Blogs

"Study of Senses Culminating in Religious Experience for the Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux" by Allison Reitz

The Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux is a book of hours designed between 1324 and 1328 CE specifically for Queen Jeanne d’Evreux, wife of King Charles IV of France. It was intended as a prayer book for Jeanne’s private use which is supported by the handheld size (3 ½ by 2 ½ inches). The visual interaction with the images, symbols and text that gave instructions to Jeanne will be researched.

Senior Design Studio Portfolio: Mitchell Stein

The portfolio is known to be the collection of a student’s work throughout their undergraduate, graduate, or professional career. When I look at mine, it is a reminder of the all the thought, the trial and errors, the strategies, and the programming that it took to create such work. Each page of my portfolio is a chapter of my time here at Pitt in the Architectural Studies program.

Mitchell Stein

My name is Mitchell Stein and I am a senior, Architectural Studies major with a minor in Studio Arts. I’m 21 years old and a native to the great city of Pittsburgh. I am a member of The Delta Chi Fraternity here on Pitt’s campus, which I have been a part of since my freshman year. Architecture has always been my passion; since I was a young boy, I played with any sort of toy that allowed me to design and build something.

"Painting with Light: The Composite World War 1 Photography of Frank Hurley" by Stephanie Selya

Australian WWI photographer Frank Hurley was hired to record the events of WWI for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Better known for his photographs of the Endurance expedition into Antarctica, Hurley’s photographic recordings of WWI have generally been overlooked. Experiencing war firsthand, he felt that he could not accurately represent the war without being permitted to make composite photographs, images derived from multiple photographic negatives.

Jamie Falco

Jamie Falco graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in December with a dual degree in Architectural Studies and Business, accompanied by a minor in Economics and Italian. Jamie has held various internships throughout her time at the University, including working with Passive House certified architects and a large home staging company in Rome, Italy.

Danica Cooper

Danica Cooper will graduate with honors this spring from the anthropology department with a concentration in physical anthropology, a certificate in African studies, and a minor in museum studies. She came to Pitt with experience in student teaching and has continued to do so in Swahili language classes. She has always been interested in music, and is the Equipment and Facilities Operations Manager and Transcription Specialist for Pitt’s first show choir.

FlorenceFive Stays Another Night

The past couple days have been quite busy! On Wednesday, we visited the abbey church of S. Godenzo to study its structure as a comparison to the destroyed S. Reparata. We also took a tour through gardens and the Bernard Berenson collection at The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Villa I Tatti. We were greeted graciously with tea and cookies as Professor Toker presented some materials for archive at the center.

FlorenceFive Catches the Train

Yesterday, we ran for the train and made it just in time to get to Lucca.  We explored the crypt under the Church of San Michele in Foro and the Pergamo di Giovanni Pisano in the Lucca Duomo.  Afterwards, we visited Pisa to look at the pulpit in the Duomo and to compare the Pisa Baptistery to the baptistery we examined in Florence. This photo is the front facade of the Church of San Michele in Foro.

-TheFlorenceFive

Guided Tours of the Lochoff Cloister

Vittore Carpaccio, Arrival of the Ambassadors

Since September 2013, undergraduate educators at the UAG have been offering free guided tours of the Nicholas Lochoff paintings in the Frick Fine Arts Building. In the Fall semester, educators talked about the Lochoff paintings in terms of conservation and preservation, and linked their tour to the gallery exhibition "ReDiscover: the Collection Revealed". This semester, the tours offer a different approach. One educator is even offering a tour in Mandarin-Chinese!

FlorenceFive Underground

Today, we went to the excavation site under the Florence Cathedral to examine and photograph the various mosaic carpet patterns. Then, we explored San Lorenzo and the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana designed by Michelangelo. We concluded the day by examining the ancient roman foundation existing beneath the baptistery in Florence as well as the foundation of what Professor Toker believes is an earlier baptistery building.

Ciao for now!!

-The FlorenceFive