Bellini's Transfiguration

The Transfiguration of Jesus is described briefly in both the Gospel of Matthew and that of Mark. According to the Bible, Jesus took with him up a hill three apostles, Peter, James, and John. On this hill, a light comes on Jesus and his garments turn perfectly white and the prophets Moses and Elijah appear on the hilltop with him. Peter suggests that he and the other two apostles set up a tent for each of the three men, but a voice speaks from the clouds and says that this man is His own Son, with whom He is pleased. The apostles throw themselves to the ground in fright and when they look back up, there is no one there but Jesus in his normal clothing. He instructs them not to speak of this event until after his death and resurrection.

Bellini’s version of this event, also titled the Transfiguration, is featured in an exhibit in the Correr Museum. In it, Jesus is pictured standing between Moses and Elijah on a hilltop, with the three apostles sprawled on the next level down on the hilltop. The background is quite scenic, with what seems to be a small town on one side and a mountain far off in the distance on the other side. In the foreground, the third level, below Christ and the prophets, and the apostles, is a small field with flowers and a tiny tree growing.

Bellini’s groupings of the people in this picture allow for an excellent chance to play with triangles and groupings. The clearest triangle is drawn between Moses, Jesus, and Elijah, with Christ as the upper point of the triangle and the lines sloping down to the heads of the prophets representing the legs of the triangle. The apostles are also sitting in a triangulated manner, though not quite so neatly. Their heads more aptly represent a triangle that has been turned to the side slightly, with one of the apostles having his head raised to the left of the group, the other having his in the middle level of the group, and one having his below. In this way, not only do they represent a triangle, but they also further enforce the concept of levels, with which Bellini seems to be experimenting.

This use of levels is seen most clearly in the levels of the hill. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah stand towering above both the apostles and the landscape in general on the uppermost level of the hill. On the second level are sprawled the apostles, who themselves, as noted before, represent three separate levels. Finally, in the foreground of the painting, is the third and lowest level of the hill, or possibly now flat ground, containing no humans, only a field of flowers and a small tree. This use of levels aptly represents which parts of the painting are the most important. Jesus’s head is raised slightly above the prophets’, indicating that he is the most important person in this painting. However, the prophets are still rising above the apostles, so they are slightly above them. Nelson states that “One consequence of the gradual adoption of perspective as a means and metaphor for vision was a distancing of the viewer from the viewed, and hence subjects from objects” (Nelson 7). This concept is definitely evident in this painting because it still presents the figures in a Gothic way that is not entirely realistic; it is clear to the viewer that the figures are holy icons, not to be confused with normal people.

Bellini may also be using the number three for symbolical effect, as three is an important number in Catholicism, for it refers most often to the concept of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Also, three in general has been, and continues to be, a number often associated with perfection and mystique. Bellini, by combining the combinations of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, the three apostles, and the three levels of the hill, has not only brought forward the concept of levels and three, he has, in essence, created a nine out of the three’s and a nine, as three sets of three, works very strongly, mathematically, in this painting. The harmony of the three sets of three adds another level of organization to this painting, further enhancing its aesthetic.

Not only is Bellini’s foreground strongly structured and executed, he also displays an excellent use of perspective in the background of this picture. There is a very clear feeling of three dimensional, receding space. The tree in the foreground, on the lowest level of the hill, and the tree in the background, situated next to what seems to be a church, help the eye to gauge the distance in between them. Clearly, that is a larger, more mature tree in the background, but because it is depicted as smaller than the tiny, young tree in the foreground of the painting, it clearly gives the idea that it is further away. However, it is still imperfect perspective, or perspective still in its early stages, because, as Panofsky states, “The action, if any, unfolds in a direction parallel to both the front plane and the background, passing across our field of observation rather than advancing and receding within it; and, even more important, figures and things…continue to be arrayed upon a horizontal standing line, which actually traverses the picture from left to right, instead of being distributed over a horizontal standing plane which seems to recede into depth” (Panofsky 14). While there is clearly a background and a concept of more distant space, it is still not completely realistic.

Overall, Bellini’s Transfiguration is a beautiful piece that makes confident strides towards more human forms, as well as towards more realistic perspective.

San Marco and the Mall

Saturday, Lizzie, Shannon, Natalie, Dane, and I, caught a bus from Piazzale Roma, to go to the mall, about a fifteen minute ride away. When we got there, it was more like a Wal-Mart or a Biggs, but with about a dozen mall-like stores in there too, including a GameStop, which had all the normal sorts of DVDs and video games you would expect, they were just in Italian. It was nice because it wasn’t set up for tourists, like some parts of Venice are, it was just a normal store where people go to shop for clothes or buy groceries. It was interesting, though, because we had been expecting a mall like that which we are used to going to in the United States and instead it was just a large shopping center, similar to, as I said before, a Wal-Mart, only with a few extra clothing and accessories stores thrown in as well.

Sunday, I went with Lizzie, Dane, and Audrey to Mass at San Marco. The church itself is absolutely gorgeous, I’ve never seen anything like it. The upper walls and ceiling inside are completely covered in mosaics. The parts which are not depicting scenes are covered in gold tiles. And it’s massive, I can’t even imagine how long it must have taken them to do all the mosaics. It’s really spectacular. The Byzantine effects in the church truly, for me anyway, bring to life the combination of East and West that is such a hallmark of this city. For as big as the church is, though, there were only about fifty people or so there for the Mass. Even though the service was in Italian, it was still pretty easy to follow along and know what was happening because Catholic Masses everywhere are virtually the same, plus they had nice little pamphlets on the chairs that had the responses and the songs written out, so it was possible to simply read along. Also, we figured out, from the little we could understand, that there was a visiting priest today, but he was actually either an archbishop or a cardinal, we’re not sure which, it sounded like the priest who introduced him said archbishop, but the man had a red hat like a cardinal’s. Either way, it was very neat. The archbishop/cardinal gave the sermon and it seemed like it was probably very good, he delivered it really well and was quite enthusiastic, I just couldn’t understand more than a few words of it, unfortunately. Overall, though, the Mass was really nice and it was great to be able to experience church in another country.

The Politics of Perfection

As Foucault suggests in an interview on “Space, Power, and Knowledge,” while architecture itself does not work directly on people, and through them governments, “it can and does produce positive effects when the liberating intentions of the architect coincide with the real practice of people in the exercise of their freedom” (Foucault 4). Not only can, as Foucault believes, architecture “produce positive effects when the liberating intentions…coincide with the real practice of people,” but it can be argued that not only does architecture influence the people around it who utilize it, it can also tell a great deal about the people who contrived and constructed it in the first place. The architecture of a place can say a great deal about the attitudes and beliefs held by the people of that place, whether a home, a city, or an entire nation. For examples, let us look to Gothic architecture, familiar to Europe, and Jeffersonian architecture, more commonly employed in the United States.

Ruskin provides six “characteristic or moral elements of Gothic…1. Savageness, 2. Changefulness, 3. Naturalism, 4. Grotesqueness, 5. Rigidity, 6. Redundance” (Ruskin Selections 16). Gothic architecture makes one consider the Middle Ages and form images of crusaders, plagues, and a number of other savage subjects. This is not to suggest that there is not beauty to be found in Gothic architecture, only to mention that the first impression can often be that the structure before the viewer represents more ruthless times. As Ruskin states, when the term “Gothic” was first applied to this form of architecture “it was intended to imply reproach, and express the barbaric character of the nations among whom that architecture arose” (Ruskin Selections 17). This concept is also notable in the form of “Grotesqueness,” in such objects as gargoyles, which further work to create an intimidating and sometimes frightening effect. However, this all adds to the character of the Gothic structure, which is also representative of the age in which it was constructed.

Although this present age cannot be said to be peaceful, public executions of the type discussed in Foucault’s text Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, where a man had the flesh torn from him and was then quartered and burnt, no longer occur, at least not regularly in the civilized areas of the world. Gothic architecture, though not the perpetrator nor the cause of these actions, still reflects the mindset of the people who were. Through the harshness and savagery visible on the exterior of such Gothic cathedrals as San Pietro Martire on the island of Murano, it is possible to glimpse the sometimes brutal nature of the ones who created it. Despite its beauty, there is still a darkness behind it, as Ruskin also realizes when he states that, “in Gothic sculpture, the shadow becomes itself a subject of thought” (Ruskin Selections 4).

In spite of this darkness, though, there is a freedom in the imperfection of these places. Particularly noticeable imperfections can be seen on the side of San Pietro Martire, where the building is not constructed of perfectly fitted, perfectly polished stone. This reflects the freer attitude belonging to Gothic architecture and often of Italy in general. There is less concern for perfection in Gothic architecture than may be found in, for example, Jeffersonian architecture.

Jefferson was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and as such, his attitudes and opinions directly affected the founding of that country and, as a result, certain present day ideals. Jefferson was greatly influenced by Palladio and strove to imitate the classical styles, particularly in regards to the classical orders of the columns and in providing a dome on his house at Monticello (www.monticello.org). In comparison to the more rough-hewn look of Gothic architecture, Jeffersonian architecture appears practically sterile, with its neat, even columns all in white and precise octagonal shapes. Appearance is everything in Jeffersonian architecture, even to the point of sacrificing function; for instance, at Monticello, the second floor windows are structured so that the home looks to be only one story, which makes them completely inefficient as far as letting in natural light and looking through, but create the desired appearance from the exterior (www.monticello.org). The same can be said of the octagonal dome which rises above Monticello: it improves the appearance of the home from the outside, but the room within it is impractical for normal use (www.monticello.org). Monticello, and by association Jeffersonian architecture, is completely absorbed in the perfection of exterior spaces, with San Pietro Martire, and by connection Gothic architecture, is unashamed with a few flaws which provide the building with character.

These types of architecture speak greatly of the societies which influenced them. The Jeffersonian architecture, with its emphasis on external perfection over functionality, still rings true to the society of America today. In an age where plastic surgery rates continue to shoot up and people are more focused than ever on their external appearance and the “face they present to the world,” it becomes clear that the idea of Jeffersonian exterior perfection is still deeply engrained in the American psyche. Meanwhile, Gothic architecture, with its imperfection and the obviousness that it was constructed by imperfect human beings, speaks more of a culture which is willing to forgive a few flaws because they enhance the overall structure, rather than detract from it.

Gothic architecture, dark, savage, imperfect, but beautiful in its way, represents a society willing to embrace the humanity which creates the work, though still willing to punish an inordinate amount of the wrong kind of flaws. Jeffersonian architecture, on the other hand, represents a society which is more interested in exterior perfection than it is with the people who are on the inside. As Foucault suggests, while architecture may not be the single factor which determines the values of a people, when it is looked at in relation to a society’s values, it can be a very effective tool for analyzing the attitudes and beliefs of the people who created it.

Outside class source:
Jeffersonian Architecture: The Two Sides of the Coin. Also, the picture of the Monticello window is from this website.

Verona

Saturday was fantastic because we went to Verona, just the ten of us. We caught the train from Venice to Verona, it was about a two hour tour ride, which is quicker than driving to Purdue, so that wasn’t bad. Public transportation in Italy interests me because unlike in America where we take our “space bubble” seriously, Italians, and Europeans in general, don’t seem as worried about being near strangers, as evidenced by the fact that on the train, people would just drop into any open seat, not seeming to mind that they did not know the other people seated there.

When we arrived in Verona, we were all starving, so we went to a pizzeria where the pizza was excellent. The restaurant was interestingly Americanized, but the food and service were good. Then, we split up into groups just depending on what people wanted to see and just wandered around the city. I spent most of the day with Audrey, Stephanie, Elyse, and Lizzie. We checked out a couple of shops and then went to Juliet’s house, because Verona is famous, of course, for being the city in which Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is set. Even though Romeo and Juliet were not real people, there are houses set up which are called their houses. It’s mostly a tourist thing, but it was still cool to go into Juliet’s house, because somebody had lived here and it was a really neat place. You could take a picture standing on “Juliet’s balcony” and also touch the statue of Juliet and take pictures with it, which exacerbated the tourist feel of the place because it reduced Shakespeare to something more ribald even than what he is, as people flocked to the statue and grabbed Juliet’s boob. At Juliet’s house, we also got the Verona Day Pass, which lets you get into certain museums and churches and places for a lot cheaper than paying individually at each place. It was a great deal because then we could just go down the list and go to places that were on our cards.

After Juliet’s house we decided to go to Chiesa di S. Anastasia, which is the Church of Saint Anastasia. It was incredible. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the inside is literally breathtaking. Pictures don’t do it justice. I felt that the entire trip was worth it just to be inside that church, it was that beautiful. I did have some trouble deciding exactly what kind of style the church was in, though, because from the outside I would be tempted to say Gothic, but on the inside, what it really made me think of was Victorian, because of the painted ceiling. Whatever the style, in my opinion, it was the most beautiful church I have ever been inside.

Unfortunately, because we only had a few hours and a lot to do, we couldn’t stay long. We ran into the rest of the group who told us we should climb the Torre dei Lamberti, which is the tallest bell-tower in Verona. So we did. What the rest of the group forgot to mention to us is that there are 368 steps to climb. There is an elevator that will take you up for one euro but we decided to save the euro and climb, knowing that it was pretty high but not realizing that it was 368 steep steps worth of high. We managed to make it to the top, though, and the view was incredible. The entire city of Verona was spread out around the foot of the tower and after that were the hills of northern Italy, dotted here and there by little towns, farms, and churches perched on the tops of the hills.

After we made it down from the tower, we went to the Arena. This is a Roman amphitheatre which was built in 30 AD and is the third largest in Italy after the Colosseum and an arena at Capua (thank you, Wikipedia!). It was very cool, especially since it is actually still used for performances. It ruined the effect a little bit to have the modern seats in there that resembled seats at Great American Ball Park, but it was still a great place. Even though we were still worn out from climbing the stairs at the tower, we climbed the seats up to the top of the old original part and looked out over the top onto Verona again. There was also a great view of the Arena from the top looking down into it. It was probably my second favorite place that we went to, just for the history behind it and the fact that it is still used today for performances.

After the Arena, there was just time to stop for gelato before we had to meet up with the rest of the group. Then, back to the train station and on our way home to Venice. It was a truly enjoyable day though, and I’m so glad we got the chance to go.

Venice From a Tourist Perspective

I think we are in a very interesting situation here in Venice because we are not technically tourists, in that we are not here for only a few days or a week just to see the top sights and get back out, but then neither are we actual residents, because we are here only temporarily. However, because we are not here just to casually gloss over the top sights and then leave the city, because we are digging deeper and really studying and trying to understand Venice, I do not consider us to be tourists. When I arrived in Venice, I was most concerned about getting to San Servolo and finally being able to set down my bags after having carried them along for the past seventeen or so hours on and off airplanes and through airports. For this reason, I did not pause to really take in the sights of Venice, except for the few minutes spent on the vaporetto when I did not have to worry about moving my luggage around. So, because I was curious about the way in which the typical tourist actually first experiences Venice, I inadvertently fell into an experiment.

On Saturday, while I was already on the Grand Canal on the number one vaporetto, I made the snap decision to get off at the San Marco stop, rather than the usual San Zaccaria stop. It was quite different. Everyone was moving quite slowly, taking in their surroundings, few people were really walking purposefully as if they needed to get somewhere. Then, after crossing a small bridge and following the sidewalk around the corner, I came out onto a tree-lined walkway that followed right along the water's edge. It was actually a very pretty, park-like place that I believe I would have thoroughly enjoyed, had it not been packed with tourists. And the tourists themselves weren't even really that bad, I've realized at this point that they come with the territory, tourists are just a part of Venice, but the part that really ruined the picturesqueness of the walkway was the number of stands that were assembled all along the left side of the path, hawking very cliche souvenirs, and selling Coca-Cola and Sprite. And although I know that most of the world now drinks Coke, it seems just a little wrong to find it in Venice.

I continued down this walkway until I came to the entrance to Piazza San Marco, flanked by the two massive pillars. I have to say, it is impressive to come into the city center this way because everything unfolds very slowly in front of you. Walking along, the pillars are visible, then the Doge's Palace, then you turn to the left and suddenly the campanile and San Marco are laid out in front of you. You are only separated from these behemoth structures by a sea of people. I walked through the pillars and into the square, camera out, completing the picture of myself as a tourist. I hadn't yet really had a chance to go into the piazza and really see it, to experience what all the fuss is about. After having done so, I must say, that it really is beautiful. I can clearly understand why people make a fuss. I managed to find a spot in the middle of the square where I could stand alone and snap a few pictures, but it didn't last long because people were constantly pushing past me, trying to keep together with their group, a familiar feeling.

I realized that the further I walked into the square, the more I felt, not disdain for the tourists crowding the place, but rather what I imagine to be their own annoyance. After having stood outside San Marco and taken in the remarkable structure, I really wanted to go inside for just a few minutes and have a look around. However, that was completely impossible because of the massive line protruding from the door and angling across the square. So instead, I turned and strolled towards the clock tower, which might be my favorite part of the piazza. Again, however, I could not take the crowds for very long and instead turned and made my way back to the San Servolo vaporetto stop as quickly as I could duck and dodge through the swarming masses. It seemed to me that, as a tourist, while you may enjoy the beauty of the Piazza San Marco, with the basilica, the campanile, the Palazzo Ducale, you would quickly become annoyed by the large crowds and unimpressed by the sometimes questionable and cliche merchandise for sale all along the waterfront. I think that perhaps, if I did not know that other places in the city existed, quiet areas like Sant Elena or places where normal Venetians gather like Santa Maria Formosa, or if I did not know that I could get away from all the crowds on San Servolo, perhaps I would only want to stay a few days in the city as well.

Ultimately, it was very interesting and enlightening to view Venice from a typical tourist's perspective. However, I can also almost see why people think they can "do" the city in only a couple of days. If you don't know what to look for, besides what's in the travel books, how can you really experience the city? I think that we are very lucky to have the opportunity which we do, which is to really experience Venice, not just the "hot spots" but the real city. And because of our extended stay, we also get to understand more about the city and see things which the average tourist would miss out on. For instance, some of the people we talked to last week, just in for the day on cruises, completely missed out on being able to see the mountains appear yesterday and today. I think that I will find it very difficult to be a true tourist again in any city, because even after only a week, I realize that when you only hit the big sights, you miss out on the true city. The tourist perspective, while it provides for some great pictures, and even some breathtaking moments, is still narrow and unable to fully capture the entire scope of the city, simply for lack of time as much as anything. While it was fascinating to take some time to explore the tourist perspective, I am now even more glad that I have both the time and the resources available to dig a little deeper and really explore the city, rather than just take a few good pictures and say I've been here.

Apologies for the pictures

I realized after I posted this blog about the architectural features that there are some serious issues with the locations of the pictures. I apologize for that, but I'm not sure quite how to fix it. The pictures are all on there of the various features, just not quite in the order I wanted them to be in. Also, it seems that the campanile has been cut out of the picture of the whole front of the church. Again, I'm sorry, I had the pictures in order when I wrote the blog, but somewhere in the posting they got moved around, not sure how or why that happened.

Venice Realized: Architectural Features of Campo S. Moise

The campo I chose to examine more closely for its architectural features was Campo S. Moise, which is just a little ways up from Piazza San Marco. I chose this campo because I think that the church, or chiesa, is especially beautiful and interesting. The campo itself is also interesting, because the street which runs alongside the church contains shops of some of the most well-known and high-end designers in the world, such as Versace, Prada, and Hermes. I already knew that the church contained a number of architectural features, but as it turned out, other buildings around the campo, including the campanile that sat back behind the church, contained terms from our list as well.

To begin with, the campanile behind the church, pictured above, contained a biforate window, as well as a balustrade near the top. It also contains examples of pilasters, which can also be seen on the second level of the church as well, and which extend up the sides of the campanile.



This is another example of a biforate window on one of the buildings in the campo.







These are examples of other windows on various buildings around the campo. They are examples of ogee arches, which display the noticeable cusp often associated with Gothic architecture, and also what looks somewhat like a stilted arch.

On the main picture of the church, you can also see a good example of a thermal window.

This decoration above a door in the campo is a good example of the quatrefoil design.





Underneath this balcony above the Versace store was a good example of corbels.

On the church itself were a number of architectural features. For starters, there were many examples of dentilled molding all across the facade of the church front.



There are also a number of columns across the front of the church. The capitals of the columns seemed to be in the Composite order, because of the acanthus-leaf ornaments and the volutes. You can also notice the entablature and the frieze atop the column.






This image of the main door of the church represents several architectural features. First of all, it is a good example of both dentilled molding and a pediment. There is also an aedicule framing the door and supporting the pediment.

This exercise greatly affected my appreciation of Venice because it is easy to take in an entire campo and simply think "Oh that looks nice, and so Italian!" and then simply snap a picture and move on. However, actually delving into the place and exploring the details of why it is so appealing to the eye creates not only a greater appreciation for the space, but also a newfound respect for the designer of the space. Particularly in regards to the church, it is fascinating to think of someone looking at that open space and visualizing what should go there and considering and designing all of the details which will best create the overall desired effect. Also, studying one campo in depth has made it easier to take in the details and appreciate Venice as a whole because now it is easier to pick out and know what to look for in other campos, as well as simply down the streets. On a vaporetto going down the Grand Canal the other day, I was much more aware of, specifically, the different types of windows on the buildings we were passing, such as the ogee arches and the six-light windows in particular, which were prevalent along the canal.

First Impressions

Venice in reality was, I believe, equal parts what I expected and also surprising. I was thrilled on the way from the airport to see, not only laundry hanging between windows, which just seems so Old World and European, but also palm trees, which I had not expected. For a few moments, I was convinced that I was on vacation and had to remember that I was in Italy, not Florida. It was a fantastic bonus. There were many of these bonuses, including the beautiful weather, which I was not expecting, judging from the forecasts of the previous week or two, the anticipated but still somewhat unexpected thrill of being back on the water on the vaporetto, and just the fact, probably partly because of these factors, that Venice was more beautiful and bursting with life than I had expected. I have not been able to figure out why but somehow I had come to associate Venice with a dying city. Perhaps this attitude was due to the fact that it is sinking, I am not sure. So to see it as a bustling city, on a beautiful day, came as something of a very pleasant surprise.

However, as lovely as the city was today, it also seems to be a city of contradictions. While Venice is known of course for its historical monuments, nearly as many cranes dotted the skyline as steeples. Then, on the sides of picturesque Italian buildings were massive billboards advertising products such as Guess. It was not quite a clash of the old and the modern, but it certainly created an interesting effect.

The one thing that took me completely by surprise, even more so than the palm trees, was the presence of the multitude of massive cruise ships. Even though I know that Venice is one of the hottest tourist destinations and despite the fact that I had even seen a picture my friend had taken of a cruise ship in Venice this summer, I was still blind-sided by the cruise ships, though not in a bad way. It was just a surprise to see those huge, modern looking ships docked next to such an old city. Again, it was that interesting combination of the new and the old coexisting in the city.

Overall, as much time as I had spent trying to visualize the city, Venice still came as something of a surprise. And I am happy to say that my first impression of Venice was a good one.