Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Newark to Milan
Sunset at Newark Liberty International Airport, above.
Waking up at Milan Malpensa Airport, below.
Pordenone, Friuli, Italy
Every October Pordenone hosts a silent film festival: Le Giornate del Cinema Muto. A great week for cinephiles. http://www.giornatedelcinemamuto.it/en/
Waiting to get into the the theater for the night performance; a big crowd.
Quo fata trahunt tetrahuntque sequamur quicquid erit superando omnis fortuna ferando est.
Where the fates draw and drag us, let us follow whatever will be, overcoming all fortune.
Cividale del Friuli
Cividale del Friuli is in northeastern Italy, east of Udine and near the border with Slovenia. The region is Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The town was the first settlement of the Lombards (or Longobards) in 568 AD; the next four 'chapters' tell the history of the Longobards, where they came from, and the art they left behind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombards
The Lombards in Maps
The Lombards (also knows as Longobards) invaded Italy in 568 AD and quickly conquered much of the peninsula, reigning until defeated by Charlemagne in 774.
Migrations of the Lombards
The Lombards came originally from Scandinavia and had a migration history of over 5 centuries: the Baltic coast, the Elbe River, Bohemia, Austria, and the Danube basin. They established one of the most important kingdoms in Europe by the sixth century, but when the Avars pushed west from the steppes, the Lombard king Alboin turned south to Italy in the mid 500's/sixth century.
The Lombards in Bohemia and Austria; Italy at that time was ruled by the Ostrogoths and Byzantines.
In 568 AD the Lombards led by King Alboin, moved south to Italy, accompanied by other Germanic tribes. They chose first the fortified town of Forum Iulii (later contracted to Friuli, the name for the whole region of Italy). There was little opposition from the Byzantines. A temple and many grave sites were established in the hills around the town.
Map below showing Lombard regnum Italian under King Rothari 636-652 AD. The tan bits were still under Byzantine control, the rest of Italy was dominated by the Lombards: purple, green, and brown.
Lombard Grave Goods
The town where the Lombards settled first is now known as Cividale del Friuli. The grave sites there have yielded artifacts from 570 to about 730 AD, showing what was customarily buried with the dead - and has survived. The grave goods vary based on age, gender and class.
Below are a few items that were found in graves of high ranking women: jewelry, adornments, crosses, fittings for a bow and combs.
Lombard Grave Goods, High Ranking Man
What has survived are weapons of war, the characteristic shield plate, and crosses.
Lombard Sarcophagus
Tomb from the eighth century.
They believe that the marble was originally brightly painted.
The artists had not figured out perspective, so the hands of the angels below are larger to indicate that the hands are closer than the feet.
The birth of Christ with the three kings coming to see Jesus and Mary.
The Path to Frisanco
Frisanco is only a few kilometers east of Poffabro in the Friuli region of Italy, nestled in the foothills of the Dolomites.
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