Christmas in Viterbo with Sebastiano del Piombo

Another reason to visit the city of Viterbo during the Christmas -New Year's period is the  special exhibit of two enormous  Sebastiano del Piombo  paintings. 
The exhibit is open daily until  7 p.m.  free of charge and is a good chance  to  see the  interior of the   magnificent Palazzo dei Priori with its frescoed rooms.  The paintings  are usually kept in the city's Civic Museum  which has been closed  for over a year now due to structural problems. 

La Pietà 

The nocturnal Pietà  was painted  between 1513 and 1516 following designs  by Michelangelo who also did the   carboncino sketches, a face and a full figure, visible on the painting's retro. 
In the background  are the hot baths  that Viterbo was (and still is)  known for . 
The masculine  Madonna  is probably  one of the  most unusual  portraits of Mary  ever done. The painting  is full of esoteric, mysterious   symbols  which have been well explained  by Andrea Alessi in his  book Dante, Sebastiano e Michelangelo  -L'Inferno nella Pietà di Viterbo  (Electa, 2007).

The Flagellation 

The Flagellation  of Christ, completed by Sebastiano del Piombo  in 1525, was also comissioned by Giovanni Botonti for  a church of Viterbo and also  based on sketches of Michelangelo who did a similar one for the chapel of San Pietro in Montorio in Rome.  

Palazzo dei Priori, Viterbo's city hall

entrance  to the City Hall's Sala Regia 

The entrance to the  exhibit is  through this doorway. Note the coat of arms of Pope Julius II  della Rovere, the reigning pope  under whom Michelangelo and Sebastiano del Piombo  both worked.   

As you go up to the main floor, piano nobile,  you will be able to visit the palazzo's  former chapel,  which until now has been  closed to the public. 

 It  has beautiful stucco work, gilded ceilings and frescoes.  The model of Santa Rosa,  set up in the center of the room, is the pinnacle of the Macchina di Santa Rosa.
There are several blog posts  to help you  find out more about  Santa Rosa and Viterbo,  just use the search  bar at the top of the blog page. 

frescoed  chapel 

Santa Rosa  statue 

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Night time visit to Villa Lante, Bagnaia

                         

Villa Lante by night , F. Pignatale 

Here is a sneak preview of  my newest book Etruria Storie e Segreti, with photos from two of the contributors:  Francesco Pignatale and John Ferro Sims.   Thanks to Francesco's night time photos we get a rare peek inside  one of the palazzine of the Villa  which is furnished with  antiques and  has frescoed rooms and ceilings. 

elegant interiors of Palazzina Gambara , Villa Lante 

 They were shot  during an evening visit  to  the gardens of  Villa Lante in Bagnaia, a suburb of Viterbo where the Renaissance cardinals Montalto, Gambara and Della Rovere  passed  their summer holidays. 

 Villa Lante  boasts  twin palaces,  magnificent fountains,  extensive  gardens and woodlands where once worldly  young  cardinals enjoyed gelato, doused visitors with trick fountains and  used trained dogs to hunt wild fowl  in the park. 

fountain of the 4 Moors, Villa Lante 

mossy  fountain figure at Villa Lante by English photographer John Ferro Sims  

Izumi  Otsuki Steingraber, who also contributed  to Etruria Storie e Segreti  tells  how the young  Japanese princes who  visited  here in 1575 were shocked by  this style of hunting. 

The manicured gardens of Villa Lante are  a  perfect  place for  a Sunday walk, especially in summer, even more so during one of the rare evening openings. And if you choose to visit on  a cold January day you might find  the   boxwood borders   covered with frost, like frosting on a cake.

One of the artists who worked on the villa's  frescoes was   Agostino Tassi,  the lover and husband of Artemesia Gentileschi.  Their fiery  relationship  has been preserved by judicial reports dating from 1612  and make  interesting reading even now, 400 years later. 

 

To find out more about Villa Lante and  Artemesia Gentileschi    check out Alexandra Lapierre’s biography Artemisa , the story of a battle for greatness.   Signed copies of Etruria Storie e Segreti can be ordered directly from my website  here.  

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Art and Artisans in Viterbo and Vignanello

Photo by F. Pignatale 

This weekend   everyone in the province of Viterbo  is celebrating  the  entrance of the Macchina di Santa Rosa   in to the   UNESCO heritage   list, which I wrote about  last week. 

 It is  a sunny weekend with   the olive harvest finished and people are looking ahead to the holidays: thus  there are Christmas fairs and  fairs celebrating  the local olive oil in just about  every town. 

This morning  we drove over  to Vignanello  to check out the  art and artisans fair being hosted by Donna Giada Ruspoli in the family castle.  

 I have a video clip of our visit,  you can see it on youtube   Ruspoli Castle, Vignanello.  Also  on Facebook...but for some unknown reason, today  it won't load  on  the blog page. 

Mary Jane Cryan

about an hour ago via YouTube

• A visit to Ruspoli Castle to see the hidden corners, the pre-Christmas fair

  

  Ruspoli castle Vignanello

  Caricato da Mary Jane

  Christmas fair Dec.7 & 8

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-XhjxDsyrk http://youtu.be/Y-XhjxDsyrk

  
Also  happening in Viterbo during this weekend:  the Chamber of Commerce  fair  in  the historic center .  

UNESCO and Viterbo's Santa Rosa Festival

This weekend  I attended an evening  with the promoters of the  UNESCO  project  held inside the Museum of  Viterbo's   cathedral or Duomo. 

Walking through San Pellegrino quarter  I noticed the Christmas lights were already  ablaze, adding a lovely blue hue to the  ancient peperino  stone walls and buildings.

  Roman candles lit the entrance of the Museum of the Duomo creating a  romantic aura. As I walked to the conference room  my iPad camera caught a few special objects along the way. 

entering the Museo del Colle del Duomo 

a capital  from medieval column , Museo del Duomo 

Diana of Ephesus statue in the Museo del Duomo

Santa Rosa,  Museo del Duomo, Viterbo 

Poems were read, the Bishop spoke and those present  wished the committee safe travels to Baku in Azherbijan where, on December  5^th , the decision of the commission will be made  during the UNESCO  sites  annual meeting.   

 In the past 5 years  Italian nominees  accepted  include  lute making in Cremona, Sardinian pastoral songs and the  Mediterranean diet.

Porters of S. Rosa (photo F. Pignatale) 

       

Few outside of Viterbo  know that back in  2010 the city  joined  forces with the towns of Nola, Sassari and Palmi  (Gubbio declined, wanting to do it on their own ) to enter the competition hoping  to  have their  shoulder borne processional structures declared  as objects of intangible heritage by  UNESCO.

Partnering with Viterbo’s Macchina di Santa Rosa in the competition are:

-The "Gigli di Nola"  a  procession of eight obelisks made of wood and papier mâché  in honor of Sant Paolino, representing  the boat which brought the Saint to land.

the Macchina turns a corner (photo F. Pignatale) 

-The "Varia di Palmi", a complex processional structure carried in honor of Our Lady of the Holy Letter.

-The "Candelieri" in Sassari, Sardinia, wooden obelisks which make a  choreographic performance dedicated to the Virgin.

Each celebration  promotes  intense cultural activity that allows citizens to get in touch with all the nuances of the intangible heritage.  Children also are involved in the transmission activities and  in the case of Viterbo’s mini macchine,  carry  smaller processional structures on their shoulders.

  

On the contrary, the well known Venice Carnival and Palio di Siena both  failed to meet the  UNESCO’s strict  guidelines.

Stay tuned for the verdict  to be given on December  5th.  

A positive  verdict  will give lustre to the  centuries-old  festival and hopefully  increase tourism in this ancient, medieval city. 
See  also   this post to learn more about the festival.  
See how to become a porter of Santa Rosa   here:  interview with the  President  Massimo Mecarini. 

Vetralla - crows of Norchia

This video  shows what happens every evening as the jackdaws fly towards the setting sun to roost for the night at   the hidden Etruscan site of Norchia,  in the Vetralla countryside.
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Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends !
Mary Jane

Vetralla il Riguardo Christmas baskets

Viterbo - pastry shop

Here is  a special place  to visit next time you come to Viterbo.