Peripatetic Charmander @blogmander - Tumblr Blog

Pulpit

View of Pulpit (and Paschal Candelabrum,) ca. 1224-59, cathedral of Sessa Aurunca

The pulpit in the cathedral of Sessa Aurunca is the largest and most ornate of the works created there by the thirteenth-century masters Pellegrino and Taddeo. Its basic form, an enclosed rectangular platform supported by columns, was fairly common during that century, but its elaborate decoration, carried out…

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#italy #medieval #mosaics #pulpit #sculpture

More corbels

(Because you can never have enough of them.)

Arched corbel table, Cathedral of St. James, Šibenik, Croatia

The arched corbel table* is without question one of my favorite architectural forms, especially when the corbels are sculpted with human or animal heads. I came across the example pictured above on a trip to Croatia a couple of years ago and found it interesting because I’d never seen one…

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#medieval #sculpture #travel

Not even fit for pigs

Opuntia ficus-indica, Campo di Pere, with Sessa Aurunca and Monte Massico in the distance

There are a few stories about prickly pears that the aunt liked to recount; all but one of them are about constipation, and that is the one that I will share with you.

When the aunt was young she was put in charge of her family’s farm. I’ve often wondered if it was then that she first began to develop her…

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#family #in-laws #the aunt

The cuteness of corbels

View of the nave, Sant’Ambrogio, Milan Pata leaned over and whispered in my ear, breaking the silence of the cool, dark basilica. ‘I like how they put an X up there,’ she said, pointing to the vault. ‘That’s the ribbing,’ I told her. ‘These are groin vaults. Look at my hands,’ I said, curving them into the shape of an arch. ‘If you put them together, you make a space that’s covered with a curved…

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#corbels #milan #Pata #Romanesque

Pigeon Parties

Pata loves pigeons. She doesn’t care that they are dirty or that they poop indiscriminately, she only notices their beady little eyes and rhythmic, head-bobbing gait. Last month we travelled to Milan and Venice, where she was excited to see them congregate in large groups. One of us, I can’t remember who, came up with the term ‘pigeon parties’ to describe the phenomenon, and it stuck. Soon after…

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#italy #milan #Pata #pigeons #seagulls #travel #venice

Before and After

A couple of months ago, I wandered through the historic center for the first time in very long time, perhaps as many as two years. I was astonished by what I saw. While in the intervening years Sessa had remained fixed and unchanging in my mind, there in the streets I found differences everywhere, both small and profound. Mostly they were signs of further deterioration, like centering built to…

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#italy #streetscape