My Favorite Paintings at Battistero, Padova (Padua), Italy

Next to the city Duomo, the Battistero (Baptistery) in Padova (Padua) contained amazing Fresco cycle by Giusto de Menabuoni, covering the circular wall and the dome.  Brilliant colors and striking composition. Definitely my favorite.



My second favorite work there a Polittico (Polyptych), which presented Madonna con Bambino and other saints in a tiered structure, resembling a gilded palazzo, formal, regal, and impressive, especially the interplay of brilliant blue, red and gold colors.




My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 114: To be continued
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 112: My Favorite Paintings at Basilica di Sant'Antonio, Padova (Padua), Italy

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

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My Favorite Paintings at Basilica di Sant'Antonio, Padova (Padua), Italy

The great Basilica di Sant'Antonio in Padua, famed for its relics of Saint Anthony, houses some wonderful artworks underneath its almost Byzantinesque domes.

My favorite of such was the great altar, which dazzled with brilliant blue, yellow, white, red, and gold hues.  A bit kitschy from distance, perhaps; but on the spot, I was quite easily transported by the mysterious shimmering light.



My second favorite was a fragmented mural, with cleanly delineated figures, animals and walled city, evoking the ideal of early Renaissance epoch - urbane, sophisticated, refined and pure.




My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 113: My Favoritate Paintings at Battistero, Padova (Padua), Italy
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 111: My Favorite Frescos at Cappella degli Scrovegni and Musei Civici degli Eremitani in Padova (Padua)

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

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"Intrude", Wonderful Rabbits Installation in San Francisco

Presented by San Francisco Arts Commission, five exhilarating gigantic white rabbits installation, titled Intrude by Australian artist Amanda Parer, boldly occupied the Civic Plaza of San Francisco, right in front of the City Hall.

According to the curator's note, "Parer's edgy and ephemeral artworks explore the natural world, its fragility and our role within it."

"To the artist, rabbits are animals of contradiction. While they often connote a furry innocence, rabbits are considered an invasive pest in artist's native Australia...  Through Intrude, Parer hopes people will thoughtfully consider how humans can change and dominate the environment.

I was utterly enchanted by those artifacts of "Nylon 210D, air blowers, 55w LED floodlights" and failed to pay any attention of the underlying questions intended to probe.

The show ends on April 25th, 2016.  Catch them, if you can!








Intrude (2014) by Amanda Parer, SF Civic Center




























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My Favorite Frescos at Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova (Padua)

Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova (Padua), Italy, boasts a thrilling fresco cycle by Giotto, whose works were so delicate, that the viewers were limited to 10- to 20-minutes guided tours, and could only enter the chapel after a 15-minutes temperature and moisture modulation sessions.

That cycle was simply breathtaking - enormous scope, brilliant colors, remarkable compositions, "modern" technique of rendering volumes and understanding of human anatomy and perspectives, and above all, exotic and even bizarre visual symbols, not all of them could be understood readily by modern casual viewers, though that fault could hardly dampen visitors' collective awe.

One of my favorite was the Final Judgement Scene - restrained and classical, without baroque sentimental exaggeration of the later period.  Giotto captured the essence of human conditions which were almost primordial and touching in its piety and simplicity.


Final Judgement

My second favorite depicted the scene of the Kiss of Judas — menacing yet becalming, with its ritualistic violence cloaked/contained in stylized manners, simultaneously timelessly still and dynamic. Unique and unforgettable.


Kiss of Judas (Lower)

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 112: My Favorite Paintings at Basilica di Sant'Antonio, Padova (Padua), Italy
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 110: My Favorite Sculptures at Musei Civici degli Eremitani, Padova (Padua)

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Famed Palaces and Houses (Ca') in Venice
- Two Museums in Venice - Gallerie dell'Accademia & Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
- Magical Piazza San Marco in Venice
- Liaoning (Proving) Museum in Shenyang
- Last Chance to See Terracotta Warriors in San Francisco Asian Art Museum
- Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin