March 2016 |
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Livingstone's flying fox, Bristol Zoo, 24th. Taken with the iPhone. Back in Tuscany between 16th-23rd. Hawfinches and swallows around Monterchi, and house martins in Florence. I took my new Fujifilm X70 camera - a retro-style compact camera with a sensor of the size used in some DSLRs. It was great. Photos from Arezzo, including Piero della Francesca's 'The History of the True Cross' frescos (finalised 1466) in the Basilica di San Francesco. Lucie lives near Monterchi, where Piero della Francesca's stunning Madonna del Parto (ca. 1460) - the pregnant Mary - is housed. We stayed in Florence between 21st-23rd. The church at Saint Maria Novella contains Masaccio's 'The Trinity' (ca.1427), the first work of art to show linear perspective, giving a remarkable perception of depth. Female blackcap in the garden on 8th. An eventful time in Italy between 24 Feb- 2 March. At the start of March there were chiffchaffs singing in and swallows moving through Tuscany. All photos with the iPhone. Arezzo in the evening sunshine. Assisi is made of a beautiful pink subasio limestone.
The Basilica di San Francesco is stunning. I was really interested in the Giotto frescos. Exorcism of the demons at Arezzo (ca. 1299), one of the first paintings to show depth and background. Shame that the demons are in part depicted as bats! Two days in Rome were marred by Lucie's handbag being robbed, but she did a wonderful citizen's arrest an hour later, and my photographs helped prove the robbery. Everything was found dumped eventually after a wonderful display of human generosity, and we were only 100 Euros worse off. The felon is going to the magistrate's court! |