NIGEL'S RAMBLES

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Pistoia

I was in Pistoia for work a few days ago. This is one of the less well known Tuscan cities, but there are some nice things to see and it is fairly quiet and relaxed, compared to the more famous Tuscan locations. Had a great lunch in the market square with some nice Tuscan meat which is something they do really well here.

I also stopped of in Lucca for a quick visit to the Cathedral and a good wine shop I know.

1 Battistero

2 Battistero

3 Full immersion

4 Duomo

5 Duomo

7 San Andrea

8 The pulpit by Pisano

9 Slaughter of the Innocents

10 Duomo di Pistoia. The do is a visual shorthand symbol that denotes faithfulness.

11 Duomo di Lucca

13 The months

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Lake Garda

I was near Lake Garda for work, and after the appointment I decided to photograph a couple of places nearby. One is new to me, and one is a return visit after seeing it with my wife some months ago. I also visited a couple of towns along the lake.

First off we have the "Santuario della Madonna del Carmine", at San Felice Benaco a fifteenth century late Lombard Gothic structure. It has some wonderful frescoes inside.

Next we have Romanesque "Chiesa monumentale di Sant'Andrea Apostolo" in Manerbio, which I have photographed before. This time I used a tripod and had a bit more time to photograph the lovely column capitals with the typical Medieval Bestiary, geared more towards water creatures like a swan and fish.

I wanted to visit the Limonaia at Pra dela Fam, but as often happens when you play "Monument Bingo" in Italy, it was closed.

Castello di Padenghe, above the small town of the same name, is a curious place. Inside its imposing walls, houses and gardens have been built making it a rather partiucular "gated housing complex".

Santuario della Madonna del Carmine, San Felice Benaco

Chiesa Sant'Andrea Apostolo, Manerbio

Castello di Padenghe

Limonaia Pra dela Fam

Limone

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Duomo di Fidenza

The cathedral in Fidenza has been on my list of places to visit for some time. A nearby work appointment gave me the opportunity to visit this Romanesque Cathedral in the small city of Fidenza, near Parma.

The Cathedral dates from 1117, but has been much altered over the centuries. It is famous mostly for the façade by the Romanesque architect and some mason Benedetto Antèlami.

The façade is a mix of bible stories, a comic strip showing the life of Saint Donnino, the patron saint of the Cathedral, as well as animals both real and imaginary from the medieval Bestiary. I liked the warlike "Three Kings", a change from the sugary Christmas card characterisation. Saint Donnino, a beheaded martyr performing miracles whilst resting with his head in his hands, is curious.

These carvings are not just decorative. They were a didactic tool to teach the stories from the bible and the life of the saints, to mostly illiterate population. Other carvings from the Bestiary, had a precise significance and were a visual language, concerning good and evil, understood by the people of the time.

The inside is less interesting, with a crypt smaller than most Romanesque Cathedrals.

I was able to use a tripod and for the interior shots which was good because it was really dark inside, and it meant I could use a shift lens for the general view shots.