Palazzo Gotico

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Palazzo Comunale (Palazzo Gotico)
Piazza del Cavalli
Piacenza, May 2024

“Palazzo Comunale (also called Palazzo Gotico) is a Gothic style palace located facing Piazza del Cavalli in the historic center of Piacenza, northern Italy which now serves as the seat of municipal administration. The facade is flanked by two bronze equestrian statues sculpted by Francesco Mochi and depicting the Farnese Dukes of Parma: Ranuccio (1612–20) and his father, Alexander (1620-1629). Across the piazza is the late-Baroque or early neoclassic Palazzo del Governatore (1787) designed by Lotario Tomba. Recessed and to the right is the 17th-century Collegio dei Mercanti.” (Palazzo Comunale, Wikipedia)

Katholische Hofkirche

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Katholische Hofkirche (Cathedral of the Holy Trinity)
Schloßstraße
Dresden, September 2024

“Dresden Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dresden, previously the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, called in German Katholische Hofkirche and since 1980 also known as Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis, is the Catholic Cathedral of Dresden. Always the most important Catholic church of the city, it was elevated to the status of cathedral of the Diocese of Dresden–Meissen in 1964. It is located near the Elbe river in the historic center of Dresden, Germany. It is one of the burial sites of the House of Wettin, including Polish monarchs.” (Dresden Cathedral, Wikipedia)

Le torri dei Paolotti

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The church of San Francesco di Paola
Strada D'Azeglio
Parma, May 2024

“The church of San Francesco di Paola, known as the Paolotti, is a deconsecrated Catholic place of worship with baroque forms, located in Strada Massimo D'Azeglio 85/A in Parma, in the province of the same name; together with the adjoining convent, it has been used for civil purposes since 1818. The facade of the church, characterized by two twin bell towers (the Paolotti towers), was built in 1689 by the commander of the Jerusalemites, Count Stefano Sanvitale, based on a design by the Piacenza architect Carlo Virginio Draghi. The church had a single nave, with three side chapels on each side. The order of the Minims was suppressed by the Napoleonic government in 1810 and in 1818 the Duchess Maria Luigia had the complex used as a hospital for ‘madmen’: it maintained this purpose until 1872, when the asylum was transferred to the former ducal palace of Colorno. In 1900, the pediatric hospital was created in the convent, one of the first in Italy, whose departments were transferred to the main hospital in 1927. Since 1936, the convent has hosted some departments of the University of Parma.” (Church of San Francesco di Paola, Wikipedia)

Trichodon

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"Trichodon" by Lukáš Rais, 2023
Náměstí Franze Kafky, Staré Město
Prague, September 2024

"Lukáš Rais’ path to art was certainly not a straightforward one. First he worked as an electrician, then he trained as a cook and only then did he start studying at the Academy of Arts and Crafts in the sculpture studio. The relationship to technology is also reflected in his artwork, for which he uses pipes, which are building elements of pipelines for the chemical or food industry. Lukáš Rais buys them all over the world (Pakistan, China, Holland, Norway, Finland, Romania, Italy, Ukraine) and then bends and interweaves them to create abstract shapes. His team includes welders, machine mechanics, designers – that’s why his work is called industrial poetics." (Trichodon, Our Beautiful Prague)

Luigi Boccherini

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Luigi Boccherini by Enrico Pazzi, 1880
Piazza del Suffragio
Lucca, June 2024

"Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (Lucca, 19 febbraio 1743 – Madrid, 28 maggio 1805) è stato un compositore e violoncellista italiano. Prolifico compositore, principalmente di musica da camera, fu il maggior rappresentante della musica strumentale nei paesi europei di lingua romanza durante il periodo del Classicismo. Nacque a Lucca in una famiglia di musicisti. Ebbe tre fratelli ballerini: Giovanni Gastone (affermatosi in seguito come librettista per Salieri, con ‘La secchia rapita’, e per Haydn, con ‘Il ritorno di Tobia’), Maria Ester (sposata con il coreografo Onorato Viganò, da cui nacque Salvatore) e Anna Matilde. Il giovane Luigi apprese la tecnica del suo strumento, il violoncello, dal padre Leopoldo, contrabbassista, e dall'abate D. F. Vannucci del seminario di Lucca, maestro di cappella." (Luigi Boccherini, Wikipedia)

Tünnes und Schäl

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“Tünnes und Schäl” by Wolfgang Reuter, 1974
An Groß St. Martin
Cologne, September 2024

“Tünnes and Schäl aren’t real people — but two bronze life-size statues of them stand in front of Groß St. Martin (Great St. Martin's Church) church in Cologne’s Altstadt (Old Town). They give us concrete, hands-on evidence that all over the world the collective human spirit is capable of taking on physical form. Tünnes’ nose has been rubbed shiny by the many hands that have touched and rubbed it. That’s because his nose is reputed to be a lucky charm. Tünnes and Schäl are the two legendary cult figures of the Hänneschen puppet theatre in Cologne. The founder of the first Hänneschen theatre, Johann Christoph Winters, created Tünnes in 1803, and Schäl joined Tünnes in 1850. Rumour has it that Schäl was created because there was a competing puppet theatre on the Schäl Sick, the ‘wrong side’ (right bank) of the Rhine. Tünnes is the short form of Antonius in the Rhineland dialect; he’s a naïve country bumpkin with a bulbous nose and a tranquil soul. Schäl is thinner and always wears a tailcoat. He’s a rascal, often sly and sometimes even underhanded. He considers himself smarter than Tünnes, but he isn’t. The word ‘schäl’ has more than one meaning in the local dialect. It refers both to Schäl’s squint and to his ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ behaviour. After all, he’s from the Schäl Sick, the ‘wrong’ side of our metropolis on the Rhine.” (Tünnes and Schäl statues, Cologne Tourism)

Maserati headquarters

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Maserati headquarters
Via Divisione Acqui
Modena, May 2024

“Maserati S.p.A. is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident.” (Maserati, Wikipedia)