Spending the Summer in Florence - Virtually

October 26, 2022

Summer 2022!

Hi all! My name is Julia Brinker, and I’m a sophomore at W&L. I got involved with FLAW this past spring, and had the pleasure of spending the summer researching, editing, and writing for the project - all from my home in Maryland! I worked on a smattering of different things, but focused specifically on Santa Croce and the Bigallo.

One of my more major projects this summer involved combining previously written essays pertaining to various chapels in Santa Croce. I had over 15 well-written and informative essays with which to work; I took a fine-tooth comb through them and picked out the information I deemed most important. After gathering that, I had to figure out a way to structure my new essay: I had to create a cohesive narrative out of snippets and facts from various sources. I focused specifically on the Baroncelli Chapel and the Cappella Maggiore - two chapels inside Santa Croce - during this process, and ended up with over ten different, smaller essays about their fresco scenes, biographies of the artists, and the real-life artifacts that served as inspiration. These essays will be added to the PointCloud model of Santa Croce later this fall.

I was also able to explore the “digital” side of “digital humanities” as well. There are so many wheels turning at FLAW, each one unique but integral– and a side I have a newfound appreciation for is the technological one. Layers and layers of code and dozens of folders organize information so that the FLAW website runs smoothly. I was able to get a sneak peek into that world this summer. Having virtually no background in computer science, there was a hefty learning curve in terms of solidly grasping the logic and systems of code. But by the end of the summer, I was able to independently upload to and navigate the website with minimal trouble.

With Professor Bent in Florence, the FLAW team will have an influx of scans coming in and much more work to be done! We look forward to getting to add to our collection of PointCloud models and getting to continue to make our mark on the digital history of Florence.