![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer in the hills
Jun. 4th, 2002 05:26 pmtoday we took a trip to Orvieto, a small town on top of a mountain in Umbria. the trip up north made my ears pop like crazy, even on the train, and then we had to ride a tiny funicular car up the side of the mountain. it went slow like the ascent of a roller coaster, and i thought my acrophobia would kick in. luckily it didn't.
The most important church in Orvieto is called Il Duomo, and it is zebra striped in the gothic northern style, with a gorgeous gilt and colored facade decorated with iron doors in between marble bas-relief that illustrate scenes from Dante's Divine Commedia. When we entered, small echoes bounced off the striped faded insides.
Going into the Signorelli chapel to the right of the church, the light hit me like the golden arrows that violate Santa Teresa. I stared, jaw gaping wide, fish style at its breathtaking grandeur. The arching vaulted ceiling is all gilt and serene colour done by Fra Angelico, but the frescoes by Signorelli beneath them on the walls left me awestruck. The end of the world is one subject, decorated with the black sun and red moon of revelation while behind the screaming people, floods rage and ships battle. Angels shoot beams of red fiery light out at the masses. It's exactly like a medieval version of Star Wars. Next to that, the devil whispers secrets into the ear of the antichrist, while Signorelli and Fra Angelico themselves bear witness dressed in curate black, as does Dante. Across the chapel, hell awaits with armored angels flying guard, and multicolored beautiful devils break the necks of nude sinners. Heaven is filled with naked people, moving, muscled with slight modesty drapes. And next to hell, Gabriel's trump sounds while laughing chattering skeletons arise and recover their bodies. You can see the wind rising in the painting.
The main part of the church was decorated with celtic knotwork, which made me feel good somehow in the great silent spaces of the church. Orvieto itself is a quaint little picturesque town with beautiful hillside views, of which I took many photographs. We ate an enormous lunch in a little stone sided open air trattoria, and ended up spending far more money than we had planned to. i had wild boar stewed in wine (more of a slavic dish than italian, but something i'd always wanted to try) and excellent polenta, and we drank litres and litres of white wine, which Orvieto is deservedly famous for, and finished with cream pudding with strawberry sauce and frothy nougat with nuts and honey. i don't plan to eat again for the next couple of days, but we'll see how that goes...
And now, to settle back down to work!
The most important church in Orvieto is called Il Duomo, and it is zebra striped in the gothic northern style, with a gorgeous gilt and colored facade decorated with iron doors in between marble bas-relief that illustrate scenes from Dante's Divine Commedia. When we entered, small echoes bounced off the striped faded insides.
Going into the Signorelli chapel to the right of the church, the light hit me like the golden arrows that violate Santa Teresa. I stared, jaw gaping wide, fish style at its breathtaking grandeur. The arching vaulted ceiling is all gilt and serene colour done by Fra Angelico, but the frescoes by Signorelli beneath them on the walls left me awestruck. The end of the world is one subject, decorated with the black sun and red moon of revelation while behind the screaming people, floods rage and ships battle. Angels shoot beams of red fiery light out at the masses. It's exactly like a medieval version of Star Wars. Next to that, the devil whispers secrets into the ear of the antichrist, while Signorelli and Fra Angelico themselves bear witness dressed in curate black, as does Dante. Across the chapel, hell awaits with armored angels flying guard, and multicolored beautiful devils break the necks of nude sinners. Heaven is filled with naked people, moving, muscled with slight modesty drapes. And next to hell, Gabriel's trump sounds while laughing chattering skeletons arise and recover their bodies. You can see the wind rising in the painting.
The main part of the church was decorated with celtic knotwork, which made me feel good somehow in the great silent spaces of the church. Orvieto itself is a quaint little picturesque town with beautiful hillside views, of which I took many photographs. We ate an enormous lunch in a little stone sided open air trattoria, and ended up spending far more money than we had planned to. i had wild boar stewed in wine (more of a slavic dish than italian, but something i'd always wanted to try) and excellent polenta, and we drank litres and litres of white wine, which Orvieto is deservedly famous for, and finished with cream pudding with strawberry sauce and frothy nougat with nuts and honey. i don't plan to eat again for the next couple of days, but we'll see how that goes...
And now, to settle back down to work!