Dertua and Assisi

March 15th
Our art history class took a field trip to Deruta, which is about an hour away from Sansepolcro. Dertura is a well known city for ceramics. Our first stop was at a ceramics factory which Dr. Bailey was able to get us a tour and we were able to see how everything was made. The first floor was the showroom for all the beautiful ceramics; there were table tops, plates, cups, vases, wine stoppers and much more. The ceramics had so many different patterns and colors, all of which were handmade and painted. On the second floor we were able to see the process of how the ceramics were made. There was a man working on the potter’s wheel. I have learned how to work on the potters wheel in a couple different ceramics classes, and it is not easy, yet the man on the potter’s wheel made it look like such an easy task. He made a bowl, a plate, a vase, and a cup within five minutes!

After watching him make the pieces, the daughter whose father owns the shop, showed us the kiln and how the pieces look after they have been bisque fired( first firing) and then we walked over to where both her parents, and owners of the shop, were painting glaze on different pieces. Her mother was painting a huge vase with a large intricate pattern which was being made as a set.

Her dad was also creating a pattern for a set, however he was free handing his pattern. Watching him work was so neat! He was able to paint the pattern on with such ease, and made it look so great!

Our next stop in Deruta was the Museum. We were able to see ceramic pieces in chronological order and see the remains and restorations of pieces , some as old as 2 thousand years ago.

After the museum we were able to look in the shops. Each shop more or less has the same stuff, but with different colors or patterns.



March 27th
We went to Assisi! It was only about an hour and 15 minuet bus ride from Sansepolcro. Assisi is a beautiful historic town. We went to the Basilica of Saint Francis and saw Giotto’s frescoes which we had learned about in our art history class from a guest lecture with Dr. Mulvaney, an art history professor at Meredith. Giotto was a famous gothic artist who helped to close the gap from byzantine to a more realistic art style. He worked to create a sculptural emphasis, more 3 dimensional figures, lifelike backgrounds, and illusions of space. Saint Francis receiving the Stigmata is one of Giotto’s more famous pieces where 3 dimensional figures, life like and illusions of 3D spaces are seen. The frescoes depicted scenes from the life of Saint Francis, that showed how very Christ like he was. The 28 frescoes are all around the church and are under different frescoes of the Old Testament.


Saturtday night some of the girls and I went out to K-Caffe, and enjoyed the night out!



March 28th
Sunday was a nice relaxing day which I had been wanting for a long time. I was able to sleep in till 11:30, and it was wonderful! Kelsey and I had planned to have a breakfast party because Italians do not typically have hot breakfasts, and we had been craving one for a long time. We had gone to the store the day before and got eggs, sausage, and pancake mix. At 12:00 we started making our breakfast, which was actually brunch. All the girls helped pitch in from making toast, cutting sausages and making coffee. By about 12:30ish the table was set :we had eggs, sausage, pancakes and oatmeal made. There was also toast and jam, coffee, hot tea, orange juice and water. I really enjoyed eating a “Sunday morning American breakfast” like my dad and mom used to make.



After breakfast I did some organizing and cleaning my section of the room. I then went out with Kim, Kelsey, Dr. Webb, and John Rose. Some of the grand Palazzos here in Sansepolcro were getting shown, our very own Palazzo Alberti included. We went to tour one of the Palazzos and the line, or lack thereof, to get into it was long and crowded. As I have previously said, Italians seem to not have a personal space bubble. As we were standing in the unorganized line, people were smashing into to us and I had a bosoms up against my back and in my face. I need my personal bubble, and I did not get that, so waiting in line was not my favorite part of the day.
The tour of the Palazzo was in Italian and afterwards, a woman who was doing some of the touring came to give us information about the family and the Palazzo in English. She told us that they were a rich family, and during the Renaissance period Sansepolcro was actually a large and powerful place since it was a connection from the Adriatic Coast to Florence.
Next Kim, Kelsey and I went into the Aboca Museum. This museum had old medicines, herbs, and plants used to make the medicines. The museum had one room showing only ceramics that were used to hold the medicines. The ceramics were similar to some of the patterns and decorations that I had seen in Deruta.
At 5:45 PM I was walking on the main street and heard the bells ring at the cathedral, which meant mass was going to start soon. I was happy because I had wanted to go to church since it was Palm Sunday, but had slept in too much to go in the morning. I walked in and after waiting realized that the bell meant that mass was starting in 15 minutes. While waiting, I saw that everyone was getting olive branches, so I went and got one as well. I was later told that they use olive branches rather than palms because the olive trees are plentifully here. The church has at least two confessions booths. I was so surprised to see people using these during mass. My church at home does not have confessions booths in the open, so no one does his or her confession while the mass is going on, which was very different for me. Another difference that I noticed, and was also surprised about, was that after receiving the Eucharist the Italians did not make the sign of the cross. I, as well as fellow parishioners at my church, make the sign of the cross after communion.