Friday March 26: Last Suppers followed by lunch at Villa Rossa
During the Renaissance, the larger monastic orders were among the most important clients commissioning works of art for their churches, monasteries, and all buildings belonging to the religious communities. The rooms and halls where the monks worked, prayed, or ate together were decorated with images, which recalled the true faith, the foundation and history of their order, and the spiritual values, which they pursued. The favorite subject was the Last Supper, during which Christ initiated the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Together with SUF’s Elaine Ruffolo, you will see excellent examples of the Last Supper, as interpreted by different artists from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Begin at the cenacolo of Santo Spirito in the refectory of the basilica. This is one of Orcagna’s most poignant works and a prototype for 14th century works painted after the Black Death. Move on to Santa Maria del Foligno on Via Faenza to view a little known Last Super painted by Perugino at the beginning of the Renaisance. Visit nearby Sant’Apollonia, which was painted by Andrea del Castagno when he returned from Venice. Above it are scenes from the Passion of Christ. Finally, in the refectory of the monastery of San Salvi, once an insane asylum, see the Last Supper frescoed by Andrea del Sarto in 1526. It risked destruction during the siege of 1529 but was saved thanks to an agreement between Charles V and the Florentines by which the attacking troops were to avoid military operations in the area surrounding the church. Gather at the Villa Rossa for a lunch with director, Barbara Deimling. |
Monday, March 23-Tuesday, March 24: Conference at Palazzo della Signoria
A Transatlantic Dialogue on Migration
NYU and Syracuse University has organized an international two-day conference co-organized by Syracuse University in Florence and New York University with European University Institute and the Facolta’ di Legge and Scienze Politiche of the Universita’ di Firenze. Be a part of this outreach to the community of Florence and fellow teaching institutions in Florence. |
Wednesday, March 25: International Architecture Conference
Syracuse Architecture offers the theme of "Civic Space in Scattered Cities" to explore the possibilities of creating culturally significant forms in the urban hinterlands of Europe and North America. As the world’s cities continue to expand, with more than 50% of the current population urbanized, urban form becomes increasingly spotty and disconnected. Despite their greater size and productivity, cities generally have not made a corresponding investment in the public realm. The aesthetic, social, and environmental problems of low-density sprawl beg for attention. Three world-renowned architects and urbanists will present projects and strategies that address the spatial and social anomalies of the fragmented city.
Simultaneous translation to English and Italian will be offered. The symposium is co-sponsored by Syracuse University in Florence, Syracuse School of Architecture, and the Targetti Foundation. Co-curators are Lawrence Davis, Coordinator of SU Florence School of Architecture, SUF Professor Richard Ingersoll, and Pino Brugellis of the Targetti Foundation. The symposium will be held on March 25 at 2:30 p.m. in the Salone Brunelleschi of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, Piazza Santissima Annunziata, in Florence, Italy. |
Friday, April 17: Contemporary Art : A Visit to the Gori Collection
The Fattoria di Celle (Celle Farm) hosts the important collection of site-specific art that Giuliano Gori and his family began in the early 1980s. The property sits on a hill overlooking the central Tuscan plain. Here, selected international artists have created installations in the remarkable outdoor spaces of this romantic park and farmland as well as inside the historic villa and various farm buildings. You will travel to nearby Prato for lunch and then on to Celle to see some of the more than 60 completed installations on the farm. Learn about how the Gori collection’s initiative has founded a creative laboratory that continuously produces and experiments with various disciplines of contemporary art. For more than 40 years, Gori’s collection has developed through his acquaintances and friendships with artists striving to renew contemporary art. Some of the artists in the collection include Luciano Fabro, Alan Sonfist, Aiko Miyawaki, and Max Neuhaus. Note: depart from Villa Rossa at 9.00am ,travel is 45 minutes to the villa and will include a three-hour vigorous walk through wooded terrain; please wear appropriate walking shoes. |
Friday, May 29: Fresco Painting Workshop
Frescoes decorate the walls of churches, public buildings, and private palaces throughout Tuscany. Renaissance artists, in particular, favored the medium of fresco painting for decorating new buildings. The word fresco, meaning “fresh,” refers to the technique of painting onto a thin layer of damp, freshly laid plaster. Experience first-hand one of the oldest art techniques in the world. You will enter the studio of SUF’s professors Diane Kunzelman and Enzio Buzzegoli for a brief talk on the art of fresco painting and the basic materials used in the process. Then, guided by Diane and Ezio, you will try your hand at copying a fresco by one of the great Renaissance masters. Learn how to layer the fresco and how to apply color to wet plaster creating a unique work of art all your own. Note: You will be painting so please dress acordingly. |
Thursday, June 11 Garden party at Villa Rossa
Celebrate the beginning of summer with your fellow Patrons in
the lovely SUF garden. Enjoy music, aperitivi and antipasti with the Director and select faculty and staff. |
Thursday, September 17: Renaissance Sculpture: The Bargello and private Orsanmichele
During the Renaissance, the Bargello was used as a prison, and the exterior served as a “most-wanted” billboard: effigies of notorious criminals and Medici enemies were painted on its walls. Today, it houses the Museo Nazionale della Scultura, home to what is probably the finest collection of Renaissance sculpture in Italy. During this visit, patrons will have an exceptional opportunity to tour the Bargello with SUF’s professor Jane Zaloga as your expert guide. Michelangelo, Donatello, and Benvenuto Cellini are the preeminent masters here, and the concentration of masterworks is remarkable. For Renaissance art lovers, the Bargello is to sculpture what the Uffizi is to painting.
Continue the theme of Renaissance sculpture with a visit to Orsanmichele, once the granary for the city of Florence. The closed doors of Orsanmichele will be opened especially for SUF Patrons order to view the famous Early Renaissance works by such artists as Verrocchio, Ghiberti, and Donatello. |
Wednesday, October 28: Villa Gamberaia and I Tatti
By the 16th century, country villas became mansions on a princely scale. Designed to be integral parts of the land around them, the art of landscape gardening developed into a sophisticated study. Carefully laid out with geometric designs in topiary, terraces, pools, and streams, these miniature kingdoms continued to inspire a tasteful and opulent way of life well into the 19th century.
Villa Gamberaia, known as the garden of the princess, is one of the truly magical places in the world. The inspiration for architects, painters and authors for more than 400 years, Villa Gamberaia was originally a 14th-century farm at Settignano, but was transformed into a villa three centuries later. Many consider it the most beautiful private garden in Europe.Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, is devoted to the advanced study of the Italian Renaissance in all its aspects. The villa’s unique library contains approximately 130,000 volumes and an archive of more than 300,000 photographs and other visual materials. Some 120 works of Renaissance and oriental art are also distributed throughout the house. |
Friday December 4: Annual Graduate Symposium
The 2008 Florence Fellows will present their research on an art istory topic (TBA) at a public symposium held at the Villa Rossa on Friday afternoon. Gala reception follows. |
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Archive 2008 |
