Milan Cathedral

I wanted to go to Milan, since we had never been there before. It is Italy's second largest city, its financial and communications center, home to the great cathedral, galleria, La Scala, and the Pinoteca Ambrosiana, all of which we wanted to see. Happily, all these are located a few steps from each other, and we were able to do everything we wanted, even some shopping, and then move on. We camped the night before on a quiet street in a suburban business park, then the next day parked at the water-park adjacent to the one Milan campground (which we judged too expensive to justify an overnight) and took a combination of bus and metro into the city center.

Milan's great cathedral, begun in 1386, more or less finished in the 1800s; said 
to be the largest Gothic cathedral; 4th largest in Christendom; super-duper 
flamboyant Gothic; unlike so many others, this puppy is all marble; intended to

accommodate all of Milan's 15th century population, 40,000; seen across Piazza 
del Duomo

3500 sculptures are said to adorn its exterior

Nice gargoyles

Nice martydom sculptures

Inside the feeling is one of great expanse and volume; the piers are enormous; 
the feeling of expanse is hindered, however, by all the paintings hanging around 
like so much wash

The windows range in age from 1405 to the 20th century 
and are in very good condition; this is the oldest one

Vicki reading a window

Flight to Egypt

Annunciation

Sculpture of the flayed St. Bartholomew; I hope the model 
was well-paid

One of the three huge apse windows; 19th century copies 
of the originals

Some of the original inlaid marble floor, differentially worn 
by centuries of thousands of feet of the devout and tour buses

Chapel

Altar and apse; Baroque; note the little red light at the top 
near the ceiling

X marks the spot; under the red light is where they keep 
The Relic, a True Nail of the True Cross, brought back from 
the Holy Land by  Constantine's mom, St. Helen, who must 
have needed a small fleet to haul back all the religious loot 
attributed to her; remember, it was her boy's Edict of Milan 
that legalized Christianity

Venice: The Frari

If you don't have time for museums and art in Venice, at least go see the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari church. It is a vast and beautiful Gothic church, Venice's only Gothic, and it contains in a nutshell the best of Venetian art. It was our last stop and a fitting and positive end to our 3rd visit to the Wet City.

A huge old brick church in a square; no way to

see the whole thing

Looking up the nave, through the choir, to

Titian's great masterpiece

Titian's Assumption; I don't much care for this

stuff, nor for Venetian painting generally (too

over the top), but this one is pretty compelling

Titian's tomb

Detail

Bellini's great altarpiece; enlarge and look at the guy on the

right

Donatello's St. John

Canova's tomb, modeled supposedly on the

Piramide in Rome

The exquisitely carved choir

Venice: San Giorgio

So one day we took the slow vaporetti around the big island and down to San Giorgio, the scenic little island with the big Palladio church and campanile that is one of Venice's more prominent sights.

San Giorgio from the campanile in St Mark's Square

Another relatively austere church interior, but
this time with one of the strangest--no, the
strangest--item of religious art we have seen

yet; the basin at the bottom blows holy vapor
which rises to the suck-tube in the dome

The suck job in action; seems particularly

appropriate when you're relying on smoke and

mirrors anyway; besides, this "artistic"

installation has appeared already in South

America and Russia, which, I assume, makes

it OK, or at least ecumenical; seems to me it

would work for (Tibetan) Buddhism, Hinduism,

and others

Alas, the Tintoretto Penultimate Supper had moved on (no

explanation given); this is a strange church

But there was at least this fine statue of St.

Gabby, patron saint of hustlers, rustlers, and

tusslers; "you're dern tootin'"

And, on the same island, but closed when

we got there, was this interesting and

interestingly titled exhibit; we stop for

anything named "Penelope"; details at

http://www.cini.it/en/event/detail/1/544;
especially relevant for a child born on
Shakespeare's birthday

Venice: Campanile

We had never gone up in the Campanile, so we figured why not and it's only 8 euros. The views were spectacular. Plus there was an elevator.

St. Mark's Square

Panning around but avoiding ugly Mestre

San Giorgio island, where we'd go in another day or so

The little piazza off St. Mark's

Looking toward the duomo and beyond

Venice: St. Mark's Duomo

I had never seen a church like this when I first saw it in 1979, with all the late Byzantine mosaic and gold. I guess I have seen a lot of such churches since this, and a lot of mosaic. Better presented too. St. Mark's does not grow on you.

Exterior

Interior

Angel

One of several domes

Altar

Altarpiece

Another dome

One of the portal half-domes, well-lit (naturally)

Arena Chapel (Scrovegni Chapel)

We went to Padua primarily to see the Arena Chapel (aka Scrovegni Chapel). It was consecrated in 1305, and built largely to ensure the salvation of the Scrovegni family, notorious usurers whom Dante had already damned (so to speak), adjoining their palazzo, built on the site of the old Roman arena (hence "Arena"). Nothing of the palazzo remains but the Arena Chapel. It has been venerated and preserved for centuries as home of perhaps the first great Renaissance painting masterpieces, Giotto's Mary and Jesus fresco cycles, which cover two of the walls; the rest of the interior is painted completely with a last judgment and various decorative and illusionary stuff. I'll include just a few pix, grabbed from http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/giotto/padova/index.html, which has a great e-tour of the site. Visitation is by reservation, only 20 are allowed inside at one time, and only for 15 minutes; and this after having been de-humidified in an air-lock ante-chamber for 20 minutes. Needless to say, "no fotos!" But it's all worth it, even for just 15 minutes.

You know you have made it when they name a shopping center after you

Magnolias are a major part of the Italian landscape, and they have been blooming 
since we got here; this in the park next to Arena Chapel

There it is, Art History Ground Zero

Back side, including the de-humidifying annex (they also show you an educational 
video); there is also a museum with great hi-tech stuff; punctuality is enforced...
show up late and you have to buy another ticket, 15 euros, and hope there's an

opening in the next few days...

Inside; the walls are entirely painted, both with the paintings per se 
but also with decoration and illusionary stuff

Back wall: last judgment

Relevant detail

Entry into Jerusalem

Betrayal

Lamentation