jetjunkies

May 1, 2019 continued….

May 1st is Labor Day in Italy, a national holiday. Fortunately we are in the big city, so attractions and restaurants are still open. But, out in the country everything is closed down with few exceptions.

After lunch we moved on to the Duomo Museum. This museum was opened in 1953 to protect and display sculptures from the Duomo that are susceptible to the elements, or have had war damage and chemical degradation. Some of the marbles used can’t stand up to exhaust, soot and centuries of weather. There are also works on display that were in storage. They are building models and models of decorative items displayed in chronological ordered following the construction of the Duomo. The featured photo is of God the Father.

These wooden relief sculpture was carved as a preliminary study for the final stone or bronze sculpture.

The 1st sculpture below is of Eve. The 2nd photo shows, St. Helena with the cross (broken off) and I’m not sure about the men. The 3rd photo is of St. Agnes and number 4 is the face of God. The photo of the 5th sculpture I took just because of the sculpting of the arms and hands showing the veins in fine detail fascinated me.

Below are sculptural figures that were created by artist’s hoping to get work with the studio creating sculptures for the Duomo. They would be given a subject matter to render in competition for the work. If they won, the work would be prestigious and create financial stability for many years.

There was also a wooden 1/20th scale model of the entire exterior of the Duomo that took up a whole room by itself.

The photo above is of a medieval book encrusted with precious stones.

Totally exhausted we headed back to the hotel for a well deserved glass of wine and Campari Spritz.

May 2, 2019

Back to the Piazza di Duomo to the Museo Del Novecento. We had planned on going to the Prada Foundation Museum of Contemporary art, but decided that we’d be much more interested in 20th Century modern art. The majority of the artists displayed in the Novecento are Italian artists, many from the Lombardy region, which is where Milan resides.

This museum is very interesting and it was fascinating to become acquainted with Italian modern artists such as Marino Marini who painted ‘The panel-beater’s three daughters’ above.

These two paintings are by Gino Severini, La chahuteuse and Blue dancer.

The drinker, by Umberto Boccioni a very famous Italian artist from 1914. The drinker is slouched over the table dozing. This painting is moving away from impressionistic to cubism.

The red horse, by Umberto Boccioni.

Elasticity, by Umberto Boccioni in 1912. This shows a knight riding in from the right.

The Motor-bus, by Umberto Boccioni in 1913. Depicts a panorama viewed from a motor-bus traveling between Montemartre and Montrouge. On the right is a woman wearing a little white hat.

Women at the cafe, by Piero Marussig in 1924 is a sculptural style of painting with many elements of classical painting*.

Street landscape, by Ardengo Soffici in 1925 is of a symbolic town reminiscent of Tuscany and farmland around Florence.

Suzanne and I were up on the 5th Floor of the museum where there was a photo opportunity too good to pass up.

We had a lot of fun in the Environment displays in the museum. First we went into the very dark mirrored room, the mirrors revolved, which in the little bit of light was very disorienting. Then we walked through a strobe hall which made for some interesting images.

Then there was the room of moving lines of light.

Having squeezed all the fun out of the museum that we could, it was time for lunch. We’d noticed a street with lots of restaurants from the window and decided to head in that direction.

I had a really yummy tuna salad with fresh brined capers. They were much milder than what we buy in the jar. Suzanne had a bean and escarole soup that she said was very good.

There was a little street market going on when we were walking to lunch, so we shopped our way back to the taxi stand. There was vintage costume jewelry, watches, hats, purses, clothing, designer ties, toys and more.

Really liked this Betty Boop on a motorcycle.

Back to the hotel to pack up for a travel day tomorrow. Wish us luck with the Milan Central Railway station.