1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,120 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. And this 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: is an art history episode that I have had on 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 1: my list for a very very long time and then 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: I kind of forgot about it never happens to me, ever, 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: I'm kidding, it happens to me all the time. The 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: list is really long, and Tracy is referenced are like 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: thousand item lists that we have before. But I also 10 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: just have a separate list that I keep on my 11 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: phone of things that come up, like when I'm going 12 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: about my day in my life. Yeah, even then I 13 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: go back to that sometimes. Yeah. Even my my short 14 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,919 Speaker 1: list in quotes is like fifty things, which is all 15 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: of my episodes for a year. Yeah, so, uh, Georgiova sorry, 16 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: was on that list for me for a long time, 17 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: and then I kind of, you know, it just got 18 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: sent to the side part of my brain that doesn't 19 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: really actively think about things. And then I went to 20 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: the really astonishingly beautiful Michelangelo exhibit that recently closed at 21 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: the met and Vasari comes up in it, so it 22 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: reminded me that we should talk about him because Georgio 23 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: Vasari is an interesting figure. He was an artist, an architect, 24 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: and most famously a biographer. I feel like we should 25 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: mention that this is definitely not an exhaustive biography of 26 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: Azary that we're doing, in part because he worked on 27 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: so many different things, and in part because a couple 28 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: of his works really have some interesting modern day follow 29 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: ups that really really intrigued me and that I wanted 30 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: to talk about. So I want to include those for 31 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: contexts when we start talking about the twenty and twenty 32 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: one century developments around them, so to get into his basics. 33 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: Georgio Vasari was born in the Tuscan provincial capital Arezzo, Italy, 34 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: on July eleven, and well known French stained glass artist 35 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: Guillaume Demaciat elsa time to see that in the Italian 36 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: based biographies, as Guiliemo di Marciat was one of Asari's 37 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: teachers when the future artist and biographer was still quite young, 38 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: and that arrangement for tutoring had been made by Vasari's 39 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: grandfather's cousin. A lot of family connections, but basically a 40 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,399 Speaker 1: relative made this deal. That relative was Luca Seniorrelli, who 41 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: was a painter, and that relative also taught Giorgio as 42 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 1: a young boy. At the urging and arrangement of his father, 43 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: Vasari moved to Florence in the mid fifteen twenties. There 44 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: he apprenticed under painters Andrea del Sarto and Baccio Bandinelli. 45 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: He also studied alongside two members of the Medici family, 46 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: Alessandro and Apolito. The Medici family, which was covered in 47 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: a series by previous hosts Sarah and Dablina, became important 48 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: to a Sari Duke, Cosimo first de Medici eventually became 49 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: a long time patron. And it was also in Florence 50 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: where Vasari discovered Michelangelo, and at one point he actually 51 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: claimed that he studied with Michelangelo, but the veracity of 52 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: that detail has been questioned. We're going to talk a 53 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: little bit about when that came up and why it 54 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: got a little bit of side eye later in the podcast. 55 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: But the two men were friends, and even if Michelangelo 56 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: never formally taught the Sari, the famed artist strongly influenced 57 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: his friends artistic efforts. Vasari painted in the Mannerist style, 58 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: and that name comes not from a depiction of manners 59 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: or primness. It comes from the Italian word maniera, and 60 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: that translates into style or way, as in the manner 61 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: in which something is done, so it's sometimes called the 62 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: stylish or stylized style. Mannerism was initially an Italian style 63 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: centered in Florence and Rome, running from roughly the fifteen 64 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: twenties up until Baroque art started to overtake it in 65 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: the fifteen nineties. That did make its way into other 66 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: parts of Europe, but its popularity was always mainly in Italy. 67 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: Man is Um generally departs from realism with a sort 68 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: of calculated artificiality. Limbs or next maybe elongated poses might 69 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: be sort of odd with slightly stressed or overcomplicated postures, 70 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,359 Speaker 1: and colors sometimes appear hyper saturated to the point that 71 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,720 Speaker 1: they no longer look real. So if you've ever looked 72 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: at a painting that seems to be an almost realistic 73 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: portrait from this period, particularly if it's Italian in origin, 74 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: and thought this is pretty good, but something isn't just 75 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: isn't quite right, you're probably actually looking at a piece 76 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: by a mannerist, and that slight awfulness of the image 77 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: is intentional. One of us Sorry's most famous works is 78 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: his Last Supper, which was commissioned in fifty six. The 79 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: nuns of the Florentine Murate Convent had commissioned the artist 80 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: to paint this work, and because men were not allowed 81 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: in the convent, he painted it on five panels that 82 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: could be moved from his studio into the convent, and 83 00:04:58,080 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: this painting is going to come up later on in 84 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: this show. But Vasari's architecture has been even more celebrated 85 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: than his painting. The Uffizi in Florence, Italy was started 86 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: by Vasari in fifteen sixty for Cosimo, the first of 87 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: the Medici family, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, that is 88 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: the patron tracy mentioned earlier, and the structure was originally 89 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: designed to be a government seat, but in fifteen seventy 90 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 1: four the top floor of it was converted into a 91 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: gallery by Cosimo's son, Francesco, the first. The Uffizi eventually 92 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: became a public gallery, and today the museum is home 93 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: to some of the most famous works of art in 94 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:39,479 Speaker 1: the world, including Bocelli's Birth of Venus and La prima Vera, 95 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: Raphael's Madonna of the Goldfinch, and previous podcast subject Artemisia 96 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: Gentileski's Judith and Holofernes. In fifteen sixty two, thanks to 97 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: the patronage of Cosimo, Vasari was able to found the 98 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: Florentine Academy of Design. Everyone ended up connected to that thing. 99 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: Basically every famous it is that came through Italy around 100 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: this time was connected to the Florentine Academy of Design. 101 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: Also for Duke Cosimo the first, Vasari remodeled the Palazzo 102 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: Vecchio and updated its interiors with art in fifteen sixty four. 103 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: He also built what's known as the Vasari Corridor, and 104 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: this is a passageway that goes through the center of 105 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: the city and it enabled the medicis to move from 106 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: the Palazzo Vecchio to the residences at Palazzo p d 107 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: without having to mingle with the public. One of the 108 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: pieces of art and the Palazzo Vecchio that was done 109 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: by a Massari is a fresco. It's titled the Battle 110 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: of Marciano. This fresco is in what's known as the 111 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: Hall of five Hundred, which got its name from the 112 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: five hundred members of the Grand Council of Florence. It 113 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: is a massive, massive, piece. It's also one of many 114 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: pieces that Vasari, along with his team of assistance, produced 115 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: for the Palazzo Vecchio, but that particular painting is going 116 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: to come up again later on in the show. And 117 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: far more than his painting or his architecture, the Sari 118 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: is known for his biographical writing. His book Lives of 119 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: the most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects is a massive, 120 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: multi volume effort that's considered the beginning of art history writing. 121 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: The book, first published in fifteen fifty, covers a roughly 122 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: three hundred years span from the thirteenth century of two 123 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: Vasari's contemporaries in the fifteen hundreds, and in addition to biographies, 124 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: the book contains additional essays about the progression of art 125 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: through three periods of development. The A Sari identified those 126 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: three periods where Classical Antiquity, the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance. 127 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: The first edition of this book was well received, but 128 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: sorry was already well known in Florence, but his acclaim 129 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,119 Speaker 1: quickly grew as his writing started circulating. It was after 130 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: its publication that his career as an artist and architect 131 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: really picked up. When Michelangelo read his biography in the book. 132 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: He was moved to a poem for Vasari, praising him 133 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: for granting artists everlasting life through writing. That amuses me 134 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: because a lot of folks think of art as giving 135 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: everlasting life to the artist. Yeah uh yeah, they think 136 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,119 Speaker 1: of the art being the legacy. But this was again 137 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 1: a completely new idea that someone would publish this, This 138 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: biography of artists, completely broke all of the previous known 139 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: conventions of biographies in terms of its subject matter. And 140 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: the second edition of this book, which was released in 141 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: fifteen sixty eight, expanded significantly, including biographies of the Sari 142 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: himself and other artists that we're still living during its writing, 143 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: and this is the version that's been most commonly translated 144 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: and became really famous worldwide. This is actually still in 145 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: print today in some cases. One of the major changes 146 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: in the second edition is the greater space that was 147 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: devoted to Michelangelo, who died four years prior to this 148 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 1: new edition of the book in fifty sixty four. V. 149 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: Sarry added information about the work Michelangelo created in the 150 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: time between fifteen fifty and his death, and it described 151 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: the lavish funeral arrangements that the Sary, along with members 152 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: of the Florentine Academy of Design had staged. Incidentally, Michelangelo 153 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: is without a fan of spectacle of that nature and 154 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: probably would have been horrified by this regal memorial. It's 155 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: also in this edition that Vasari first claimed, at least 156 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: in writing, to have studied under Michelangelo. Yeah, the fact 157 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: that he didn't claim it until after Michelangelo had died 158 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: made people kind of go, come on, really, and here 159 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: is the problem with the Sari's biographical writing. He was 160 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: not particularly obsessive about ensuring all of it was factual, 161 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,839 Speaker 1: and he was a little bit gossipy, and he prioritized 162 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: making things exciting for the reader over telling the st truth. 163 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: We'll talk about how he handled some of the criticism 164 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: of his work in just a moment, but first we 165 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: will pause for a little sponsor break. In the second 166 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: edition of the book that we reference before the break, 167 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: the sorry actually makes a point to address some of 168 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: the criticism of his work. In one section, he writes, 169 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: in defense of his verbose pros quote, if it has 170 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: seemed to some of you that, on occasion I have 171 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: been rather long winded and somewhat prolix in my writing, 172 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: having desired as far as possible to be clear and 173 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: to state matters for others, so that things which are 174 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: not understood or which I have not known how to 175 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: say at first, would at any rate be obvious. And 176 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: if something said in one place is sometimes repeated in another, 177 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: there are two reasons for this. First because the material 178 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,679 Speaker 1: treated required it, and second because during the time I 179 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: rewrote this work and had it reprinted, I was interrupted 180 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: on more than one occasion, not simply for days, but 181 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: for months in my writing, either by travel or by 182 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:04,479 Speaker 1: an excessive number of tasks, paintings, plans and building projects. 183 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: And under such circumstances it is, in my opinion, and 184 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: I freely admitted, almost impossible to avoid errors. So he 185 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: has defended his verbose prose by writing that which was 186 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: all one sentence, uh yeah, verbose lee, and really boils 187 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: down to you, I'm busy, y'all, though some of his 188 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 1: stories are also very fanciful. In the Life of Giotto, 189 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: he describes the artist drawing a perfect circle when a 190 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: sample of his work was requested, and the story claimed 191 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: that a courtier visited Giotto to tell him that Pope 192 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: Benedict the eleventh wish to commission a new painting for St. Peter's. 193 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: He needed to see prospective artists work to make this decision, 194 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: and the sarry wrote Hiatto, who was a man of 195 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,199 Speaker 1: courteous manners, immediately took a paper and with a pen 196 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: dipped in red, fixing his arm firmly against his side 197 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: to make a compass of it, and with a turn 198 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: of his hand he made a circle so perfect that 199 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: it was a marvel to see it. Having done it, 200 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: he turned smiling to the courtier and said, here is 201 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: the drawing. But he, thinking he was being laughed at, asked, 202 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 1: am I to have no other drawing than this? This 203 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: is enough and too much, replied Shatto. Send out with 204 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: the others and see if it will be understood. So 205 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,079 Speaker 1: at this point in the story, according to the Sari, 206 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: the messenger thinks that he is being mocked and he leaves, 207 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: but he does include that circle image with other art 208 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: that he submits to the Pope. Uh and it described 209 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: then to the Pope shadow seemingly effortless circle, and the 210 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: pope quote saw that Ghiado must surpass greatly all the 211 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: other painters of his time, And Vasari continues. So the 212 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: Pope made him come to Rome and he painted for 213 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: him in St. Peter's, and there never left his hands 214 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: work better finished. Wherefore the Pope, esteeming himself well served, 215 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: gave him six hundred buckets of gold, besides having shown 216 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: him so many favors that it was spoken of through 217 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: all Italy. So the story has never been verified. It 218 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: has been retold and used as an example of artistry 219 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: ever since the sorry first wrote it down. This whole 220 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,600 Speaker 1: story of the perfect circle is also used for didactic purposes. 221 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,319 Speaker 1: To search the web, you will find lots of examples 222 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,559 Speaker 1: of writers using it to non artists that, whatever their 223 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 1: skill set, it's better to show their abilities in simple 224 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: direct ways, rather than feeling compelled to spend too much 225 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: time convincing someone else of what they have to offer. 226 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,439 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say it reminds me of like the terrible 227 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: job advice that you will find in job advice books, 228 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 1: who were like, just show up at the company to 229 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: try to get their attention instead of doing what they 230 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: asked you to do and applying for the job. So uh, 231 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: even though it's kind of questionable advice, but sorry, he's 232 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: possibly made up stories do have legs? Yeah, his uh, 233 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: I will say his work is really entertaining, and it 234 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: does make you think, even if it's maybe uh, strictly 235 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: from his mind and not from reality. Vasari's Lives of 236 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: Artists was also fairly biased toward Italian art as better 237 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:21,840 Speaker 1: than all others. Regarding the Renaissance, va sorry credited Chimabue 238 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: and Giotto with its inception enlisted Michelangelo is the culmination 239 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: of this rebirth period. It has also been called a 240 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: work of pro medici propaganda for the rich and powerful 241 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: family because it casts them and specifically Costum of the 242 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: First who it's dedicated to, as benevolent philanthropists and leaves 243 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: out any of the bad stuff about them. Vasari has 244 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: been criticized for his almost fawning writing about the works 245 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: of Michelangelo. Here's an excerpt of his writing about Michelangelo's 246 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: famous sculpture. David quote, when it was built up and 247 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: all was finished, he uncovered it. And it cannot be 248 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: denied that this work has carried off the palm from 249 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 1: all other statues, modern or ancient, Greek or Latin. And 250 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: it may be said that neither the Marforio in Rome, 251 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: nor the Tiber and Nile of the Belvedere, nor the 252 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: Giants of Monte Cavallo are equal to it in any respect, 253 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: with such proportion, beauty and excellence did Michelangelo finish it? 254 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: For in it may be seen the most beautiful contours 255 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: of legs, with attachments of limbs, and slender outlines of 256 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: flanks that are divine. Nor has there ever been seen 257 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: opposed so easy or any grace to equal that in 258 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: his in this work, or feet, hands and heads so 259 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: well in accord one member with another, in harmony, design 260 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: and excellence of artistry and of a truth. Whoever has 261 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: seen this work need not trouble to see any other 262 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: work executed in sculpture, either in our own or in 263 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: other times, by no matter what craftsman. So yeah, basically 264 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: that is it. If you can only see one statue 265 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: in your I see this one. Uh. To be fair, 266 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: Michelangelo is amazing. I mean, I can understand why it 267 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: would inspire that kind of writing. But despite these criticisms, 268 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: Vasari's book continues to be recognized as a vitally important 269 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: moment in art history. It is entertaining, it even comes 270 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: off as a little flip at times, but it also 271 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 1: set the tone of art history writing going forward, and 272 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: it is still used as a primary source by scholars, 273 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: though it's problems are acknowledged. It's not like they set 274 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 1: it out and say this is all correct. They're kind 275 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: of like this, there's some problems with this text, but 276 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: it is an important text. He is often called the 277 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: first art historian, and he certainly did not invent the biography. 278 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: There had been plenty of those written by the mid 279 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: fifteen hundreds, but he was the first in Europe to 280 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: write about the lives of artists. Six years after the 281 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: second edition of his book was published, But Sorry died 282 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: in Florence on June four. He was sixty two. All Right, 283 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: we are about to delve into, uh, some interesting modern 284 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: happenings regarding two of a Sari's works. So to keep 285 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,639 Speaker 1: all of that together, we're going to go ahead and 286 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,880 Speaker 1: take our sponsor break a little bit early, and we'll 287 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: do that now. Two important pieces of A Sorry history 288 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: are actually fairly recent developments. The first is tied to 289 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,400 Speaker 1: that painting that we mentioned in the Hall of five hundred, 290 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: the Battle of Marciano. It is possible that this painting 291 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: is actually hiding a lost work of Leonardo da Vinci's 292 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: titled The Battle of Angiari. First, here's the story on 293 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 1: da Vinci's painting. In four Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned 294 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: by a statesman named Piero Soderini to paint a battle 295 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 1: from fourteen forty featuring an army from Milan being defeated 296 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: by Italian forces in Tuscany. Leonardo da Vinci took the commission, 297 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: but the painting, which was done using a new oil 298 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: technique that you wanted to try, was not ever finished. Allegedly, 299 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 1: the paint was just too thick and it started to 300 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: slide and dripped down the wall before it could dry. 301 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: After a number of efforts were made to save the work, 302 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: Da Vinci determined that it was a lost cause. Coincidentally, 303 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: another fresco on the opposite wall, started by Michelangelo, also 304 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: went unfinished. In the case of Michelangelo's project, he was 305 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,640 Speaker 1: called away to work on one of his most famous efforts, 306 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,920 Speaker 1: the tomb of Pope Julius the Second. Both of these 307 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,360 Speaker 1: unfinished works remained in their abandoned state for decades. When 308 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: Cosimo the First decided to renovate the Palazzo Vecchio, both 309 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: pieces were believed to have been destroyed to make way 310 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: for new art by Vasari and his team. Art historians 311 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,239 Speaker 1: have wandered for years about this lost Evnci painting and 312 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: whether it's still existed somewhere. In the nineteen seventies, one researcher, 313 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: Marisio Sarattini from the University of California, San Diego, thought 314 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,920 Speaker 1: he found a clue when he noticed a green banner 315 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 1: in the Saris painting with the words Cherkatrova painted on 316 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: it that may seek and find. So this was perceived 317 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: to be a clue left behind by the Sari and 318 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: a team eventually was granted permission to use high frequency 319 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 1: radar to scan the room and they found that there 320 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: was a hollow space behind the Saris painting Battle of Marciano. 321 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: The next step, and all of this was playing out 322 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: very slowly over years and years, was to drill a 323 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: series of tiny holes in the masary work to send 324 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: a camera into the wall and see if they could 325 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 1: find evidence of this lost painting, and that is where 326 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: things got really hairy. There was a very vocal resistance 327 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: to the plan in the art history community. After all, 328 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: it was going to be putting little holes in a 329 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,639 Speaker 1: known piece of historically significant art, and the hopes of 330 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: finding an even more significant piece underneath it, maybe And 331 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: at some point in this back and forth, it was 332 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: agreed in Tleven that the team could proceed with their 333 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 1: plan to run a tiny camera through the front of 334 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: the Sari painting, but they could only run it through 335 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: existing cracks or drill into spaces that had only recently 336 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: been restored, so that their plan was significantly changed from 337 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: the fourteen spots they had originally planned to drill, and 338 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: they only had one week that they were allowed to 339 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: do this research. Video captured masonry work and possible brush 340 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: strokes on a surface, and a sample of grit captured 341 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,360 Speaker 1: from the shallow void behind the Massari showed some evidence 342 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,479 Speaker 1: of black pigment when it was tested, which made it 343 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 1: seem like the team was really onto something. But before 344 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 1: you get really invested, that's sort of where the story ends. 345 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: A hundred and fifty art historians from museums and galleries 346 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: around the world put together a petition to stop this project. 347 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: An investigation was opened by the Florence Magistrates. The search 348 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 1: for the painting, which was part of a project that 349 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: National Geographic was filming for a show, was halted copletely 350 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: in the fall of art. Scholars made the case that 351 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: the money that was being put into this project would 352 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,439 Speaker 1: have been better spent on restoring the v sari that 353 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: they were trying to drill holes into, and that Saraceni's 354 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,159 Speaker 1: initial clue of the words and the vasari painting really 355 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: was not all that illuminating to begin with. They were 356 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: kind of surprised that things had gone this far just 357 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: based on one kind of hunch that started thirty years prior. 358 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: The second modern event around a Sary is a lot 359 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:32,439 Speaker 1: more satisfying, although it starts out pretty harrowing. Indeed it 360 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: does h In nineteen sixty six, after days and days 361 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,439 Speaker 1: of rain, the Arno River overflowed its retaining walls and 362 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: flooded Florence, Italy. This was a historic catastrophic event for 363 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: the city. You will find articles about the Great Florence Flood, 364 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: and a great deal of art was covered in muddy, 365 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: oily water. The Saris, massive eight by twenty one ft 366 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: that's two point four by six point four meter long 367 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 1: painting of the Last Supper that we referenced early year, 368 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 1: was created in fifty six, was badly damaged at the 369 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: time of the flood. The painting was no longer at 370 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: the convent where it had been first delivered. That convent 371 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: had eventually closed, and in eighteen sixty five the work 372 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 1: was moved to the Castellani Chapel and the Basilica of 373 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: Santa Croce. It was moved once again to the Museum 374 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: of Opera refectory in the nineteen fifties. During the flood, 375 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: the painting was completely submerged for more than twelve hours. 376 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: The lower parts of the work were covered in this oily, 377 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: dirty water for much longer, and initially all that conservators 378 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: could do was separate the five panels of the painting 379 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: and try to get them dried as quickly but as 380 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: carefully as possible, and then apply a paper treatment to 381 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: each of the separated panels to prevent the paint from 382 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 1: peeling away. The paper that was used was a Japanese 383 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: wet strength mulberry paper, and after it was laid on 384 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: top of the last supper, methacrylate resin was painted over it, 385 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: but additional damage was still forthcoming. The separated panels were 386 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 1: placed on different racks to drive, but the panels themselves 387 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,639 Speaker 1: shrank and cracked in the process. That base layer of 388 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: Jesso shifted around as well. Um, that was how it 389 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: was stored for almost fifty years. Yes, things shrank and 390 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 1: that basse layers started to shift. They basically were like, 391 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: let's not touch this anymore. Let's set it aside and 392 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: store it as safely as we can and see what 393 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,479 Speaker 1: sorts of preservation technologies developed that maybe will help us 394 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,400 Speaker 1: face it. Let's let's hope future people's can fix this. Yes, 395 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: in short, stop touching it. In two thousand four, the 396 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,719 Speaker 1: painting was moved still in pieces, to the Opa Ficuo 397 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,280 Speaker 1: de la Pietra Dura in Florence, and the o p 398 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: D as it is known, is the first modern lab 399 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: focused on art restoration in Italy. As technology did develop 400 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 1: that would enable conservators to restore the painting, Getty Foundation 401 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: funded the o p D with a grant to train 402 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: their staff to treat the damaged artwork. The thousand dollar 403 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 1: grant was made with a long term goal that would 404 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 1: enabled the op D to employ experts to train conservators 405 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: for two generations to stabilize and restore damaged works of art. Yes, 406 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,719 Speaker 1: so it wasn't just this last Supper that they wanted 407 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: to be able to save. They wanted to really create 408 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,919 Speaker 1: a legacy uh and a groundwork of knowledge for the 409 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: op D so that they would be able to save 410 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: more art going forward, and that resin and paper that 411 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:39,400 Speaker 1: kept the paint intact also cause some challenges to restoration efforts. 412 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,360 Speaker 1: The acrylic resin turned out to be difficult to remove 413 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: without further damaging the painting, but after several years at 414 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: the o p D, a system was developed to remove 415 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: the paper sheets while maintaining the integrity of the paint, 416 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,159 Speaker 1: and this offered the first real hope that the painting 417 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 1: would be restored. The Getty Foundation described the work on 418 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: the Last Supper this way a quote. Together, the team 419 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: developed a conservation solution based on the support system originally 420 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: devised by Vasari himself, which has stabilized the painting while 421 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: also allowing the wooden panels to move naturally with standard 422 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: temperature and humidity fluctuations. The team was also able to 423 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: recover an unanticipated amount of the original painted surface, revealing 424 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:25,680 Speaker 1: the artist's hand and surprising detail that shrinkage that had 425 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: taken place after the floodwater dried out was slowly reversed 426 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:33,120 Speaker 1: by expanding the panels with these tiny poplar wood pieces 427 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: that would be inserted into slits in the backside of 428 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 1: the panels. Another grant provided by Prada paid for the 429 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,879 Speaker 1: cost of very meticulously smoothing out and restoring the paint 430 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,680 Speaker 1: on the face of the painting. On the fiftieth anniversary 431 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: of the flood, November four, sixteen, the Sorry's Last Supper 432 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: was once again viewable to the public for the very 433 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: first time. Yeah. So that is a nice way I 434 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 1: think to end it, with a piece of art being 435 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 1: saved so that we can all appreciate the saris work 436 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,959 Speaker 1: uh forever hopefully. It's interesting that painting was what he 437 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: was maybe least lauded for, but we uh, we have 438 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: painting as well as his architecture still stands certainly, and 439 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,120 Speaker 1: his book has been published and published over and over, 440 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,360 Speaker 1: so we have a lot of of the Sorry circulating 441 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: still in the modern culture, which I love. Do you 442 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: also have some listener mail for us? I sure do. 443 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: This one is by our listener Krista. She wrote us 444 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: kind of a lengthy letter, so I'm not going to 445 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 1: read the whole thing. I'm going to read kind of 446 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: an excerpt. She says, Hi, I wanted to write in 447 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 1: for quite a while. To convey my appreciation, but I 448 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: never had any type of meaningful connection to a cover 449 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: topic worth communicating until your recent podcast on Mary Breckinridge. 450 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,119 Speaker 1: When I saw the title, I could hardly believe it. 451 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 1: Only a week prior, I had just finished reading Rooted 452 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,639 Speaker 1: in the Mountains, Reaching to the World midwif Ry at 453 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: Kentucky's Frontier School by and Zie Cockham and Arlene E. Keeling. 454 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: My interest in this book was piqued because of my 455 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: own grandmother's personal connection with the Frontier Nursing Service. My 456 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: grandmother completed nursing school at Philadelphia General Hospital in Pennsylvania 457 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five, and the experience was something of 458 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: a trial by fire for her, especially as she was 459 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: only twenty three when she finished her studies. She told 460 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,359 Speaker 1: me about the long shifts, the haughty doctors, the lonely 461 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: TV ward, and the frightening emergency room into which all 462 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: manner of wounded patients entered, some unfortunately never to depart. 463 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: In spite of the challenges. She often recalls those years fondly, 464 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,120 Speaker 1: focusing on bright spots like the strong camaraderie she developed 465 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: with other nurses, But she was never truly satisfied with 466 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: the urban hospital setting. She described her discontent as being 467 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,400 Speaker 1: rooted in a desire to connect more personally with her patients. 468 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: At Philadelphia General, dozens of patients cycled in and out 469 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 1: of the hospital every day, making it hard to form 470 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,440 Speaker 1: relationships and creating a sense of loneliness for my grandmother. 471 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: So when she graduated, she researched other facilities recruiting nurses 472 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: at the time, and the one that she ended up 473 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: choosing this is where I'm paraphrasing and kind of editing down, 474 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: was called the Miners Memorial Hospital, which had just opened 475 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: in Middlesboro, Kentucky, And she decided to take a position there. 476 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: And so uh she moved there with all of her 477 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: worldly possessions just in her car. Uh and eventually like 478 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 1: set up a life in this this hospital. She had 479 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 1: been afraid that she might make the wrong decision christa Rights. 480 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: The hospital was specifically built to serve the miners of 481 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 1: the area, but despite the impeccable facilities, state of the 482 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 1: art technology, and brand new equipment, initially the hospital remained empty. Puzzled. 483 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: My grandmother later learned that many of the little mountain 484 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: women that's a quote did not want their husbands undressing 485 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: and being in their thinking indecent around the young female nurses. 486 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: They were frightened of the fast city nurses being in 487 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: close proximity to their exposed men folk. But this her 488 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: grandmother did persist, and people did start come in to 489 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: the hospital. Uh and it it developed a really positive reputation, 490 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 1: and patients soon started coming for treatment, and they would 491 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 1: come with their entire families. And uh it really fulfilled 492 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: this this personal relationship that her grandmother had wanted. She 493 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: some mates and says, eventually she and my grandfather settled 494 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: in Louisville, Kentucky, and they're raised my mother and uncle. 495 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: Louisville was my childhood home, and I have grown into 496 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: a proud Kentucky in Therefore, in honor of my family's roots, 497 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: I have decided to send a taste of Kentucky to 498 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 1: you both as a thank you for all the amazing 499 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: work you've done. Please enjoy the local goodies from my 500 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: part of the world. They all originate from businesses located 501 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: in central Kentucky. Later this week, Tracy is going to 502 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: be in the office and she will see this immense 503 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: box of delicious treats goodness. So Krista, thank you one 504 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 1: for sharing your grandmother's personal story with us. We always 505 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: say how much we love when people have a personal 506 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:53,960 Speaker 1: connection to the history we talked about. And to thank 507 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: you for the astonishing and very weighty uh box of 508 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 1: goodies that you sent. It was really far too generous, 509 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: so we appreciate it. If you would like to write 510 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: to us, you can do so at History Podcast at 511 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. You can also find us 512 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: across the spectrum of social media as Missed in History. 513 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 1: Missed in History dot com is also our website address. 514 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: You can come there or find every episode of the 515 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: show that has ever existed. You can also find show 516 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: notes for any of the episodes that Tracy and I 517 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: have worked on. You may also find occasional other goodies 518 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: here and there, so come and visit us at missed 519 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: in History dot com. For more on this and thousands 520 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how staff works dot com.