Friday, November 09, 2007

Parma - Il Piazza Duomo

The Lombard-Romanesque Duomo dominates the Piazza and the glorious Baptistry flanks it in wedding cake splendor. It seemed I was always there at the wrong time as both were closed when I showed up on the Saturday and Sunday. The interior frescoes of the Duomo and the stone carvings in the Baptistry are amongst the most important of their kind in Northern Italy. Again another reason to go back.

The DuomoTowers of the Duomo and BaptistryBaptistry from the PiazzaBaptistry EntranceTypaniumTypaniumFeeding the Cathedral BeastsStones for a stone lion Looking towards the Duomo
The young lady in the red jumper was fascinated by the stone lions guarding the Duomo entrance. She was worried that they were hungry and was, such is the logic of children, trying to feed one of them a stone.

Unfortunately the day was cloudy and no amount of PhotoShopying could get these photos any brighter without fading.

(photos taken) 27 ottobre - San Fiorenzo e 28 ottobre - SS Simone e Guida

6 comments:

more cowbell said...

"...flanks it in wedding cake splendor" Too good! Gorgeous pics. We just don't have that kind of history over here. And most anything we build these days will not be standing centuries later.

evilganome said...

Just gorgeous! Another reason to throw it all in and run away to Italy.

Doralong said...

It was worth the trip just to see the doors alone!

And the little cutie pie ;) Bless her little heart for trying to feed the crtiiers..

Anonymous said...

WOWZERS!
That is glorious. I seethe. I am seething with a jealous fit most unbecoming.

BigAssBelle said...

"feed it a stone" ~ how cute!! i'm not a fan of children, generally, but that's pretty sweet.

by the way, before i move on to the photos and your tour guide, did that little girl's papa have one of the flattest rear ends in existence? it just looks really, really flat . . . just sayin.

wow. amazing architecture. what beautiful buildings. imagine the time and the skill required to do that. i can't ever look at work like that without imagining the kind of world where one's life work might be the carving of stone panels for a church or public building, work that would last for centuries, possibly. given that, my own meager contributions to the world are of no account and have provided nothing lasting.

i envy carpenters and stonemasons and people who actually build things. oh well, off topic. but on topic: GORGEOUS.

Willym said...

It really is an gorgeous set of buildings and I'm told the frescos in the Doumo are amongst the finest in that area and the stone carvings in the Baptistry - particularly the Seasons are spectacular examples of the stone masons art. I recall that when they were recommencing work on St John the Devine in NYC they had to set up a stone masons apprentice system to teach young men the art as there were very few artisans left anywhere in the Western World. Interesting that the New World saw to the revival of the arts of the Old.

Lynette: Yep - ass was flat and he had that Belfast accent that I remember as a child - sounds like you've got a mouth full of mashed potatoes.