Monday 31 December 2007

Another Rome - Monselice







In 1606 Pope Paul V sanctioned a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of the Seven Churches in Monselice as carrying the equivalent plenary indulgences of a pilgrimage to the seven Roman basilicas. The design of this analogous interpretation of Rome situated on a hillside in the Veneto plain was entrusted to Vincenzo Scamozzi, and consists of frescoed chapels and a final theatrical sanctuary where elaborately clothed skeletons act the roles of assorted saints and martyrs.

Saturday 29 December 2007

City of the Dead






The Etruscan necropolis of Crocifisso del Tufo, outside Orvieto (c. 500 B.C.) has parallel streets and doorways to the individually identified family tombs. The urban arrangement which is apparent to the visitor is only the most obvious layer of a domesticity of death which would have been supplemented by heraldic symbols on the roofs and the occupation of the houses by sculpted ranks of reclining dead. Although the only means by which to interpret death is through representations and transformations of life, the creations of streets of houses with doorways in a continuous urban wall suggests the significance of common civic values in all areas of existence.

from URBAN ETHIC link in the sidebar

Saturday 15 December 2007

Friday 14 December 2007

Tuesday 11 December 2007

Saturday 8 December 2007

Immaculate Conception


Linked from the site http://www.catholicpreston.com
Comment "In my opinion this is the loveliest of all the Christmas music. Beautifully sung and performed here!"
Linked from the Brazilian site http://www.psa-as.com.br/

Monday 3 December 2007

Tuesday 20 November 2007

Luigi Moretti: Piazzale del Impero, Foro Italico, Rome




The most significant ceremonial space of Foro Italico, the axial space between the sphere and the obelisk was designated the Piazzale del Impero, under the direction ofLuigi Moretti (1907-73). The urban landscape which Moretti produced at the Piazzale del Impero had to unite a group of routes and monuments which had developed during the previous decade. His compositional strategy was one of imposing a strong control on the form of the space as already defined, and has a muted palette of white marble and white and black mosaic. The central axis between the fountain and obelisk is treated as a raised spine flanked by lower mosaic pavements in rectangular frames. Mosaics also surround the circular space around the fountain where several routes crossed. These featured, between panels of fascist slogans, images of ancient and contemporary sports and military feats. Maps of ancient and contemporary Rome reinforced the connection between past and present, while large marble monoliths defined the edges tapering towards the obelisk, each dedicated to a significant event from the Risorgimento, the kingdom of Italy’s participation in the Great War, and the rise of Fascism. This culminated in a large block reproducing the text of Mussolini’s declaration of the Italian Empire in 1937.
It is this landscape of literally naked propaganda which greeted visitors to the Rome Olympics of 1960 and subsequent international sporting events at the Stadio Olimpico.
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