La bellezza

Walking into the Sienese Duomo is like meeting a celebrity. I have studied art history for the past two years; have repeatedly heard the names Duccio and Pisano; and have seen photos of both Duccio’s Maestà, once displayed in the Duomo, and the Duomo itself on a projector screen. But having a physical interaction with a three-dimensional object, particularly a building, is far more insightful than a photograph can ever be.

Although I have never been part of an organized faith, it is hard to believe when entering the Duomo that such a magnificent building was made by human beings. In our CET class Sienese Art and Architecture, I learned that people during the middle ages thought of medieval cathedrals as products of God for God, and that artists were just intermediaries between God and the physical world. However, knowing that artists over 700 years ago collaborated to build and decorate such an amazingly sumptuous yet refined building—divine inspiration or no—always melts my mind. And the fact that I stared at photos of Pisano’s pulpit for almost a day back in Baltimore, not to mention for homework here in Siena, didn’t help calm my racing heart when I finally got to approach the stone masterpiece.

Besides having the opportunity to see artwork in real life—not on slides—and to learn about new artworks and historical traditions, living in Siena has given me a whole new conception of what life can be like. I could just say that I am experiencing a different culture from that found in the United States. However, I am so delighted by the Italian appreciation for living that I must say, Americans would be healthier were they to work and think at a slower pace. The generalization that Americans work too hard and that Italians work too little should be taken with a grain of salt; but, coming from a university that is inundated with stressed out twenty-somethings, I can tell you that there is a better way to live than sitting at a desk in the library for twelve hours a day. Art is all around us—Italy makes this opinion seem like a fact—but it is not worth anything without someone to momentarily appreciate its beauty.