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Pienza
Pienza () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany, in the historical region of Val d'Orcia. Situated between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, it is considered the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism". In 1996, UNESCO declared the town a World Heritage Site, and in 2004 the entire valley, the ''Val d'Orcia'', was included on the list of UNESCO's World Cultural Landscapes. History Before the village was renamed ''Pienza'' its name was ''Corsignano''. It is first mentioned in documents from the 9th century. Around 1300 parts of the village became property of the Piccolomini family. After Enghelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini had received the fief of Montertari in Val d'Orcia from the emperor Frederick II in 1220. In the 13th century Franciscans settled down in Corsignano. In 1405 Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini ( it, links=no, Enea Silvio Piccolomini) was born in Corsignano, a Renaissance humanist born into an exiled Sienese family, who later became Pope Pius II. On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pienza Piazza Pio II
Pienza () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany, in the historical region of Val d'Orcia. Situated between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, it is considered the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism". In 1996, UNESCO declared the town a World Heritage Site, and in 2004 the entire valley, the ''Val d'Orcia'', was included on the list of UNESCO's World Cultural Landscapes. History Before the village was renamed ''Pienza'' its name was ''Corsignano''. It is first mentioned in documents from the 9th century. Around 1300 parts of the village became property of the Piccolomini family. After Enghelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini had received the fief of Montertari in Val d'Orcia from the emperor Frederick II in 1220. In the 13th century Franciscans settled down in Corsignano. In 1405 Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini ( it, links=no, Enea Silvio Piccolomini) was born in Corsignano, a Renaissance humanist born into an exiled Sienese family, who later became Pope Pius II. On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernardo Rossellino
Bernardo di Matteo del Borra Gamberelli (1409 Settignano – 1464 Florence), better known as Bernardo Rossellino, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, the elder brother of the sculptor Antonio Rossellino. As a member of the second generation of Renaissance artists, he helped to further define and popularize the revolution in artistic approach that characterized the new age. His work is often hard to distinguish from that of his brothers (three in all) working in the family workshop. Biography Bernardo Rossellino was born into a family of farmers and quarry owners in the mountain village of Settignano, overlooking the Arno river valley and the city of Florence. His uncle, Jacopo di Domenico di Luca del Borra Gamberelli may have given him his first lessons in stonemasonry. By 1420, Bernardo was certainly down in Florence and apprenticed to one of that city's better-known sculptors, perhaps Nanni di Bartolo, called "il Rosso (the redhead)". Such a relationship might ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. He is considered the founder of Western cryptography, a claim he shares with Johannes Trithemius. Although he often is characterized exclusively as an architect, as James Beck has observed, "to single out one of Leon Battista's 'fields' over others as somehow functionally independent and self-sufficient is of no help at all to any effort to characterize Alberti's extensive explorations in the fine arts". Although Alberti is known mostly for being an artist, he was also a mathematician of many sorts and made great advances to this field during the fifteenth century. The two most important buildings he designed are the churches of San Sebastiano (1460) and Sant'Andrea (1472), both in Mantua. Alberti's life was described in Giorgio Vasari's ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piccolomini
The House of Piccolomini (pronounced ) is the name of an Italian noble family, Patricians of Siena, who were prominent from the beginning of the 13th century until the 18th century. The family achieved the recognised titles of Pope of the Catholic Church, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Grandee of Spain, and Duke of Amalfi. The family is also featured in Florentine Histories, a book written by Niccolò Machiavelli, where he describes the reign of Pope Pius II, who had allied himself with the Venetians and Prince Vlad Dracula, to wage a war against the Sultan of the Ottoman empire. History In 1220, Engelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini received the fief of Montertari in Val d'Orcia from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II as a reward for the services rendered. The family acquired houses and towers in Siena as well as castles and territories in the republic, including Montone and Castiglione; the latter sold to the comune in 1321. They obtained great wealth through trade, and establis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giardino All'italiana
The Italian garden (or giardino all'italiana () is best known for a number of large Italian Renaissance gardens which have survived in something like their original form. In the history of gardening, during the Renaissance, Italy had the most advanced and admired gardens in Europe, which greatly influenced other countries, especially the French formal garden and Dutch gardens and, mostly through these, gardens in Britain. The gardens were formally laid out, but probably in a somewhat more relaxed fashion than the later French style, aiming to extend or project the regularity of the architecture of the house into nature. From the late 18th century many grand Italian gardens were remade in a version of the English landscape garden style. History and influence The Italian garden was influenced by Roman gardens and Italian Renaissance gardens. The principles of the French garden are based on those of the Italian garden, but André le Nôtre ultimately eclipsed it in scale a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and of the foundations of the Italian language. The prestige established by the Tuscan dialect's use in literature by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini led to its subsequent elaboration as the language of culture throughout Italy. It has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. Tuscany is also known for its wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Brunello di Montalcino and white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Having a strong linguisti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monticchiello
Monticchiello is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Pienza, province of Siena. At the time of the 2001 census its population was 213. . Monticchiello is about 60 km from Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historica ...
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Italian Renaissance Garden
The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure of the view of the garden and the landscape beyond, for contemplation, and for the enjoyment of the sights, sounds and smells of the garden itself. In the late Renaissance, the gardens became larger, grander and more symmetrical, and were filled with fountains, statues, grottoes, water organs and other features designed to delight their owners and amuse and impress visitors. The style was imitated throughout Europe, influencing the gardens of the French Renaissance, the English knot garden, and the French formal garden style developed in the 17th century. Background Prior to the Italian Renaissance, Italian Medieval gardens were enclosed by walls, and were devoted to growing vegetables, fruits and Medicinal plants, medicinal herbs, or, in the case of monastic gardens, for sil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in August 1464. He was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but impoverished family. He was a Renaissance humanist, famous as an author in Latin before he became pope. His longest and most enduring work is the story of his life, the ''Commentaries'', which is the only revealed autobiography ever to have been written by a reigning pope. This was only published in 1584. Early life Aeneas was born to Silvio, a soldier and member of the House of Piccolomini, and Vittoria Forteguerri, who had 18 children including several twins, though most died at a young age. He worked with his father in the fields for some years and at age 18 left to study at the universities of Siena and Florence. He settled in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palazzo Rucellai
Palazzo Rucellai is a palatial fifteenth-century townhouse on the Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence, Italy. The Rucellai Palace is believed by most scholars to have been designed for Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai by Leon Battista Alberti between 1446 and 1451 and executed, at least in part, by Bernardo Rossellino. Its splendid facade was one of the first to proclaim the new ideas of Renaissance architecture based on the use of pilasters and entablatures in proportional relationship to each other. The Rucellai Palace demonstrates the impact of the antique revival but does so in a manner which is full of Renaissance originality. The grid-like facade, achieved through the application of a scheme of trabeated articulation, makes a statement of rational humanist clarity. The stone veneer of this facade is given a channeled rustication and serves as the background for the smooth-faced pilasters and entablatures which divide the facade into a series of three-story bays. The three s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Val D'Orcia
The Val d'Orcia or Valdorcia () is a region of Tuscany, central Italy, which extends from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata. Its gentle, cultivated hills are occasionally broken by gullies and by picturesque towns and villages such as Pienza (rebuilt as an "ideal town" in the 15th century under the patronage of Pope Pius II), Radicofani (home to the notorious brigand-hero Ghino di Tacco) and Montalcino (the Brunello di Montalcino is counted among the most prestigious of Italian wines). Its landscape has been depicted in works of art from Renaissance painting to modern photography. World Heritage The Val d'Orcia was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2004. Orcia DOC Within the Val d'Orcia is a strip of land following the Orcia river between the DOCG zones of Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Here Sangiovese and Trebbiano-based wines are produced under the Orcia ''Denominazione di origine controllata'' (DOC) status. The DOC re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Province Of Siena
The province of Siena ( it, provincia di Siena, link=no, ) is a province in Tuscany, Italy. Its capital is the city of Siena. Geography The province is divided into seven historical areas: * Alta Val d'Elsa * Chianti senese * The urban area of (Monteriggioni and Siena) * Val di Merse * Crete senesi Val d'Arbia * Val di Chiana senese * Val d'Orcia and Amiata The area is a hilly one: in the north is Colline del Chianti; Monte Amiata is the highest point at ; and in the south is Monte Cetona. To the west are the Colline Metallifere (“Metalliferous Hills”), whilst the Val di Chiana lies to east. Historically, the province corresponds to the northeastern portion of the former Republic of Siena. The chief occupations are agricultural (wheat, grapes and fruit) and silk culture. The wine known as Chianti is produced here as well as in other parts of Tuscany: the Chianti Colli Senesi, however, is limited to this province. Apart from the city of Siena the principal towns are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
