One of the great annual happenings in Pienza takes place on the eve of the holiday of 'Ferragosto', August 15, day of the religious 'festa' of the Assumption, to which is dedicated Pienza's marvellous early renaissance cathedral. (That is, for Catholics, the bodily 'assumption' into heaven of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, upon her earthly death.) The night of August 14-15 is also the anniversary of the death of Pienza's renowned native son, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (1405-1464) who became Pope Pius II in 1458. And for Pientini and knowledgeable visitors, the evening of August 14 is anticipated for a unique and remarkable annual exhibition on a theme related to Pius II: 'Cortili aperti' * organized by Francesco Dondoli.
'Unique and remarkable' because the exhibition takes place only this one evening on this one day of the year, only in Pienza; because on this evening alone the delightful 'cortile' of the Palazzo Ammannati is open and illuminated as the centre of the small exhibition, together with the specially open cortili of the great Palazzzo Piccolomini and of the former Palazzo Jouffroy and Palazzo Borgia now the lovely town museum and, usually, the tiny cortile of the recently-identified former quattrocento inn; because every year the theme is different and every year fascinating, illuminating another select aspect of renaissance history , of Pope Pius II and of Pienza; and because the whole is the private initiative of an individual Pientino, Francesco Dondoli, and is organized and achieved by Francesco with his friends and fellow volunteers, combining highly professional results, élan, imagination, sheer hard work and impeccable good taste.
'Unique and remarkable' because the exhibition takes place only this one evening on this one day of the year, only in Pienza; because on this evening alone the delightful 'cortile' of the Palazzo Ammannati is open and illuminated as the centre of the small exhibition, together with the specially open cortili of the great Palazzzo Piccolomini and of the former Palazzo Jouffroy and Palazzo Borgia now the lovely town museum and, usually, the tiny cortile of the recently-identified former quattrocento inn; because every year the theme is different and every year fascinating, illuminating another select aspect of renaissance history , of Pope Pius II and of Pienza; and because the whole is the private initiative of an individual Pientino, Francesco Dondoli, and is organized and achieved by Francesco with his friends and fellow volunteers, combining highly professional results, élan, imagination, sheer hard work and impeccable good taste.
In 2012, the theme was 'The Liber Cronicarum and Pope Pius II': a luxury book, better known in English as the 'Nuremberg Chronicle' (for its place of publication in 1493) of world history, a landmark in printing and publishing which included amongst its sources substantial parts of the works of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini. The 'Chronicle' is known especially for its very numerous woodblock illustrations, closely integrated with the text. The illustration here is of Pope Pius II with Emperor Frederick III. In fact, as Francesco's handsome small catalogue points out, one copy survives of the publicity flyer for the book, highlighting the illustrations in what seems to me to be a very modern manner. 'Truly I promise you, dear reader, the utmost pleasure in reading this book, for in addition to the sensation of reading history , through pictures you will seem to have history before your very eyes. You will see not only the the portraits of emperors, popes, philosophers, poets, and other famous personalities, each one in the dress of their own times, but also views of the most famous cities in all the world, together with information on how they were born and prospered. So much so that when you give thought to their histories, deeds, and hear news of them, you will picture them as if they were alive and present before you.' (P.R. is P.R. all the world over, I guess!)
Francesco Dondoli has written about the genesis and development of 'Cortili aperti' in the first edition of Canonica, the periodical of the Centro Studi Pientini, which you can read in Italian here, with a portfolio of the elegant little catalogues for each edition of the exhibitions from 2005 to 2010 -- very much worth leafing through here even if you do not read Italian.
* 'Cortili aperti' may translate literally as 'open courtyards' but English is impoverished if we do not use the Italian 'cortile'. From the Encyclopedia Britannica on-line, for instance: 'cortile: internal court surrounded by an arcade, characteristic of the Italian palace, or palazzo, during the Renaissance and its aftermath'. Thus the lovely and most magnificent of Pienza's cortili, of Pope Pius's Palazzo Piccolomini:
Francesco Dondoli has written about the genesis and development of 'Cortili aperti' in the first edition of Canonica, the periodical of the Centro Studi Pientini, which you can read in Italian here, with a portfolio of the elegant little catalogues for each edition of the exhibitions from 2005 to 2010 -- very much worth leafing through here even if you do not read Italian.
* 'Cortili aperti' may translate literally as 'open courtyards' but English is impoverished if we do not use the Italian 'cortile'. From the Encyclopedia Britannica on-line, for instance: 'cortile: internal court surrounded by an arcade, characteristic of the Italian palace, or palazzo, during the Renaissance and its aftermath'. Thus the lovely and most magnificent of Pienza's cortili, of Pope Pius's Palazzo Piccolomini:
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