Times have been rather crazy lately.

I went to Arezzo to see the Della Robbia exhibition and to take some pics for my upcoming paper. I had some rather extensive plans but they were cut short by the fact that I left my mouse at I Tatti. I have this touchpad thingy on the lappy but I hate it. I've grown up with mice and I am used to them. Tablet is fine, too, although when I used one a few years ago (before it was appropriated by the Real Graphics Guy), I got weird looks for sticking the stylus in my hair, it's bigger than a normal pencil.
But, I'm digressing. I Tatti closes at six, it meant being back from Arezzo at five to manage to get up there, which meant taking the 1622-ish train the latest. I decided to skip the house of Vasari, then, and see only the exhibition, the Sta Maria a Gradi and whatever else the town puts in my way. And Sephora for some cheaper package of Strivectin, the Florentine Sephora sucks (1).
The Arezzo museum houses a wonderful collection of majolica ware and it's worth visiting only for this. The Della Robbia exhibition was nice, I discovered a lunette depicting Saint Birgitta with two flagellant monks, rather an interesting thing since I didn't know about the lunette nor about any connection of the Brigittines with flagellants. I'll check that.
The pieve is interesting. All crooked; it was being built in several phases
and the folks didn't have the same concept of symmetry as we have today. Or, anything. And the pillars are off. Not vertical at all. It was because the pillars and outer walls were usually built at the same time and then joined by the vault or trabeated ceiling as in this case and meantime the terrain might move.

The facade seems not to fit the church – only the central portal is placed symmetrically within the arch but not in the centre of facade. (The rosette window is placed centrally.)
The upper tiers with colonnades don't have any module related to anything. Or as far as I can see - the lower row has 13 arcades, the one above – 25. The visual discord is unsettling - it's small enough to be barely perceptible but it does exist, the superposition that is expected is 'off'. The uppermost storey is trabeated, the gallery contains 32 columns and 31 intercolumnary spaces. Again, the vertical continuity of the intercolumnar fields is broken.

The effect of movement is further enhanced by asymmetrical disposition of the facade opening. The Cistercian-inspired group of nine windows(two double windows flanking a central rosette. In the storeys above, one-bay windows are placed on vertical axes with the lower storey windows, those in the third story being taller.From inside, the pattern is much clearer than from outside where it is partly hidden by the array of columns which is not symmetrical with the window pattern. Or the windows are not symmetrical with columns?

(To be continued.)

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(1) I don't look my age. I never said it's genetics. And Strivectin sometimes comes in some trial or travel packages that are cheaper than the standard ones.

Santa Reparata

Santa Reparata preceded the current cathedral, the well-known and oh-so-kitschified Santa Maria del Fiore. In 1296, the construction of Sta. Maria del Fiore began, staring with the apses, but the old church remained for almost80 years more, until 1374, when it was torn down to make space for the new cathedra.

The first phase is vaguely dated 'after 313', meaning after the Edict of Milan and 'somewhere between the 5th and 6th centuries, based on the style of floor mosaic, the only remaining element of the paleochristian cathedral. The mosaic includes a list of donors and the amounts they provided - I wonder whether there was some tax exemption on pious gifts, too? and an image of a peacock, a symbol of eternity. The eternal nature of peacock, I hear, is based on the fact that peacock meat lasts longer than other meat, which was important feature before the advent of fridges. My hunter uncle, however, says that he has eaten a peacock once, or rather gagged over a roasted peacock, because it tastes awful. Which may explain why would it last for so long but I'm not able to judge the early Medieval desire of proteins.
In 869, the bishop Andrea went to Lucca on an imperial mission and he might have got toknow the rare cult of Santa Reparata there but he hasn't brought any relics – after all, the martyr of Antiochia may never have existed. Hardly anything can be related to the activity of Andrea, more stable ground resurfaces only in the 11th century when the church was rebuilt. What is preserved are the massive pillars of the nave and the crypt that was however deprived of its vault. Now, only one column remained, with a classicizing capital which is a good example of how Romanesque art recycled the antique elements: the capital employs the elements of a frieze.


The last reconstruction of Santa Reparata took place in the late 12th/early 13th centuries. New facade was created, with mosaic inlays in red, black and gold – a Roman thing, in Tuscany, inlays were to use yet for quite some time only the white and green marbles of Carrara and Prato respectively. Some of the fragments were found during the reconstruction in the late 1960's – turned upside down, they served as a pavement.

Remnant

Some time ago, I got hold of Kypre. The one by Lancome, launched in 1935, in what seems to be the 1930's box and bottle.

Now, the most legendary and most wanted perfume in the internetz is Djedi by Guerlain. I want it too, I read about the re-release and decided that I needed it. It was in 2000-ish and I didn't know that it was something limited so I hesitated. Now it's late, I read on some real perfumista's blog that the last time it was spotted out in the wild was the time when the bottle was sold for over 1000 euros on eBay.


Kypre is indeed mentioned in places. Usually there's the line that 'in 1935, Lancome launched their first five fragrances...' and nothing more. I browsed the perfume blogs and places and nobody ever mentions having it, wanting it, being interested in it. Which leads me to the conclusion that if it exist, then it exists in some parts of the world which use different alphabets than I'm able to read or that I have the last bottle in the world. Should the latter be true, then I must say I feel weird.
I should get a hold of some Coco by Chanel, it seems rather similar but my Coco is left in another country. I have a bit of cold so the olfactory impressions will come someday later. And I'll try to find the darn Coco.