Friday, February 27, 2015

Pisa Leaning Tower Illusion



Dear Art lover,
Pisa Italy Leaning Tower Illusion lean right     I have a hard time removing images I enjoy from my laptop until I have shared them.  So, please indulge me today if I have a flashback post.  I have been to Pisa several times in my years in Italia, but not for very long on any visit.  I am usually with other people who are just passing through to see the famous Leaning Tower, which in fact, is the bell tower for the Duomo (cattedrale) in Pisa.  

     It is all part of a complex called the Piazza dei Miracoli.  The Duomo, the Baptistry, and the tower are just a few of the buildings you will find here.  And, of course, you will find tourists posing some distance away from the tower, with fingers positioned so that the resulting photo of them looks as if they are either pushing up or pulling down the tower.  I personally have never had a strong desire to go up into the Leaning Tower.


     But she has QUITE the lean, doesn’t she?  Last fall I was there on a beautiful November day.  I saw something that I had never noticed before.  It is not a trick of the camera because the images look the same in the camera as the tower did in real life.  I checked because I was having a hard time believing what was there right in front of me!

Pisa Italy Leaning Tower Illusion - leaning right Piazza dei Miracoli
Pisa Italy Leaning Tower Illusion - leaning left Piazza dei Miracoli


     The tower has a definite lean to the right when one views it while standing in the Baptistry or beside the Duomo.  However, as one moves towards the tower, almost a 90-degree change of view, the tower starts to lean left!  I expected it to look physically straight up and down when I got where I was when I took the image.  And I expected the shadows / lighting to explain to me that the tower was leaning towards me.  But, the way the light hits on the right and the shadows go back and down, the tower appears to not only lean left, but also away from me!

     So, that was fun.  After our little group left the complex, we wandered not too far away and found this church.  Sadly, not being a tour guide, I did not catch the name of this church, but it is perhaps easy to find on the Internet.  One of the more darkly decorated places of worship that I have seen. 
I also leave you with some of the lovely artwork in Pisa… and some humor.

Pisa, Italy, macabre, church, skeletons
Pisa, Italy, macabre, church, skeletons


Pisa, Italy, macabre, church, skeletonsOn March 1, I hope to launch my Kickstarter program, “Casting Call:  I’m Melting!  Melting!  . . . Into Bronze”  I will keep you posted.  I am a bit nervous about this, but I think, as if often the case with me, that curiosity is the stronger emotion.


Please share this with anyone you think might bust a gut over it-ha!  Thank you.
Kelly
~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher







Pisa, Italy, architecture, sgraffiti, sculpture
Pisa, Italy, architecture, sgraffiti, sculpture
Wild Boar from Jamaica in Pisa cinguale cinchiangle

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