Art, Food, and Fashion

Piero della Francesca

Battista Sforza e Federico da Montefeltro, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

One of the artists our art history class has studied a great deal is, not surprisingly, Piero della Francesca, who was born here in Sansepolcro. So far we have been to the Museo Civico down the street to see his Resurrection of Christ, as well as Madonna della Misericordia. A week or two ago we took a class trip to Arezzo to see his multiple frescoes depicting the Legend of the True Cross, including The Annunciation, in the apse of the Basilica of San Francesco. We also were able to see what is probably his most famous work, his portraits of Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro, in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Then this past weekend, we went on a day trip to Urbino, where we visited the Ducal Palace of Federico da Montefeltro (the man in the portrait with the funny nose). Here we saw even more works by Piero, Madonna con Bambino and Flagellazione. It has been very intriguing, studying art in person as we are learning about it. Art history is combined into an intense half-semester class, and I will be very, very sad next week when it ends.

The Annunciation, Church of Saint Francis, Arezzo

Although it is nearly impossible to pick a favorite, I think I most enjoyed seeing The Legend of the True Cross frescoes in Arezzo. They are a series of frescoes in the front of the Church of Saint Francis which show a popular legend during the Renaissance. The basic story goes that, after Adam died, his son Seth took a seedling from the Tree of Good and Evil and planted it in his mouth. The tree that grew from it went through a long, complicated history of being cut down, used, and hidden until finally it was used to form the cross Jesus was crucified on. After Christ, the cross was lost, sought after, finally found, tested, and found to have miraculous qualities. Piero’s frescoes depict this story in many, many different scenes which are spread up, down and all around the front of the Church of Saint Francis. The frescoes of the story are not laid out linearly, but scattered from one wall to another, back and forth. Standing in the center and looking up at the beautiful artwork in every direction is an experience looking at pictures of the individual scenes does not allow. There is definitely much to be gained from visiting artwork in person. Had we only looked at pictures of these in a book, we might have missed a lot. For example, while standing in the church, Professor Banker pointed out to us that the lighting in the paintings (with the exception of one done by an apprentice) follows the natural lighting in the room, something all good Renaissance artists strived to achieve. The most famous of these scenes are The Annunciation, where Gabriel announces to Mary that God has chosen her to be the mother of His Son, and also The Queen of Sheba, where the Queen comes to visit King Solomon.

Flagellazione, Ducal Palace, Urbino

In Urbino we saw the palace of Federico da Montefeltro, the man in the famous portrait done by Piero that you have probably seen before. He was a very powerful duke and extremely wealthy. In fact, he earned more money every year than was in the Medici bank. After walking through the Ducal Palace I gathered that he might also have been slightly egotistical, because everywhere—on the walls and ceilings—were symbols representing Federico and his power, such as the eagle. In the palace we were able to look at the Flagellation of Christ, by Piero. It is a very interesting painting because it has two groups of men whose identities remain a mystery. One of them reappears in several of Piero’s paintings, and some scholars argue that he was a prominent lawyer at the time and a relation of Piero. The painting also shows how well Piero could use linear perspective—the idea that lines in a painting converge at some point in the distance. In addition to being a talented painter, Piero was also a brilliant mathematician. He rediscovered several mathematical concepts that had not been used since ancient Greece, and could expertly calculate lines and ratios in his compositions.

I Vestiti

In the past few weeks there has been so much happening that I have not been able to squeeze anything about fashion into my journal until now. One of the first things I noticed when we arrived was the differences in the way people dress, especially the men. Many Italian men are not afraid to dress boldly, and often sport brightly colored pants in purple, red, teal, gold, deep rose, or orange, as well as a variety of striped or patterned shirts. Both men and women tend to wear over-the-shoulder bags, as well as sweaters, which are generally tied around the shoulders. Also, it seems that women like to wear pants with a plethora of pockets, almost cargo-style. There are also fewer people who walk out of the house in sweats and tennis shoes, or dressed sloppily as if they just rolled out of bed. Italians aren’t all perfect pictures of fashion, but in general they always seem to look presentable at least.

Buon Appetito!

Before I came to Italy, I thought the idea of Italians eating mounds of pasta and pizza was just a myth, a stereotype. It’s not. Since I have been here, I have eaten pizza and/or pasta every day. That being said, it is delicious and greatly varied, and I don’t think I have had the same type of pasta more than twice in the month I’ve spent here. There are also many different types of pizza. So far, the strangest pizza I’ve ordered was carrot pizza, and my favorite toppings are prosciutto and artichoke.


Margarita cooks gorgeous lunches for us during the week, and I am afraid I am getting very spoiled. Somehow I don’t think I will be able to get salad, soup, bread, pasta, a meat, vegetables, dessert and other dishes for lunch when I come back home. Surprisingly, my favorite parts of our lunches are the vegetables. Who knew there were dozens of ways to cook zucchini, all equally delicious? Or that caramelized onions were so irresistible? Or that eggplant tastes good in contexts other than eggplant parmesan?


Another important part of the Italian diet is coffee. Cafés never cease to have droves of people buzzing in and out, downing espressos. I used not to like coffee, but now I drink it every day. It is impossible to resist getting a cappuccino or latte when they only cost one euro and from my bedroom window I can see the café sitting on the street, calling my name.