Dog Art Today

Tag: Florence

  • Brava Firenze! Dogs Allowed (almost) Everywhere Now!

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    Two Dogs by Jacopo Bassano, 1517-1592, Uffizi Gallery

    Pack your bags, Darby.  We’re going to Florence.  Well, actually, we’ll wait until June when a new law goes into effect that allows owners to take their dogs with them into art galleries, theaters, restaurants, cinemas, post offices, museums and beaches.  In fact, the only place, dogs (and all pets) will be banned from is The Teatro del Maggio Musicale, the Florence opera house. 

    The law, passed in order to "break down barriers that separate Man from his best friends," accomplishes what to me seemed impossible; it makes Florence, one of the most magical cities in the world, that much more spectacular!

    Here are a few dog art works that I thought Darby might enjoy on his Grand Tour.  I also know where to get the best four-cheese pizza and pistachio gelato he will go nuts for. 

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    Bull Mastiff, 1st century A.D., Uffizi Gallery

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    Adoration of the Magi by Gentile da Fabriano, 1423, Uffizi Gallery

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    Venus of Urbino by Titian, 1538, Uffizi Gallery

    Dogs, art, food, and beauty, Florence better be prepared for another Renaissance, the re-birth of dog lovers falling in love with their city again alongside their beloved pets.

    Read more about this brilliant legislation in Richard Owen’s TimesOnline.com article.

  • Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Magnificent Dog Art Tours the US

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    The Bark, the wonderful modern dog culture magazine, recently featured a story on Lorenzo Ghiberti’s famous bronze doors from Florence’s Baptistery that are now touring America – well not all the doors, but several panels that represent them.

    One of the panels depicts the story of Jacob and Esau and is compositionally centered on two dogs. Professor Amy Bloch of SUNY Albany proposes that the dogs represent the two brothers, one hairy (Esau) and one smooth-skinned (Jacob), who tricked his brother out of his inheritance.

     

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    The panels and part of the frieze, which took 27 years to make (1425-1452) and 25 years to restore, are on view now at The Art Institute of Chicago until October 14. Then, they travel to The Met from October 30 to January 13, before they return to Florence where they will be displayed in a hermetically sealed room at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.

    I lived in Florence from 1987-1988 and rode by these doors almost every day on my way to school. I confess I never noticed the dogs, but at that time I never noticed any dogs.  During my stay there, I was devoted to my bicycle and in a way, it was my first pet.   I named my bike  La Strada (“the road” in English and based on Fellini’s film), and though I wouldn’t say it had a personality, I was crazy about it and definitely emotionally attached. When my family came to visit my mother took this beautiful portrait:


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    My two sisters and I had an magical night riding through the dark streets of Florence together, stopping for gelato, and cruising through the spooky piazzas of lesser-known neighborhoods. 
    When my boyfriend came to visit, I rented him a bike for his birthday and we rode up into the hills for an adventure. He gave me a red bell for my bike as a parting gift. I still cherish that bell as a reminder of my time in Florence and my beloved bike. (And my boyfriend, who is still a great friend.)
    Anyway, here are some pictures I took from the Campanile next to the Baptistery:

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     Campanille_blog

     

    And here are some photos of me on my bike taken by my friend and roommate, Renée, who now lives in Milan and works for Corbis Photography.

     

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    Renée’s self-portrait in our apartment


    P.S. When I left Florence I found La Strada a nice home with a family to play with it. I think it had a good life, and maybe it’s still out there on “the road.”

    P.P.S. More dogs on Monday. I got a little carried away today.  Florence can do that to you.