Arezzo Art

In the Santa Maria della Pieve, Pietro Lorenzetti's 14th century polyptych

In an arcade, a copy of the 5th century BCE Etruscan chimaera that is Arezzo's emblem; 
I am now given to wondering what Missoula's emblem is? I think it must be the flying pig 
seen on Rockin' Rudy's t-shirts; I hope so 

Not all art in Arezzo is medieval or Renaissance; there is much contemporary 
work of interest; above is a massive sculpture scene done by Sara Bolzano and 
Nicola Zamboni, two Bolognese artists

Up closer

But the big draw in this town, as it would be in any town, is 
Piero della Francesa's Legend of the True Cross, on a dozen 
or so large panels in the chancel; you have to pay extra to 
get in the chancel, and the paintings are relatively high up,
but you are very close; time limit in the chancel is 30 minuti

There is of course a no pix policy in the chancel; and of course we had to snap a 
few; we have been reading about and hearing about this cycle for some time

A bit more; the legend itself, as Medieval Christians imagined it, is nearly as 
interesting as the 15th century representation; the wood for the True Cross, 
you see, grew from a tree that grew from a seed planted in the mouth of Adam 
when he was buried; Abel--no--Cain, had run back to the Garden of Eden to 
collect three such seeds...three, not two, not four, but three, from the...you 
guessed it...Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil...

And a bit more; well, it's a long and actually interesting 
legend, more about how works the religious mind and 
organization than anything else, and involving 
Constantine, the Queen of Sheba, Solomon, a Jew, and, 
of course, Constantine's mom, St. Helen; and quite a few 
miracles and revelations, along the way, none of which 
are scriptural; much of it from The Golden Legend; 
anyhow, Francesca's fresco cycle is on the web in 
several places, most notably www.wga.hu/tours/arezzo/

In the San Domenico church, Cimabue's memorable 
crucifix; in Franciscan churches of the era, these were 
always over-sized, hung right over the altar, and tilted
--in your face--toward the onlooker

I couldn't resist this martyrdom scene, but at least in part because 
it is of the very famous painted/glazed sculpture idiom whose 
name I  unfortunately can not remember just at the moment
[Luca della Robbia]

Proof that Italians have been talking with their hands at least since the 1300s

And, finally, in the Duomo, in a corner almost buried behind 
some bishop's grandiose tomb, Francesca's serene Magdalen

After straining to see the Magdalen, I had just turned to Vicki 
and commented that this was the darkest cathedral we had 
ever been in, yet with so much to see...and, then, near the exit

door, I saw it, the Divine Illumination Machine [DIM]; we 
have seen these throughout Italy; pop in a half-euro and the 
scultpure/painting/whatever you want to see gets a minute of 
two of decent light; I always position myself for the photo opp 
and then say to Vicki, by the machine with coin,  in stage 
whisper, "Let there be light"; in the Arezzo Duomo, the

DIM costs a whopping (so to speak) 2 euros; but it lights up 
the entire nave, including the beautiful ceiling... 

Thus

And thus; some of the best color I have ever seen in a church; best 2 euros thus 
far spent on holy ground...