Accession Number
1986/1.150

Title
Firenze - Il Carro del Sabato Santo

Artist(s)
Carlo Brogi

Object Creation Date
1881-1896

Medium & Support
albumen print on paper

Dimensions
7 3/4 in x 9 3/4 in (19.68 cm x 24.77 cm);14 3/8 in x 19 3/8 in (36.51 cm x 49.21 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. W. Howard Bond

Subject matter
This photograph depicts a scene in the Italian city of Florence during a festive procession. In front of a line of buildings with windows and balconies is a crowd of men wearing dark suits. Towering over the crowd is an ornate wooden cart, its sides festooned with white flowers and topped with a crown. Harnessed to the cart are four white oxen, who stand still next to their drivers. The procession has halted for the photograph; the crowd of spectators and policemen face the photographer. The cart is the Cart of the Holy Saturday, a Florentine tradition in which this cart is drawn through the city center to its cathedral, the famed Santa Maria del Fiore. Laden with fireworks, the procession culminates when the cart’s arsenal is ignited before the doors of the cathedral, showering the piazza with an explosive display. The sharp clarity of the camera lens makes this image rich with visual information and details: the shop signs, jacket buttons, and stoic expressions of the bystanders are all easily legible. The stillness and blank expressions of the crowd and the monumental, mausoleum-like cart lend the image an eerie sense of silence and mystery.

Physical Description
This photograph depicts a procession of a large, ox-drawn cart covered in flowers in an Italian city. Gathered around the cart are a group of dark-suited men.  

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
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Keywords
Easter
Italian Renaissance-Baroque styles
Italy
Tuscan (architectural style)
Tuscan (culture or style)
buildings
cart
carts
festivals
groups
groups of people
horses
oxen
processional sculptures
streets
window