Florence...Italy This Time

Florence(Firenze), Italy is in Tuscany, Italy. It is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, home of Michelangelo and many other great Italian renaissance artists. Unfortunately we were only able to spend one day there, a day that was extremely crowded and cloudy. Knowing what I know now, I would have done things a little differently. More of that later.

Florence is dominated by the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo or the Cathedral of Florence. Begun in 1296, the dome was designed and built by Brunelleschi and completed in 1436. The exterior is of polychrome marble panels. The front facade was not completed until the 19th century and is Gothic revival. Below is  the front of the Duomo, with the dome with its lantern visible in the left  background.The second photo shows some of the facade a little closer.

The photos below show the central portal and a closeup of it's tympanum.

 Below is sculpture from the facade.

Shown below is some of the facade, Giottos campanile from the 14th century and the dome.

Brunelleschi's dome is shown in the two photos here. The dome is made of brick, and is the largest masonry dome in the world. It was built without scaffolding; he designed and built hoists to bring materials up to the dome. His drawings of these pieces of machinery were falsely attributed to Leonardo da Vinci for many years.

There are three rather remarkable structures packed together in the heart of Florence--the Duomo, Giotto's Campanile, and the Battistero di San Giovanni, more commonly known as the Florence Baptistry. The Baptistry is directly across from the front of the Duomo. It is an octagonal building constructed between 1029 and 1128. All Catholic Florentines were baptized here until the beginning of the 20th century. It is shown below.

There are three sets of doors by which the Baptistry was entered. Two of these were by Ghiberti. The north doors, by Ghiberti, are one of the most famous pieces of art in the world. They are gilded bronze, called by Michelangelo "The Gates of Paradise." Ghiberti spent 21 years on them, between about 1401-1422. The north doors were removed in 1990 and placed in a museum for resatoration and preservation. Replicas now stand in their place. There are 28 panels on the "Gates of Paradise;" twenty depict scenes from the life of Christ. The remaining depict scenes of the Evangelists and other parts of the Bible. The photos below are of the Gates of Paradise.

Tired? How about a treat and a ride?

I love this building; it is near the main sights.

Below is the Fountain of Neptune, by Bartolomeo Ammannati, done between 1563-1565.

Below is the Lion of Florence.

This of course is a replica of Michelangelo's David. It sits in the Piazza della Signori, where the original stood. It was sculpted between 1501 and 1504. The David was moved to the Academia Gallery in 1873 for it own protection.

Below is the most famous bridge over the River Arno, the Ponte Vecchio. A bridge existed here in Roman times; the current bridge dates to 1345. It still has shops on it, as it did in medieval times.

The photo below shows just Giotto's Campanile and Brunelleschi's dome.

We had one day to spend in Florence. We got on line and got tickets to the Uffizi Gallery, with a time to enter, and to the Academia, also with a time to enter. The David is at the Academia while the Uffizi is supposed to house the greatest collection of Italian Renaissance art in the world. Florence turned out to be extremely crowded and the Uffizi opened three hours late. And they kept selling tickets despite all that. You had to wait in a line about three hours to get a ticket to wait in another line to actually get in. After finally getting in you were crowded and rushed. The only thing I remember from the Uffizi was the painting of Venus on the Half-Shell. The Academia was better and the David is absolutely magnificent. However, because of all this nonsense, we didn't get to walk on the Ponte Vecchio or see the church of Santa Croce, etc, etc. Oh, well. Live and learn.

Venice Part V--Intimate Venice

Venice is a small city in terms of its physical size, covering about one square mile. Despite all the water it is a great walking city. Many of the small canals have sidewalks along the edge of the canal. There are also small squares with shops and restaurants as well as some small streets. Just taking off and walking with no preconceived idea of where you are going is great fun. If you get lost it really doesn't matter; there are many signs around pointing to San Marcos or the train station or the Grand Canal. On top of it all, it is one of the most beautiful, colorful, photogenic places I have ever seen.

The photo below is a wonderful example of what I'm talking about. This was taken from a bridge over a small canal. It is one of my all time favorite photographs. I was looking the other direction when my wife said "Turn around." I did and wow!

The three photos above are of different windows taken during my strolls. They are all away from the Grand Canal either on small canals, streets or squares. Below is a typical narrow street.

Above is the Rio dei Frari, a small canal near the Church of the Frari( see blog post of11/4/12 The Frari Church, Bellini and Jesus Christ Superstar).

Carnivale, the celebration that occurs at the beginning of Lent, is a big deal in Venice. There are many parties and masked balls. There are shops in Venice who sell and/or rent masks and costumes.
Below are masks from one such shop.

The photo below is of a different mask shop. The mannequin outside the shop is wearing the costume worn by a Venetian plague doctor. During plague outbreaks the doctors who took care of the victims dressed in outfits like this. During one outbreak Venice started with 18 doctors, which was soon reduced to eight, by a combination of death and fleeing the city. Some of the plague doctors weren't trained physicians. Unfortunately the state of medicine at the time meant that their most important duty was recording the deaths.

The beak was hollow with a breathing hole on the side. They would stuff the beak with good smelling things such as herbs, because bad smells were supposed to spread the plague. The eye holes were filled with glass for vision. A leather hood covered the head and neck. A cloak and hat completed the outfit.If you were ill how would you like to see this guy show up at your bedside? You can purchase a full blown mask like this for $200-$300. I bought a smaller plastic version for about $5.00 and brought it home. I wore it on Halloween complete with hat and cloak. The first bunch of kids who came down our street took one look at me sitting on the porch and kept right on walking. Our four year old grand daughter woudn't get within 10 feet of me. Great fun!

Above is another small canal. Below is a jewelry store. One can spend an awful lot of money in Venice if one has a mind to.

The three photos above show small canals, the bottom of which is barely wide enough for a gondola.  The restaurant below looks like a great spot.

Below are a couple of shops. The first one sells grappa, etc. I don't know what business the second one is in, but it has a great sign.

The first two canals shown below have gondola service points . The third one shows laundry hanging up.

For all you Agatha Christie fans, below is the sign for the track at the train station where the Orient Express loads passengers. They had red carpet, booze, etc. for their passengers. As well they should--as I remember the cost was between $3000 and $4000. That's one way, thank you. Per person.

Below are photos of three more small canals.

How about a little treat to tide you over before dinner?

Above are three more small canals. Below are lovers' locks locked on a bridge railing.

Above are more small canals. Below is a warm, inviting little square.

 

Just cause I like it--San Giorgio Maggiore, with a light fog lifting.