In the Footsteps of Piero della Francesca: Meetup and the Maddalena

Piero della Francesca's import to pre-Renaissance art and how I became involved in a trip to walk in his footsteps have previously been detailed. Now for the journey.

What I will call Day 0 of the trip entailed traveling from one's source-location to Hotel Tiferno in Citta di Castello, said hotel serving the role of Expeditionary HQ. Most of the trip participants were coming in from England and were scheduled to travel together on a BA flight to Bologna and then by coach to Citta di Castello. I will come back to that later.

I had flown into Rome earlier in pursuit of some church-bound Caravaggio paintings and then had gone on to Siena to visit some of the city's famous art repositories. My trip to Città, therefore, originated in Siena. Citta di Castello is almost due east of Siena but, due to intervening mountains, public transportation between the two locations is both circuitous and time-consuming. After exploring a number of alternatives, I settled on the train between Siena and Arezzo and a private car (NCC) between Arezzo and Hotel Tiferno. This arrangement still necessitated going north to Florence and then southeast to Arezzo  but saved significant time over taking the train from Florence to Citta di Castello. The chart below shows the journey.

I left Siena early enough to get to Hotel Tiferno for a meet-and-greet scheduled for 6:30 pm. Unfortunately, BA cancelled the flight from Heathrow and the organizers had to scramble for alternate arrangements. Fortunately they were able to get everyone to the hotel; ragged, tired, and late though they were. The meet-and-greet was dispensed with and the group dinner started after 8:30 pm.

Day 1 began with a breakfast in the hotel dining room followed by a pre-trip lecture by Tour Tutor Agnes Crawford.

Agnes Crawford and Day 1 lecture

This was the only "day-of" lecture of the entire trip; all subsequent lectures were delivered on the evening of the day prior to the tour. The intent of the lecture was to provide insight into our destinations and the Piero piece(s) we would see once there.

Our Day 1 journey entailed travel to Arezzo to see Piero works at the Cathedral of San Donato and the Basilica of San Francesca. This was a return journey for me as I had traveled from Arezzo to Città on the preceding day. We boarded our coach filled with anticipation. Piero's footsteps loomed large ahead of us.

After about 45 minutes of travel, we arrived at Arezzo.

We were dropped off at the bottom of the hill and made our way to the Cathedral of San Donato. 

Cathedral of San Donato, Arezzo

This cathedral, dedicated to Saints Donatus and Peter, is the largest Christian building in Arezzo and can trace its roots all the way back to the end of the 13th century. The original Arezzo Cathedral had been built nearby over the burial place of Saint Donatus, Arezzo's patron saint. In the 13th century the Pope ordered that the cathedral be moved to its current location within the town walls. Construction began in the 13th century but was sporadic with the facade only completed at the beginning of the 20th century. Due to its extended period of construction, it is a blend of architectural styles. According to Audiala.com: "The Duomo di Arezzo, as it stands today, is not a pure representation of any single architectural style. Instead, it stands as a fascinating blend of Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance elements, each layer telling a story of the city's rich past. This fusion of styles, rather than creating a sense of disharmony, contributes to the Duomo's unique charm and visual appeal."

The Cathedral was beautifully appointed with stunning ceilings, stained-glass windows, and wall-mounted or frescoed paintings. 

But we were here to see Piero della Francesco's work: Santa Maria Maddalena.

Piero della Francesca,
  Santa Maria Maddalena, 1459

Piero was given the commission for this effort more or less at the same time that he was working on the final scenes of the cycle of the Legend of the True Cross. According to the accompanying literature:

The fresco, mentioned by Giorgio Vasari, is next to the vestry door and neatly hidden by the fourteenth-century cenotaph of Bishop Tarlati, which was moved here in 1783, destroying the ancient chapel. It was painted by Piero della Francesca before 1459, the year the great painter had probably completed the cycle of the Legend of the True Cross in the Church of Saint Francesco in Arezzo. The Magdalene is portrayed according to the ancient iconography, her long hair worn loose, while holding in her hand the container of ointments that she would then rub on Jesus' body in the Holy Sepulchre. The Saint, set within a classical-style Renaissance arch, embellished by an extremely elegant frieze, must have been represented on a blue background of which some traces remain, just as the gold of the halo has fallen off.

Not dissimilar to early 16th-century Venetian works, the painting relies on large patches of bright colors which are also rich in symbolism: green for hope; white for faith; and red for charity. The painterly skills of the artist are manifested in the shining light reflected on the glass container in the subject's hand and the strand by strand depiction of her hair on her shoulders. These reflect the attention to detail typical of the artist's mature works.

One source has described Magdalene's look as being "triumphant, rather than penitent" and as looking down at the viewer in a deep and expressive manner with her beauty being "elegant, almost transcendent."

According to centopassidalduomo.it, "Mary Magdalene ... portrayed in a state of deep reflection and spirituality, becomes an emblem of a beauty that transcends mere physical esthetics and succeds in reaching to the soul, demonstrating Piero's ability to fuse technical innovations with profound sensitivity."

A third source: "Piero della Francesca's "Maddalena" is recognized as an incredible masterpiece of the Renaissance, marking a crucial phase in the artistic and cultural revolution of that era ... the Fresco is positioned in a period of intense creative expression for artist, highlighting  a moment of synthesis between his investigations into perspective, the use of lighting and human portraiture."

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This was breathtaking. This piece was stunningly beautiful and had rested in this space, regally looking down at viewers, for almost 500 years. We needed a break to contemplate this before going on to see the Legend of the True Cross. A story that I will pick up on a subsequent post.