1. The Ravenna mosaics, most of all at St. Vitale.
2. Monreale, the Norman church outside of Palermo, Sicily.
3. Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim altar, in Colmar, France.
4. Tiepolo’s paintings in the Residenz, in Wurzburg.
I much prefer any of those to the Mona Lisa, and to my prejudiced taste they are all among the very greatest of artistic masterpieces. They are all worthy of pilgrimages.
With all due respect, Monreale has never been underrated
Monreale is a wonderful experience – but the Palatine Chapel is sublime
Mr. Cowen,
actually, those masterpieces are great.
No one could say whether they are greater than Monna Lisa, which has become a popular celebrity because it is exibhited at Louvre whereas they are elsewhere and mass tourism does not care of them.
The greatest art work around Colmar was 1 day of performance art on January 26, 1945.
Nice find. The Ma Deuce Monologues.
That was an amazing read!
Mona Lisa is way overrated (which is not to say that Da Vinci is). I was interested to learn that it was not always occupy its current exhaulted place as the most famous painting. It appears to have been catapulted into that position by an early 20th century heist. (http://surviving-history.blogspot.com/2012/03/man-who-stole-mona-lisa-greatest-art.html)
My current favourite Spanish old master painters — El Greco, Zurbaran, Murillo.
Ravenna is a very interesting place to visit. It was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, and the capital of Italy when the Byzantine Empire reconquered Italy from the Ostrogoths in the sixth century. When my wife and I went there, we discovered it was pretty easy to walk around and see many of the interesting sights, including the church Tyler mentions and the tomb of Galla Placidia. The most famous mosaic shows Justinian, the Empress Theodora and general Belisarius.
I think that some of the more obscure mosaics in Ravenna are finer than those at San Vitale, which are spectacular and great indeed. A peculiar detail there is that the first barbarian ruler was far more competent than any Roman ruler since the time of Trajan and fixed up the sewers, even though he was illiterate.
Delighted to see two favorites recognised–I would add that the civilization cultivated by the Normans in the South is too little known, and its contribution to the 12th. century renaissance a footnote where there should be a headline..
It is too little known, but Vanished Kingdoms, by Norman Davies, shines some light.
Ravenna’s mosaics have never been “underrated”, at least by italians. Schoolclasses from around 150-200km go there regularly to see them, and there is even a special mosaic-restoration school in Ravenna that supplies specialistic restorators worldwide.
What americans know of italian art though, is beyong me, and i honestly dont care much.
No one cares about your opinion either.
Shhhhhhh, Tyler. The mosaics in Ravenna are indeed underrated treasures. But they are better seen without the company of busloads of people that occupy so many other European sites! More seriously, you are right on the mark about Ravenna. Having studied some art history in college where we learned about the mosaics, my wife and I added it to a European art and history tour doubling as our honeymoon. Ravenna was a great respite from the traditional spots. I recommend renting bicycles and cycling around the area (including out to the Basilica of Sant’ Appollinare in Classe). You’ll even run into an Augustus replica statue.
Sicily in general is underrated. It’s sort of like the European (sub)country version of Tyler’s “an economist gets lunch” tips. It has an interesting indigenous combination of Northern African and Italian cuisines, is cheaper than the mainland, and being conquered by Muslims, Normans, Romans and Greeks is almost a taste of the whole Mediterranean. Nice beaches, almost alpine regions near Etna, frenetic city life in Palermo … all within a couple hours of each other.
…..and being conquered by Muslims, Normans, Romans and Greeks …..
Don’t forget eggplants (sublime, albeit profane, video at the link).
I believe that Tyler’s book has a whole section about Sicily being underrated. I remember a line about how if Michelin gave stars to all the places that deserved it- well, they would not give that many stars. So they settle for veru few rather than trying to break ties.
If you want to get down to it, all art is overrated if it is well known. Any of these works could be produced by a pile of starving artists today. Whether or not something is popular has little to do with how good it is.
So untrue.
Max, your comment demonstrates a lack of education so profound it is amazing you were able to actually type it. Be truthful–your mom helped, right?
Well, I developed a taste for the art of the Crusader Kingdoms, so I’m biased. But yes, truly lovely. Though #5 inspired thoughts of “Go for Baroque!”.
I’m pretty much done with traveling, and I’m avoiding Italy (been there twice, its on my “failed states, don’t bother” list). But Ravenna is on my list of must still get too places. And Sicily I wouldn’t mind hanging around for a few months in my dotage.
Tyler: “I much prefer any of those to the Mona Lisa, and to my prejudiced taste they are all among the very greatest of artistic masterpieces.” – WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! The works referenced are from a later date. The later artists perfected techniques hence more visually pleasing. Compare for example the revolution caused by the early Dutch masters when http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_van_Eyck started painting. ANY of his works beats the Italians (see list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Master#Incomplete_list_of_the_most_important_Old_Masters) because he used better technology (oil not water or the cheap oily stuff the Italian masters used). It’s like saying “modern artists sign better because they use Auto-Tune and synthesizers” — a true statement of fact but it must be taken in context. I HAVE SPOKE. No I’m not an art critic, just well read and of an open mind like Tyler.
But how is it wrong?
Wrong in that Tyler should not have bothered with the comparison. However, I’d wager most intelligent Americans don’t have the understanding to not make the comparison. Especially on a site that is often disparaging of art historians.
Only one of those works is from a later date. Isenheim is contemporary and was painted in an earlier tradition, monreale and san vitale are both much older than the mona lisa. so you’re wrong.
I was referring to that one on the list, the Tiepolo’s paintings in the Residenz, in Wurzburg.
That list is really crazy, everything on there is rated at the very top. A comparable list could be:
Four most ancient masterpieces:
1. Ramses reliefs at Abu Simbel
2. The Dying Gaul
3. Baalbek
4. The Medici Venus
I take that back they are all more underrated than what is on that list, so maybe
The four most underated Mountain Ranges
1. The Andes
2. The Canadian Rockies
3. The Austrian Alps
4. The Tienshan
There that is a more comparable list
Considering that one can any pedestrian can take a bus and then walk to 3000 m elevation in the Tienshan, the Canadian Rockies do sound under-rated for a reason.
Has Tyler actually been to all these places?
Probably. Could have easily. The life of celebrity academic offers a lot of free attractions.
It’s a great list, though I have yet to see the two Italian sites. I am curious, though, why you feel they are underrated. At least in Germany, the Isenheim Altar and the fresco in Würzburg are known to anyone with even a passing interest in art, and so are the mosaics of Ravenna. The mosaic of Justinian and Theodora is absolutely iconic (pardon the pun).
If you feel these are underrated, then you should have a look at the frescoes in St. Georg on the Reichenau island in the lake of Constance. This was the main base of the Irish monks that christianised southern Germany. The frescoes, dating to the 10 century, are practically singular in showing how a romanesque church looked like at that time. And you will have the church almost to yourself. There are two more romanesque churches on the island, both worth a visit as well.
Awesome tip, thanks! I’ve been in the area and managed to miss those.
As for underrated, Tyler assumes (correctly, I think) that most of his readers aren’t all that well-versed in things artistic. Most educated people I know have heard of Ravenna and might know the Grunewald (Crucifixion only). And as all these sites/sights are a bit off the beaten path, they are not only less well-known but less visited by Americans.
I much prefer any of those to the Mona Lisa, and to my prejudiced taste they are all among the very greatest of artistic masterpieces.
But then, you love totally incompetent paintings by some Haitian guy, so the priors on judging your judgment become very much skewed.
Has anyone else noticed that when you click on the links, you are taken through a mini-history of Tyler’s Google search? He initially searched for “monreal sicily” before correcting to “monreale sicily”, and the matthias grunewald search appears briefly before the tiepolo wurzburg search. Bizarre. I wonder how Google embeds these in the URLs?
When considering making a special trip to visit a work of art, keep in mind bigger is better as a tourist experience. The Mona Lisa is a small painting and looks much like it does in reproductions back home. Tiepolo’s huge ceiling paintings can’t be effectively reproduced.
And don’t over look the very highly rated huge works of art, too, like Michelangelo’s David, the Pantheon, and Chartres Cathedra. They don’t reproduce as well most paintings, but they’re something in person.
It always comes down to one’s taste — I’d recommend a smaller is better approach, crowdwise.
The farther off the main tourist trail you go, the less human distraction you encounter — making for a more intense (or relaxing, depending on your temperament) experience.
Great list Tyler. I am putting Isenheim on my bucket list. I would suggest Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Alas, it is now entombed for its own protection and the visits last only 15 minutes or so.
When you get to Colmar don’t neglect Schongauer’s Virgin of the Rosebush, another late Gothic masterpiece.
I think the Romanesque ceiling of St. Martin’s church in Zillis, Switzerland is very underrated. I made a photo story on it recently. please have a look, i think you’ll like it:
http://magsmag.com/st-martin-in-zillis/
Wow! That one is definitely out-of-the-way but well worth a visit (had the good fortune to see it three years ago — it was a vacation highlight).
Your photojournal is fantastic.
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