L'antica Strabo
considered ancient Arezzo, built on the hills
overlooking the valley of the Clanis, to be the Etruscan
city that lay furthest inland. Thanks to its position,
it formed a natural centre for the farming population
scattered over the fertile Chiana Valley and possibly
originally grew up as an outpost of Chiusi, during the
major period of Etruscan expansion to the north (6th
century B.C.). Although there is little archaeological
data on the town, there are ample traces of many of the
important sanctuaries that once contained famous "votive
offerings", among them the famous bronze Chimera, today
in the Archaeological Museum in Florence; these
buildings were all decorated with extremely beautiful
terracottas, carried out by a well known local school of
pottery (Piazza San Jacopo, Via Roma, etc.). Surrounded
by walls of great blocks of stone, the large necropolis
of Poggio Sole, founded in the 6th century B.C. and in
use until Roman times, shared the urban area.
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The Chapel
The
work on a fresco cycle in the Cappella Maggiore of the
church San Francesco had already begun in 1452 when when
Piero della Francesca visited the city. The Florentine
painter Bicci di Lorenzo was working in the chapel, he
died in 1452, leaving the decoration of the chapel
barely begun. Piero probably began to work right after
Bicci's death, covering in a few years the walls of the
Gothic chapel with the most modern and most advanced -
in terms of perspective - frescoes that the Italian 15th
century could have created.
The 13th century Crucifix with Saint
Francis was already in the church when Piero della
Francesca frescoed the chapel; it has been recently
placed above the main altar.
Franceso Petrarca
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NEAR AREZZO
The giostra of Saracino in june
and in september
castello Poppi
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