Study Abroad Journal May 19

I’ve been thinking about circles of hell.  Climbing Brunelleschi’s dome will do that for you.  Also, the fact that Dante and his circles of hell are depicted in the duomo, along with the decoration in the top of the dome above the altar.  While the depictions of the

May 19, 2014.  The Last Judgement, in secco painting by Zucari in the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, finished in 1579.  These paintings depict Satan, demons, monsters and damned people in various poses, contortions and being tortured after being sent to hell.  One person is being eaten by the big demon that I assume is Satan, several have been flayed or disemboweled, all appear to be tumbling into fiery pits.  The demons with pitchforks, tails, and horns are constantly shoveling them into the fire like coal.  

Madonna and child are the most ubiquitous in religious pieces of this time, I find the depictions of hell more enthralling.  Not only did the church find it helpful to use pictures of saints, martyrs, and heaven to educate the masses who couldn’t read about the scripture, but they made sure to offer the other side of the coin for those who strayed from the church.  Dante’s description of the 9 circles of hell and the people who inhabit these areas was known in Renaissance Italy and used at times in these depictions.

May 19, 2014.  Completed by Venetian artists from 1225 to 14th century.  This mosaic depicts the last judgement and is most likely the inspiration for other depictions of hell.  Again, the middle demon is eating people, demons are torturing them and there are people being roasted on spits, being attacked by fantastical creatures like lizard/snake hybrids.

The duomo in Florence is special because of Brunelleschi’s dome that was the first structure to cover a building of this size in Europe since ancient times.  He did this through his use of a dome within a dome that also mirrors the circles within circles of hell.  Walking between the domes to see the inner workings of the herringbone brick, the structural support beams, and the twin shells brought home what an achievement this was.  The fact that this dome must have seemed like reaching heaven to people in Renaissance Italy is apparent.  But then the painting of the dome’s interior also tells the other side of the story. 

May 19, 2014.  Dome within a dome with wooden cross beam to provide stabilization.  Brunelleschi, 1418 to 1436 at Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.  This picture gives a good idea of the two domes with use of wood beams to counteract the tendency of a dome to spring outward.

The paintings in the dome depict judgement day and what happens to the damned and the saved.  The damned are the ones that I want to focus on in the paintings because the horrors that are shown are like an ancient horror movie.  Today, we get scared about the idea of the supernatural, aliens, ghosts, things that we aren’t sure of and the idea of hell would have been something that no one was sure of.  With Dante’s informative text and the dome’s informative paintings, one would believe that they know a lot of what hell is like and that it is a place that they would like to avoid.

May 19, 2014.  Frescoes of the 24 Elders by Georgia Vasari, 1568 to 1574, at the top of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence.  These elders reminded me of the sybils and prophets that are depicted in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.  Not only do the invade the space of the viewer and overextend from the architectural details around them, the colors used on them and they're overly muscular depictions show clearly that Vasari was inspired by Michelangelo's work.