The San Lorenzo in Damaso is one of several churches in Rome dedicated to the third century deacon and martyr Saint Lawrence. Other churches in the city seem to be connected to episodes in his life. For instance, the San Lorenzo in Fonte was built on the alleged spot where…
The San Lorenzo is Fonte is an attractive little church that can be found in the Via Urbana, at the intersection of that ancient street with the Via de’ Ciancaleoni. The church is hemmed in between a hostel for pilgrims on the left – the famous Ostello Marello – and…
Tiziano Vecelli (ca. 1488-1576) – known in the English-speaking world as Titian – was arguably one of the greatest Venetian painters of all time. When he died of the plague in 1576 and was laid to rest in a simple grave in the church of the Frari in Venice, he…
Although he considered himself first and foremost a sculptor, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was also an accomplished painter. Pope Julius II (1503-1513) commissioned him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, a project Michelangelo worked on between 1508 and 1512. The great artist later returned to this chapel…
It is the oldest object currently in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence: a crucifix that has been dated to ca. 1180-1200 and that is simply known as Cross no. 432. The painter is unknown and therefore usually just called the Master of Crucifix no. 432. The crucifix was painted on…
When I was little, I used to play a game called ‘Botticelli’. It is quite a simple game: someone has to think of a famous person, and then others have to guess who he or she is by asking questions. These questions can only be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’.…
I will not hide the fact that I consider Giotto di Bondone (ca. 1266-1337) one of the greatest painters of all time. Giotto broke with Byzantine formalism and rigidness and started painting people as people again, with natural forms, intricate details and brilliant colours. His year of birth is uncertain,…
The thirteenth century church of San Lorenzo in Vicenza is of course dedicated to Saint Lawrence the Deacon, martyred in 258 (more information here and here). The church and adjacent monastery have always been administered by members of the Franciscan Order. Now Saint Lawrence is not a typical Franciscan saint…
As the name suggests, the church of Santa Corona in Vicenza is named after the sacred crown of thorns that Jezus was forced to wear after his arrest and that was part of his Passion. The church possesses one of the thorns of this crown as a precious relic. It…
This short post is about a very special day of the year, 25 December. On this day, Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate Christmas everywhere in the world. On the internet, you will often find the claim that the date of 25 December derives from the ancient cult of Mithras, which…
De hier besproken dubbelbiografie van Maerten en Cornelis Tromp, vader en zoon, is alweer meer dan vijftien jaar oud. Het boek, geschreven door maritiem historicus Ronald Prud’homme van Reine, kwam in 2001 uit en is waarschijnlijk alleen nog maar als tweedehands exemplaar verkrijgbaar. De vraag kan dan ook gesteld worden…
The city of Vicenza was known as Vicetia during the Roman era. It seems to have been of relatively minor importance, but its cathedral goes back a long way. By the third century CE, Vicenza had a Christian community that made use of a Roman building from the first century.…
It is by far the most conspicuous building in all of Ferrara: the Palazzo dei Diamanti. Its northern and eastern facade are made up of over 8.000 blocks of pink and white marble in the shape of pyramids. The tips of the pyramids are either pointing up, forward or down…
Our visit to Ferrara in July 2017 not only introduced us to a city with an interesting history, but also to the Ferrarese dialect. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant called Cusina e Butega, which would be Cucina e Bottega in standard Italian (and Kitchen and Shop in English).…
The Castello Estense in the centre of Ferrara is arguably the city’s most famous building. Constructed primarily for defensive purposes towards the end of the fourteenth century, it later became the archetypal Italian Renaissance palace. Nowadays, its outward appearance is still quite impressive, but once inside, the castle feels rather…
The large church of Santa Maria in Vado is located just east of the historical centre of Ferrara. The word vado derives from Italian guado, which is a place where the river – in this case the Po – can be forded; in Dutch we say waden. The Po was…
We parked our car at a large parking lot on the Via Darsena in Ferrara. This car park has a name that sounds rather strange to people from the Netherlands: it is called Ex Mof. In Dutch, ‘mof’ is a rather derogatory term for a German, the Dutch equivalent of…
Waar we nu discussiëren over de voor- en nadelen van robots en nanotechnologie, bestond eind negentiende eeuw ook al aandacht voor de keerzijde van het moderne leven. In minder dan honderd jaar tijd was Nederland ingrijpend veranderd. Machines en industrie hadden welvaart gebracht, steden waren gegroeid, er reden treinen en…
De twaalfde aflevering van de IJzeren Eeuw neemt ons mee naar het noordwestelijkste puntje van de Indonesische archipel. Dat puntje heet Atjeh en het werd en wordt bewoond door een bevolking die al in de dertiende eeuw de Islam had omarmd. Hier werd vanaf 1873 een moeizame, maar door het…
De elfde aflevering van de IJzeren Eeuw is helemaal gewijd aan Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), de voorvechter van de ‘kleyne luyden’, de grondlegger van de confessionele politiek in Nederland, oprichter van de eerste Nederlandse politieke partij, oprichter van de Vrije Universiteit (VU) en dagblad De Standaard, strijder voor door de overheid…