My Big Back Yard

One of the best features of the tour I recently completed in Provence was having a home base - 10 nights in spectacularly historic Avignon. Now anyone who's travelled by group tour knows the pace can be a bit mad, and changing hotels can be the down side of seeing a lot of places one longs to see. So it was a treat to have a neighbourhood. In Provence. Next door to a medieval wonder.

I spent several days on walkabouts - my favourite solo walks, map, occasionally consulted, in hand but fully aware that I would be lost much of the time, and for most of it that wouldn't matter at all. The hour prior to a restaurant reservation was usually a bit more focussed.

The hotel was two minutes from one of the gates in the medieval wall. Here you are thanks to Google Streetview. Through that gate is the Rhone River. Once through the gate, a glance to the right and there's the famed Pont d'Avignon doing its best to cross to Barthelasse Island (the free shuttle boat does a better job.)

Just so you're oriented.

Now, had you turned left on exiting Hotel.Mercure, passed an enticing clothing shop spilling out onto the sidewalk (always a challenge) and taken the stairway up between two stone walls,  you would have arrived here.

La Place du Palais. The city's centre for cultural events, social life, tourism. It has some rather fine features - at the far end, the delightful Carre du Palais  where we dined one night, at the other, the 14th century Petit Palais, once the home of bishops and cardinals, now a fine medieval/Renaissance art museum. Outside the Palais is a water garden with generous plantings and banners featuring some of the artworks - makes a delightful spot for an impromptu picnic, where I dined one evening with a pleasant fellow traveller, after a chance encounter in the Carrefour picking up picnic supper. 

 On the highest point is Notre Dame des Doms, and to the left of the main entrance to the church are the gates to the Rocher du Doms, an 1830s pleasure garden with heart-breaking views, magnificent trees, water features, a playground,and a delightfully-hosted tiny trailer which I visited twice on hot days for chilled Perrier.

My lttle oasis in the great oasis that is Rocher des Doms Gardens. One of the first things I seek out whenever I visit a city is the park. The green lung of a city is a necessity for my urban well being with the  green beauty, relative peace and quiet, and those beneficial stress-reducing phytoncides.

 I've failed to mention the centrepiece of my photo - the 12th/13th century Palais des Papes. Now there's a story. Have a Streetview look - although I must say the square looked nicer in May!

I want to know a lot more of its history, so I'll post again to make sure all those new insights get anchored somewhere reliable.

Here's a nice little video visit courtesy of National Geographic. There are several others to avoid. I shudder at some of the dross put up on YouTube. 

I shake my head to think all of these places were part of my daily walk, just a short time ago.  

The United Colours of Roussillon

Architecture nuts are inevitably amateur geologists as well. Building talk leads to discussions about building materials, decorative finishes and the changes wrought by the builder's or sculptor's hand. 

Tossing in some geography, we debate the sourcing of the stone, the miles materials travel.  Some of the oldest and grandest monuments travel the farthest -  like the (stolen) black Egyptian granite statues in Split, Croatia or obelisks in Rome.

 The workmanlike limestone of the pyramids, the Welsh bluestone at Stonehenge. 

The infinitely malleable tuffeau of Chenonceau. 

 

Closer to home, I love knowing that Perth's astonishing purple sandstone was quarried near Otty Lake in the same county. Humbler story, but fascinating.

My interest in building materials made our visit to Roussillon in the Luberon area of Provence a delight. For in Roussillon, the red clay sandstone standing in eroded pillars in ancient quarries is the origin of the famed ochre pigment which moved the cave artists to creation, inspired centuries of artwork and has lent its earthy yellow, orange and red hues to this most picturesque village.

Here's a good description of the area on this Avignon and Provence site.

And we would be remiss, in this Provence beloved of artists, not to include the artist's perspective. Do visit this link, it's a wonder. 

And here, because my role is as a  consumer of beauty rather than a creator, is my open-mouthed homage to the village as I rambled about, its rustic walls painted like the earth around it 

I will raise a glass to you, patriot ...

 I swear somebody out there can read my my mind. Back in December I was giving thought to writing a post on the Parthenon sculptures, a subject about which I became passionate on my trip to Athens last fall. And this week, although I am absorbed in 'travelling' back to Provence, enjoying photos taken there a bit over a week ago, this happened...

My Microsoft news feed, or whatever it is that just drops random news bits onto a sidebar on my screen (I suppose these items are 'curated' by some algorithm or other, but all that is pretty creepy) floated some pretty optimistic news. 

The story was about - here's the Greek press link - the marble Parthenon frieze sculptures removed in a colossal act of vandalism positioned as 'a rescue' back in the first decade of the 19th century by the larcenous Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin.  I quote here: "British Museum chairman George Osborne answered that he is 'pretty optimistic' that the Parthenon Marbles will be repatriated to Athens." Any return will be complicated, given British Museum policies against returns, but I'm not writing about the logistics.

I'm writing about the passion this story has generated for a very long time. Fundamental to the story is the name I've used for these marble adornments. They reside as specimens in the British Museum under the name the Elgin Marbles. I'm calling them by the name Greek patriots use, the Parthenon Marbles.

It's complicated. At one time, there wasn't suitable accommodation for the works. Athens responded with the creation of the superb National Archeological Museum. Here's a fine account thanks to NPR.

A couple of notes on the museum. In many places, within and without the building, one walks on glass floors revealing the structures of yet another culture found during excavations for the construction. One of the challenges was finding a place in Athens which doesn't boast archeological treasure.

You can get a sense of the huge space which houses dozens of galleries from this imperfect photo - can you spot the original caryatids of the Erechteion under lights on the middle level?

Here 'they' are in situ.

Our guide in Athens was Stavros  I remember his emotion as he talked about an array of plaster casts of the original frieze adorning the Parthenon, and a few original bits left behind. I read that in their haste to gather marble sculpture, Elgin's people damaged and abandoned many pieces. There was tacit approval by the Ottomans who were in control at the time, but I have also read the group over-stepped their permissions? Please correct me if my facts are inaccurate.

I was moved by our guide's words, as I am about all the stories of historical cultural appropriation and the overdue return of items to their original owner/creators in many countries, including my own . As we left Stravros after our tour of the museum and the Acropolis, I shook his hand and told him I'd return (in spirit likely) to raise a glass of good Greek red wine with him, the day the Parthenon Marbles come home.

Here's a wonderful article about the Parthenon Gallery, with some fabulous photos. This walking tour gives you a glimpse of, and a feel for the modern-day busyness surrounding the timeless Acropolis. 

This link to  Wonderful Museums.com gives you a much more detailed version of the debate. And one more link to the arguments surrounding the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles    

The Incident at Arles

From such torment, such enduring beauty. Just recently, we followed Vincent Van Gogh's footsteps in Arles, Provence. We did not, however, follow them as far as they led - for this was a famously tormented man: mental illness latterly diagnosed as bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy and depression, exacerbated by malnutritian and alcohol abuse, leading ultimately to hospitalization and suicide. A tormented genius indeed. Most people remember the dramatic incident where he cut his ear after a terrible argument with his brother, sometime protector and art agent. I've often wondered what went through his mind at that moment.

But this troubled man Van Gogh "saw the light" of Provence, and painted it. From this troubled soul came the glorious light of Provence, the revolutionary splintering light and colour, for which we remember him. So it was deeply moving for me to follow our incomparable guide as we walked the streets and lanes of Arles, and stopped to pay homage to Van Gogh in several sites he immortalized in his work.  

These photos are of the sun-dappled courtyard of La Maison de Sante in Arles. After his dramatic self-harm episode, Vincent was taken by brother Theo to this hospital for a recovery. According to our guide, he was remarkably prolific in this environment. 

The gardens and porticos have been restored to the colour and vibrancy which inspired the hospitalized artist. I turned my back on the tempting souvenir shop and gobbled up the light and colour.

We passed two other locations which appear in Van Gogh's work. The Roman arena was the setting for bullfights and other spectacles; Vincent captured the "magnificent crowds" in all their colour and motion. This interpretive panel outside the arena's walls explains. 

And finally Van Gogh's Cafe Terrasse at Night. I neglected to get a photo of the information posted outside Le Cafe a Nuit. The cafe has been verified as its inspiration, despite claims made by others. Could I have been distracted  by the loveliness of the square in front of the yellow cafe? Once again I thank Wikipedia for the painting (and yes, I am a supporter.) The most beautiful squares are sheltered by Provence's magnificent (and endangered) plane trees.

Frederic Mistral

And in a great example of art imitating life imitating art - I read somewhere that the cafe has been decorated in recent years to mirror the painting! 

Finally, if this song has popped into your mind, as it plays in mine, here is a YouTube link to Don McLean's lovely 1971 tune, Starry Starry Night.

And if someone can tell me how to create French accents in Blogger, I would be most obliged.

Marseilles - a second look

I returned a short week ago from a breathtakingly full tour of Provence - ancient landscapes, long history, delightful people animated by equally delightful food and wine. And architecture: Roman survivors, medieval treasures, Baroque wonders, modernist surprises. So, with the weight of history upon my shoulders (can shoulders have jet-lag too?) I begin my meanderings with a bold, new (relatively) structure in the Old Harbour of Marseilles. 

I introduce Lord Norman Foster, renowned British architect, who in 2013 created the Ombriere, a 22 by 36 metre canopy on tall slender columns in the rejuvenated old harbour area, become a pedestrian concourse. Despite the slim canopy's size it seems to blend into the cityscape, while adding a whole new dimension - the world in mirror image, hovering above one's head.

Here is a link to the Foster PLUS Partners website, who can be relied on to give us an accurate rendering of the project. Some good photos, with thinner crowds than my bus-window shots. 

These photos can't capture the experience of seeing a beautiful old harbour and everything taking place around it, reflected in a gigantic mirror above one's head.

Photo opportunities abound - which I alas, didn't have a chance to explore. It would have been great fun to play with the reflections of the harbour activity in the Ombriere's sleek stainless mirror. Nevertheless, the potential for falling on one's face on the pale granite plaza, distracted by this altered universe, might make it worth a miss. 

Here's a Streetview link if you're inclined to wander the great historic revitalized Mediterranean harbour area along Quai des Belges. 

And a caution for any new readers (perhaps from our most copacetic traveling group?) This is my personal research space as well as a spot for sharing travel stories, where I squirrel away interesting useful sites. Here's one now, thanks to Marselles Tourism!

The 4 F's

 I was browsing some books about Byzantium prior to ordering recently, and came across this mnemonic which I must have used for an art history exam in some dim and distant past. I did a search of my previous posts and discovered that I haven't written about my mind-boggling visits to two of the exquisite Byzantine churches of Ravenna, Italy and an astoundingly beautiful mausoleum.

 Perhaps I was just discouraged by the failure of my photos and my words to capture the feeling of the awe and wonder - transcendance - created by the shimmering coloured and gold mosaics and exotic decorative architectural elements.

At any rate, as you're curious, the memory trick that captures the key stylistic elements of Byzantine art is 'formal, frontal, floating and flat'. Like this grouping to the left.

One of the things that I find so intriguing is that this mosaic is from the year 547 CE, at least four centuries later than the Hellenistic (c. 1 BC to c.1 C) wonder-work of Laocoon and his Sons. Somehow realistic portrayal of the human body has yielded to the spiritual and new conventions prevail.

photo credit: Wikipedia

I borrowed from Wikipedia;  their photo of the tortured Laocoon grouping is a bit better than the one I captured at the Vatican! I'm tempted to write a slightly whiney story about my deeply unmoving visit to the Vatican Museums. I'll call it Drive-By Shooting.

 

All whinging aside, another reason I may have put off writing this post about Ravenna's churches is the sheer amount of memory I've had to travel back through! This is a long time ago, folks. 

And there is so much to learn, I am realizing that not all Byzantine art is one. Not all Byzantine art is glass mosaic, gold leaf and stylized human forms living by the four F's. Different eras, influences, political realities and religious views produced many different forms of art. Despite the intimidating amount of scholarship I have just amassed,  I am just going to post photos taken in two awe-inspiring churches, and one incomparable mausoleum, in Ravenna, Italy in 2023. The photos haven't faded (remember those faded pink 1970s memories?) although to some extent my memory has. But we'll just begin mining those good websites, right?

To capture more information on the era and its style, I'm collecting some SmartHistory links - A Beginner's Guide , another site on the culture and style and a free ebook (astonishing concept) the SmartHistory Guide to Byzantine Art. It features a chapter on San Vitale. I note at the end of a chapter I'm browsing that there's a link to the video version of the discussion. I dare say there's lots of overlap between these links I'm so delighted to post. 

These photos are from a tour of San Apollinaire Nuovo , built 500 CE by Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths as his palace chapel. These folk were Germanic Arian Christians who had invaded Italy in the late 400s and made Ravenna their capital.  

Later, Emperor Justinian sent his armies from Constantinople to take back the area from the Goths, and the church was rededicated in 560 CE    as an Orthodox Christian church. At that time, some of the murals were changed to remove references to Arian beliefs.

This short and scholarly Smarthistory video pretty much says everything of importance about the church. 

This  2023 Liturgical Arts Journal article popped up in my search. Sean Tribe does an outstanding job of highlighting each section of the mosaics and explaining who is represented; the photos are wonderfully clear. Some capture the entire length of the nave, taking me back to standing there, mouth agape, eyes skyward, trying to take in the processions of virgins and apostles. 

The shimmer of natural and (then) lamp light on the gold and coloured glass mosaics said what priests couldn't about the celestial domain and the pleasures of paradise. Honestly, my words fail. Do check out some of the sites I mention here - better photography and better words.

After clearing our palates with a guided walk through town (a stop at Dante's tomb in a busy side lane a minor distraction) we  toured the exquisite Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, built 436- 450. She was woman of the imperial family during the last days of Rome, then under seige by the Visigoths led by Alaric. An impressive woman, should you take the time to explore this link to an article in the Jan/Feb 2023 issue of the Smithsonian magazine. I hope the link stays active, it's a fascinating story.

The mausoleum, built of reused light-coloured Roman brick, is cruciform in shape with a central tower holding a dome, and blind arcades decorating the walls.

Our guide explained that the building has settled over the centuries, so it looks shorter than it was in the 5th century.  Hey, we all shrink.

I think it's quite beautiful, in a little green space with those gorgeous umbrella pines creating a pattern of light and shadow across its plain brown walls. Down an little path is the absolutely mind-boggling Basilica of SanVitale.

Once again, we have one of SmartHistory's outstanding videos with Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, to tell it better than I. (And yes, I am a proud supporter.)

I could not stop taking photos; it's another world inside. What the mind could not take it, the camera captured for later reflection. It was a wonder in a day of wonders in Ravenna.

I have tried to find words to do justice to this visit, and cannot. So in order to get this story posted during my lifetime I once again refer you to the sources I've collected.

The mausoleum is dark and splendid, lit magically via windows glazed with thin sheets of alabaster.

Honestly, how do you follow that? But the piece de resistance of our day in Ravenna was San Vitale (completed 527) an octagonal meld of Roman and Byzantine style with stepped towers, flying buttresses, an octagonal dome and multiple windows. Inside "the largest and best preserved collection of Byzantine mosaics outside of  Istanbul." (Wikipedia)

Once again I'll let the photos, and links to others' words, tell you more.

The floor mosaics were exquisite - could have spent the day looking down, and gone away replete. 

But inevitably your eyes are drawn heavenward. This is a church after all.

The double tiers of columns soar in the light forming ambulatories on two levels (one for the ladies) around the church. The column capitals and the impost blocks they support are unique and beautiful, deeply carved and decorated with imagery, a total departure from the classical columns in the various orders that we expect to see in churches.

And the mosaics, well. Every flat surface - domes, arches, vaults, pendentives, walls - covered with  millions of the most exquisite and exotic sparking glass and gold mosaic tiles forming images of wonderful complexity and beauty and power.

This UNESCO World Heritage church is best known for the Justinian and Theodora panels.

Emperor Justinian made sure he was represesented as a divine ruler, among the clerics - close association between church and state. He's holding a basket containing the bread of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Notice the imperial couple's halos?

And his impressive wife Empress Theodora appears with her attendants holding the chalice for the Eucharist.

This Smarthistory video does a better job of explaining the significance of each bit of mosaic artistry. 

The awe-inspiring terra cotta hollow-tube contruction of the dome is marred by an 18th century remuddle (thanks for the word, Laura.)

Not a big fan of the Baroque at the best of times, I take umbrage at the histrionic distraction from the perfect Byzantine mystery and serenity created by this Baroque hot mess of heavenly glory.

As promised, some other voices and images - I wonder if they, too, struggled to say what these sanctuaries made them feel?

Liturgical Arts Journal including tactful reference to the Baroque frescoes.

Rick Steves video, because he's been everywhere man.

The Byzantium Blogger   yet another book recommendation

Wikipedia has a lot to say.

Final word:  if  you ever get a chance to visit Ravenna, just GO.