My Favorite Paintings at Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale), Bologna

The Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale) in Bologna hosted a large museum with amazing art collections.  Among numerous interesting works, I found two portraits most engaging.

One was "Ritratto di vecchino (Portrait of an Old Man)" by Jacopo Robusti, known as Tintoretto.  This portrait presented a robust old man with a striking set of abundant white beard, contrasting and echoing the black cap atop his broad forehead.  The unwavering, penetrating, yet not-unkind gaze of this old man told all we needed to know about this steadfast character - a general? a statesman? or a successful seafaring merchant?  Whoever he might have been, he commanded our respect. A sliver of outside world at the edge of the painting indicated his adventures beyond the serenity of old age.


Ritratto di vecchino, Jacopo Robusti, detto il Tintoretto (1518-1594)

My second favorite was "Suntto per la testa di Gian Galeazzo (Sketch of the Head of Gian Galeazzo)" by Bologna's native son, Pelagio Palagi, whose fluid rendition of the melancholic young man captured his intelligence and sensitivity tenderly and economically. Even in this perhaps unfinished state, this portrait was just as full-bodies as any extra layers of paints and varnish could provide.


Suntto per la testa di Gian Galeazzo, Pelagio Palagi (1775-1860)


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 122: My Favorite Artworks at Duomo in Ferrara, Italy
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 120: My Favorite Artworks at Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano, Bologna


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

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale), Bologna
- My Favorite Artworks in Palazzo Ducale, Venezia (Doge Palace, Venice)
- My Favorite Artworks at Palazzo della Ragione, Padova (Padua), Italy
- Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna
- My Favorite Works at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Firenze, Italia
- My Favorite Paintings at Battistero, Padova (Padua), Italy

My Favorite Artworks at Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano, Bologna

Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano, the oldest church in Bologna, was very atmospherically evocative and romantic, and the many unique artefacts in its often darkish chambers added much allure. 

The artwork left the strongest impression on me was a small plate of relief on the exterior of its nave, featuring three primitive looking figures with haloed heads resembling astronauts' in headgear, and  stiffly raised hands sending signals of warning or blessing. The central figure, the only seated one, held a commanding upright staff with a cross top, which dissected the plate into two uneven parts, lending some dynamism to this restrained tableau. These rigid figures, perhaps Jesus and his disciples, in their strange garbs, along with their enormous and somewhat stunned eyes, formed a society beyond our worldly reach.



My second favorite was a fresco painting of some wild or domestic animals accented with some scrolls, like an early day almanac, whose pale inviting atmosphere, coloration, and the wonderful sense of continuity and unity were particularly appealing.




My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 121: My Favorite Paintings at Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale), Bologna
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 119: My Favorite Monuments at Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna

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

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano, Bologna
- My Favorite Artworks at Palazzo della Ragione, Padova (Padua), Italy
- My Favorite Altar and Fresco at Barmherzigenkirche, Graz
- My Favorite Paintings at Basilica di Sant'Antonio, Padova (Padua), Italy
- My Favorite Artworks at Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, Venezia
- My Favorite Frescoes at Santa Croce, Firenze
- My Favorite Artworks in San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains), Roma

My Favorite Monuments at Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna

Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio (The Palace of Archeology) in Bologna is a fantastical enclosed palatial building, whose corridors are adorned with numerous decorative emblems, all of them can be viewed as relief sculptures.



My favorite was a monument of a tower wrapped by a snake and topped by a huge cross. I didn't like stare at that animal and couldn't decipher the exact meaning of the symbol, other than it resembled a reverse caduceus; but it stood out in the pack.



My second favorite was a dark stele flanked by two semi-nude females at the base, and furthered augmented by some colorful small coats of arms in formation, and as a whole, they resembled fancy peahens.




My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 120: My Favorite Artworks at Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano, Bologna
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 118: My Favorite Paintings at Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italy

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

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna
- Two Museums in Venice - Gallerie dell'Accademia & Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
- Vasari Frescoes and Michelangeo Sculpture - My Favorite Works at Palazzo Vecchio, Firenz
- My Favorite Artworks at Palazzo della Ragione, Padova (Padua), Italy
- My Favorite Altar and Fresco at Barmherzigenkirche, Graz
- My Favorite Frescos at Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova (Padua)
- My Favorite Paintings in Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

My Favorite Paintings at Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italy

Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna

The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna (National Gallery of Bologna) boasts a vast array of paintings dating from 13th through 18th century, such as this glorious "Jesus Christ and the Good Thief" by Titian and his assistants. 


Gesù Cristo e il buon ladrone (Jesus Christ and the Good Thief), Tiziano Vecellio e aiuti (Titian and aid), c 1563

Yet, my favorite paintings in Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna are two panels from mid-15th century.  The circa 1435 piece "Paradiso e Inferno", a portal-shaped pentagon, presented a clearly contrasted two realms: colorful and buoyant paradise and somber and grim inferno.  In the middle of the pediment, haloed by red aureole, Virgin Mary, Jesus and the God formed an "eye", surrounded and supported further by numerous similarly radiant saints, in very decorative formations, which also attempted to observe rules of perspectives. The bottom third of the painting was more sparsely populated, dominated by an oversized demon, who was devouring condemned, directly below a serenading angel underneath the "eye", while other lost souls, scattered in earth trenches, being tortured and tormented by black-winged demons, systematically, methodically, and devoid of melodrama.


Paradiso e Inferno, Maestro dell'Avicenna, c 1435

My second favorite was also an allegorical piece, titled "Triumph of Fame, Triumph of Time", another 15th century piece with symmetrical composition.  The most striking aspect of the painting was its vivid colors - brilliant red, sensuous pink, and heavenly azzurro, accented by bone white figures of the Triumph and the stallions drawing her Apollonian chariot.

On the left half of the painting, many crowned personalities converged towards her - personifications of the tributes from Fame; the mirroring right side was populated by similar grandees representing different sectors of society, all in their venerable ages - the tributes from Time.

This painting was very visually enchanting and its enigmatic nature added more to its allure.


Trionlo della Fama, Trionlo della Tempo (Triumph of Fame, Triumph of Time), Zanobi di Benedetto di Caroccio degli Strozzi, c 1440-45


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 119: My Favorite Monuments at Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 117: My Favorite Sculptures at Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna, Italy

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

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Two Museums in Venice - Gallerie dell'Accademia & Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
- Vasari Frescoes and Michelangeo Sculpture - My Favorite Works at Palazzo Vecchio, Firenz
- My Favorite Artworks at Palazzo della Ragione, Padova (Padua), Italy
- My Favorite Altar and Fresco at Barmherzigenkirche, Graz
- My Favorite Frescos at Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova (Padua)
- My Favorite Paintings in Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

My Favorite Sculptures at Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna, Italy

Italian City Bologna itself is like an open museum, full of sculptures and monuments of distinction. I was quite impressed by several groups of sculptures around Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna, an old city portal and the surrounding park.



The two mirroring bronze relief sculptures at the base of the gate impressed with their incredible beautiful lines and their economic way of presenting something deeply disturbing and touching.





Inside the park, there were some marble high reliefs and one of them was particularly striking due to its unbridled dynamism of the figures, in contrast to the classical composition and austere patterns of the sea shell backdrop.




My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 118: My Favorite Paintings at Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italy

<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 116: My Favorite Artworks at San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna

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

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- My Favorite Sculpture at Punta della Dogana
- Two Museums in Venice - Gallerie dell'Accademia & Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
- Magical Piazza San Marco in Venice
- Castello Estense, Palazzo Municipale and Duomo in Ferrara
- Vasari Frescoes and Michelangeo Sculpture - My Favorite Works at Palazzo Vecchio, Firenz
- My Favorite Sculptures at Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Firenze, Italia
- My Favorite Sculpture and Painting at Church of Our Lady, Bruges
- Second Thoughts on the Sculpture "The Blind" by Lorado Taft
- My Favorite Sculptures at Museo Nazionale Romano, Roma

My Favorite Artworks at San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna

The richness and depth of artworks in numerous Italian churches, large or small, are astounding. Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore in Bologna was just one of those enchanted me in my 2012 trip to Italy.


Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna

I was very taken by one of its murals, depicting enthroned Virgin Mary, flanked by several martyr saints, underneath a pediment of resurrected Jesus.  The Virgin and most of the saints were in vivid blue and red colors, contrasting strongly to the paleness of Saint Sebastien and Jesus.


Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore

I also like very much a relief depicting a beheading scene - dramatic yet restrained, and much more moving because of that.


Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 117: My Favorite Sculptures at Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna, Italy
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 115: My Favorite Artworks at Palazzo della Ragione, Padova (Padua), Italy

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
- Castello Estense, Palazzo Municipale and Duomo in Ferrara
- My Favorite Sculptures at Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Florence)
- Vasari Frescoes and Michelangeo Sculpture - My Favorite Works at Palazzo Vecchio, Firenz

Bologna Wrap Up

Bologna had so much to offer that after having discussed its Art Gallery, Palazzo Comunale, its Cathedrals, its gates, arcades and towers, there were still more to it.  Finally, I'm zooming into the city center where two large piazzas met - Piazza Maggiore and Piazza del Nettuno.

Below was the pictures of the already mentioned Piazza Maggiore.  Facing the Basilica was Palazzo Re Enzo, which was built in thirteenth century.  We didn't have chance to explore it further other than walking in its arcade loggia.


Basilica di San Petronio (right) and Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita (domed building) viewed from Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale)


Piazza Maggiore - Palazzo Re Enzo (left), Torre Asinelli (middle) and Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita (domed building) viewed from Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale)


Palazzo Re Enzo


Arcade in Palazzo Re Enzo, Piazza Maggiore

It was a quite remarkable walk around the well preserved Piazza Maggiore area - a sense of time traveling was quite easily invoked and our eyes were quickly trained to ignore the modern inventions, such as bicycles, etc.


Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale)




Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale), Piazza Maggiore



There were many sculptures in Bologna, such as this sculpture of Luigi Galvani (September 1737 - 1798) (an Italian physician, physicist and philosopher who discovered bioelectricity), in Piazza Luigi Galvani, right behind Basilica di San Petronio:


Piazza Luigi Galvani

But no sculpture in Bologna could rival the impact and vividness of the Fountain of Neptune - Fontana del Nettuno, in Piazza del Nettuno, between Plazzo Re Enzo and Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale).  The modest-sized piazza was dominated by a lively and glorious fountain Fontana del Nettuno, which accentuated the otherwise slightly gloomy medieval looking square. The bronze God was so powerful and regal that one expected at any time this god might strike the ground with his mighty trident and cause gushes of water to inundate this plaza and the city altogether.  Thus, stay at a respectable distance and admire!


Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza del Nettuno, Bologna















If Piazza Maggiore was the heart of Bologna, its artery would be Via dell'Indipendenza, a beautiful boulevard lined with endless arcades of shops, and dotted with basilicas, ruins, monuments and sculptures, with noteworthy ones such as Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna, a ruin and park nearby, Garibaldi statue and  Cattedrale di San Pietro.


Via dell'Indipendenza


Via dell'Indipendenza


Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna




Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna


Ruins near Legambiente Bologna & Emilia Romagna in Bologna














Garibaldi statue along  Via dell'Indipendenza


Cattedrale di San Pietro, Via dell'Indipendenza


Cattedrale di San Pietro, Via dell'Indipendenza

Other memorable stops we made in Bologna included Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore, Teatro Comunale di Bologna (The Opera House), SS Ioseph et Ignatio DIC, and Chiesa Universitaria di San Sigismondo, and other public or private, religious or secular architectural gems.


Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna




Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore


Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore


Teatro Comunale di Bologna (The Opera House)












SS Ioseph et Ignatio DIC




Chiesa Universitaria di San Sigismondo















Then there was food.  Meals were delicious, markets were lovely and the pastries were dainty.  Nothing, however, topped the gelato shop, Gelateria Gianni, near Le due Torri, where they made gelati with olive oil.  One singlularly glorious flavor was the very best I ever had, aptly named as Inferno - white chocolate gelato with dipping cherry topping.  Every drop of the melting gelato generated a nuclear chain reaction in my stunned mouth.  Not to be missed.

The name of Inferno did trace back to the great Poet Dante, whose Divine Comedy, Inferno mentioned Garisenda, one of the famous Two Towers, together with the Asinelli Tower:

As when one sees the tower called Garisenda

from underneath its leaning side, and then a cloud

passes over and it seems to lean the more,

thus did Antaeus seem to my fixed gaze

as I watched him bend...

Divine Comedy, Inferno, XXXI, 136-140

Never can my eyes make amends to me --short

of going blind-- for their great fault,

that they gazed at the Garisenda tower

with its fine view, and --confound them!--

missed her, the worthiest of those

who are talked about.

Rime, VIII

Caffè Zamboni, between Le due Torri and Basilica Giacomo Maggiore, near Università


Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst: 
- Basilica di San Petronio and San Domenico in Bologna
- Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano, Bologna
- Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna
- Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale), Bologna
- Via Marchesana, Market near Albergo delle Drapperie, Bologna
- Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna
- Visiting Four Universities in Austria and Italy
- City of Padova (Padua), Italy
- A Guest Blog - "Amateur food porn from Austria and Italy"


Label: Italy, Austria and Italy Trip 2012