Here Now, Gone Before Long

8.7.20

1.7.20

Basilica di Santa Croce

The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. [Wikipedia]

30.6.20

Félicie de Fauveau's sculptural tribute to West-Indian poet Louise de Favreau in the loggia of the Basilica of Santa Croce, which, according to De Fauveau scholar Silvia Mascalchi, was inspired by a poem the girl had written before her death at age seventeen.

Wikipedia entry

Félicie de Fauveau, French sculpter, 1801-1886

Felicie de Fauveau was one of the first female sculptors to make a living from her art. She spent her childhood in Florence and moved to Paris, France in 1826, at the height of the Restoration period when the Bourbon's were again in power. It is there she learned first, painting and later, sculpture. It is said that after a single discussion with a craftsman who made religious statues, she stated “I too am a sculptor”. It is not known if she received any formal training in this medium. In France, de Fauveau became a political activist, an ardent, and passionate, legitimist, who believed in the rights of dynastic succession of the elder descendants of the Bourbon monarchy. When she moved to Florence in 1833, in self-imposed exile, her friends included sculptor, Lorenzo Bartolini, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Antonio Marini and Caroline Bonaparte. She was embraced by the international intellectual community and received many commissions, including from Prince Anatolio Demidoff and Czar Nicholas I. Her home/studio on Via degli Serragli, in Florence, in the ex-convent of Santa Elisabetta delle Converite, became an artistic mecca for foreign travelers during their Grand Tour.

Much more about her on the Web.