Best museums to visit in Palermo, Italy | Top 3 museums that you need to visit
Today a new video together around museums. Last week I went back to Palermo, the Arab Norman city for a few days and I had the opportunity to visit some of the most interesting museums in the capital of Sicily after years.
The museums not to be missed in Sicily and in Palermo in particular are Palazzo Abatellis the Regional Gallery of Sicily, which hosts masterpieces such as the Triumph of Death, the Madonna of humility by Bartolomeo da Camogli and the Annunciation by Antonello da Messina.
Very close to it, in Piazza Sant'Anna, the Modern Art Gallery is also a must. There are works by Francesco Lojacono, Guttuso and many other Sicilian artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Finally, Museo Riso, the contemporary art museum of Sicily, in its spectacular location in Palazzo Belmonte Riso in corso Vittorio Emanuele in the city center. Here there are temporary exhibitions like the one dedicated to Rossella Leone this summer and the permanent collection with works by Carla Accardi and Turi Simeti.
#palermo #museumsicily #art
---
Follow me on social media and on my blog:
Art and the Cities is my personal blog and Youtube channel around art and travel. With some art trips. I write not only about art history but also of travel, museums, galleries, art market, love stories, books, exhibitions and much more.
» blog:
» instagram:
Ciao, See you next time!
Clelia
Antonello da Messina - L'Annunciata
Paolo Biscottini, direttore del Museo Diocesano di Milano, introduce Un capolavoro per Milano: L'Annunciata di Antonello da Messina. Video realizzato da ARPANet.
Antonello da Messina (1430-1479) A collection of paintings 4K Ultra HD
Antonello da Messina (1430-1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, Sicily, active during the Early Italian Renaissance.
Antonello was born at Messina around 1429–1431, to Garita (Margherita) and Giovanni de Antonio Mazonus.
According to a letter written in 1524 by the Neapolitan humanist Pietro Summonte, in about 1450 he was a pupil of the painter Niccolò Colantonio at Naples, where Netherlandish painting was then fashionable. This account of his training is accepted by most art historians.
Antonello returned to Messina from Naples during the 1450s. In around 1455, he painted the so-called Sibiu Crucifixion, inspired by Flemish treatments of the subject, which is now in the Muzeul de Artǎ in Bucharest. A Crucifixion in the Royal Museum of Antwerp dates from the same period. These early works shows a marked Flemish influence, which is now understood to be inspired by his master Colantonio and from paintings by Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck that belonged to Colantonio's patron, Alfonso V of Aragon.
In his biography of the artist, Giorgio Vasari remarked that Antonello saw an oil painting by Jan Van Eyck (the Lomellini Tryptych) belonging to King Alfonso V of Aragon at Naples and consequently introduced oil painting to Italy.. Recent evidence indicates that an Antonello di Sicilia (di Siclia meaning from Sicily) was in contact with Van Eyck's most accomplished follower, Petrus Christus, in Milan in early 1456. It appears likely that Antonello di Sicilia was in fact Antonello da Messina as this would explain why Messina was one of the first Italians to master Eyckian oil painting, and Christus was the first Netherlandish painter to learn Italian linear perspective. Messina's paintings after that date show an observation of almost microscopic detail and of minute gradations of light on reflecting or light absorbent objects that is very close to the style of the Netherlandish masters, suggesting Messina had personal instruction from Christus. As well, his works' calmer expressions on peoples' faces and calmness in the works' overall composition also appears to be a Netherlandish influence.
Between the years of 1456 and 1457, Antonello proved himself to be a master painter in Messina. He also shared his home with Paolo di Ciacio, a student from Calabria. The artist's earliest documented commission, in 1457, was for a banner for the Confraternità di San Michele dei Gerbini in Reggio Calabria, where he set up a workshop for the production of such banners and devotional images. At this date, he was already married, and his son Jacobello had been born.
In 1460, his father is mentioned leasing a brigantine to bring back Antonello and his family from Amantea in Calabria. In that year, Antonello painted the so-called Salting Madonna, in which standard iconography and Flemish style are combined with a greater attention in the volumetric proportions of the figures, probably indicating a knowledge of works by Piero della Francesca. Also from around 1460 are two small panels depicting Abraham Served by the Angels and St. Jerome Penitent now in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria. In 1461 Antonello's younger brother Giordano entered his workshop, signing a three-year contract. In that year Antonello painted a Madonna with Child for the Messinese nobleman Giovanni Mirulla, now lost.
Historians believe that Antonello painted his first portraits in the late 1460s. They follow a Netherlandish model, the subject being shown bust-length, against a dark background, full face or in three-quarter view, while most previous Italian painters had adopted the medal-style profile pose for individual portraits. John Pope-Hennessy described him as the first Italian painter for whom the individual portrait was an art form in its own right.
Although Antonello is mentioned in many documents between 1460 and 1465, establishing his presence in Messina in those years, a gap in the sources between 1465 and 1471 suggests that he may have spent these years on the mainland. In 1474, he painted the Annunciation, now in Syracuse, and the St. Jerome in His Study also dates from around this time.
Antonello had returned to Sicily by September 1476. Works from near the end of his life include the famous Virgin Annunciate, now in the Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo, and the San Gregorio Polyptych.
He died at Messina in 1479. His testament dates from February of that year, and he is documented as no longer alive two months later. Some of his last works remained unfinished, but were completed by his son Jacobello.
Thank you, please subscribe for future videos
VERGINE ANNUNCIATA DI ANTONELLO DA MESSINA
La splendida vergine annunciata, dipinta dal maestro siciliano durante il suo soggiorno a Venezia.
Con la mano alzata, il manto azzurro che gira nello spazio, con un libro aperto davanti, colta nel momento in cui l'angelo se n'e appena andato.
museo nazionale, palazzo Abatellis, Palermo, sicilia, italia
Combo Siciliano Classico: Bellini + Antonello da Messina
(Uploaded on behalf of The Sicilian Cultural Society of Canada )
Vincenzo Bellini (3 November 1801 -- 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer. A native of Catania, Sicily, his greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (1830), La sonnambula (1831), Norma (1831), Beatrice di Tenda (1833), and I puritani (1835). Known for his long-flowing melodic lines, for which he was named the Swan of Catania, Bellini was the quintessential composer of bel canto opera.
Norma is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition. Casta diva is one of the most familiar arias of the nineteenth century. In this video Cecilia Bartoli is the mezzo soprano that you will hear.
Read More at:
Antonello da Messina
Antonello da Messina (c. 1430 -- February 1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, Sicily, active during the Italian Renaissance.
Virgin Annunciate is a painting housed in the Regional Gallery of Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo. Probably painted in Sicily in 1476, it shows Mary interrupted at her reading by the Angel of the Annunciation. The painting is ahead of its time for its chromaticity, for the lights and the unusual perspective for annunciation, in addition to the loneliness of the Virgin. It is a face that also has hardness, aware of her task, it is the face of a Mediterranean woman, who despite the acceptance, shows no resignation.
Read more at:
Cammino Neocatecumenale - Grande Missione nelle Piazze 2014 - Parrocchia Idria Biancavilla 18/05/14
Parrocchia Santa Maria dell'Idria Biancavilla 18 Maggio 2014
Maria Concetta Rapisarda e Pietro di Mauro - Ave Maria - Concerto per maria di Nazaret
Maria Concetta Rapisarda e Pietro di Mauro - Concerto per maria di Nazaret
Annunciazione del Signore Cooperatori Araldi del Vangelo di Gela
25 Marzo 2011 Solennità dell'Annunciazione del Signore Parrocchia S. Lucia Gela
Messaggio della Regina della Pace, Nostra Signora di Anguera del 23/11/2015 (in Palermo, Italia)
19:09 Cari figli, coraggio. Voi non siete soli. Mio Figlio Gesù è con voi. Vi chiedo che manteniate accesa la fiamma della vostra Fede. Siate docili alla mia chiamata e tutto si concluderà bene per voi. Io vengo dal Cielo per Benedirvi e dirvi che siete importanti per la realizzazione dei miei piani. Datemi le vostre mani e io vi condurrò alla Santità. Non perdetevi d'animo. Quando tutto sembrerà perduto la Vittoria di Dio arriverà per voi. Riempitevi di Speranza. Il Mio Gesù vi chiama. Avvicinatevi a Lui che è il vostro Bene Assoluto e sarete ricchi nella Fede. Cercate forza nelle Parole del Mio Gesù e alimentatevi col Prezioso Alimento dell'Eucaristia. Lasciatevi condurre dall'Azione dello Spirito Santo e in tutto siate come Gesù. Vivete in un tempo peggiore del tempo del Diluvio. Questo è il momento opportuno per il vostro ritorno. Non vivete stazionati nel peccato. Ritornate a Colui che è la vostra Via, Verità e Vita. Io ho bisogno di ciascuno di voi. Annunciate a tutti i miei appelli. Tutto ciò che farete in favore dei miei piani, il Signore ve lo ricompenserà generosamente. Gioite, poiché i vostri nomi sono già registrati nel Mio Cuore Immacolato. Non tiratevi indietro davanti le vostre prove. Dopo tutto il dolore il Signore farà sorgere un grande tempo di Pace. Avanti con Gioia. Questo è il messaggio che oggi vi trasmetto in nome della Santissima Trinità. Grazie per avermi permesso di riunirvi qui ancora una volta. Io vi benedico nel Nome del Padre, del Figlio e dello Spirito Santo. Amen. Restate in Pace.
Messaggio della Regina della Pace, Nostra Signora di Anguera del 23/11/2015 (durante la missione a Palermo, Italia)
Messaggio della Regina della Pace, Nostra Signora di Anguera del 23/11/2015, Palermo, Italia
Cari figli, coraggio. Voi non siete soli. Mio Figlio Gesù è con voi. Vi chiedo che manteniate accesa la fiamma della vostra Fede. Siate docili alla mia chiamata e tutto si concluderà bene per voi. Io vengo dal Cielo per Benedirvi e dirvi che siete importanti per la realizzazione dei miei piani. Datemi le vostre mani e io vi condurrò alla Santità. Non perdetevi d'animo. Quando tutto sembrerà perduto la Vittoria di Dio arriverà per voi. Riempitevi di Speranza. Il Mio Gesù vi chiama. Avvicinatevi a Lui che è il vostro Bene Assoluto e sarete ricchi nella Fede. Cercate forza nelle Parole del Mio Gesù e alimentatevi col Prezioso Alimento dell'Eucaristia. Lasciatevi condurre dall'Azione dello Spirito Santo e in tutto siate come Gesù. Vivete in un tempo peggiore del tempo del Diluvio. Questo è il momento opportuno per il vostro ritorno. Non vivete stazionati nel peccato. Ritornate a Colui che è la vostra Via, Verità e Vita. Io ho bisogno di ciascuno di voi. Annunciate a tutti i miei appelli. Tutto ciò che farete in favore dei miei piani, il Signore ve lo ricompenserà generosamente. Gioite, poiché i vostri nomi sono già registrati nel Mio Cuore Immacolato. Non tiratevi indietro davanti le vostre prove. Dopo tutto il dolore il Signore farà sorgere un grande tempo di Pace. Avanti con Gioia. Questo è il messaggio che oggi vi trasmetto in nome della Santissima Trinità. Grazie per avermi permesso di riunirvi qui ancora una volta. Io vi benedico nel Nome del Padre, del Figlio e dello Spirito Santo. Amen. Restate in Pace.
Messaggio della Regina della Pace, Nostra Signora di Anguera del 23/11/2015, Palermo, Italia
Places to see in ( Ferrara - Italy ) Basilica Cattedrale di San Giorgio Martire
Places to see in ( Ferrara - Italy ) Basilica Cattedrale di San Giorgio Martire
Ferrara Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral and minor basilica in Ferrara, Northern Italy. Dedicated to Saint George, the patron saint of the city, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Ferrara and the largest religious building in the city. The cathedral stands in the city centre, not far from the Palazzo Comunale and the famous Castello Estense and is connected to the Archbishop's Palace by a covered passage.
Construction of the present building began in the 12th century, when the city was being extended towards the left bank of the Po River; the new cathedral was consecrated in 1135. The former cathedral, also dedicated to Saint George, still stands on the right bank of the river outside the city walls and is now known as St George's Basilica Outside the Walls (San Giorgio fuori le mura).
The original Romanesque design is manifest in the façade, which resembles those of Modena and Parma Cathedrals: it is in white marble, with three cusps and a series of loggias, small arcades and rose windows, statues and numerous bas-reliefs. On the right side is a statue of Alberto d'Este, while on the side is a bronze bust of Pope Clement VIII, over an inscription in memory of his capture of the city.
In the centre of the façade is a porch, supported by two columns with Atlases seated on lions at the bases. It is decorated with a Last Judgement by an unknown master and a loggia with a Madonna and Child (a late Gothic addition). The portal is the work of the sculptor Nicholaus, a pupil of Wiligelmus. The lunette shows Saint George, patron saint of Ferrara, slaying the dragon; scenes from the Life of Christ appear on the lintel. The jambs framing the entrance are embellished with figures depicting the Annunciation and the four prophets who foretold the coming of Christ.
The interior, entirely remade in Baroque style after a fire in the 18th century, has a nave and two aisles. It houses bronze statues of the Crucifixion, by Niccolò Baroncelli, and of Saints George and Maurelius, by Domenico di Paris (15th century), as well as a Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence by Guercino (17th century). In the side chapels are a Madonna Enthroned with Saints by Il Garofalo, an Incoronation of the Virgin by Francesco Francia and a Virgin in Glory with Saints Barbara and Catherine by Bastianino, who also painted the Last Judgement in the apse choir (1577-1581).
The Cathedral Museum, housed in the former church of San Romano across the square, houses two works by Cosmè Tura (Annunciation and St. George and the Dragon), the Madonna della melagrana by Jacopo della Quercia and eight tapestries with stories of the two patron saints of Ferrara based on cartoons by Garofalo and Camillo Filippi.
( Ferrara - Italy ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Ferrara . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Ferrara - Italy
Join us for more :
Places to see in ( Trapani - Italy )
Places to see in ( Trapani - Italy )
Trapani is a city in western Sicily with a crescent-shaped coastline. At the western tip, offering views as far as the Aegadian Islands, is the 17th-century Torre di Ligny watchtower. It houses the Museo di Preistoria e del Mare, with archeological artifacts. North of the harbor, the Chiesa del Purgatorio church holds wooden sculptures that are paraded around the city during Easter’s Processione dei Misteri.
Trapani is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.Much of Trapani's economy still depends on the sea. Fishing and canning are the main local industries, with fishermen using the mattanza technique to catch tuna. Coral is also an important export, along with salt, marble, and marsala wine. The nearby coast is lined with numerous salt-pans. The city is also an important ferry port, with links to the Egadi Islands, Pantelleria, Sardinia, and Tunisia. It also has its own airport, the Trapani-Birgi Airport.
Much of the old city of Trapani dates from the later medieval or early modern periods; there are no extant remains of the ancient city. Many of the city's historic buildings are designed in the Baroque style. Notable monuments include:
The Church of Sant'Agostino (14th century), with the splendid rose-window
The Church of Santa Maria di Gesù (15th–16th centuries)
The magnificent Basilica-Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Annunziata (also called Madonna di Trapani) originally built in 1315–1332 and rebuilt in 1760. It houses a marble statue of the Madonna of Trapani, which might be the work of Nino Pisano, and with the museum Agostino Pepoli.
Fontana di Tritone (Triton's Fountain)
The Baroque Palazzo della Giudecca or Casa Ciambra.
The Cathedral (built in 1421, but restored to the current appearance in the 18th century by Giovanni Biagio Amico). It includes an Annunciation attributed to Anthony van Dyck.
Church of Maria SS. dell'Intria, another notable example of Sicilian Baroque.
Church of Badia Nuova, a small Baroque church.
Castello di Terra, a ruined 12th-century castle.
Ligny Tower, a 17th-century watchtower housing an archaeological museum.
Monte Erice is a cable car ride from the city and aside from the cobbled streets and medieval castle, there are views of Tunisia and Africa from up there on clear days. Several beaches run along the coast of Trapani, the best of which are at Marausa about 9 km (6 mi) south of the city.
Trapani-Birgi Airport is a military-civil joint use airport (third for traffic on the island). Recently the airport has seen an increase of traffic thanks to low-cost carriers from all parts of Europe (i.e. London-Stansted and London-Luton, Paris Beauvais, Dublin, Bruxelles, Munich, Frankfurt, Eindhoven, Stockholm, Malta).
The city is renowned for its Easter related Holy Week activities and traditions, culminating between Good Friday and Holy Saturday in the Processione dei Misteri di Trapani, colloquially simply the Misteri di Trapani (in English the Procession of the Mysteries of Trapani or the Mysteries of Trapani), a day-long passion procession organized and sponsored by the city's guilds, featuring twenty floats of wood, canvas and glue sculptures, mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries, of individual scenes of the events of the Passion. The Misteri are among the oldest continuously running religious events in Europe, having been played every Good Friday since before the Easter of 1612. Running for at least 16 continuous hours, but occasionally well beyond the 24 hours, they are the longest religious festival in Sicily and in Italy. Important also to the cult of the Madonna of Trapani. The city gives its name to a variety of pesto – pesto alla trapenese – made using almonds instead of the traditional pine nuts in Ligurian pesto. Trapani was also used, even if never mentioned by name, but only evidenced in movie scenes, as the base for filming the first serie of La piovra drama miniseries.
( Trapani - Italy ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting the city of Trapani . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Trapani - Italy
Join us for more :
Places to see in ( Assisi - Italy ) Porziuncola
Places to see in ( Assisi - Italy ) Porziuncola
Porziuncola, also called Portiuncula (in Latin) or Porzioncula, is a small Catholic church located within the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli, situated about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Assisi, Umbria (central Italy). It is the place from where the Franciscan movement started. The name Porziuncola (meaning “small portion of land”) was first mentioned in a document from 1045, now in the archives of the Assisi Cathedral.
According to a legend, whose existence can be traced back with certainty only to 1645, the little chapel of Porziuncola was erected under Pope Liberius (352-366) by hermits from the Valley of Josaphat, who had brought relics from the grave of the Blessed Virgin. The same legend relates that the chapel passed into the possession of Benedict of Nursia in 516. It was known as Our Lady of the Valley of Josaphat or of the Angels - the latter title referring, according to some, to the assumption of Mary accompanied by angels; a better-founded opinion attributes the name to a legend attesting to the singing of angels which had been frequently heard there.
The chapel was located on a small portion of land (Portiuncula) belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict of Monte Subasio. Later, the name of the land passed to the little church itself. It was in bad condition, lying abandoned in a wood of oak trees. After a pilgrimage to Rome, where he begged at the church doors for the poor, Francis said he had had a mystical vision of Jesus Christ in the wayside chapel of San Damiano, about two miles outside of Assisi, in which the Icon of Christ Crucified came alive and said to him three times, Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins.
The General Chapters, the annual meetings of the friars, were held in this church usually during Pentecost (months of May - June). Feeling his end approaching, St. Francis asked to be brought back to the Porziuncola in September 1226. On his death-bed St. Francis recommended the chapel to the faithful protection and care of his brethren. He died, in his cell, not fifteen yards from the church, at sunset on Saturday, 3 October 1226. However this may be, here or in this neighbourhood was the cradle of the Franciscan Order. After the death of Francis, the spiritual value and the charisma of the Porziuncola became even greater. St. Francis himself pointed out the Portiuncola as a primary source of inspiration and a model for all his followers.
Concerning the form and plan of the first monastery built near the chapel we have no information, nor is the exact form of the loggia or platforms built round the chapel itself, or of the choir for the brothers built behind it, known. Shortly after 1290, the chapel, which measured only about 5.5 by 3.2 m, became entirely inadequate to accommodate the throngs of pilgrims. The altar piece, an Annunciation, was painted by the priest Hilarius of Viterbo in 1393. The monastery was at most the residence, only for a short time, of the ministers-general of the order after St. Francis. In 1415 it first became associated with the Regular Observance, in the care of which it remains to the present day.
This tiny church is exquisitely decorated by artists from different periods. On the façade, above the entrance outside, is a fresco by Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1829), depicting St Francis receiving from the Christ and the Virgin the indulgence, known as the “Pardon of Assisi”. The German painter Overbeck was a member of the Nazarene movement, a group of painters who aimed to revive honesty and spirituality in Christian art. At the base of this fresco is a small rectangular fresco beneath which are the Latin words Haec est porta vitae aeternae (This is the gate to eternal life)
( Assisi - Italy ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Assisi . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Assisi - Italy
Join us for more :
The Cathedral of Pisa - Duomo di Pisa
The Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo, the Leaning Tower (the cathedral's campanile), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.
It is otherwise known as Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles). This name was created by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che si forse che no (1910) described the square in this way:
LArdea roteò nel cielo di Cristo, sul prato dei Miracoli.
which means: The Ardea rotated over the sky of Christ, over the meadow of Miracles.
Often people tend to mistake the term with Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles). This one is a fictional magical field in the book Pinocchio, where a gold coin seed will grow a money tree
In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The heart of the Piazza del Duomo is, obviously, the Duomo, the medieval cathedral, entitled to Santa Maria Assunta (St. Mary of the Assumption). This is a five-naved cathedral with a three-naved transept. The church is known also as the Primatial, being the archbishop of Pisa a Primate since 1092.
Construction began in 1063 by the architect Buscheto and is the originator of the distinctive Pisan Romanesque style in architecture. The mosaics of the interior show a strong Byzantine influence, while the pointed arches point to Muslim influences.
The façade, of grey marble and white stone set with discs of coloured marble, was built by a master Rainaldo, as indicated by a write above the middle door: Rainaldus prudens operator.
The massive bronze main doors were made in the workshops of Giambologna but visitors in the past entered through the Porta di San Ranieri (St. Ranieri's Door), in front of the Leaning Tower. Made in around 1180 by Bonanno Pisano, this doorway was actually moved from its original place opposite the Baptistery when Giambologna's doors were erected.
Above the doors there are four rows of open galleries with, on top, statues of Madonna with Child and, on the corners, the Four evangelists. One of these galleries contains the tomb of Buscheto.
The interior is faced with black and white marble and has a gilded ceiling and a frescoed dome. It was largely redecorated after a fire in 1595, which destroyed most of the medieval art works.
The impressive mosaic, in the apse, of Christ in Majesty, flanked by the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Evangelist, survived the fire however. It evokes the mosaics in the church of Monreale, Sicily. Although it is said that the mosaic was done by Cimabue, only the head of St. John was done by the artist in 1302 and was his last work, since he died in Pisa in the same year. The cupola, at the intersection of the nave and the transept, was decorated by Riminaldi showing the ascension of the Blessed Virgin. Galileo is believed to have formulated his theory about the movement of a pendulum by watching the swinging of the incense lamp (not the present one) hanging from the ceiling of the nave. That lamp, smaller and simpler than the present one, it is now kept in the Camposanto, in the Aulla chapel. The impressive granite Corinthian columns between the nave and the aisle came originally from the mosque of Palermo, captured by the Pisans in 1063.
The coffer ceiling of the nave was replaced after the fire of 1595. The present gold-decorated ceiling carries the coat of arms of the Medici.
The elaborately carved pulpit (1302-1310), which also survived the fire, was made by Giovanni Pisano and is one the masterworks of medieval sculpture. It was packed away during the redecoration and was not rediscovered and re-erected until 1926. The pulpit is supported by plain columns (two of which mounted on lions sculptures) on one side and by caryatids and a telamon on the other: the latter represent St. Michael, the Evangelists, the four cardinal virtues flanking the Church, and a bold, naturalistic depiction of a naked Hercules. A central plinth with the liberal arts supports the four theological virtues. The present day reconstruction of the pulpit is not the correct one. Now it lies not in the same original position, that was nearer the main altar, and the disposition of the columns and the panels are not the original ones. Also the original stairs (maybe in marble) were lost.
The upper part has nine panels dramatic showing scenes from the New Testament, carved in white marble with a chiaroscuro effect and separated by figures of prophets: Annunciation, Massacre of the Innocents, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Flight into Egypt, Crucifixion, and two panels of the Last Judgement.
Museo Arti Sacre - Salemi - Borghi più Belli d'Italia
SACRED ART MUSEUM
It contains different works of art coming from the churches devastated by the earthquake in 1968. In particular, there are the Candelora Virgin by Domenico Gagini and a Virgin and Child attributed to Laurana. A place worth visiting is the chapel where a reproduction of Loreto Holy House, of the late 17th century, where Virgin Mary received the Annunciation of her conception, can be found.
MUSEO DI ARTE SACRA
Raccoglie diverse opere d'arte che si trovavano nelle chiese distrutte dal terremoto del 1968.
Tra queste la Madonna della Candelora di Domenico Gagini e una Madonna con bambino attribuita a Laurana. Da non perdere una visita alla cappella dove si trova
una riproduzione, del tardo Seicento, della Casa Santa di Loreto, dove la Madonna ricevette l’Annunciazione del suo concepimento.
#sicilianwesternvillage #salemi #siciliaoccidentale #borghipiùbelliditalia
Pope Francis Prays & Worships The Black Virgin Mary & Jesus - by @MilitantMose
Recently a video surfaced of white college students from Alabama calling blacks 'niggers' & saying Jews should have burned in the Nazi concentration camps. Blacks & Jews are are surprised but I'm not! What do you expect when Jay-Z & Kanye West make a #1 Billboard hit called Niggers In Paris! You can youtube several rap concerts of whites repeatedly saying the N word & black entertainers never stopping once to correct them! So why would they think or say anything differently?
Petrus Christus (1410-1476) A collection of paintings 4K Ultra HD silent slideshow
Petrus Christus (1410-1476) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges from 1444, where, along with Hans Memling, he became the leading painter after the death of Jan van Eyck.
He was influenced by van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden and is noted for his innovations with linear perspective and a meticulous technique which seems derived from miniatures and manuscript illumination. Today, some 30 works are confidently attributed to him. The best-known include the 1446 Portrait of a Carthusian and c. 1470 Berlin Portrait of a Young Girl, both are highly innovative in presentation of the figure against detailed, rather than flat, backgrounds.
Christus was an anonymous figure for centuries, his importance not established until the work of modern art historians. Giorgio Vasari barely mentions him in his biographies of painters, written in the Renaissance, and near contemporary records merely list him amongst many others. In the early to mid-nineteenth century, Gustav Waagen and Johann David Passavant were important in establishing Christus biographical details and in attributing works to him.
Christus was born in Baarle, near Antwerp and Breda. Long considered a student of and successor to Jan van Eyck, his paintings have sometimes been confused with those of van Eyck. At the death of van Eyck in 1441, it is thought that Christus took over his master's workshop. Christus purchased his Bruges citizenship in 1444, exactly three years after van Eyck's death, taking advantage of a decree set down by Philip the Good allowing in men indebted to him after the Bruges Revolt of 1436–38. Had he been an active pupil in van Eyck's Bruges workshop in 1441, he would have received his citizenship automatically after the customary period of one year and one day. Christus may have been van Eyck's successor in the Bruges school, but perhaps not his pupil. Recent research reveals that Christus, long seen only in his predecessor's light, was an independent painter whose work shows just as much influence from, among others, Dirk Bouts, Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden.
It is unknown whether Christus visited Italy, and brought style and technical accomplishments of the Northern European painters directly to Antonello da Messina and other Italian artists, but it is known that his paintings were purchased by Italians. A document testifying to the presence of a Piero da Bruggia (Petrus from Bruges?) in Milan may suggest that he visited that city at the same time as Antonello, and the two artists may even have met. This might account for the remarkable similarities between the Portrait of a Man attributed to Christus in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and many of Antonello's portraits, including the supposed self-portrait in the National Gallery in London. It would also explain how Italian painters learned about oil painting and how Northern painters learned about linear perspective. Antonello, along with Giovanni Bellini, was one of the first Italian painters to use oil paint like his Netherlandish contemporaries. And Christus' Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Francis and Jerome in Frankfurt, seemingly dated 1457 (the third digit is illegible), is the first known Northern picture to demonstrate accurate linear perspective.
The composition of a Lamentation, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, seems so closely inspired a marble relief by Antonello Gagini in the cathedral at Palermo that it has been suggested that the picture may have been painted for an Italian client.
A late work, the reserved Portrait of a Young Girl belongs among the masterworks of Early Netherlandish painting, marking a new development in Netherlandish portraiture. It no longer shows the sitter in front of a neutral background, but in a concrete space defined by the background wall panels. Christus had already perfected this format in his two portraits of 1446. The unknown woman, whose exquisite clothing suggests that she might come from France, radiates an aura of discretion and of nobility, while appearing slightly unreal in the elegant stylization of her form.
Christus died in Bruges in 1475 or 1476. Hans Memling succeeded him as the next great painter in Bruges.
Download the pdf: Petrus Christus: Renaissance Master of Bruges
Freddy Mercury vs Germano Mosconi
Romeo su Papa.mpg(www.gds.it)
Il Cardinale Paolo Romeo ha commentato la notizia delle dimissioni di Papa Benedetto XVI ai giornalisti davaanti il Palazzo arcivescovile nel pomeriggio prima di celebrare la messa in cattedrale a Palermo. Oggi siamo tutti stupidi, direi pietrificati, nell'apprendere che il Santo Padre, dal 28 febbraio alle 20 della sera, presenta le sue dimissioni. Proprio in questi giorni - ha aggiunto Romeo - ci preparavamo per la visita Ad limina che avremmo compiuto nel mese di marzo, e con gioia avevamo saputo che il Santo Padre avrebbe ricevuto l'episcopato il 12 e il 13 marzo. Ma capiamo che ci sia motivo di grande sofferenza nel prendere questa decisione. E' un grande insegnameto che lui ci dà di amore alla Chiesa. Più volte lui l'aveva detto nelle interviste, che se le sue forze venivano meno, era giusto che la Barca di Pietro fosse condotta da mani più vigorose. Quindi il Cardinale Romeo ha rivolto un auspicio ai fedeli: Adesso abbiamo la necessità di stare tutti quanti insieme per far sì che questa Barca di Pietro continui attraverso questi solchi e marosi. Papa Benedetto XVI ha lasciato un insegnamento luminoso. Non dimentichiamo le sue encicliche. I gesti che ha compiuto - ha aggiunto Romeo -. E' stato un maestro della fede con la ricchezza del teologo. E' stato un accompagnatore della Chiesa. Non dimentichiamo i grandi momenti vissuti insieme nelle giornate mondiali. Non ha mancato a nessun appuntamento, anche se faticoso. E' stato un magistero luminoso navigando sopra tutti i pettegolezzi che potevano dare i giornali. E per questo la gente lo ama.Quello del Fatto Quotidiano lo hanno detto tutti che è una fandonia, un farneticare. Tutti l'hanno detto, non solo da ambienti cattolici. Un fatto inventato di sanapianta, farneticazioni mentali. Così il Cardinale di Palermo, Paolo Romeo, ha risposto ai giornalisti che gli hanno chiesto di commentare la strana coincidenza tra le sua presunta profezia sulla fine del Pontificato di Benedetto XVI e le dimissioni annunciate oggi dal Papa. Secondo il cardinale Romeo si tratta di una bugia dei giornali. Una bugia inventata! Non ha senso insistere su una cosa che non esiste. Come ebbi a dire già un anno fa - ha proseguito Romeo -, sono un figlio della Chiesa, non vado a passeggio per conto mio. Ero stato autorizzato, ed ho informato responsabilmente. Quando ci sono in gioco i beni e la vita della Chiesa, la discrezione è la prima materia. Dire che abbia parlato del Santo Padre, o di possibili tempi di Pontificato, fosse stato così, la smentita maggiore è che questo doveva avvenire entro il 2012, e mi pare che siamo nel 2013. Alla Sicilia, il Santo Padre ha concesso due importanti doni. La visita alla diocesi di Palermo, che era per tutta l'isola. Abbiamo il ricordo di una giornata di fede, di comunione, di fraternità molto intensa. Il Papa ha conservato questo ricordo molto vivo. Era commosso quando, andando all'aeroporto, continuava a dire 'quanta gente, quanti giovani, quante famiglie'. E tutte le volte che mi ha incontrato, mi ha sempre detto 'Palermo, che bel ricordo di quella visita. L'altro grande dono - ha detto Romeo - è stato il 28 giugno dell'anno scorso quando ha autorizzato la congregazione dei Santi, di pubblicare il decreto che riconosce martire della fede don Pino Puglisi.(Il servizio di Silvia Iacono)
The Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy, Barcelona, Spain (Basílica de la Mercè)
Mother Church of the Mercedarians. During the 12th and 13th Centuries, both the persistent Muslim invasions and their pirate activity in important sea routes caused many citizens of Catalonia and Aragon to become captives, chained behind bars and kept far away from their motherland and families. According to an ancient and pious tradition on the night of August 1, 1218, the Mother of God appeared to Peter Nolasco asking him to found a religious-military order for the redemption of the captives. With the permission of King James I, Bishop Melchior de Palou authorized the creation of this Order, which was solemnly commissioned a few days later on the altar of Barcelona's Cathedral. He also granted them with the royal coat of arms: the four red bars under a silver cross on a red background from Barcelona's Cathedral.
A few years later, in 1232, Ramon de Plegamans gave one of his properties to Peter Nolasco, where a modest convent and a small church were built. In 1249, the bishop authorized them to build a public church dedicated to the Virgin, next to La Ribera convent.
During the middle of the 14th century construction began on a Gothic Church with side chapels, all being completed at the beginning of the 15th Century. The construction of the current Baroque building started in 1765, designed by architect Josep Mas i Dordal. In 1918, Pope Benedict XV granted the title of Minor Basilica to this Merce church on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin.
basilicadelamerce.cat