Latest news with #Giotto
Daily Mirror
20-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
Beautiful city dubbed 'Venice's little sister' has barely any tourists
This gorgeous Italian city has been referred to as Venice's little sister, and it's the perfect getaway destination with stunning historical buildings, delicious Italian cuisine and more This breathtaking Italian city, often dubbed as Venice's little sister, is a treasure trove of historical architecture and an ideal spot for a long weekend getaway. Italy is renowned for its captivating city break destinations, but some can be overrun with tourists. Padua, nestled in the north of the country, offers a fantastic escape without the throngs of visitors. The city is a haven of Renaissance art, medieval marketplaces, and tranquil gardens, yet it has managed to stay relatively untouched by mass tourism. It's a highly underrated gem, brimming with arcaded streets and bustling piazza cafe-bars. Art enthusiasts can marvel at the Scrovengi Chapel, adorned with Biblical scenes painted by Renaissance artist Giotto in 1306. The artwork is so invaluable that visitors are only permitted a 15-minute viewing. Padua also houses Musme, the Museum of the History of Medicine, showcasing interactive displays and artefacts that highlight the city's contribution to modern science, reports the Express. From there, guests can stroll over to Palazzo del Bo to witness the world's first anatomical theatre, constructed in 1595, housed within the University of Padua's historic headquarters. Take a leisurely walk through the Arena Gardens adjacent to the canal, where you'll find the remnants of a Roman amphitheatre nestled among lawns and coffee kiosks. The university also lays claim to the world's oldest botanical garden, established in 1545. Back then, circular plots of medicinal plants would have been meticulously cared for. A frequently missed gem in Padua is a visit to the Cathedral Baptistery. Competing with the beauty of the Scrovengi Chapel, the Cathedral Baptistery was adorned in the 1370s by Giusto de' Menabuoi, a disciple of Giotto. The patron saint of Padua has been resting in an open tomb for visitors in St Anthony's Basilica since the 13th century, which also boasts bronze statues and a lavishly decorated ceiling. Just a stone's throw away is St George's Oratory. Once serving as a Napoleonic prison, this Gothic-style Roman Catholic chapel showcases a stunningly detailed portrayal of its namesake. Padua houses numerous UNESCO-listed frescoes, some of which are free to admire at your leisure. If you wish to observe these frescoes, other sites worth visiting include Church of the Eremitani, Palazzo della Ragione and the Oratory of Saint Michael. Of course, it's also a major destination for Italian food-lovers, as the city boasts several delicious local dishes, including bigoli in salsa (spaghetti with anchovy and onion sauce), risotto with rovinassi, and the local chicken dish Gallina Padovana. If you're a sun worshipper, now's the ideal time for a city break to Padua as temperatures can soar to 29C in July. If you fancy a cooler getaway, hold off until October when temperatures hover around a more temperate 19C.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Sir Francis Graham-Smith, radio astronomy pioneer whose work indicated that the universe had a beginning
Sir Francis Graham-Smith, the former Astronomer Royal, who has died aged 102, was a pioneer of radio astronomy, carrying out research which helped to establish our modern picture of the universe. In the 1950s, he was the first astronomer to measure the accurate positions of distant 'radio galaxies', those that have large regions of radio emission that extend well beyond their visible structure. Together with Sir Martin Ryle, his predecessor as Astronomer Royal, he suggested that the speed at which these galaxies are moving away from us indicated that the universe must have had a definitive beginning. These findings helped to demolish the then fashionable steady state theory of Sir Fred Hoyle and others, which held that the universe had always existed. In the 1970s, Graham-Smith did much detective work on pulsars – fast-spinning stars made up of matter so dense that one ton can be contained in a teaspoon. King Charles II established the office of Astronomer Royal in 1674. Appointed in 1982, Graham-Smith was the 13th to hold the office – an unlucky portent as it turned out, for the 1980s saw a series of cuts in funding for astronomical research. The shadow hanging over British astronomy partly stemmed from a public relations disaster on the night of March 13 1986 when, shortly after midnight, the European spacecraft Giotto passed through the tail of Halley's comet, sending back data to earth. The BBC, in a late-night television show, invited several astronomers, including Graham-Smith to comment on the results, forgetting that none of their guests knew much about comets. The show was a shambles: no one could make head or tail of the Giotto data. But the real row began later in No 10 Downing Street, where Margaret Thatcher was watching the programme. She was angry at what she saw and decided that space research was a waste of money. The next year she barred British participation in a European X-ray telescope searching for black holes and rejected plans to boost the budget of the National Space Centre, a move which prompted the resignation of its director Roy Gibson. Caught in the cross-fire, Graham-Smith strove in as civilised a manner as possible to put the case for higher investment in British astronomical research: 'We have no shortage of excellent students,' he observed in 1986, 'but they will probably work abroad. The fact that we will go on populating the world with British astronomers is absolutely splendid, but wouldn't it be nicer to think that just a few would stay at home?' Francis Graham-Smith was born on April 25 1923 to Claud and Cicely and educated at Epsom College and at Rossall School in Lancashire. He began studying natural sciences at Downing College, Cambridge, in 1941 but did not graduate until 1946. Like his colleague Martin Ryle, he spent most of the Second World War working at the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Malvern involved in the development of radar. This experience led him into radio astronomy and he stayed on at Cambridge after graduating to work with Ryle at the Cavendish Laboratory on radio waves from the sun and other stars. By a fortunate coincidence, the largest sunspot for many years occurred at this time – in July 1946 – and Cambridge radio astronomy grew from observations of its very powerful emissions. Soon afterwards the pair were using the same techniques to detect radio waves coming from other parts of the sky. Setting up a simple radio telescope in a field behind the house where they both lived, they left it for 24 hours to scan the sky as the earth rotated recording the radio signal on a paper chart recorder. When they looked at the chart the next morning, they were astonished to see the trace of not one but two powerful radio sources on the recording. The radio source appeared to be coming from the constellation Cassiopeia. A few years later, the radio source was precisely located and identified with the remains of a stellar explosion in the Milky Way. Another target of their research was a radio signal coming from a discrete source in the constellation of Cygnus. In 1952, Graham-Smith located this radio signal known as the galaxy Cygnus A (the 'A' indicating that it is the brightest light in its constellation), sufficiently accurately for a visual search to be made for a visible counterpart. This search turned out to be a turning point in modern astronomy. American researchers using large optical telescopes found that the radio waves were coming from a galaxy of unusual shape and with a large 'redshift' – evidence that it is moving away from earth at a speed which increases with distance. This discovery demonstrated that radio astronomy could be used for penetrating great distances outside our own galaxy. Cygnus A is the first known example of a radio galaxy. In 1952 Graham-Smith went to America to work at the Carnegie Institute in Washington, returning to Cambridge in 1953. He published a paper with Ryle in 1957 suggesting that radio signals from orbiting satellites could be used to aid navigation. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Graham-Smith worked on radio astronomy at Jodrell Bank, then moved into optical astronomy as director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, where his main task was to build the new optical telescope at La Palma in the Canary Islands. In 1977 he was part of a team working at the British-American optical telescope in New South Wales which photographed the Vela Pulsar, the brightest pulsar in the sky in terms of radio emissions, no more than 30 miles in diameter yet weighing one and a half times as much as the sun. The star's total explosion or 'supernova' had been recorded in Sumerian inscriptions. In 1981 Graham-Smith moved back to Manchester to become only the second director of Jodrell Bank – where he had a cameo in the series Treasure Hunt, giving Anneka Rice a piggy-back to help her reach a clue. He listed bee-keeping among his recreations in Who's Who, and looked after the hives at Jodrell Bank. In 1982 he was appointed Astronomer Royal, and he was professor of physics at Manchester from 1987 to 1990. After his retirement, Graham-Smith – who was known as Graham to friends and colleagues – became vice-president of the Royal Society and his attention turned increasingly to the future of our own planet. In 1994 he hosted an international population summit which concluded that zero population growth 'within the lifetime of our children' was the only way to save the earth from ecological disaster. He was knighted in 1986 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1970. He married, in 1945, Dorothy Palmer, whom he met when they were both working on radio astronomy with Martin Ryle in Cambridge; they had a daughter and three sons. Professor Sir Francis Graham-Smith, born April 25 1923, died June 20 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
New York Times
19-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
Get Your Camera Out: The Crane That Ruined Florence's Skyline Is Gone
For nearly two decades, the skyline of Florence, Italy's most iconically Renaissance city, has showcased a majestic dome by the architect Brunelleschi, a striking bell tower by the artist Giotto, another 14th-century tower above City Hall — and a yellow, 197-foot crane towering over the Uffizi Galleries. No more. This week, the crane looming over one of the world's greatest art museums was finally dismantled, to locals' collective relief. Carlo Francini, the official in charge of Florence's municipal museums, called it 'an important day for the city.' One local newspaper's front page put it more bluntly: 'Goodbye to the crane: the giant beached in front of the Uffizi.' 'We're all happy,' said Giacomo Tempesta, an architect who came to the Uffizi on Monday as workers began deconstructing the crane. 'For years it wasn't possible to take a photograph that didn't include the crane; it was a cumbersome presence. It was time that they took it down.' The crane was hoisted in 2006 in the inner courtyard of the Uffizi as work began to expand the museum. And it just … stayed. The museum, which is housed in an old Medici office complex and has an extraordinary collection, intended to expand its exhibition spaces and become more navigable for visitors. A lot of work has been done, but parts of the project are still underway. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Wall Street Journal
07-06-2025
- General
- Wall Street Journal
Giotto's ‘The Legend of St. Francis': Assisi's Devotional Frescoes
When I first saw Giotto's fresco cycle 'The Legend of St. Francis' in the upper church of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi—a small Italian town two hours from Rome by train—I thought: Is this really what I traveled halfway around the world to see? The colors have faded into ghosts of what they once were. The figures are as boxy as the houses that surround them. Their stiff faces look like those of cadavers that have been stretched into place. But spending more time with these huddled masses of earnest zealots slowly reveals the complex inner lives behind their static masks. If we set aside our modern biases and 800 years of artistic advancement, we can start to understand why medieval viewers thought these images were the most lifelike they had ever seen—and why the founding father of art history, Giorgio Vasari, stated in his 'Lives of the Artists' that Giotto alone rescued painting from 'an evil state and brought it back to such a form that it could be called good.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Yahoo
The ultimate guide to the 2025 Jubilee in Rome
A trip to Rome is an exhilarating experience at any time. But with the Catholic Church's Jubilee currently hitting its stride, 2025 is gearing up to be an even bigger year than usual. The Jubilee is expected to draw more than 30 million visitors to the Eternal City, which has spent billions of euros cleaning up its monuments and upgrading its transport networks in preparation for the event. People are already starting to trickle in, so if you're planning to come later in the year, be prepared for crowds at key sites and a festive atmosphere in the city's cobbled lanes and baroque piazzas. Here's what you need to know to navigate Jubilee 2025. The Jubilee, also known as a Holy Year, is one of the Catholic Church's major global events. Traditionally held every 25 years, it's a period of prayer, reflection, and penance, during which pilgrims who travel to Rome and visit certain designated churches can secure a plenary indulgence (remission of their sins). The tradition dates back to 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first holy year. It was an immediate hit, attracting an estimated two million pilgrims, including the artist Giotto and possibly Dante, who alluded to it in The Divine Comedy. Proceedings officially kicked off Christmas Eve 2024. In a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis opened the basilica's holy door — which is usually kept closed — and launched the year-long celebration, which is scheduled to finish on January 6, 2026. Religious and cultural events are planned throughout the whole year, but peak times will be spring (May to June) and autumn (September to October). The Jubilee will be felt across the whole city, but center stage will be the Vatican, the tiny papal state on the northwest bank of the Tiber River. Most people who visit for the Jubilee will want to go to St. Peter's Basilica in St. Peter's Square, while museum-goers will want to marvel at the masterpieces on display in the nearby Vatican Museums. Elsewhere, action will focus on Rome's other three papal basilicas: San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome's official cathedral in the San Giovanni district; Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline Hill; and San Paolo Fuori le Mura in the city's southern suburbs. Top of the bucket list for many pilgrims will be to walk through a holy door at one of the papal basilicas. This can only be done in a Jubilee year, as the sacred portals are kept shut at all other times. To Catholics, the act of passing through a holy door symbolizes the passage from sin to grace, a central requirement for the obtaining of an indulgence. Attendees can continue their spiritual journey, while also sightseeing, by walking a designated pilgrimage route. The most famous of these is the Seven Churches walk, a punishing 15.5-mile hike (25 kilometers) that takes in seven important basilicas, as well as Rome's catacombs. If urban hiking is not your thing, there are plenty of planned Jubilee events, including exhibitions, concerts, open-air masses, and papal audiences. Away from the main pilgrimage sites, Rome is home to a dazzling array of artistic and architectural treasures. These range from ancient monuments such as the Colosseum and Pantheon to Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and Caravaggio's paintings in the Church of St. Louis of the French. But with so many people in town, the top attractions will be extremely busy. For a more relaxing experience, visit some lesser-known sites that are still extraordinary. The Baths of Caracalla, for example, offer magnificent Roman ruins without the crowds, while the Cimitero Acattolico is a soothing spot to recharge your batteries, especially if prefaced by a classic trattoria lunch in the nearby Testaccio district. To the south of the city, Via Appia Antica (the ancient Appian Way) is ideal for exploring by bike. (Related: A hiking tour along Rome's Appian Way) To get the most out of Rome's ancient sites, which can be confusing, a tour can make a real difference. Silvia Prosperi and her team at A Friend in Rome offer excellent, tailor-made visits as well as city excursions ranging from Vespa rides to street food walks. (Related: 10 of the best hotels in Rome) Walking is the best way to explore the center of Rome. Distances between popular attractions are not far and the labyrinthine lanes are made for leisurely strolling. Just make sure to bring some comfortable walking shoes — Rome's sampietrini (cobbles) can be very unforgiving. For longer distances, there are buses, trams, and a three-line metro system. Public transportation is cheap but the system will be under enormous pressure from the crowds, so be prepared for the odd delay and packed carriages. Taxis can be booked via apps such as itTaxi or ChiamaTaxi 060609. To get to and from Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport, taxis cost about $60 (€55), or a train to the central Termini station costs about $15 (€14). From the smaller Ciampino Airport, you can take a taxi (for around $43, or €40) or a shuttle bus (one-way from $6.50, or €6). (Related: How to dine like a local in Italy) Visitors who want to participate in official Jubilee events and join a pilgrimage to a holy door need a Pilgrim's Card. This is a free digital pass that you can register for on the Jubilee website or the IUBILAEUM25 app. Once in Rome, there's also an information point near St. Peter's at Via della Conciliazione 7, open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets to main attractions like the Colosseum, Vatican Museums, and Galleria Borghese will be in high demand so try to book these as early as possible. Similarly, if there are any popular restaurants you want to try, reserve in advance. Rome's main tourist website is a good source for sightseeing suggestions and up-coming events. Based in Rome, Duncan Garwood is a travel writer specializing in Italy and its ever-fascinating capital. He authors guidebooks for Lonely Planet and has written for several newspapers and websites including The Independent, The i Paper, the BBC, and la Repubblica.
