San Miniato Florence Italy Gregorian Chant

Dear Art Lover,

      Saint Minas (or San Miniato in Italian) was an Armenian prince.  He served in the Roman army, which is how he found himself in Florence, Italy.  He later survived being fed to a panther [the panther’s choice apparently], in the amphitheatre (Via Torta?) at the order of the Emperer Decius, because it sucks to have a religion that is different from the prevailing masses or leadership.  This Emperor (from the years 249 to 251) later watched as Minas was beheaded.  It is said that the newly dead saint then collected his head and walked across the Arno River and up towards what is now known as the San Miniato al Monte (St. Minias on the Mountain).


     The church was started around 1013 with various improvements added over the centuries.  Today the Olivetan monks still live and work there.  They still sell their own made honey, herbal teas, and famous liquers. 

     To learn more about San Miniato al Monte in Florence, Italy, check out these pages:
http://www.sanminiatoalmonte.it/
     
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miniato_al_Monte

    For years I had heard of the special masses in Latin in which one could go to San Miniato and hear Gregorian Chanting. I imagined many male voices singing in harmonies and I have wanted to see/hear this for years, although I tend to forget a lot or have other plans on the weekends.  However, I decided to make a point to attend one such mass before I leave Florence this time.  My friend Alessandra said she would join me.

     Ale and I had met up in Piazza Santo Spirito to see friends and the antique/hand-made market that fills the square each second Sunday of the month.  Afterwards, we walked down to Porta Romana and caught Bus 12 up to the Basilica, the exit just before Piazzale Michelangelo.  I was glad that we arrived early.  The mass was to start around 5:30 and the fading light up on the hill overlooking Firenze was lovely.  We were too late to see the cemetery, which features wonderful sculptures, as well as the graves of Carlo Lorenzini [author of Pinocchio] and the artist Pietro Annigoni.

I found this unfinished fresco especially intriguing.

     While I have been to the cemetery several times before, I had never been inside of the basilica. What a treat!  I really love the hand-carved and painted wooden beams on the ceiling, the mosaics in stone, and the sculpture and fresco.  The church goes mostly dark until someone puts a coin in a machine.  For some reason, I enjoyed being in the dark there, but I did take advantage of the light to photograph these images for you.

     The views from San Miniato overlooking the Arno River and downtown Firenze are pretty good, I would say.. er, I did say!

 













     The mass did not take place in the main open area with the pews.  Instead, it was a more intimate mass at a lower level “behind” the altar you see as you enter the church.  During the mass, Ale asked me if I understood the words.  I had already forgotten that the mass was in Latin.  As a child I remember enjoying the Latin mass.  It added to the mystery (along with tons of incense and bizarre rituals).  Not understanding the words was a blessing and was a great excuse for the daydreaming I have done all of my life when expected to sit still for any length of time.  Whether the mass had been in Italian or English, I would have daydreamed through most of it.

     I kept waiting for what I had come to see.  The priest was singing the mass… alone.  On occasion, a few voices in the audience joined in; sometimes I did, as well.  Then an old woman sitting to my left added her high and slightly off-key voice to the mixture.  I smiled.  I remembered going to Catholic Church as a child.  One time an old lady turned around and said to my father, “My, young man, what a lovely voice you have!”   My dad beamed:  he felt that he had been given TWO compliments with that one!

     I still waited.  At some point, Ale asked me if I had heard enough.  I was unsure of how to respond, but since the money basket was being passed around, I understood the end was near.  She put some coins in and the next time the people stood up, we escaped.  Outside the mass, I apologized to her for making a mistake about which mass had the Gregorian Chants.  She looked at me in surprise.  She explained that Gregorian Chant just really means that the mass is sung and that all are welcome to join in.  Sometimes you will witness many monks singing, as I had in my head, and others, it would be just one man leading the show, as was our night out.   Hmmmm.

     We walked down the hill to the Ponte alle Grazie together.  She went to meet with our friends, while I went home to continue my work.  At home, I immediately went to youtube.com and sought out Gregorian chant music videos.  It was the peace I wanted to fill the air and it was lovely, the many voices in unison.

To learn more about Gregorian Chanting, check out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_chant


     I am not above taking a donation.  Even five bucks is a help, if you enjoy what you read about and see in my images here on this blog.  Thank you.  [You may make a donation via the PayPal links on the side bar on the blog site:  http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com ]

Peace,
Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

A Side Chapel inside San Miniato:

Day Tour Poreč and Pazin Istria Croatia

Dear Art lover,

     I am busy trying to maximize the opportunity that Kickstarter has given me to find a way to realize my bronze art, so I apologize for this brief blog entry.  Here are a few images from Poreč [on the sea] and Pazin [in the very center of Istria].  Poreč has a glorious basilica to which tourists flock.  The mosaics are stunning.  I share this image of part of the altar because it includes the gold, as well as the luster of the sea shells used (the circles).

     The last two images are from Pazin.  I always get a kick out of satellite dishes and other modern technology being planted on old architecture.  There is a museum of the history of Istria in Pazin.  I am debating on creating a blog post especially on that at a later date.  In the meantime, please enjoy these images.

     If you would like to see the new reward I added to the Kickstarter project, or are curious what it is all about, please visit:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/borsheimarts/casting-call-im-melting-melting-into-bronze

Thank you so much,

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

This stone wall in Pazin drops vertically a long way before covering the river.

Cathedral Bergamo Italy

Dear Art-loving friend,

My last post for a while on the city of Bergamo, Italy:  This is mostly about the Cathedral there.  I must admit that I had to do a search on Google:  “What’s the difference between a Cathedral and a Basilica?”  [See my previous post for images of the Basilica in Bergamo.]    

A “basilica” is a word of Roman origin and describes a large public building used for business.  Later, the Christians (Catholics) adopted the word for their own use as a title for a specific kind of church.  Hmmm… interesting connection!  In any event, today the Catholics use this word as a title signifying rank.  There are different levels of basilicas, apparently, but the highest rank is that of Cathedral (“Duomo” in Italian). 

The designation “cathedral” tells you that the bishop of the local order has a throne inside of that church or basilica. The origin of that word is French and Latin and refers to the “seat” or “chair.”  It is the home church for the bishop of that region.  The terms 'basilica" and "cathedral" need not overlap, but they often do.  However, there is only one Duomo in each city, that I have ever come across at least.  [I am certainly no expert on many things Christian or Catholic, including how the boundaries of diocese are drawn.]

In any event, both a basilica and a cathedral / duomo are worth a visit if you are a lover of art.  The Cathedral of Bergamo offers a few things I have never or rarely seen in a church.  Enjoy these images, with a few captions where I thought the image could benefit.  I start here with the outside view of the Cathedral.  I enjoy the composition of dark bronze with light stone.

There was a calming simplicity to the compositions in the Duomo that I found eased my senses, as compared to the nearby Basilica.

I do not recall having seen a marble carving of a decapitation WITHIN a Duomo before.  I assume this is Judith.  Her image is a favorite with Italians, a strong woman (innocence and physical weakness) overcomes a mightier and evil strength... the female version of David, if you like.  Hers was an act that was certainly more personally courageous (to cut off a head up close vs. kill from a distance with a stone).  Both are horrible, but it is a brutal world, isn't it?

So many colorful marbles!  Dizzyingly spectacular mosaic work, even in 3-D!

It is not often that one sees a bed in a cathedral.  This unusual aerial perspective on a very large painting employs a dramatic diagonal (implying action) and good placement of the bright blues to surround the subject.  The angel in subdued light and the raised arm of the holy figure near the center are just two of the compositional pointers to the center of one's attention.  And interesting "Z" of light... I enjoy this compositional idea.

The foreground is the open section above a staircase on either side of the main altar (in the background).  The stairs lead to a burial place below the altar (see later image).  I saw this type of architectural arrangement in the strange (Mayan?) type design of the ancient Duomo in Castelvecchio, Italy, beside where I carved stone in a symposium during the summer of 2013.

"Watch out for the stairs, for there is a danger of falling."  I am not sure why I find these icons so adorable.

I found this room under the altar to be a bit freaky.  But then, each day while I paint, I have been listening to audiobooks of the vampire series by Anne Rice.  This room would be a great scene for a book and I wondered if vampires would feel protected, sleeping here by day in the house of the faithful.

Since this is the Cathedral, that must be the throne of the Bishop.  I liked the addition of a contemporary design of the chairs beautifully added to the splendor of times past.

I took this snapshot since it reminds me of my niece Alexis, who has been flashing the two fingers of peace since birth.

This image of the pink stone lions is actually around the entrance to the Basilica, very nearby the Cathedrale.  However, I had so many images in my last post, I was afraid to add more.

And finally another external view of the complex that includes the Basilica (the Cathedral is on my right, facing away from me here).  It is so easy to be transported through time with architecture such as this. 

If you are interested in learning more about the origins and history of the words to describe the architecture and uses of the words “basilica” and “cathedral,” these links would be a fun place to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral

Thank you for reading.  I hope you enjoy these efforts of my musings and my images.

Yours in art,

Kelly Borsheim

http://BorsheimArts.com