Sunday, September 30, 2018

Italy 2018 – Vicenza to Varenna


A quick morning blast through some churches that are, by choice, not Palladian. First up, the Duomo of Vicenza. It's a big Gothic lump, with not too much going on on either the outside or inside. The apse hold a classical altar piece, its round arch inserted into the pointed gothic arch. Tho it's not resolved in an architectural sense, it does create that contrast that underscores the two attitudes, and these two particular expression: the clean, irregular geometry of the gothic against the regular, ornamented baroque. One particularly jarring display is of a shroud with a ghostly image of some do-gooder.

 

 

 

Out toward the big Roman gate, and a quick look at Palladio's incomplete Palazzo Porto Breganze; very interesting to see the use of the giant Composite order, and imagining the full seven-bay block. It would have been a real stunner. Very curious to inspect the unfinished edges of the unfinished building; obviously the left-hand edge has been left rough, with jagged brick, while the right-hand side, while not quite as rough, still has a very unfinished feel.

 

 

Next up is the church of San Lorenzo, another gothic church, though a bit more jazzy: lots of eye-catching bits, including an highly-ornamented portico. Inside, the structure is a series of crossed curves and horizontal arch-ties that move the eye upward. We find a small cloistered court on the side that is just enchanting, full of greenery and sculpture.


 

 

 

 

Finally, back on the Corso Andrea Palladio, we enter the Chiesa di San Gaetano Thiene. a classical sliver slotted into the streetscape. The architect has tried to give it some presence by stepping the facade back and up from the road.


The Interior is a mostly clean, moderately calm, poly-chromatic baroque look, that filters the morning sun in some really interesting ways.


 

 

Back to the hotel to pack and prepare for a short train trip to Varenna on Lake Como. We go back thru Milano Centrale and transfer, and wonder which side of the train might offer better views. At first we concede the lake, but the luggage situation forces us onto the right-hand side of the train, and it actually works out: it's misty, and you can't really see the lake from the train; but the mountains are come to life with the mist, and the views up are stupendous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving in Varenna; recommend you take the taxi from the station rather than trying to haul your wheelie thru the streets. The walled alley with the river rocks to Rotunda was only prologue to all the walkways here. The walking is crazy, but the place is magical.

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Italy 2018 – Montecchio Precalcino


We attend the wedding of friends from the Bay Area, but the bride grew up here about a half hour from Vicenza, in Montecchio Precalcino, in the foothills of the Dolomites. The service is in a lovely little church in the middle of town, Parrocchia di Montecchio Precalcino SS. Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia; the reception nearby in the Villa Cita.