November 27, 2017

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                                               Florence Cathedral

                                                  (Google Images)

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore/  "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers"/Il Duomo di Firenze,
Florence, Italy

"The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore ...di  "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers") is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothicstyle with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

"The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes theBaptistery and Giotto's Campanile. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.

"The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.

Church Plan

"The cathedral of Florence is built as a basilica, having a wide central nave of four square bays, with an aisle on either side. The chancel and transepts are of identical polygonal plan, separated by two smaller polygonal chapels. The whole plan forms a Latin cross. The nave and aisles are separated by wide pointed Gothic arches resting on composite piers.

"The dimensions of the building are enormous: building area 8,300 square metres (89,340 square feet), length 153 metres (502 feet), width 38 metres (125 feet), width at the crossing 90 metres (300 feet). The height of the arches in the aisles is 23 metres (75 feet). The height of the dome is 114.5 metres (375.7 feet).

Facade Side

Facade Door

"In 1864, a competition held to design a new façade was won by Emilio De Fabris (1808–1883) in 1871. Work began in 1876 and was completed in 1887. This neo-gothic façade in white, green and red marble...

"The whole façade is dedicated to the Mother of Christ.

Interior

"The Gothic interior is vast and gives an empty impression. The relative bareness of the church corresponds with the austerity of religious life, as preached by Girolamo Savonarola." (Link.)

Photos: Taken in Florence, Italy on iPhone by RW while  en route to the 2016

                 L'Eroica  Classic Bike Race in Tuscany, Italy.
Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral

Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

                                                                                                November 20, 2016

                          San Miniato al Monte Church

San Miniato al Monte Church

Florence, Italy

"San Miniato al Monte (St. Minias on the Mountain) is a basilica in Florence, central Italy, standing atop one of the highest points in the city. It has been described as one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany and one of the most scenic churches in Italy. There is an adjoining Olivetan monastery, seen to the right of the basilica when ascending the stairs..

Sanctuary

"The interior exhibits the early feature of a choir raised on a platform above the large crypt. It has changed little since it was first built. The patterned pavement dates from 1207. The centre of the nave is dominated by the beautiful freestanding Cappella del Crocefisso (Chapel of the Crucifix), designed byMichelozzo in 1448. It originally housed the miraculous crucifix now in Santa Trìnitaand is decorated with panels long thought to be painted by Agnolo Gaddi. Theterracotta decoration of the vault is by Luca della Robbia.

"The mosaic of Christ between the Virgin and St Minias was made in 1260.

Zodiac detail, from the opus sectilepavement in San Miniato (Link 1.)

The crypt is the oldest part of the church and the high altar supposedly contains the bones of St Minias himself (although there is evidence that these were removed to Metzbefore the church was even built). In the vaults are frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi.

"The raised choir and presbytery contain a magnificent Romanesque pulpit and screen made in 1207. The apse is dominated by a great mosaic dating from 1297, which depicts the same subject as that on the façade and is probably by the same unknown artist. The crucifix above the high altar is attributed to Luca della Robbia. The sacristy is decorated with a great fresco cycle on the   Life of St Benedict by Spinello Aretino (1387)." (Link.)

Rear Tower

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Photos: Taken in Florence, Italy on iPhone by RW while  en route to the 2016

                 L'Eroica  Classic Bike Race in Tuscany, Italy.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miniato_al_Monte

Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

                                                                                        November 13, 2016

Bapisterey of St. John

Bapisterey of Saint John
Florence, Italy

"The Florence Baptistery (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni), also known as the Baptistery of Saint John, is a religious building inFlorence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica. The octagonalbaptistery stands in both the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza San Giovanni, across from Florence Cathedral and the Campanile di Giotto.

"The Baptistery is one of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine Romanesque style. Although the Florentine style did not spread across Italy as widely as the Pisan Romanesque or Lombard styles, its influence was decisive for the subsequent development of architecture, as it formed the basis from which Francesco Talenti, Leon Battista Alberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, and the other architects created Renaissance architecture. In the case of the Florentine Romanesque, one can speak of "proto-renaissance", but at the same time an extreme survival of the late antique architectural tradition in Italy, as in the cases of the Basilica of San Salvatore in Spoleto, the Temple of Clitumnus, the church of Sant'Alessandro in Lucca.

"The Baptistry is renowned for its three sets of artistically importantbronze doors with relief sculptures. The south doors were created byAndrea Pisano and the north and east doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti.^[1]The east doors were dubbed by Michelangelo the Gates of Paradise.

"The Italian poet Dante and many other notable Renaissance figures, including members of the Medici family, were baptized in this baptistry. In fact, until the end of the nineteenth century, all Catholic Florentines were baptized here.

"The octagon had been a common shape for baptisteries for many centuries since early Christian times. The number eight is a symbol of regeneration in Christianity, signifying the six days of creation, the Day of Rest, and a day of re-creation through the Sacrament of Baptism.

"The Baptistry has eight equal sides with a rectangular addition on the west side. The sides, originally constructed in sandstone, are clad in geometrically patterned colored marble, white Carrara marble with green Prato marble inlay, reworked in Romanesque style between 1059 and 1128. 

Gates of Paradise

The north doors, the Gates of Paradise..." took Ghiberti 21 years to complete... These gilded bronze doors consist of twenty-eight panels, with twenty panels depicting the life of Christ from the New Testament. The eight lower panels show the four evangelists and the Church Fathers Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory and Saint Augustine." (Link.)

Photos: Taken in Florence, Italy on iPhone by RW while  en route to the 2016

                 L'Eroica  Classic Bike Race in Tuscany, Italy.
Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Baptistery

Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

                                                                                                                      November 11, 2016

Remembrance Day
The Wall

This is a story of my family.  My grandmother, Marie,  was born on a farm in Petasky, Michigan.  She had 5 brothers and 4 sisters.  She moved to Wisconsin as a bride and died in 1952 at age 67 in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.  My mother kept in touch with several of her brothers and sisters.  One of these was her Uncle Charlie who had moved to Rapid City South Dakota. In 1956 when I graduated from high school and my brother graduated from grade school my mother took us by train and then bus to visit the Black Hills, Yellowstone Park, and her Uncle Charlie.

I had heard about her Uncle Charlie over the years.  He and his 1st wife Kate had never had children.  Then in his 60's they were divorced and he married his second wife, the young Kate.  Kate had been a nurse in the Korean War.  Her 1st husband had been a pilot who was killed in that war.  She had a son, Alan, from that marriage. Kate and Uncle Charlie also had a son, of course, named Charlie. Charlie had red hair and freckles, was rambunctious and looked like "What me worry?"  This great gift to Uncle Charlie so late in his life became his life.  Alan was 9 and Charlie was about 5 when my mother, brother, and I visited this family.

Many years after this visit I heard that Charlie, the great gift to my mother's Uncle Charlie, was killed in Vietnam.  My prayers went out to Uncle Charlie in his grief and Kate who had suffered such a loss in the Korean War.

When the Vietnam War Memorial was installed in Washington D. C. an accompanying "Moving Wall"  went on tour.  The replica was true to the original, a long rambling wall of black with the names of those that sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War.  A soldier stood on guard with eyes on the wall. This "Moving Wall" came to Vancouver in 1988 and was mounted in Sunset Beach Park.  It was here that I visited the "Moving Wall".  I approached the soldier on guard who took me to the spot where "Charlie Reberg" was carved into the black surface.  I touched his name and thought of the little five year old with red hair and freckles and his parents who adored him.  And I prayed for them and all the other parents who had such a loss.

In 1998 the US Government offered rubbings of the names of those on the wall on request.  I gratefully received a copy of "Charlie Reberg" as it appears on "The Wall".  It can be seen in the photo below.

Each Remembrance Day, I remember.  I remember the sparkle in Uncle Charlie's eyes as he watched his five year old Charlie play in the front yard of their Rapid City home.  I remember that quietness of 9 year old Alan that seemed to reflect the death of his father in the Korean War. I think of the grief of young Kate and her double sacrifice.  And I pray for all the other families that have made this sacrifice.  Let us remember.

Photo: Taken of Suzanne Wilson's copy of "Charlie Reberg's" name on the Vietnam Memorial, "The Wall."
Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial

Prayer

God, be with the persecuted Christians through out the world. Amen (SW.)

                                                                                                      November 6, 2016

Chiesa di San Salvatore al Monte

Chiesa di San Salvatore al Monte/Catholic Church

Florence, Italy

"The church of San Salvatore al Monte is a place of worship catholic of Florence located on the hill behind Piazzale Michelangelo , called the Hill of Crosses , just below the basilica of San Miniato . (Link .)

Wall Plaque

"The interior is elegant and refined simplicity, reflects the classical style of 'influences Alberti and Giuliano da Sangallo (according to some studies the possible true opera designer) ^[1] . The two colors of the plaster and the stone fort makes it marked the architectural elements with an online sobriety with the dictates of Franciscan poverty and simplicity. The roof trusses while the current floor, where there are ancient gravestones, was largely rebuilt in 1849 .

"Aisle on the only open five chapels on each side, marked by a double row of strong stone pilasters Doric, which have lost the original art kit with the departure of the monks and today exhibit of art from different backgrounds. In the second chapel on the left it is placed a Deposition in polychrome glazed terracotta by Giovanni della Robbia . (Link .)

Sanctuary

"High altar was placed the venerated relic of the habit of St. Francis of Assisi , the dress that the saint wore in 1224 when he received the stigmata at La Verna , this also migrated to All Saints. Today there is a wooden crucifix recognized as the work of a master of the circle of Andrea Ferrucci , while a second crucified in Chapel is attributed to the school of Baccio da Montelupo and Benedetto da Majano (both date back to 1496 approximately). The stained-glass designs are attributed toPerugino (early sixteenth century). (Link .)

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Photos: Taken in Milan, Italy on iPhone by RW while  en route to the 2016

                 L'Eroica  Classic Bike Race in Tuscany, Italy.
Link : https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_di_San_Salvatore_al_Monte                            (translation)

Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)