Arezzo and "our" Piero della Francesca

The meeting of Salomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Our itinerary led through the province of Arezzo in discovery of the works of Piero della Francesca, one of the greatest Italian Renaissance painters of the XVth century.
In Arezzo we rushed up to Basilica of San Francesco - Romanesque style church in the center of the old city. In the Bacci di Lorenzo chapel we found what we were so much looking for: Legend of the True Cross series of Piero della Francesca frescoes. It is a collection of 1o big masterpieces made between 1452 and 1466. The most impressive are The adoration of the wood and The Battle of Constantine and Maxentius.

The landscapes resemble the rocky mountains between the Arezzo and Sansepolcro, birthplace of Piero. When you look at the painting what you feel is an aura of serenity and dignity.
The structure of the paintings is clear and well organized. Perfectly used chromatic palette and chiaroscuro transform the paintings into the fantastic 3-dimensional images.

Constantine Dream fresco is one of the first night chiaroscuro paintings of the Renaissance era.

Piero was an artist and a mathematician. The perspectives on the frescoes are geometrically ideal. His treatise "De prospectiva pingendi" ( "On painting perspective" ) was the first ever writen tutorial how to paint a perspective.

Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo and a fragment of The meeting of Salomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Camera: NIKON D80. ISO 100/2600. Neat Image post-processing.

Maciek. 26.04.2009

Tuscany: rolling meadows or beautiful natural carpets ?

The Tuscany meadows found between villages of San Giovani d´Asso and Buonconvento.
The last sun rays flicker over the rolling early spring fields.

This photo was selected / awarded the front page of plfoto.com web photo gallery. Tnx all.

First early morning light over the Tuscany fields. These absolutely gorgeous views can be found close to Torrenieri village.

Photo 2:
Model: NIKON D80
Date/time: 2009-03-14 07:36:00
F:5,6
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
ISO: 400
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Did not fire
Focal length: 100 mm
Lens: AS-F Nikkor 70.0-300 mm VR


March 2009.

Maciek.

Our "Saudades" of the perfect beach

iMonkey.

Saudade in Portuguese means being sad with the feeling of nostalgia and hope.

Running through my old photos I suddenly found these two old pics. "This place was like a paradise" I thought. A few years ago we encountered vast areas of uninhabited and deserted beaches close to Mexico-Belize border. Now we feel "saudades" and hope one day we will be back there again.

Place: close to Mexico-Belize border, 2004.


Maciek.

Siena and "our" Simone Martini

I am a very selective art book reader. To be honest after many years I prefer to get back to only one but very special book: Waldemar Lysiak "White Man Painting" ( 8 volumes, first published 1997 ). I read and then I travel to see the paintings with my own eyes.

This time we first went to Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Palazzo Pubblico. Two giant Simone Martini frescos: Guidoriccio da Fogliano and Maestà.

Siena - XIVth century. The dusk of Renaissance. First secular ( non-religious ) painting of modern era. Guigoricco was a Condottiere - an Italian soldier of fortune. Rich, bold and beautifully dressed, he marches through the Tuscany landscape after the seize of the city of Montemassi.

The painting has yet still a very primitive, post-Gothic perspective. But the whole beauty of the fresco is hidden in its dynamic but proud pose of Guigoricco on his horse. He really seems to be "Clint Eastwood of the XIVth century" ( W.Lysiak ).

Guidoriccio da Fogliano. c. 1328. Fresco. Palazzo Pubblico, Sala del Mappamondo, Siena, Italy

Maestà means ‘majesty’. It is used to describe a representation of the Virgin and Child enthroned as the Queen of Heaven, surrounded by a court of saints. Maestà by Martini is one of his early paintings. Very much Gothic in style. No perspective, no landscape, all the saints and the altar are painted in Byzantium style. But look at the saints faces: they are so non-Gothic and so much different from the Giotto saints. These faces come from Renaissance: full of human feelings of adornment and compassion.

Maestà. 1317. Fresco. Palazzo Pubblico, Sala del Mappamondo, Siena, Italy.

Camera: NIKON D80. ISO 1200. Neat Image post-processing.

BTW. No photos allowed at Palazzo Pubbilco ;)

Maciek. 24.04.2009

Tuscany, continued...

The windswept, colorful fields between Montepulciano and Pienza with sun and light playing over their surface.

Early spring. View to the south. Late afternoon hour.



Model: NIKON D80

Maciek.

Our garden in early March

Early March 2009.
Clockwise: Glicinia flower, Jasmine strong perfume smelling flowers, Azalia flowers and unknown species ( Thanks to Anna ( her blog is here ) the unknown species is Piersis Japonica )



Model: NIKON D80
Maciek.

Tuscany, Crete Senese landscapes ( 4 )

Sunset. Rolling fields and a patch of cypress trees close to San Quirico d'Orcia.



Model: NIKON D80
Date/time: 2009-03-14 18:21:00
HDR rendering
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
ISO: 100
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Did not fire
Focal length: 14 mm
Lens: 10.0-20.0 mm
Tripod



Maciek.

Tuscany, Crete Senese landscapes ( 3 )

This is one of the most famous landmarks of "Crete Senense". Rolling fields and a patch of cypress close to San Quirico d'Orcia.

Model: NIKON D80
Date/time: 2009-03-15 18:20:00
Shutter speed: 1/60 sec
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Skylight filter.
F-stop: f/23
ISO: 100
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Did not fire
Focal length: 20 mm
Lens: 10.0-20.0 mm
Tripod



Maciek.

Tuscany, Crete Senese landscapes ( 2 )

Early morning. Sunrise over the Pienza valley, Tuscany.

Model: NIKON D80
Date/time: 2009-03-14 06:13:58
Shutter speed: 1/180 sec
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
F-stop: f/4,5
ISO: 400
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Did not fire
Focal length: 70 mm
Lens: 18.0-70.0 mm


Maciek.

Tuscany, Crete Senese landscapes ( 1 )

Rolling hills of Tuscany. Photo made at 07:50 a.m. here.

South and south-east of city of Siena, there is the hilly area known as the "Crete Senense". It is full of rolling fields and curvy, scenic roads. It the most beautiful and picturesque part of Tuscany.

Hills are dotted with cypress, olive and pine trees. There are thousand and one green color tones and shadings. There are also thousand and one gray color tones derived from color of clay soil.

We spend four beautiful days staying in San Quirico d'Orcia, in hotel Relais Palazzo del Capitano.

Model: NIKON D80
Date/time: 2009-03-15 07:50:12
Shutter speed: 1/320 sec
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Skylight filter.
F-stop: f/13
ISO: 400
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Did not fire
Focal length: 20 mm
Lens: 18.0-70.0 mm


Maciek.