Chiese di Santa Felicita e Santa Trinita

Oggi fa freddissimo qui a Firenze!

Scared you for a second, didn't I? You thought I'd just type in Italian. I'm far from writing at that calibre.

The temperature in Florence today was extremely cold. It says it's five degrees Celsius but the cold is penetrating, perhaps because it is generally more humid here--though I never studied these things so I don't really know how they correspond.

I shouldn't complain though. The sun was out and it didn't rain, which allowed me to more fully enjoy today's free art history tour with my school to the churches of Santa Felicita and Santa Trinita (Saint Felicity and the Holy Trinity, respectively).

I would never think of going to visit either of these churches since there are several scattered throughout Florence and after awhile, they all look the same. But having a guide there--one who has lived in Florence for 30 years and who explains things clearly in Italian, and also who is clearly passionate about art history--this is a true privilege, and the tours have become the highlights of my week (among many others, but let's just say these are more culturally fulfilling).

The Chiesa di Santa Felicita [pictured above left and to the right and located in Oltrarno] has ancient Roman roots. It honours the memory of the Roman St. Felicity who died a martyr in the 2nd century AD along with her 7 sons. She was unmarried and an extremely devout Christian. Later on, an order of nuns began in her name and they lived in a convent connected to this church. Originally built during the Middle Ages, it was a favourite church among rich families during the Renaissance (it is situated very close to the Palazzo Pitti) and eventually became the Medici's chosen church, given its convenient location. In fact, if you look closely at the first picture (above left), you can see a section of the Vasarian Corridor that connects the Palazzo Vecchio across the Arno via the Ponte Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti. This is the private, long hallway that allowed for the Medici family to travel from home to work (and back) in secrecy and security. Today, tourists are able to visit the corridor but reservations must be made well in advance.

But I digress! The structure of the Chiesa di Santa Felicita changed again in the 18th century, which modernized its gothic look. We learned about three paintings, my favourite of which I have shared with you here: Antonio Ciseri's Santa Felicita e il martirio dei Maccabei from the 1860s. Ciseri was a Swiss painter (from Tocino, Pleuve!) who came to Florence to follow in his father's footsteps. The effect of seeing this painting in person is indescribable. The realism, the lighting, the colours--it's definitely worth a visit. The painting depicts the story of St. Felicity, arms outstretched and still praying to God after her sons have been killed (their bodies lie around her). At the same time, it links to the biblical story of the Maccabees who chose death in the face of an oppressive pagan emperor rather than breaking the Jewish custom of not eating pork. Food for thought.

We crossed the Ponte Santa Trinita, catching a lovely view of the Ponte Vecchio, to get to Chiesa di Santa Trinita.

Another gothic church, this houses many works of art, the highlight of which for me was Ghirlandaio's Adorazione dei pastori (=Adoration of the Shepherds, pictured below). It is a painting atop the altar in the Sassetti Chapel, rich in detail, colour, and beauty. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are depicted as ideals whereas the shepherds and animals are very real. As typical of that time, a physical setting is shown in the background; however, our guide told us that this painting would be considered "late Gothic" since it marries medieval and renaissance elements. Many painters during the Renaissance had their works commissioned by very spiritual families who preferred paintings to appear more simple and devout (as they seemed in the Middle Ages) rather than ornate and overly-beautiful (think Botticelli). This is the reason why many paintings can be deceiving--they look medieval when in reality it was intentional to fulfill the desires of the artist's patron.

Fun fact: Ghirlandaio was Michelangelo's teacher and had he not recommended Michelangelo to Lorenzo di Medici, the face of Florence (and renaissance art) would be entirely different!

Today's word of the day is proporzione, or proportion. The presence of proportion signalled a key difference in paintings between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Before the Renaissance, people were generally depicted as rigid and two-dimensional. Boring!