tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5047382600176843307.post6999417534012569938..comments2023-07-22T13:50:21.860+02:00Comments on NOTED: Noli me tangere: Building Michelangelo's Façade for San Lorenzo, FlorenceAndrew Zega and Bernd H. Damshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17912921769853176053noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5047382600176843307.post-37174869844144452702015-09-22T19:49:29.326+02:002015-09-22T19:49:29.326+02:00"Fools Rush In"... Hardly applies 500 ye..."Fools Rush In"... Hardly applies 500 years after the fact.<br /><br />Erecting a façade based on the model for all the right reasons—to please us and attract the tourist trade—is doing it for more or less the same reasons these works were executed in the first place. This is a work that can be executed in our time... And the same should be done with the Palladio design for Bologna's San Petronio.<br /><br />The most agile analysis would use the Laurentian details as a guide for working out the detail in the façade that the model is just too small to show or even suggest. It is not against the grain of history to suppose that the Laurentiana was a 'dress rehearsal' for a more ambitious work outside. The tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano can also serve as guides. And there is the inside façade of San Lorenzo to study as well. <br /><br />It is common practice in architecture to let capable designers work out the technical details after the scheme has been wrought.<br /><br />We should not stand in too great an awe of these giants, and we should get our hands dirty with stone dust just like the master did.<br /><br />We have the example in Roma of the Porta Pia (and the Bonzagna medal) to guide us; as well as the execution of the Campidoglio after the artist had died.<br /><br />Classical architecture in our time is understood as exactly the opposite of what it was intended to be. It is not a dead language we cannot touch; it is a pathway that is meant to connect with our deepest emotions guided by principles known through the ages that make works resonate with human sense experience—visual and spacial in this case.<br /><br />Standing in front of San Lorenzo should feel like being at a family reunion every time. Surround by the worst of the past and the best of the future. Tolerating the nasty relatives as we celebrate the joy of the bambini.<br /><br />Life moves on. Let's build some of this stuff!!Lewis N. Villegashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14043580884019032033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5047382600176843307.post-77693121386884423532011-09-21T12:31:44.297+02:002011-09-21T12:31:44.297+02:00Thank you all for your thoughtful comments--they a...Thank you all for your thoughtful comments--they are much appreciated. We're glad the post has stirred such interest, and as we noted at the outset, we are torn by the questions such a project poses and plan to revisit the theme in another post.Andrew Zega and Bernd H. Damshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17912921769853176053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5047382600176843307.post-44614917736404341842011-09-16T20:52:22.548+02:002011-09-16T20:52:22.548+02:00I do not see adding the facade of Michelangelo'...I do not see adding the facade of Michelangelo's design as a sacrilege. There is certainly enough to go on to do a more than acceptable job, even if it will lack the master's supervision. Will it be better than what is there now? Surely it will.The Devoted Classicisthttp://tdclassicist.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5047382600176843307.post-6389712165703801762011-09-16T15:57:15.005+02:002011-09-16T15:57:15.005+02:00You've given us much to ponder in this brillia...You've given us much to ponder in this brilliant<br />essay. Hoping it isn't too late to thank you for all<br />the questions posed.Toby Worthingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05887066048372484464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5047382600176843307.post-32805684269829095772011-08-06T08:05:41.887+02:002011-08-06T08:05:41.887+02:00Many thanks for this amazing post. I'd seen th...Many thanks for this amazing post. I'd seen the Laurentian Library in person and wondered if the San Lorenzo facade was of a similar design. Thank you for providing the details and images.<br /><br />Kind Regards<br />HAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02091875643921165081noreply@blogger.com