Santa Maria della Spina is a small church in the Italian city of Pisa. The church, erected around 1230 in the Pisan Gothic style, and enlarged after 1325, was originally known as Santa Maria di Pontenovo for the newer bridge that existed nearby, collapsed in the 15th century, and was never rebuilt.

The name of della Spina (“of the thorn”) derives from the presence of a thorn, putatively part of the crown of thorns placed on Christ during his Passion and Crucifixion. The relic was brought to this church in 1333. In 1871 the church was dismantled and rebuilt on a higher level due to dangerous infiltration of water from the Arno river. The church was altered in the process, however, and John Ruskin, who visited Pisa in 1872, was outraged about the restoration.. The church no longer houses the “thorn”. The “thorn” is now in the Chiesa di Santa Chiara, which is on show inside and can be found on Via Roma.

The church of Santa Maria della Spina has always been administered by the city, except for short interruptions in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when it fell to the responsibility of the local hospital.

Exterior

The church has one of the most outstanding Gothic edifices in Europe: it has a rectangular plant, with an external facing wholly composed of marble, laid in polychrome bands. The exterior appearance is marked by cusps, tympani and tabernacles, together with a complicated sculpture decoration with tarsiae, rose-windows and numerous statues from the main Pisane artists of the 14th century. These include Lupo di Francesco, Andrea Pisano with his sons Nino and Tommaso, and Giovanni di Balduccio.

The façade has two gates with lintelled arches. Among these lies the tabernacle with the statues of Madonna with the Child and two Angels, attributed to Giovanni Pisano. Two niches open in the upper part of the façade: these house the statue of Christ among the two Annunciation ones, and two other angels.

The right side has also a rich decoration with cusps and thirteen statues of the Apostles and Christ, from Lupo’s workshop. The small sculptures portraying Saints and Angels over the tympani are from Nino Pisano’s workshop, while the niche in the right pillar has a Madonna with Child by Giovanni di Balduccio.

The back side has three round arches with simple windows. The tympani are decorated with the Evangelists’ symbols, intervalled by niches with the statues of the Saints Peter, Paul and John the Baptist. The high pyramid-like spires end with the statues of the Madonna with Child between two angels, by Nino Pisano.

Image Details
Date: 11 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 50mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1,250s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Image Details
Date: 11 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 48mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1,600s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

San Giusto is a church in Lucca, Tuscany, central Italy. Built over a pre-existing church, it dates to the second half of the 12th century. Its titular is the 12th century Italian, Giustino Salce, whence the name “San Giusto”.

The present building has a nave and two aisles with apses. The façade has a mixed decoration, with white and black stripes in the upper part, forming two small superimposed loggias at the top.

The central portal was made by Guidetto’s workshop, and, among the other details, includes two twisting atlases (one now partly missing) supporting two protruding lions at the sides of the lunette. The rest of the decoration has vegetable motifs or fantastic creatures. The two roots of the internal archivolt (which has black and white rows like in the upper façade) lay on two cubes with masks of Classic origin.

The side portals have less ornate decorations, mostly limited to the capitals and similar to that of the central one. The latter is surmounted by a double mullioned window, while above the side ones are simpler oculi. The apse’s exteriors features Lombard bands and two orders of single mullioned windows. The interior was remade during the 17th century in Baroque style.

Image Details
Date: 11 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 240mm
Aperture: ƒ/5
Shutter Speed: 1/1,000s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Alfredo Catalani (19 June 1854 – 7 August 1893) was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas Loreley (1890) and La Wally (1892). La Wally was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani’s most famous aria “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana.” This aria, sung by American soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez, was at the heart of Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 1981 cult movie Diva. Catalani’s other operas were much less successful.

Object description
Type: Sculpture
Location: Town Walls, Lucca, Italy
Material: Bronze
Artist: Francesco Petroni (1877–1960)
Date: Unknown

Image Details
Date: 11 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 55mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1,000s
ISO: 400
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Giuseppe Garibaldi (Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ɡariˈbaldi]); 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, politician and nationalist. He is considered one of the greatest generals of modern times and one of Italy’s “fathers of the fatherland” along with Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and Giuseppe Mazzini.

Garibaldi has been called the “Hero of the Two Worlds” because of his military enterprises in Brazil, Uruguay and Europe. He personally commanded and fought in many military campaigns that led eventually to the Italian unification. Garibaldi was appointed general by the provisional government of Milan in 1848, General of the Roman Republic in 1849 by the Minister of War, and led the Expedition of the Thousand on behalf and with the consent of Victor Emmanuel II. His last military campaign took place during the Franco-Prussian War as commander of the Army of the Vosges.

Garibaldi was very popular in Italy and abroad, aided by exceptional international media coverage at the time. Many of the greatest intellectuals of his time, such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and George Sand, showered him with admiration. The United Kingdom and the United States helped him a great deal, offering him financial and military support in difficult circumstances. In the popular telling of his story, he is associated with the red shirts worn by his volunteers, the Garibaldini, in lieu of a uniform.

Object description
Type: Statue
Location: Piazza del Giglio, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy
Material: Marble
Artist: Unknown
Date: Unknown

Image Details
Date: 11 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Tamron 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6
Focal Length: 70mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1,600s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Image Details
Date: 10 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 55mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1,000s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Image Details
Date: 10 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 18mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1,250s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

The Carabinieri (formally Arma dei Carabinieri, “Carabinieri Force” or previously Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali, “Royal Carabinieri Corps”; Italian pronunciation: [karabiˈnjɛːri]) is the fourth Italian military force charged with police duties under the authority of the Ministry of Defense. Carabinieri are the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations. Carabinieri (similar to Polizia di Stato and Guardia di Finanza) are always “on duty” throughout the national territory including out of service hours, during leave and whilst on vacation, and they are always permitted to carry their assigned weapon as personal equipment (Beretta 92FS pistol). It was originally founded as the police force of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the forerunner of the Kingdom of Italy. During the process of Italian unification, it was appointed the “First Force” of the new national military organisation. Although the Carabinieri assisted in the suppression of opposition during the rule of Benito Mussolini, they were also responsible for his downfall and many units were disbanded during World War II by Nazi Germany, which resulted in large numbers of Carabinieri joining the Italian resistance movement. Since 2001, it has been one of the four Italian Armed Forces.

N.B. To comply with Italian law, this image is provided free of charge for personal use only. It was taken in a public space and does not make a political statement nor does it degrade the individual or the position they hold.

Image Details
Date: 9 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Tamron 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6
Focal Length: 185mm
Aperture: ƒ/4.8
Shutter Speed: 1/500s
ISO: 560
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Image Details
Date: 9 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 22mm
Aperture: ƒ/5
Shutter Speed: 1/1,250s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Image Details
Date: 9 May 2018
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 22mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1,250s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International