A perfectly beautiful day which included a visit to Santo Stefano, a complex of six or seven churches at one end of Piazza Santo Stefano, a triangular piazza and one of the most beautiful in the city; the old university (one of Europe’s first) and its dissecting theater; and the small church of Santa Maria Della Vita. Santa Maria Della Vita has two monumental terracotta sculpture groups: Niccolo dell’Arco’s deposition of Christ from the Cross (1463) and Alfonso Lombardi’s death of the Virgin (1522). Note the expressions of Mary Magdalene and John the beloved disciple at the horror of the crucifixion — the air around these 500 year old figures was electric. The death of the Virgin, Mary surrounded by the 11 disciples, was also raw with emotion.
We have eaten very well. Most unusual was perhaps pasta with lemon and mint; and there was a lovely starter of thinly sliced pears sprinkled with Gorgonzola, walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes and honey. graduation tonight for one of the schools at the university. Graduates wander the city with laurel wreaths on their heads.
