Art and nature at odds

Art and nature at odds

As one of the lowest-lying areas in Florence, the Santa Croce district bore the brunt of the dire flood that ravaged the city in November 1966, damaging innumerable art works, including several gems (now restored) that are currently exhibited in Santa Croce's refectory room, or Sala del Cenacolo. &

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Thu 13 Dec 2012 1:00 AM

As one of the lowest-lying areas in Florence, the Santa Croce district bore the brunt of the dire flood that ravaged the city in November 1966, damaging innumerable art works, including several gems (now restored) that are currently exhibited in Santa Croce’s refectory room, or Sala del Cenacolo.

 

Flood of Florence, 1966 | Photo by Avital Pinnick on Flickr

Flood of Florence, 1966 | Photo by Avital Pinnick on Flickr

 

Located on the right side of the basilica’s courtyard in one of six monastic buildings that make up the 112-year-old Museo dell’Opera di Santa Croce, the Sala del Cenacolo was used as a storeroom in the mid-1900s, holding works without a home. Today, one cannot help but be awestruck by the refectory’s beauty, its subtle lighting, the hushed voices of its guests and the eloquence of its masterpieces that speak volumes about the city’s history from the thirteenth to the twentieth century. Today, the venue is home to Cimabue’s thirteenth-century Crucifix, Taddeo Gaddi’s Last Supper and Bronzino’s striking Descent of Christ into Limbo.

 

Long thought to be lost in the flood, Bronzino’s work, a 4-meter panel made from various segments of wood, was rediscovered in 2003 and restored. It stands in the middle of the refectory with a brilliance that feels breathtakingly new. Likewise, as visitors view the Crucifix by Giotto’s master, Cimabue (1240-c.1302), it is hard to imagine the despair of rescue workers as they wallowed in the receding floodwaters, wielding tiny strainers as they attempted to capture the floating specks of paint they hoped could be reattached. As the plaque to the left of the Pazzi Chapel notes, the muddy, oil-tainted waters had risen to 16 feet in the church.

 

Celebrated for its physical accuracy and naturalistic effects, Cimabue’s Crucifix had been admired for centuries as one of the first works of Florentine art to emphasize the humanity of Christ. More than any other work, it became the symbol of the effects of the flood. The soaked wooden cross was so saturated with water that it swelled to four times its original size and suddenly weighed over 1,000 pounds. More than 60 percent of its paint was lost. The restoration technique employed proved highly controversial at the time: rather than resorting to the traditional practice of repainting its damaged sections, the lost colors were replaced with neutral colors meant to blend in with the overall tone of the original work.

 

On the end wall, the Last Supper of Taddeo Gaddi (1300-1366) was painted for Santa Croce’s refectory. Made in around 1335, it is the oldest surviving Last Supper in Florence and served as a prototype for all similar works produced thereafter. Seated around the table are Jesus and his Apostles; Judas is the only figure on the other side, opposite Christ. The godson of Giotto (1266-1337), Gaddi lived with him for 24 years, becoming his best pupil. In fact, in his Lives of the Artists Giorgio Vasari suggests that Gaddi ?surpassed his master in color’ while brilliantly emulating the technical achievements of his teacher. After the flood, the Last Supper fresco was masterfully removed from the wall as a single piece and restored to its present state, also using the neutral-color technique.

 

Above the Last Supper is Gaddi’s Tree of Life, the iconography of which derives from the writings of Saint Bonaventure, a medieval Franciscan philosopher.

 

The tree’s diagram was inspired by the saint’s thirteenth-century text, Lignum vitae, meant to aid the devout in conforming themselves to Christ by meditating the events of his life, passion, and glorification. The mystical tree is surrounded by four miracle scenes: the depiction of St. Francis’s stigmatization (top, upper left) and three holy events that take place at meals, including the penitential image of Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Christ (lower right). An interesting fact is that the frescoes were commissioned by the nun seen in the Last Supper, who is kneeling at the foot of the cross, behind St. Francis (her identity is unknown).

 

In the Giugni Chapel you will find Gaddi’s Life of the Virgin, which the artist painted in 1328, seven years before completing his Last Supper. Though Gaddi’s name is far less renowned than that of his godfather, visitors to Florence never leave the city without having seen his work as a distinguished architect. Taddeo Gaddi designed the Ponte Vecchio, as we know it today. He was also responsible for creating the Santa Trinita Bridge, further down the river, which was subsequently destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries, after floods and the bombings of World War II.

 

While in Santa Croce’s courtyard, look at the upper loggia: there you’ll see an interesting marble work by Félicie de Fauveau (1801-1886), commemorating Louise Favreau, a 17-year-old West Indian poet, whose parents originally commissioned the monument for the basilica’s Medici chapel. She was inspired by a poem Favreau wrote. Also damaged in the flood, this marble sculpture is currently undergoing maintenance to remove dirt, dust and accretions on the surface and within the pores of the marble to improve its aesthetic appeal.

 

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