilica di San Savino, Piacenza

Basilica di San Savino, Piacenza

Basilica di San Savino, Piacenza

Still in the Province of Piacenza, I discovered the Medieval fortified villages of Castell'Arquato and Vigoleno, as well a the interesting Pieve in Vigolo marchese, which I have written about in a couple of recent Blog posts.

Vigolo Marchese, PC

Vigoleno, PC

Castell'Arquato, PC

I finally got around to visiting the Lapidarium, in the Museo del Duomo, in Modena, with its strange carvings. 

 Museo del Duomo, Modena

Museo del Duomo, Modena

Capture One, my photo post processing software, now has an AI function to deal with backgrounds, in pictures like this. Getting the black background took just a mouse click

Whilst in Modena I proved to myself again that 30 second exposures are great for eliminating the human presence in a crowded site. Sometimes techniques that date from the beginnings of photography, trounce "Photoshopping", as no post processing was needed for this shot apart from colour balance

Duomo Modena

A new shift lens has been added to my camera bag at the end of this year. I had doubts about this lens as reviews were not uniformly good, but the 15mm Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift has exceeded my expectations when I took it out for a test run in Modena. It is my first Z mount shift lens, as the old Nikon F mound will become gradually more obsolete.

Curiously this lens resurrects the shift mechanism of the old Schneider 35mm shift lens that I picked up earlier in the year.

Ossario by Aldo Rossi, Modena

Ossario by Aldo Rossi, Modena

So, 2023 is at an end. Next year I must try and keep this Blog updated more often, next year. We will be going to the UK again next year as well. Grazia wants to see Ashcroft at Kew. I hope it does not rain this time! I would love to get back to see Norfolk.