tuscany # 12-13 ~ if I were to return .... pt. 2
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 09:59AM 
Altar ~ Viliano / Tuscany • click to embiggen
Side altar ~ Arezzo / Tuscany • click to embiggenOnce again, if I were to return to Italy / Tuscany with specific intent to picture, another of the things I would seriously consider is a series of small Italian churches as found in the walled, hilltop Renaissance-era villages.
Without a doubt, the big churches (Duomos - aka, Cathedrals) are very impressive edifices in a very over-the-top display of adornment, majesty, and imposing size and scope kind of way. And, in many cases wherein their construction spanned 100s of years, they must have been the Catholic Church equivalent of the US depression era public works projects. When standing around (in or out) one of these Duomos, it is very difficult indeed to not appreciate how central, if not the center, they must have been - both literally and figuratively - to the lives of so many in that era.
That said, it's the small churches that push my buttons - unlike their bigger brethren, they have a sense of intimacy and, dare I say, a rather proletarian sensibility and utility.
In a very real sense, the big churches are all about looking up to the heavens (my neck got sore) and feeling as small as a pimple on an elephants ass. In those places, God's voice is large and booming. Pageantry and majesty rein.
The small churches, on the other hand, seem much more about simply getting right with the Lord - you feel like you could sit down with him and have a simple conversation. No pomp and circumstance, posers need not apply.
That said, the small churches churches give little or nothing way to their bigger counterparts when it comes to Art - the statuary / sculpture, frescoes, paintings and the like are of the first order, many created by some of the Renaissance masters and/or their students. In fact, many of those masters were toiling in the small towns of central and southern Tuscany before they were discovered and recruited into the big leagues by the Medici clan and relocated to Florence.
And here's the other thing I like about these churches - at least at the time of the year when we visited, which was not exactly off-season but certainly not peak season, we had these places all to ourselves. It was quiet and peaceful with plenty of time to stop, stare, and contemplate without the hustle and crowds of the big joints. One could sit (or kneel if one is overwhelmed by feelings of Catholicism lives past) and connect to the past and present zeitgeist that seems to seep from the walls.
FYI, the picture of the majestic side altar - I'll leave the main altar to your imagination - with the wedding ceremony is in the Duomo of Arezzo. The small church is in the tiny hilltop village of Viliano.
Reader Comments (2)
I like the feeling of the small altar as opposed to the larger side altar in the cathedral. Very personal vibe. Then again, lovely photo of it as well. I feel like I am there.
for some reason the left image really reminds me of Independence Hall in Philadelphia? Not what I think of, if I think of Italian churches.
http://asthebutterchurns.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/29/independence_hall_interior.jpg