A Wanderer in FlorenceLucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall)
History
A Wanderer in Florence
Lucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall)
Art -- Italy -- Florence; Florence (Italy) -- Description and travel
The cloisters are everywhere interesting to loiter in, but their
chief fame is derived from the Spanish Chapel, which gained that name
when in 1566 it was put at the disposal of Eleanor of Toledo's suite
on the occasion of her marriage to Cosimo I. Nothing Spanish about
it otherwise. Both structure and frescoes belong to the fourteenth
century. Of these frescoes, which are of historical and human interest
rather than artistically beautiful, that one on the right wall as
we enter is the most famous. It is a pictorial glorification of the
Dominican order triumphant; with a vivid reminder of the origin of
the word Dominican in the episode of the wolves (or heretics) being
attacked by black and white dogs, the Canes Domini, or hounds of the
Lord. The "Mornings in Florence" should here be consulted again, for
Ruskin made a very thorough and characteristically decisive analysis
of these paintings, which, whether one agrees with it or not, is
profoundly interesting. Poor old Vasari, who so patiently described
them too and named a number of the originals of the portraits, is now
shelved, and from both his artists, Simone Martini and Taddeo Gaddi,
has the authorship been taken by modern experts. Some one, however,
must have done the work. The Duomo as represented here is not the
Duomo of fact, which had not then its dome, but of anticipation.
Opposite, we see a representation of the triumph of the greatest of the
Dominicans, after its founder, S. Thomas Aquinas, the author of the
"Summa Theologiae," who died in 1274. The painter shows the Angelic
Doctor enthroned amid saints and patriarchs and heavenly attendants,
while three powerful heretics grovel at his feet, and beneath are the
Sciences and Moral Qualities and certain distinguished men who served
them conspicuously, such as Aristotle, the logician, whom S. Thomas
Aquinas edited, and Cicero, the rhetorician. In real life Aquinas was
so modest and retiring that he would accept no exalted post from the
Church, but remained closeted with his books and scholars; and we can
conceive what his horror would be could he view this apotheosis. On the
ceiling is a quaint rendering of the walking on the water, S. Peter's
failure being watched from the ship with the utmost closeness by the
other disciples, but attracting no notice whatever from an angler,
close by, on the shore. The chapel is desolate and unkempt, and those
of us who are not Dominicans are not sorry to leave it and look for
the simple sweetness of the Giottos.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account