• Home
  • About me/Chi sono
  • Contact

Un po' di pepe

~ …… (oon∙poh∙dee∙PEH∙peh) Cristina writes about interesting stuff /Cristina scrive di cose interessanti

Un po' di pepe

Tag Archives: Piazza della Signoria

La Grande Cacata

17 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art history, Firenze, Italia

≈ 29 Comments

Tags

Big Clay #4, Big Turd, Contemporary art Firenze, Marino Marini, Piazza della Signoria, Ratto delle Sabine

As I entered Piazza della Signoria in November, I was surprised to see it occupied by a massive excremental aluminum sculpture. Big Clay #4 is the actual title of the 12 meter high work by Swiss artist Urs Fischer.

The sculpture is actually an enlargement of pieces of clay that the artist modeled with his hands.  He took 5 small pieces of clay and squished them around in his hands, then piled them up.  Then it was ‘supersized’ to 12 meters high.  The artist’s fingerprints and palm creases that were impressed onto the surface of the clay were also reproduced. An interesting idea…. too bad it came out looking like poo.

The installation of this sculpture is not a successful pairing of contemporary and Renaissance/Classic art. If I sound like a harsh art critic, let me say that I am not one of those people who just dislikes contemporary art.  In fact, one of my favourite musei in Firenze is the Museo Marino Marini, housed in the deconsecrated ancient church of San Pancrazio. Marini’s 20th Century sculptures are elegant and classic and his melding of the historical and the contemporary is extremely successful.

In my determined quest to find a positive angle on this work, I looked at the photo below and wondered if the artist was trying to (unsuccessfully) mimic the spiraling vortex of Giambologna’s Ratto delle Sabine.  This is not the case, since I found out the sculpture was not made for this site.  It was previously displayed outside of the Seagram Building in Manhattan, where it was known as the ‘Big Turd’.

The work is supposed to be thought provoking.  The only thought that came to me was ‘Now I know what it would it look like if a brontosaurus took a big dump in the middle of Piazza della Signoria!’ The sculpture is up until January 21st, so you only have  4 more days to see it here.  My title may sound a bit harsh, but many other colourful, scatologically oriented comments were heard in the piazza and around Firenze. I don’t think many Fiorentini will be sad to see it go!

Ciao, Cristina

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

‘Ratto delle Sabine’

13 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art, Art history, Culture, Firenze, Italia

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Art, Art history, Giambologna, Loggia dei Lanzi, Piazza della Signoria, Ratto delle Sabine, Renaissance art, Sculpture

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOne of my favourite works of art is moving!  After 432 years in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria Firenze, Giambologna’s ‘Ratto delle Sabine’  (Abduction of the Sabine Women) is being moved to the Galleria degli Uffizi.  In November 2014 the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e turismo (Ministry of cultural works and tourism) announced that the sculpture would be moving once a reproduction is made for the Loggia and funds are secured for the move.  If needs to be moved indoors to protect it from damage caused by pollution, rain, wind and even snow.

The sculpture was carved from a single block of flawed marble.  Does that sound familiar?  Remember the ‘Il Gigante-Michelangelo’s David’ post?.  It features 3 figures intertwined in a ‘figura serpentina’- a serpentine composition.  A man is lifting a woman into the air while another man crouches, and what they are doing is not really clear.  There is no dominant viewpoint or ‘good side’ to this sculpture. It has multiple viewpoints and makes the viewer want to move around and observe it from every angle.  This was probably the first work of art with more than one point of view.

There are 2 interesting things to note about the sculpture’s misleading title.  First of all, it is usually incorrectly translated into English as ‘Rape of the Sabine Women’.  ‘Ratto’ comes from the latin ‘raptio’ meaning abduction.  The second thing is that the subject matter was entirely made up-it was not the artist who gave this work its title!  Giambologna had no subject in mind when he sculpted this piece.  This was very unusual, but he was trying to demonstrate his ability to create a perfect upward spiralling vortex.  He was the official sculptor of the Medici family and you could say he was showing off.  When the work was completed in 1583, Francesco I de’Medici decided to put it on public display at the Loggia dei Lanzi.  The Loggia is like a large covered porch in the Piazza della Signoria, with 2 walls and 2 open sides.  Some guy named Vincenzo Borghini suggested the title and apparently no one could come up with a better one.  Am I the only one who finds this annoying?

I’ve had the opportunity to view this masterpiece many times and have even sketched it from different viewpoints.  I’m sure a lot of people don’t realize this is still the original sculpture and not a copy! I can totally understand that it needs to be protected from the elements, but once it is moved, you will have to book tickets online, wait in lineups……and you won’t be able to admire it for free on a midnight walk in the Piazza. If you have not seen ‘Ratto delle Sabine’ in the Loggia dei Lanzi yet, there is still time to get to Firenze before ‘il trasloco’-moving day!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow 'un po' di pepe' and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 430 other followers

Follow Un po' di pepe on WordPress.com

Popular Posts

  • Trani
    Trani
  • About me/Chi sono
    About me/Chi sono
  • Olive Oil Limoncello Cake
    Olive Oil Limoncello Cake
  • Contact
    Contact
  • Panforte di Siena
    Panforte di Siena
  • Tiramisù
    Tiramisù
  • Italiano per Ristoranti~How to pronounce your restaurant menu
    Italiano per Ristoranti~How to pronounce your restaurant menu

Recent Posts

  • Tiramisù
  • Percorso della Memoria
  • Ravioli Rossi
  • 700 Years of Dante
  • Buon Anno 2021
  • Reflecting on 2020
  • Panforte di Siena
  • Museo Faggiano
  • World Pasta Day
  • MOSE
  • Lecce
  • Writing about Italian Canadian Food Culture
  • Limoncello
  • L’ultimo Caravaggio
  • Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinaci
  • Lucca
  • Viaggio con Isabella
  • Street Art for International Nurses Day
  • Cinquecento Love
  • La Festa della Liberazione
  • Corzetti
  • In my Kitchen~Quarantine edition
  • Quarantine Selfie Collage
  • COVID19-Insieme ce la faremo
  • COVID19-Andrà tutto bene

Categories

Amici e Famiglia Architecture Art Art history Art projects Bilingual posts Blogging Canada Culture Feste Firenze Inspiration Italia Italian Folklore Italian language Italian life Italocanadesi Libri Mangiamo! Orsara di Puglia Parole piacevoli Photography Puglia Recipes Roma Travel Travel tips Vino

Un po' di pepe on Instagram

Happy Carbonara day! 5 simple ingredients of happiness 😊 Working on a blog post about the 4 classic Roman pasta dishes-coming soon! #carbonara #pastacarbonara #nocreamincarbonara #pastaromana #romancuisine #cucinaromana #unpodipepe
View of the Lions from my walk today. Those are the 2 snowy bits that look like lions on Sphinx pose from the side #portofvancouver #thelions #northvancouver #northshore #westcoast #thelionsnorthvancouver #georgiastraight #vancity #unpodipepe
Today, March 25th is #dantedi or #danteday, established as the day he began his journey in the afterlife of #thedivinecomedy #ladivinacommedia 2021 is the 700th anniversary of the death of the poet. If you missed it in January, check out the post ‘700 years of Dante’-in the blog archives #dante700 #march25 #dante #dantealighieri #unpodipepe
Buon Primavera e Giornata Mondiale del Tiramisù! Happy spring and World Tiramisù day! New post with recipe and the history of Tiramisù published on unpodipepe.ca #tiramisu #tiramisuhistory #dolcialcucchiaio #pellegrinoartusi #sbattutino #sbatudin #cucinaveneta #treviso #italiandessert #nobakedessert #dolciitaliani #giornatamondialedeltiramisù #worldtiramisuday #internationaltiramisuday #unpodipepe
Zeppole for the Festa di San Giuseppe. It is also Italian Fathers’ Day, la festa del papà. Auguri to everyone named Giuseppe, Giuseppina, Peppe, Pina and all the Papà🎉🎉🎉. Recipe for zeppole in blog archives #zeppole #zeppoledisangiuseppe #lafestadelpapà #sangiuseppe #amarena #dolcifattiincasa #dolciitaliani #unpodipepe
I wonder what is in all of these containers down there at the port-especially the hot pink one! #portofvancouver #meditationpark #wallstreetvancouver #portcontainers #vancouver #northvancouver #vancity #unpodipepe
Auguri a tutte le donne! Happy International Women’s Day! Sending virtual mimosa to you all. #festadelladonna #internationalwomensday #mimosa #womenrock #unpodipepe
I miss travelling and keep going through the photos of my last trip. I decided to publish a blog post to take you on a virtual tour of an open air exhibit of photos by @nicolagtramonte in Orsara di Puglia. Hope you enjoy the visit! #orsaradipuglia #percorsodellamemoria #photoexhibition #mostrafotografica #montidauni #weareinpuglia #puglia #pugliagram #vintagephotos #blackandwhitephotography #unpodipepe
Viva l’amore. I hope everyone had a wonderful day with their loved ones-in person or virtually❤️ #valentinesday #amore #raviolirossi #ravioliinpentola #buttalapasta #valentinecooking #beetpastadough #sanvalentino #unpodipepe

Archives

Un po’ di pepe on Facebook

Un po’ di pepe on Facebook

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: