Journal articles on the topic 'Orsanmichele (Church : Florence, Italy)'

This paper constitutes an encompassing account of the Madonna of Orsanmichele in all its historical instances. As source of the first miracle ever recorded in the city state of Florence, in 1292, the Orsanmichele Madonna generated a cult that lasted centuries. Considering the extravagant artistic commissions on the site of the granary turned church, Orsanmichele became a place of religious worship, and, more importantly, grown into being equated with the political and spiritual identity of Florence. The panel b y Bernando Daddi and the tabernacle designed by Andrea Orcagna have generated, I argue, a parallel cult one revering the exquisite artistic draughtsman ship of the painting and that of its monumental shrine. In this paper I aim to present the dialogue be tween the Marian cult located at Orsanmichele, starting in the thirteenth century, and the artistic patronage prompted by the popularity of the miracle making image of the Virgin. My study represents a critical re visitation of the prominent book by Megan Holmes, The Miraculous Image in Renaissance Florence, published in 2013.

The confraternities of late-medieval Europe have been seen as associations which were in some ways almost independent of the Church, and drew their special dynamism from the fact that the parish was supposedly in decline and had ceased to provide an adequate religious service to the lay community. However true this may have been north of the Alps, the problem when this proposition is applied to southern Europe, and particularly Italy, is that very little is known about the late-medieval parish to ascertain whether confraternities were really syphoning off the adherence of the local inhabitants. So often our impressions about the state of the Italian church derive from the sporadic visitations of local bishops or the ribald stories of a Boccaccio or Franco Sacchetti, later repeated and taken almost at face value by such influential writers as Burkhardt. But we may also be in danger of seeing late-medieval religion filtered through sixteenth-century eyes and taking for granted the correctness of the criticisms of the Council of Trent or for that matter following Luther’s gripes that confraternities had become no more than beer-drinking clubs.

Of all the divisions and crises that the Catholic church endured in its first fifteen hundred years of existence, none was so destructive as the Great Schism (1378–1417). For forty years learned theologians and doctors of canon law argued over whether the pontiff residing in Rome or in Avignon was the true pope. The effects of the schism upon the highly organized administration of the church were disastrous, as were its effects upon society in general. Countless clerics fought over claims to benefices with appointees from the other obedience; the revenues of the church, quite impressive in the mid-fourteenth century, shrank precipitously; and opportunistic rulers especially in Italy did not hesitate to wage private wars under the banner of one or the other papacy, or to prey upon the actual holdings of the church.

Introduction. The article is aimed at studying the negotiations on the Greek-Latin Church Union at the Church Councils in Constance (1414–1418) and Basel (1431–1449), which were the predecessors of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1439) in this matter. Since they were generated by internal processes in the Latin West, they originally had not direct relationship to Byzantium. Methods and materials. The reason for the appeal of Councils to the problem of the Church Union should be sought in the field of Western international policy. It acted here as a tool for solving political problems by different actors. Analysis. At the Council of Constance the discussion of the Greek-Latin Union was initiated by Poland and Lithuania, who used it as a means of political propaganda against the Teutonic Order. The Council of Basel subsequently entered into direct negotiations with Byzantium. The reason for this was at first internecine strife in the Duchy of Lithuania, which interfered with Poland, the Teutonic Order and King Sigismund. The Council initiated consideration of the Church Union in order to support the Lithuanian Duke Švitrigaila in the struggle for the throne. As a result Byzantium was included also in the negotiations with the Council of Basel. But in 1435 Švitrigaila was defeated in the clash with Poland and its ally Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis. This defeat undermined the influence of Sigismund of Luxembourg at the Council of Basel. The King began his rapprochement with the Pope and Venice, and the Council of Basel was influenced by their political rivals, such as Milan and France. The theme of the Church Union at the Council became an instrument of struggle for political interests between these groups of political subjects. As a result, the struggle led to sharp disputes over the choice of the place for the Greek-Latin Council. The main options were Italy and French Avignon. The Byzantines chose the first option. But Byzantium was not the subject of the policy that created the situation of this choice. In the West this policy has led to significant changes. Results. The results of the negotiations on the Church Union at the Council of Basel displayed the fall of the role of imperial policy in the Latin West, which was represented by the King and Emperor Sigismund Luxembourg. The Empire was losing control of Italy. The result was the withdrawal of the papacy from its influence and the strengthening of Venice. Their union stood behind the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Outside Italy this Council has not received recognition.

The Orthodox view of the Catholic Church with its sacred buildings, rituals, and shrines was amply reflected in the Byzantine and Russian descriptions of the Council of Ferrara-Florence. It is possible to divide the existing sources into two groups with different attitude to Latin cultic practices. An ambiguous attitude of earlier descriptions may be related to the uneasiness of the majority of Orthodox towards Western religious art, the decoration of churches, and the peculiarities of ritual that appeared unusual and alien. The most prominent Byzantines, including the emperor and the patriarch, were prepared to the union, tolerated the Latin liturgy and worshipped at Latin shrines. Many Orthodox followed their example, though not without hesitation. The rigorists, who constituted a minority at the council, rejected the very idea of a religious reunification based on compromise, and considered it unacceptable to honour Latin shrines. The latter view had eventually prevailed both in Constantinople and in Moscow, leading to the emergence of highly polemical descriptions of the council. Their authors tried to conceal the interested attitude of many Orthodox delegates towards Catholic churches and liturgy, their reverence for Catholic icons and relics. On the contrary, confessional distinction was strictly imposed, leading to firm refusal to venerate Catholic shrines that belonged to the menacing heresy and dangerous heretics.

In the spring of 1376, Catherine, the uneducated daughter of a Sienese dyer, a simple lay Tertiary, traveled to Avignon in southern France. She wanted to speak directly with Pope Gregory XI about organizing a crusade, reforming the Catholic church, ending his war with Florence, and moving his court back to Rome. Her reputation for holiness and her orthodoxy gave her a hearing with the pope, and so her words had a measure of influence on him. Gregory did move to Rome in the fall of 1376, and he paid for her trip back to Italy. In 1377 he allowed her to lead a mission in the Sienese countryside: he wanted her presence there to help save souls and perhaps stimulate interest in a crusade. In 1378 he sent her to Florence as a peacemaker for the war between the Tuscan cities and the papacy. In late 1378 Gregory's successor Urban VI asked her to come to Rome to support his claim to the papacy against the schismatic Pope Clement VII. Finally in 1380, Catherine died in Rome, exhausted by all these endeavors.

Nursery has existed throughout history and it dates back to the very beginning of humankind. It was mentioned in church books and other written texts but not as a skill or science, but as an occupation reserved for the members of monastic orders, and also for women, that is, mothers, and nuns. First, nursing was an occupation, then a skill, but at the end of the 20th century, it became a scientific discipline. Florence Nightingale is certainly one of the most significant women in the history of nursing, medicine, and society in general because she is the pioneer of the nursing profession that has continuity up to nowadays. She was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy and died on August 13, 1910, in London. Florence Nightingale worked as a nurse, organizer, researcher, statistician, reformer, writer and a teacher. She reformed nursery and public health. In 1860, she established the school for nurses within St. Thomas' Hospital and she took care of every protégé. In spite of all obstacles, which she was faced with, and the unenviable position of women in the 19th century, she made a huge move that changed the context of this profession forever. She had a huge influence on the Swiss philanthropist Henry Dunant (1828-1910), who was the founder of the Red Cross. In 1867, the International Council of Nurses proclaimed that her birthday would be the International Nurses Day. She was the first woman who was awarded the Medal of virtues. In 1908, she was conferred the Order of Merit by King Edward. She wrote more than 200 books and the Pledge.

The article is an overview of documents stored in the fund 796 - the Office of the Synod. This is one of the most significant funds of the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA), which makes it possible to more fully study the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia. This article presents an analysis of only one inventory - 143 for 1862. This is the year of the first trip of F.M. Dostoevsky abroad. The trip lasted from June 7 to August 24, and during these months, along with many European cities, the writer will visit Turin, Florence, Milan, Venice. Italy occupies a special place in F.M. Dostoevsky. The writer visited this country three times, and each of the travels was significant in its own way for Fyodor Mikhailovich. But it should not be denied that the impressions received by the writer in other countries undoubtedly shaped his opinions, which were subsequently reflected in the series of essays "Winter Notes on Summer Impressions." Events and possible meetings of F.M. Dostoevsky with compatriots living abroad or traveling will become more understandable when studying archival documents.

Stainless steel, wood, conduit, black paint, speakers, sound. Photo by Jason Mandella, courtesy Sculpture Center, New York, and the artists Lovett/Codagnone, an artist team based in New York, have worked together since 1995 using photography, performance, video, sound, and installation. Their ongoing exploration of relations of power, as manifested in explicit cultural signifiers as well as clandestine or unconscious practices, investigates the way power comes to play within social structures (relationships, family) to focus on intimacy and the construction of desire. Recent solo exhibitions: Museo Marino Marini, Florence, 2012; LA><ART, Los Angeles, 2012; September Galerie, Berlin, 2011; Sculpture Center, New York, 2010; Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York, 2009; MoMA PS1, New York, 2007–2008. Their performances have been presented at the ICA Philadelphia (2010); Judson Memorial Church, New York (2010); and the ICA Boston (2007). Their work has been shown in galleries and museums in France, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands. Supplemental media related to this piece can be found at www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/suppl/10.1162/DRAM_a_00205

The Polish version of the article was published in “Roczniki Humanistyczne,” vol. 61 (2013), issue 4.
 Analysis of the mutual relations between the main intellectual and spiritual authority of the Plato Academy—Marsilio Ficino on the one hand, and Girolamo Savonarola, whose activity was a reaction to the secularization of de Medici times on the other, and a thorough study of their argument that turned into a ruthless struggle, are possible on the basis of selected sources and studies of the subject. The most significant are the following: Savonarola, Prediche e scritti; Guida Spirituale—Vita Christiana; Apologetico: indole e natura dell'arte poetica; De contempt mundi as well as Ficino’s letters and Apologia contra Savonarolam; and also Giovanni Pica della Mirandoli’s De hominis dignitate.
 The two adversaries’ mutual relations were both surprisingly similar and contradictory. They both came from families of court doctors, which gave them access to broad knowledge of man’s nature that was available to doctors at those times and let them grow up in the circles of sophisticated Renaissance elites. Ficino lived in de Medicis' residences in Florence, and Savonarola in the palace belonging to d’Este family in Ferrara. Ficino eagerly used the benefits of such a situation, whereas Savonarola became an implacable enemy of the oligarchy that limited the citizens’ freedom they had at that time, and a determined supporter of the republic, to whose revival in Florence he contributed a lot. This situated them in opposing political camps.
 They were similarly educated and had broad intellectual horizons. They left impressive works of literature concerned with the domain of spirituality, philosophy, religion, literature and arts, and their texts contain fewer contradictions than it could be supposed.
 Being priests, they aimed at defending the Christian religion. Ficino wanted to reconcile the religious doctrine with the world of ancient philosophy and in order to do this he did a formidable work to make a translation of Plato’s works. He wanted to fish souls in the intellectual net of Plato’s philosophy and to convert them. And it is here that they differed from each other. Savonarola’s attitude towards the antiquity was hostile; he struggled for the purity of the Christian doctrine and for the simplicity of its followers’ lives. He called upon people to repent and convert. He first of all noticed an urgent need to deeply reform the Church, which led him to an immediate conflict with Pope Alexander VI Borgia.
 In accordance with the spirit of the era, he was interested in astrology and prepared accurate horoscopes. Savonarola rejected astrology, and he believed that God, like in the past, sends prophets to the believers. His sermons, which had an immense impact on the listeners, were based on prophetic visions, especially ones concerning the future of Florence, Italy and the Church. His moral authority and his predictions that came true, were one of the reasons why his influence increased so much that after the fall of the House of Medici he could be considered an informal head of the Republic of Florence. It was then that he carried out the strict reforms, whose part were the famous “Bonfires of the Vanities.”
 Ficino only seemingly passively observed the preacher’s work. Nevertheless, over the years a conflict arose between the two great personalities. It had the character of political struggle. It was accompanied by a rivalry for intellectual and spiritual influence, as well as by a deepening mutual hostility. Ficino expressed it in Apologia contra Savonarolam written soon after Savonarola’s tragic death; the monk was executed according to Alexander VI Borgia’s judgment. The sensible neo-Platonist did not hesitate to thank the Pope for liberating Florence from Savonarola’s influence and he called his opponent a demon and the antichrist deceiving the believers.
 How deep must the conflict have been since it led Ficino to formulating his thoughts in this way, and how must it have divided Florence's community? The dispute between the leading moralizers of those times must have caused anxiety in their contemporaries. Both the antagonists died within a year, one after the other, and their ideas had impact even long after their deaths, finding their reflection in the next century’s thought and arts.

Abstract Scholarship on Saint Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan movement, established in the thirteenth century, surprisingly tends to ignore his response to a central message of the Church: that we must love and care for the needy among our human brethren. Jesus himself said so, nowhere more explicitly than in Matthew, chapter twenty-five. Yet Francis’s writings repeatedly manifest his familiarity with Matthew, including that chapter. Conditions in rapidly urbanizing parts of Europe during the late-medieval period such as Northern and Central Italy rendered Christ’s mandate to “love one another” especially pertinent. Charitable confraternities played a major role in mitigating human suffering during that transitional era, providing various types of assistance community-wide to disadvantaged neighbors. Archival documents confirm that such actions performed by members of the Misericordia Confraternity of Florence followed Christ’s declaration in Matthew 25 setting forth the Corporal Works of Mercy. Inscriptions and pictorial details in the Misericordia’s frescoed Allegory of Mercy of 1342 underscore this point. Other details within that painting signal a Franciscan influence upon, and presence within, the Misericordia Company, reflecting the existence of a robust Franciscan community in Florence comprising not only members of the First and Second Orders—the Friars Minor and Poor Clares, respectively—but also laypersons of the Third Order. Passages in the writings of Saint Francis and his early biographers indicate the importance that works of mercy had for the Poverello, the six named in Matthew and a seventh commonly added to that list. In particular, Francis’s experiences, pronouncements, and efforts in regard to the fourth and sixth works of mercy, clothing the naked and aiding prisoners, exemplify the charitable activities both encouraged by the saint and, almost certainly with his background, words, and deeds in mind, actually implemented by members of the Misericordia Confraternity, as articulated in their inspirational centerpiece, the Allegory of Mercy.

Bologna with its eldest university in Europe was an important point of Emperor Nicholas I’s grand tour of Italy in 1845. In Rome the tsar talked with the Pope on problems of inter-church relations, then the rest of the time in the eternal city and along the entire route (from Palermo to Naples, from Florence to Bologna and Venice) he showed himself as a prominent collector, patron of the arts, who adopted his parents love for Italian art. The tsar had a special reverence for the Bologna painting school, the Bolognese Baroque style, which, along with the Roman Baroque, was refl ected in his purchases for the New Hermitage. Only in Bologna he acquired the originals of classical painting (Guercino, Agostino Caracci). There he practically completed the formation of his famous collection of Italian neoclassical sculpture (C. Baruzzi) and ordered copies from the local Pinacoteca of such a high level that they, having partially reached our time, were honored to enter the GE painting collection. Russian monarch’s visit is commemorated only in Rome and Bologna by commemorative plaques, the fi rst of which is offi cial, and the second is an “ordinary” Bolognese marquis, who considered it an honor to visit his palace by the Russian tsar.

The article presents the results of an archival search for information regarding Sergey P. Koloshin, a publicist and the publisher of the <i>Zritel obschestvennoy zhizni, literatury i sporta</i> (<i>Spectator of public life, literature and sports</i>) magazine, who went bankrupt in 1863. In the 1860s, he lived in Italy, attempted to collaborate with the <i>Epokha</i> (<i>Epoch</i>) magazine, corresponded with the brothers M. M. and F. M. Dostoevskys, and died on November 27, 1868 in Florence. The discovered documents allow to clarify the time and circumstances of his death. The Russian Empire’s Foreign Policy Archive contains a file regarding the assignment of the transportation the body of the deceased to Milan for burial in the columbarium to Mikhail Orlov, the Archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Nicholas in Florence, who already performed the rite of blessing S. Koloshin. The latter was also entrusted with fulfilling the last will of the deceased, completing his settlements on this Earth, including those with the owner of his rented residence. Her receipt for money received indicates the address of Koloshin's residence in Milan, which is significant in connection with the search for his archive, which probably includes the letters of Dostoevsky. The article also introduces the encrypted telegrams of the Russian mission to Turin into scientific circulation for the first time. These telegrams are signed by the name Koloshin (Kolochine), and the authors suggest that they belong either to Sergey’s brother, Dmitry Pavlovich, junior secretary of the Russian mission in Brussels, or to Ivan Petrovich Koloshin, Resident Master of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, cousin of S. P. Koloshin. He could have also provided the documents from the personal archive of S. P. Koloshin, which likely included letters from Dostoevsky.

In 2005, during the composing of the Inventory of the Moveable Cultural Heritage of the Church and Monastery of St Francis of Assisi at Krk, three wooden statues were found in the attic. These had once belonged to a lavish Renaissance triptych at the centre of which was a figure of the Virgin (107 x 45 x 27 cm), flanked by the figures of St John the Baptist (c. 105 x 28 x 30 cm), an apostle with a book (c. 93 x 32 x 22 cm), and, in all likelihood, St James the Apostle. A trace of a small left foot in the Virgin’s lap indicates that the original composition was that of the Virgin and Child. It is highly likely that these statues originally belonged to the altar of St James which mentioned by Augustino Valier during his visitation of the Church of St Francis of Assisi in 1579 as having a pala honorifica . Harmonious proportions, fine modelling of the heads, beautifully and confidently carved drapery of the fabrics, together with almost classical gestures, all point to a good master carver who, in this case, sought inspiration in Venetian painting of the 1520s and 1530s. When attempting to find close parallels in the production of Venetian wood-carving workshops from the first half of the sixteenth century, without a doubt the best candidates are two signed statues from the workshop of Paolo Campsa de Boboti: the statue of the Risen Christ from the parish church of St Lawrence at Soave in Italy, dated to 1533, and the statue of the Virgin and Child in a private collection in Italy, dated to 1534. To these one can add a statue from the Gianfranco Luzzetti collection at Florence, which has been attributed to Campsa’s workshop. Judging from all the above, the statues from St Francis’ might be dated to the 1540s. In the parish church of Holy Trinity at Baška is a wooden triptych which, according to a nineteenth-century record, was inscribed with Campsa’s signature and the year 1514. When Bishop Stefanus David visited the Chapel of St Michael at Baška in 1685, he described in detail this wooden and carved palla on the main altar dedicated to St Michael, noting that the altar is under the patronage of the Papić family who had founded it and made considerable donations to it. The high altar in the Church of St Mary Magdalene at Porat, also on the island of Krk, has a polyptych attributed to Girolamo and Francesco da Santa Croce. Until now, it has been dated to 1556 - the year of the dedication of the altar and the church. However, more frequently than not, a number of years could pass between the furnishing of an altar and its dedication. With this in mind and having re-analyzed the paintings, the polyptych can be dated as early as the previous decade. Until now, the Renaissance statue of St Mary Magdalene (105 x 25 x 13 cm), originally part of an altar predella but today housed in the Monastery’s collection, was not discussed in the scholarly literature save for its iconography. Based on the morphological similarities between the statue of St Mary Magdalene and the three statues at Krk, it can be concluded that they were carved by the same master carver. Written sources inform us that after 1541 Paolo Campsa was no longer alive. Great differences between the works signed by Campsa have already been the subject of scholarly debate and it is known that due to high demand, his workshop included a number of highly skilled wood carvers. In the case of Krk, perhaps the master carver was an employee at Campsa’s workshop who outlived him and who, after its closure, went his own way and was considered good enough to be hired by fellow painters from the Santa Croce workshop. Installing a statue in a predella was a rare occurrence in sixteenth-century Croatia and Venice alike. Even in the case of Campsa. Reliefs were used more frequently. However, this arrangement was customary on contemporary flügelaltaren in the trans-Alpine north. It ought to be considered whether this northern altar design might provide a trail which would lead to a more specific location of a possible master carver.

The historical research of the illustrated Nuremberg Chronicle [Schedelsche Weltchronik (English: Schedel’s World Chronicle)] of Hartmann Schedel com­prises the complex historical knowledge about numerous woodcuts which pre­sent views of various cities important in the world’s history, e.g. Jerusalem, Constantinople, or the European ones such as: Rome, some Italian, German or Polish cities e.g. Wrocław and Cracow; some Hungarian and some Czech Republic cities. Researchers have made a serious study to recognize certain constructions in the woodcuts; they indicated the conservative and contractual architecture, the existing places and the unrealistic (non-existent) places. The results show that there is a common detail in all the views – the defensive wall round each of the described cities. However, in reality, it may not have existed in some cities during the lifetime of the authors of the woodcuts. As for some further details: behind the walls we can see feudal castles on the hills shown as strongholds. Within the defensive walls there are numerous buildings with many towers typical for the Middle Ages and true-to-life in certain ways of building the cities. Schematically drawn buildings surrounded by the ring of defensive walls indicate that the author used certain patterns based on the previously created panoramic views. This article is an attempt of making analogical comparisons of the cities in medieval painting. The Author of the article presents Roman mosaics and the miniature painting e.g. the ones created in the scriptorium in Reichenau. Since the beginning of 14th century Italian painters such as: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Giotto di Bondone, Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted parts of the cities or the entire monumental panoramas in various compositions and with various meanings. One defining rule in this painting concerned the definitions of the cities given by Saint Isidore of Seville, based on the rules which he knew from the antique tradition. These are: urbs – the cities full of architecture and buildings but uninhabited or civita – the city, the living space of the human life, build-up space, engaged according to the law, kind of work and social hierarchy. The tra­dition of both ways of describing the city is rooted in Italy. This article indicates the particular meaning of Italian painting in distributing the image of the city – as the votive offering. The research conducted by Chiara Frugoni and others indica­ted the meaning of the city images in the painting of various forms of panegyrics created in high praise of cities, known as laude (Lat.). We can find the examples of them rooted in the Roman tradition of mosaics, e.g. in San Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna. They present both palatium and civitas. The medieval Italian painting, especially the panel painting, presents the city structure models which are uninha­bited and deprived of any signs of everyday life. The models of cities – urbs, are presented as votive offerings devoted to their patron saints, especially to Virgin Mary. The city shaped as oval or sinusoidal rings surrounded by the defensive walls resembled a container filled with buildings. Only few of them reflected the existing cities and could mainly be identified thanks to the inscriptions. The most characteristic examples were: the fresco of Taddeo di Bartolo in Palazzo Publico in Siena, which presented the Dominican Order friar Ambrogio Sansedoni holding the model of his city – Siena, with its most recognizable building - the Cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. The same painter, referred to as the master painter of the views of the cities as the votive offerings, painted the Saint Antilla with the model of Montepulciano in the painting from 1401 for the Cathedral devoted to the Assumption of Mary in Montepulciano. In the painting made by T. di Bartolo, the bishop of the city of Gimignano, Saint Gimignano, presents the city in the shape of a round lens surrounded by defence walls with numerous church towers and the feudal headquarters characteristic for the city. His dummer of the city is pyramidally-structured, the hills are mounted on the steep slopes reflecting the analogy to the topography of the city. We can also find the texts of songs, laude (Lat.) and panegyrics created in honour of the cities and their rulers, e.g. the texts in honour of Milan, Bonvesin for La Riva, known in Europe at that time. The city – Arcadia (utopia) in the modern style. Hartman Schedel, as a bibliophile and a scholar, knew the texts of medieval writers and Italian art but, as an ambitious humanist, he could not disregard the latest, contemporary trends of Renaissance which were coming from Nuremberg and from Italian ci­ties. The views of Arcadia – the utopian city, were rapidly developing, as they were of great importance for the rich recipient in the beginning of the modern era overwhelmed by the early capitalism. It was then when the two opposites were combined – the shepherd and the knight, the Greek Arcadia with the medie­val city. The reception of Virgil’s Arcadia in the medieval literature and art was being developed again in the elite circles at the end of 15th century. The cultural meaning of the historical loci, the Greek places of the ancient history and the memory of Christianity constituted the essence of historicism in the Renaissance at the courts of the Comnenos and of the Palaiologos dynasty, which inspired the Renaissance of the Latin culture circle. The pastoral idleness concept came from Venice where Virgil’s books were published in print in 1470, the books of Ovid: Fasti and Metamorphoses were published in 1497 and Sannazaro’s Arcadia was published in 1502, previously distributed in his handwriting since 1480. Literature topics presented the historical works as memoria, both ancient and Christian, composed into the images. The city maps drawn by Hartmann Schedel, the doctor and humanist from Nurnberg, refer to the medieval images of urbs, the woodcuts with the cities, known to the author from the Italian painting of the greatest masters of the Trecenta period. As a humanist he knew the literature of the Renaissance of Florence and Venice with the Arcadian themes of both the Greek and the Roman tradition. The view of Constantinople in the context of the contemporary political situation, is presented in a series of monuments of architecture, with columns and defensive walls, which reminded of the history of the city from its greatest time of Constantine the Great, Justinian I and the Comnenus dynasty. Schedel’s work of art is the sum of the knowledge written down or painted. It is also the result of the experiments of new technology. It is possible that Schedel was inspired by the hymns, laude, written by Psellos in honour of Constantinople in his elaborate ecphrases as the panegyrics for the rulers of the Greek dynasty – the Macedonians. Already in that time, the Greek ideal of beauty was reborn, both in literature and in fine arts. The illustrated History of the World presented in Schedel’s woodcuts is given to the recipients who are educated and to those who are anonymous, in the spirit of the new anthropology. It results from the nature of the woodcut reproduc­tion, that is from the way of copying the same images. The artist must have strived to gain the recipients for his works as the woodcuts were created both in Latin and in German. The collected views were supposed to transfer historical, biblical and mythological knowledge in the new way of communication.

AbstractThe Digital Humanities project Florence As It Was (http://florenceasitwas.wlu.edu) seeks to reconstruct the architectural and decorative appearance of late Medieval and early Modern buildings by combining 3D point cloud models of buildings (i.e. extant structures such as chapels, churches, etc.) with 3D rendered models of artworks that were installed inside them during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This paper documents a novel bifurcated workflow that allows the construction of such integrated 3D models as well as an example case study of a church in Florence, Italy called Orsanmichele (https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/orsanmichele2.html). The key steps worked out in the optimized workflow include: (1) art historical research to identify the original artworks in each building, (2) the use of LiDAR scanners to obtain 3D data (along with associated color information) of the interiors and exteriors of buildings, (3) the use of high resolution photogrammetry of works of art (i.e. paintings and sculptures) which have been removed from those buildings and are now in public collections, (4) the generation of point clouds from the 3D data of the buildings and works of art, (5) the editing and cojoining of a textured polygon model of artworks with a reduced size (using novel algorithms) point cloud model of the buildings in an open-source software tool called Potree so that artworks can be embedded in their original architectural settings, and (6) the annotation of these models with scholarly art historical texts that present viewers immediate access to information, archival evidence, and historical descriptions of these spaces. The integrated point cloud and textured models of buildings and artworks, respectively, plus annotations are then published with Potree. This process has resulted in the development of highly accurate virtual reconstructions of key monuments from the Florentine Middle Ages and Renaissance (like the fourteenth century building of Orsanmichele and the multiple paintings that were once inside it) as they originally appeared. The goal of this project is to create virtual models for scholars and students to explore research questions while providing key information that may assist in generating new projects. Such models represent a significant tool to allow improved teaching of art and architectural history. Furthermore, since the assigned location of some of the historic artworks within these sites are not always firmly known, the virtual model allows users to experiment with potential arrangements of objects in and on the buildings they may have originally decorated.

Every continent has its unique beauty, and Europe isn’t an exception. Here you will find a variety of tourist destinations ranging from beaches, beautiful sceneries, cultural and art centers among others. It’s no wonder Europe has always been voted among the best continents to visit. So, if you are planning for a romantic getaway, cultural tour, family vacation, or a getaway with your friends, this content has something to offer and more in what you are looking for.
 However, with 51 countries and thousands of destinations to discover, narrowing down on a single destination can be overwhelming. We are here to make your decision easier with the following 5 places that will guarantee you a getaway of your lifetime.
 Tuscany, Italy
 There is no better way to tour Tuscany than taking a road trip. Plan to land in Florence and start your tour there as it is home to the largest airport. While there, you can visit the Uffizi Gallery and savor the art in the display or enjoy a beautiful view of the city from up the hill at Piazzale Michelangelo. After enjoying the city, start your journey to the countryside stopping at stunning sceneries to enjoy the sites. You can make your first stop in Lucca. Enjoy the breathtaking Piazza d’Anfiteatro and take a stroll along the tops of the city’s fortifying walls. After that, make other stops at Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena, Val d’Orcia, and Montepulciano to enjoy all that these spots have to offer; beautiful sceneries, food and get to taste the local wine before heading back to Florence.
 While you can move around using public transport, renting a car and driving yourself around offers a more convenient option. To do this, however, you would need to possess an international driver's license, a document that allows you to drive in a foreign city. Make sure you obtain one before leaving for your trip.
 Madeira, Portugal
 If you love nature, Madeira in Portugal is one of the best destinations for this. This place is full of flowers, trees, beaches, and unique landscapes that are home to birds and other incredible wildlife. If you are in for some amazing scenery, head to the Valley of the Nuns also known as Camara De Lobos, or to Miradouro das Flores viewpoint to enjoy the cliffs around. The geological formation of Pico de Ana Ferreira will not disappoint either. If you haven’t experienced black sandy beaches, Madeira Island has this to offer. You can head to Praia do Porto do Seixal to savor this and enjoy a swim or to the sea to search for dolphins. Of course, a nature trip wouldn’t be complete without a hike to a nature trail; head to Ribeiro Frio Natural park for some rugged mountains and forest experience.
 San Sebastian, Spain
 If you are looking for the best beach experience, this gem along the northern coastline of the Basque Country is your best bet. The famous La Concha Beach offers the best atmosphere to chill out or take a walk. You can also go surfing off Zurriola Beach or take a ferry to Santa Clara Island.
 Apart from the beaches, San Sebastian is surrounded by green hills and numerous historical and cultural attractions. You can dive into this after you are done enjoying the beach. A visit to the San Vicente Church, the oldest in San Sebastian, a tour around the cobbled streets of the Old Town, or a funicular ride up the top of Monte Igueldo will leave you mesmerized.
 Paris, France
 Paris is one of the most romantic cities in the world. If you have been looking for the best destination for your honeymoon, proposal, anniversary or your spouse’s birthday weekend, the City of Love is perfect for a romantic getaway. Sip a glass of champagne from the top of the famous Eiffel Tower overlooking the beautiful views of the city and wait for the dark to see the tower sparkle with numerous gold lights. You can also take a stroll or cycle around the city and linger at romantic spots such as the iron footbridge at the intersection of rue de la Grange aux Belles and Quai de Jemmapes to see the road bridge open to let canal boats through. Explore the city’s art galleries to savor romantic works or go boat riding in Bois de Boulogne and afterward head to Jardin Shakespeare through the woods to see flowers, plants, and trees in Shakespeare plays grow.
 Rotterdam, Netherlands
 With diverse cultures, Rotterdam is one of the best destinations for a cultural tour. Start your tour at The Markthal, a huge, horseshoe-shaped building that houses a gigantic food court. You will enjoy different local cuisines as you marvel at some of the largest artworks the planet has to offer. You can then take a stroll through Witte de Withestraat to enjoy contemporary art in galleries located along the street. Head to WORM to enjoy some concerts of the local music or to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO heritage site to witness 300 years old windmills that pump water from swamps. Complete the cultural experience by renting a suite in one of the city’s iconic buildings such as Hotel New York and enjoy beautiful views from there.
 Conclusion
 There you have it! Five European destinations that are bound to blow your mind away. You can determine the best time to visit the continent by considering the weather, your budget, and your personal preferences. If you want the best weather for hikes and adventurous activities, the summer that runs from June to August is the best time to visit. However, be prepared to pay more and deal with crowds. The rest of the months can be cheaper since they are off-peak seasons, but you might have to endure unfavorable weather.