Are we learning from the past?
It got me thinking. This is a city where people come to reflect on the glories of artists of the past. What I'm seeing today could never be built again. No one would want to build it again. The cost would make it impossible never mind trying to find the skills. We've lost much in our attempts to make sure our children have an academic education. In doing so we've lost so many of the trades and the skills that allow us to produce a well balanced community.
The Renaissance was all about rediscovering what had been lost in antiquity. Maybe we need another kind of Renaissance. Arnolfo di Camio in building the Duomo was tackling something that had never been attempted for over 1000 years. He had to discover skills that had long been lost. he was determine to do it. Florence was the centre if the renewal of mankind. it was a happening through the arts. however the renewal was also about a new enlightenment. Erasmus had begun to get people thinking.
What I wad looking at today was also the expression of a community of faith. No one could build with such passion except for God. Despite our guide who believed the Duomo was built for the glorification if humanity- she had missed the whole point as she finished her presentation by saying " go from here thinking better of yourself for this place was built to glorify humanity. How sad in the midst of an amazing place reaching out to tell the story of salvation. the story is there in pictorial form , but she couldn't see it. what she saw was the skill of the creation mimicking the creator. She missed the creator. However what we expect in a secular world where people are making money out of the history of Christianity. I guess what you do is reinterpret the story.
We've also managed to remove our Christian faith from our education system. The search for the spiritual has lip service paid to it.
We now have a society where many of the young are being forced to search for the spiritual through the use of recreational drugs. This was highlighted to me today, here in Florence when a young woman no more that 23 years old appeared inviting me to sign a petition against the use of illegal drugs.
Here was another sign of the lost generation. We spend so much time in a place like this living in the past spending billions to maintain architecture and buildings but do we ever learn from the past? What are we spending o. the moral and spiritual architecture of our societies?
As you look at the cathedral here's what my guide book says it is quite overwhelming.
" the Duomo begun to be built in 1296 by Sienese architect Arnolfo di Cambio, the world's fourth-largest cathedral . It took almost 150 years to complete.
Behind the Gothic welter of its white, green and red marble facade (actually a 19th-century re-creation), the interior of the city's cathedral is surprisingly Spartan, as most of its treasures have been moved to the adjacent Museo dell'Opera del Duomo."
However, the vast soaring space of this building does what it was meant to do - to lift your eyes to see the victorious Christ judging the world not with the power of the sword but through the compassion of a Saviour. the scene painted on the inside of the Duomo is the ' Last Judgement'. Written in Latin are the important words. " Behold the Man" It was Pilate who uttered these words to the crowd. Now the man is the Judge. For here is the prisoner who stood before Pilate to be judged now judging Pilate and the world.
Posted By: Helmut On: 8 Aug 2011 At: 2:15pm
Off-hand reflex answer: no. But then over the years I have met many people with a different attitude, one way or another not following the main stream.
Different question: Are there enough people having learnt from the past? Will there ever be?