Oh the History and the ART!

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After last night’s festivities we did get back to the hostel till after midnight we decided to sleep in this morning and head out at 11:00. We started our morning by heading to a little church that has Raphael’s first fresco ever. The fresco was spread across the entire wall behind what would have the church’s sanctuary. Raphael had begun to paint this fresco but then left Perugia before he completed it so his master, Perigino, finished it. It was obvious to tell the difference between the two painters because their style was so different. Raphael really had begun to out shine his master even back then. His work was so much more realistic and such wonderful colors and Perigino’s section was very flat. Raphael used so many different colors just in depicting human flesh his work becomes so much more realistic and emotional than Perigino’s.

After Raphael’s first fresco we headed over to the Etruscan well which was a major engineering feat when the Etruscan’s built it. The well has been the life blood of Perugia for centuries. I now lies 4.5 meters underneath the current city streets because buildings have been built upon other buildings. The well was pretty wet and slimy and cold but then again that’s what it’s like above ground right now too. It was pretty cool to think about how much history was built into that one well. That’s kinda how it is everywhere here though, every little shop or restaurant that we stop into has probably been there for several hundred years. Even our hostel has frescos on the ceiling in the lobby that date back to the 17th and 18th century.

After the Etruscan well we went to the palace of the priors on the other side of the fountain in the piazza which holds the National Gallery of Umbria. The National Gallery hosted A TON of Perugian artwork from the byzantine period all the way through the 18th century. The gallery showed a wonderful progression of painting style. There were a LOT of “Madonna and Child” paintings but it provided a good opportunity to compare how the same motif was depicted by different artists in different time periods. We got pretty good and identifying all of the different saints in these religious paintings. Dr. Lees said that we all were started to get a little “Slap Happy” looking at all of this art when we started making funny comments about some of the paintings. We were all ready to sit down for a while by the time we made it all the way through the museum, although I definitely enjoyed all of the artwork!

We had some free time before supper where I went with a small group to do some more exploring of the city and grab some coffee. We had some really good Italian Coffee (which they serve in itty bitty little cups) and had some good discussion. Apparently in Italy they had different prices for coffee drinks depending on if you want to sit at a table or not. We were a little confused about how to “order a table” or not but ended up sitting and talking for a while.

For supper this evening I headed back to Dr. Lee’s friend Lucy’s restaurant for a 5 euro all-you-can-eat buffet. Come to find out it was a buy a $5 drink and get a meal free kinda deal which we found interesting. It was a good was to sample a bunch of different items. Dr. Lees got the VIP treatment when they showed up to eat. They got served plates of special food from the kitchen and buffet. Guess that’s what you get after bringing students there for 3 summers in a row!
Tomorrow we head to Gubio and get to see a festival where teams of guys race these things up a hill. I will get to learn more about it tomorrow. I’m hoping it doesn’t rain!!!!!

Chow!
Katelyn

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Photos

Dr. Lee the VIP
Dr. Lee got the special VIP treatment at Lucy's, guess that's what you get when you bring students 3 years in a row!