CategoriesActivity Blog Blog By umbriasi

The madman’s license in Gubbio

To feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland, a bit like the Hatter, we take you to Gubbio, one of the most beautiful medieval towns in Umbria, also known by the Roman name of Iguvium, rich in history, monuments, architectural works and … also famous for being known as the City of Fools!
Well as such, in the Gubbio city you can also take the Fool’s License complete with Parchment. Everything starts and revolves around the Bargello Fountain, built around the 16th century, located in front of Palazzo Bargello in the heart of the historic center of Gubbio and renowned for being the Fools’ Fountain! 

It all dates back to an ancient practice of 1880 and still in use today for the citizens of Gubbio but also for all the tourists traveling to Gubbio!
Attention! The Madmen’s license also requires requirements and is based on strict regulations:
1. It must be a genuine Eugubino to apply for the Madman’s License on your behalf
2. Pay a contribution to the Maggio Eugubino Association
3. Make 3 laps around the Fontana dei Matti in the presence of a genuine Eugubino Matto!
4. Being “baptized” by the spray of water from the Fontana dei Matti itself.

After passing the test, the same Association will grant you the Parchment of the Fool’s License written in medieval style.
The tradition of the Matti is linked to the laps, the “birate”, which take place around the main flagpole of Piazza Grande during the famous and folkloristic Ceri festival which is held every year on May 15th.

EUGUBINI, ROCKY CRAZY!
According to some geological studies, around the city they would have detected rocky conformations contaminated by a highly toxic chemical substance, iridium, which could in some way explain the “madness” of the Gubbio inhabitants.

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CategoriesActivity Blog Blog By umbriasi

UmbriaSì tells about “Il Perugino”

UmbriaSì racconta il Perugino, Il Meglio Maestro d'Italia


There has been great excitement in recent months in Umbria for the preparations for the great exhibition dedicated to Perugino the Divine Painter.
From 4 March the exhibition for the 500th anniversary of the death of Pietro Vannucci will be held in Perugia at the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria until 11 June, with the name “the Best Master of Italy” as defined in 1500 by Agostino Chigi, great art connoisseur and patron of his time.

Let’s retrace Perugino’s life together, his artistic works, to let you experience the art of the Divine Painter that echoes not only throughout Umbria and Italy, but throughout the world.

Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci
Born in 1448 in Città della Pieve and died in 1523 in Fontignano, from a wealthy and important family in the Umbrian political panorama; in fact Perugino’s father, Cristoforo di Pietro di Giovanni, held the position of Prior of Città della Pieve in 1459.
The name Vannucci, as the family was known, derives from the name of the great-grandfather, Giovanni, known by the diminutive of Vannuccio.

Many names that distinguished his art, production and fame beyond the definition of “Best Master of Italy”, of Divine Painter, as we read in the verses of the Painter Giovanni Santi, Raphael’s father, of whom he was master, and “Il Perugino” outside the regional borders. Perugia, in fact, was much better known and thriving from the point of view of artistic productions, compared to other Umbrian cities.

Pietro Vannucci, in his early twenties, began his artistic training in Città della Pieve, in the workshops of Sienese painters. In 1460 he was already recognized for his talent so much that he was an apprentice accompanist in Arezzo to Piero della Francesca. Ten years later, he frequented the most famous workshop in Florence, that of Andrea Verrocchio where the art of goldsmithing, sculpture and painting was practiced. The Florentine environment gave Pietro Vannucci the opportunity to know and come into contact with other artists such as Botticcelli, Filippo Lippi and Leonardo.
In 1472 Perugino finished his apprenticeship and began his career as a painter after enrolling in the Compagnia di San Luca as a “painter“.

An important work of his lost, but testified by the payment made in his favour, was the commission of the decoration of the Great Hall of the Palazzo dei Priori by the Municipality of Perugia in 1475.

Perugino’s fame continues to grow and from 1478 he will be engaged in Rome, by will of Pope Sisti IV, for the decoration of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican first, and then the Sistine Chapel, with the famous scene of the “Delivery of the Keys” (in which a self-portrait of the Painter is visible). On this occasion he will come into contact with other painters such as Cosimo Rosselli, Bernardino di Betto Betti known as Pinturicchio and Luca Signorelli.

In 1493 he marries in Fiesole the woman who will be his great inspiring Muse for him, above all for the faces of the Madonnas he painted (such as the Madonna with Child and Madonna with Child between Saints John the Baptist and Sebastian), Chiara Fancelli, daughter of sculptor and architect Luca Fancelli, a pupil of Brunelleschi. From their marriage 5 children were born, and she decided to settle in Florence, also in consideration of the fact that the Divine Painter had his workshop in Florence, as well as in Perugia.
In 1498, the Divine Painter was called to fresco the Hall of the Collegio del Cambio (seat of the money changer) with the Cycle of the Virtues.
Since 1500, Perugino has dedicated himself to creating works in his native Umbria, evidenced by the presence of the typical features of the region such as rolling hills and landscapes full of greenery in Città della Pieve, his native land, but also Spello Foligno, Panicale, Trevi and Perugia.
The Divine Painter died in 1523 of the bubonic plague in Fontignano, and was buried under a tree. In 1925 his remains were found next to small pots of paint. In 1929 it was placed in the urn with the epigraph PETRVS-PERVSINVS-PICTOR and transferred to the church of Santa Maria dell’Annunziata, also in Fontignano, where Perugino was probably painting “The Madonna with Child” commissioned in 1521 by the confraternity of the Announced.


Credit photo:
Nation Gallery of Art

 

CategoriesActivity Blog Blog By greenconsulting

Big Bench in Umbria

The much discussed and loved “Giant Benches” have also arrived in Umbria with five installations respectively in Colle Umberto, Città di Castello, Bevagna, Preci and Montefalco. 

What exactly are Big Benches?

The Big Benches are installations, works of art that meet man, conceived and designed by the American architect Chris Bangle and his wife Catherine.
Giant benches on which it is possible to climb while admiring the panorama from another perspective, feeling like a child in front of the immensity of the beauty that life offers every day and that perhaps, caught up in the rhythms of everyday life, we forget. The Big Benches, a bit like the Little Prince, remind us that perhaps everything we need seems far away, big, difficult, if only we remember to look with our hearts.

Let’s see specifically how they are born
They were born in 2010 when the aforementioned architect and designer Chris Bangle, who moved to the Langhe, in Piedmont, decided to create the first oversized bench in Clavesana.
From the enthusiasm of many, a project ensued that was born as a non-profit and without public funding, aimed not only at bringing together art, nature and man, but also a concept of eco-sustainable tourism, installing the Big Benches in small or little-known villages, encouraging a flow of curiosity and tourism, supporting excellent craftsmanship and local communities.

Currently the benches built are 273 and 66 under construction, and the Big Bench Community Project has become a non-profit and non-profit foundation with the will, not only to expand the idea of the Big Bench as a project linked to tourism, the territory and to nature, even to donate the proceeds deriving from marketing and promotional actions to the
municipalities in which the Big Benches are located, with particular attention to schools or cultural institutions. The places of preference for these works of modern art accessible to all and shareable by all to arise are panoramic points, completely immersed in greenery, among lavender fields, vineyards and olive groves.

Who can build them?
Naturally the Big Benches are covered by copyright but Designer Chris provides the project and installation methods for free after making a request, presenting the place where the Big Bench is thought to be born, built without public funds but with voluntary donations , provided that nature, local communities are respected and above all they are a source of sustainability and cultural and relational exchange. Even the color is designed according to the place, in order to have an installation that is all one with nature, in complete harmony.

Passport of the bench tourist 
The Big Benches are a constantly expanding phenomenon, from Piedmont they have arrived in almost all of Italy and with some installations also abroad. This explains the collective sentiment that has been released in search of the Benches and above all the breathtaking landscapes: hence the need to create a “Passport” which is stamped every time the “Panchinista” tourist discovers, lives and shares the experience of Big Bench.
All the benches are naturally indicated on the official website or via a special free App.

The Big Benches in Umbria
A moment for yourself, but also to share, to admire the landscape, listen to nature, live an experience sitting on a Giant Bench.
The two Big Benches installed in Umbria, among the countryside and centuries-old olive groves, represent, together with all the others installed around Italy, a real quality tourist engine and a symbol of landscape, craftsmanship, food and wine and cultural excellence.