Medieval History
From the espresso-serving waiters to the floor of the Uffizi, Florence residents are hotly debating a suggestion by the mayor that the city should take over where Michelangelo left off five centuries ago and complete a façade for the famous San Lorenzo Basilica.
The great artist was commissioned in 1515 by Pope Leo X to build the front of the ornate church ? one of the oldest in Florence ? out of white marble from Carrara. But when the financial strain of buying and hauling the huge chunks of rock from northern Tuscany became apparent, the pope abandoned the project and assigned Michelangelo to work on another part of the church.
Construction on the façade was never initiated. A few sketches and a wood model are all that remain of Michelangelo?s 500-year-old plans.
Click here to read this article from the Toronto Star
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Medieval History
500 years later, Michelangelo?s ?greatest work of art? may be completed
From the espresso-serving waiters to the floor of the Uffizi, Florence residents are hotly debating a suggestion by the mayor that the city should take over where Michelangelo left off five centuries ago and complete a façade for the famous San Lorenzo Basilica.
The great artist was commissioned in 1515 by Pope Leo X to build the front of the ornate church ? one of the oldest in Florence ? out of white marble from Carrara. But when the financial strain of buying and hauling the huge chunks of rock from northern Tuscany became apparent, the pope abandoned the project and assigned Michelangelo to work on another part of the church.
Construction on the façade was never initiated. A few sketches and a wood model are all that remain of Michelangelo?s 500-year-old plans.
Click here to read this article from the Toronto Star
- 2,000-year-old Road Unearthed In Greece; Children?s Games Etched On Paving Stones
Archaeologists in Greece?s second-largest city have uncovered a 70-metre section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was the city?s main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. The marble-paved road was unearthed during excavations for Thessaloniki?s...
- Book Review: Dante In Love
Yeats said no face was more familiar to Western civilisation than Dante's, apart from that of Christ. Dante Alighieri is the greatest poet of Italy and he is also the one figure of the late medieval-renaissance period who bears comparison with the...
- More Antiquities Revealed By Thessaloniki Metro
A 4th-century A.D. chapel that may be the oldest Christian place of worship in Thessaloniki was discovered by archaeologists beneath an early Christian basilica, itself unearthed during construction of the Sintrivani metro station in the northern port...
- Long Lost Michelangelo Sculpture Found
A sandstone sculpture of a kneeling man sharpening a knife could be a long forgotten work by Michelangelo, according to an Italian scholar who has rediscovered the statue in a private collection. Measuring 111 centimeters (3.65 feet), the statue is now...
- Book Reproduces Famous Documents From The Vatican Secret Archives
With millions of documents filling almost 53 miles of shelf space, the Vatican Secret Archives obviously still hold some secrets. Despite the aura of mystery surrounding the archives, the Vatican actually encourages academics to research its holdings...