On the road (Europe 2010): Florence (continued)

Having been out of touch with the Internet the past few days, I've been unable to update things. A little catching up is in order. First, more about Florence.

Spent two days in Florence visiting some familiar sites and going to a few new ones as well. Saw the Uffizzi again. Buying an advance ticket costs an extra €4, but it was well worth it to avoid the lines. Even so, it was crowded--and hot. I have never visited Florence in the heat of summer before. I was surprised to see how poorly the museum is ventilated. It was as hot in some of the galleries as it was outside. Still, it was good to see the place again. I enjoyed seeing the Botticellis, but also the wonderful Hugo van der Goes Portinari Triptych in the large Botticelli room that houses Venus and Primavera. To me, it's just as good as the Botticellis, but most people turn their backs to it, adoring Venus. There are several wonderful Bronzino portraits, and so much more--but no one needs me to catalog the wonders of the Uffizzi....

Took a quick look at Orsanmichelle. It's an interesting building, even knowing that the distinctive collection of sculptures in niches all around its exterior consists entirely of copies. The originals are in the Orsanmichele museum and a couple of other museums around the city. The building was originally a grain warehouse and market. It was turned into a church around the end of the 14th century. It became the chapel of Florence's trade and craft guilds. The statues on the facade were commissioned by the guilds, which competed with each other to impress. It has a very ornate tabernacle with a madonna and child by Bernardo Daddi, dating to around 1346. The ceiling is heavily decorated as well. You can still see large iron rings set into the ceiling that once were used to support ropes for moving heavy bags of grain (look closely at my photo here; the left-hand figure painted on the ceiling has one of these approximately at her belly button).

Saw some of the Church of San Lorenzo and its appendages. Because of the timing of closings (and more restoration work), I missed seeing the connected Laurentian Library, with its idiosyncratic staircase. I really don't understand why these places--visited by millions annually from all over the world--should close at all. The administrators charge an arm and a leg to let you see them. Surely the funds are available to pay staff to keep things going for a full day, rather than closing at odd hours like 11:30.

The Medici tombs in the Cappella dei Principi were half covered by scaffolding, but the huge space decorated in pietra dura (elaborately cut and fitted stone) was dazzling nevertheless. I'd forgotten how big and imposing the place is. The visitor does not leave without knowing very clearly how powerful and wealthy the Medici family was.

The New Sacristy (also connected to San Lorenzo) is interesting for what is and isn't in it. It was left unfinished when Michelangelo left Florence for Rome in 1534. I wonder why they never got someone else to finish at least the architectural elements, if not the sculptures? There are places on the blank walls that have been partitioned in pencil in preparation for installation of pilasters and other decoration that never materialized. Michelangelo's famous tomb sculptures--Day and Night and Dawn and Dusk are here. As is often pointed out, the figures are beautifully carved, but design is emphasized at the expense of anatomical and architectural sense--Day, the male figure to the right  in the photo, has impossibly small feet  (his face was left unfinished as well) and the pilasters on either side of the central figure support nothing. This is the tomb of Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, third son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Opposite (adorned with Dawn and Dusk) is the tomb of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, Grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent. From Florence, we began the long drive west, back to France, stopping off at Pisa, the Cinque Terre, Barbaresco and Barolo in the Piemonte wine country, and then made a final mad dash back to Pouzolles on the freeways through Monaco, Nice, Marseilles, Nîmes, and Montpellier (seeing none of these latter).

On the Road (Europe 2010): Florence

Arrived in Florence last night after dark. Saw the Duomo, with its campanile and dome--all lighted and looking like a decorated cake--for the first time in many years. Much of it has been cleaned since I was last here. The campanile, the main facade, and much of one side of the Duomo have been cleaned. The white marble is white, the pink marble pink, the green marble green. In contrast, the rest (as well as the adjacent Baptistery) looks quite dirty—as if covered with a layer of ash.

Went up in the dome today then walked around the city some and saw the Basilica of San Croce, which I’d never visited before. The church itself isn’t that interesting, but this is where Michelangelo, Gallileo, Machiavelli, Danté, and Rossini are buried—along with about 250 others, mostly under marble panels set into the terra cotta tile floor. Some of the panels have simple inscriptions with coats of arms, others have full figures carved in marble, but these have mostly been worn away by hundreds of years of foot traffic.

I particularly enjoyed seeing Gallileo’s tomb. Why are the resting places of the illustrious fascinating? I don’t know. Visiting a grave like that of Gallileo gives a sense of being in the presence of greatness, even if nothing is there but bones hundreds of years old—if the bones really are there.

There are some good paintings inside the church, for example, a good Bronzino pietá and another large Bronzino that I rather liked. There is also a very simple but interesting chapel, the Pazzi Chapel, designed by Brunelleschi, that is decorated with roundels by Luca della Robbia. According to my guide book (Blue Guide Concise Italy, Somerset, 2009). This is an early Renaissance use of the central plan (which refers to a round, square, or octagonal space topped by a dome) that was common in Roman architecture. It became part of the Christian architectural repertoire in the form of baptisteries and pilgrimage chapels. Brunelleschi is credited with introducing it to Florence. The latin tradition had hitherto favored the rectangular basilica form.

Visiting the main dome was a bit of a disappointment. Since I was last here they have raised a thick plastic barrier above the railings on the interior walkways, which obscures all views downward, obscures about half of the views up into the inside of the dome (the paintings have been restored since I last visited, too), and removes all sense of freedom; the walk around the interior of the dome used to be quite scary as the railing is no more than waist high and the drop below is a very big one. Still, it was nice to see the panoramic view of Florence from the top of the dome, to see the interesting brickwork inside the dome, and to see some of the timbers in the chain of large oak trunks that helps to hold the dome together.

Later, took a walk down to the Uffizzi to get advance tickets for tomorrow, which will avoid a wait in line. Took a detour down to the Arno to look at the Ponte Vecchio. When I was last here, the approach from the Uffizi side was closed because there had just been a bombing at the Uffizi (when was that? 1994  or so?). I wanted to see it from the Uffizi side as my photographer grandfather shot it from this side in the late 1920s or early 1930s. I walked along the bridge, looking at all the gold and jewels for sale. Hot, tired tourists were everywhere,  taking pictures of themselves, the sights, and seeking out cold water, sodas, gelato—anything cool. Now I remember why I always used to come to Europe in late September or  early October….

Walking home at the end of the day, I came across a red Alfa Romeo Spider parked in the street. Owning a 1978 Spider myself, I stopped to have a look. In the three or four minutes I spent looking at the car, about six people stopped to take pictures of it. A small crowd formed at one point. This appears to have been an earlier seventies car than mine, but it had a few anachronistic modifications (newer seat belts, newer antenna, missing something around the headlights). Still a very snappy-looking design, after all these years.