Charmed, I am sure…

Our last day in Florence was filled with a visit to Museo di San Marco to see Fra Angelico’s frescoes. Couldn’t take photos inside (a series of small cells for monks, each with its own fresco), but it was a beautiful experience. The outdoor courtyard was a beautiful place, too.

In process restoration of a fresco.

We visited a cafe afterward to await the time of our reservation at the Academia (tour books recommend making the reservations here and at the Uffizi before leaving home). Love the way they do shutters here.

And as we waited in line we enjoyed the roof lines…

First we saw an exhibit of sculptures by Lorenzo Bartolini. Some were marble and some were gesso which gave me a new appreciation for that material.
Like so much during our week in Florence, the Academia was overwhelming. As we walked into the entry corridor to the area where David stands, the corridor created a sight line to the tall statute under a domed skylight and my breath was taken away.
Pages from my travel journal since I couldn’t get shots inside.

I was thinking about David and my reaction to seeing it for the first time. At first I assumed it was so special because it is an iconic image in every history book. Then one night last week I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered that there was something else. I dug down in my jewelry box and found that I still had the bracelet I had gotten in high school when my great aunt took a European vacation and brought me a silver charm from each place she visited. There was the half inch tall David. Back in the day, I am sure I wondered if I would ever see it in person. I’m thinking I should use the bracelet as a guide. Oh, look there is the Eiffel Tower…a Spanish flamenco player…a Venice gondola…a Dutch windmill…a Greek shoe…and my new Euro bracelet stamped with the Florentine lily. I move my arm and it makes music.

Pitti Palace…

A very short history of Florence: Cosimo I wanted to live here:

(Palazzo Vecchio)
His wife, Eleonora di Toledo did not like it much so she bought this:

Pitti Palace
This:

became the seat of government and is still called the old (vecchio) palace.
This:

became the Medici residence but Eleonora never got to live in it because she died of malaria shortly after the work was begun.
This

became the symbol for the il Marzocco espresso machine headquartered in Florence. Notice the heraldic lion that symbolizes Florence and the Florentine fleur de lis synonymous with victory and conquest.
Now, this Pitti Palace houses art, but you cannot use cameras inside so my images are out the windows of the view and of the building itself. The Boboli Gardens are also part of the Palace.

Good read: a series of mysteries by Magdalen Nabb featuring Marshal Guarnaccia of the Italian Carabinieri. My favorite so far is “Marshal and the Madwoman” set in and around the Pitti Palace and its neighborhood.

Oltrarno

South of the Arno River is the Oltrarno Neighborhood, a little less touristy than the middle of Florence. Although the Ponte Vecchio doesn’t classify as less touristy, there are other bridges on which to walk across the river.
Ponte Vecchio

This is the way to go to the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. But if you go to the next bridge down (Ponte Santa Trinita) you can skirt all that.
A view from the bridge

We liked the Untours trip that we were on. Besides taking care of the lodging and our arriving in Florence it gave us an orientation meeting and dinner which occurred over in the Oltrarno. Our leader, Mary Jane Poole, walked us through taking the #12 bus over there, which was invaluable info later in the week. Our dinner also included an art walk led by Marta Mandolini an art student who also works for Florence Design Week
It was a great tour even though I could not get very good pictures due to no light, but I did have reference points for later in the week when we went back to the district.

I loved that there was this paper dress in a window

And this art on the barricade around a construction sight

We also signed up for a walking tour of artisan shops with Context Travel.
Our tour guide was Luca Santiccioli

He is an art historian and a super fast translator…fun to watch him in action. First he took us to the studio of silversmith (argenteria) Donato Zaccaro.

The next artisan was Carlo Cecchi who does metal work. If you walked into Gumps in San Francisco and bought a silver business card case he would have made it here in Florence. (No web site, you will just have to go to Gumps or the Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella where his pierced metal potpourri containers reside.)

Pressing a euro to make bracelets for those of us on the tour

Lost wax casting

Metal stamping

We passed by Santo Spirito Church

So plain, you ask? It just never could be decided what kind of facade to put on it. Inside, however,
(no pictures allowed) is the most amazing Brunelleschi interior with column after column of serene stone-the grey-blue stone makes it look like a grey-blue forest. Also a crucifix made by Michelangelo at seventeen. His thank you gift because the mortuary allowed him to dissect bodies and learn anatomy. And a spectacular trompe l’oeil ceiling in order to save money.
Over to our third artisan, Gianni Raffaelli, a copperplate etcher at L’Ippogrifo.

The copper plate

Warmed up ink being added (his wife does the printing)

Well done!

Museo dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

This building was chosen to be the workshop of the Duomo in the 15th century and in its courtyard Michelangelo sculpted his David. Since 1891 it has housed works removed from the cathedral and it’s collection includes outdoor sculpture. The original panels from the “Gates of Paradise” are on display here after restoration. (The gates I photographed on the Baptistry are copies substituted after the originals had had 500 years of weathering.)
A centerpiece sculpture is this Pieta by Michelangelo c. 1550. It is thought that it was intended for his own tomb and that the hooded figure is a self-portrait. Damage on the left leg and arm is thought to have been inflicted by him in frustration with his failing skills.

These sculptures by Vincenzo Danti from 1569-71 show the beheading of John the Baptist and were originally above the south door of the Baptistry.

My favorite pieces were from the cantoria by Luca della Robbia from 1431-38. He was only 30 at the time and it was his masterpiece. After this, he confined himself to the terra cotta he is more famous for. The sculptures are a celebration of music, song and dance performed by children. The cantoria once was in the Duomo near the organ and it held singers.

For conservation reasons the entire sculptural decoration of the campanile by Giotto is inside the museum. Sixteen statues from the third level and the lozenge shaped panels on the first and second levels. This marble on blue majolica glistened.

This photo shows where the copies are now located. (At the bottom)

Other lovely objects

Tiny, tiny pieces of mosaic.

This museum was renovated in 1999 and includes a wonderful display of drawings and models of suggestions for the facade. Also, pullies, tools, brick forms, and scaffolding from the building of Brunelleschi’s dome and Brunelleschi’s death mask.
Up on the third floor a state of the art restoration laboratory.

A museum not to be missed.

The paper chase…

Before I went to Italy I posted a list of paper stores that I hoped to visit while I was there. Here is my revised list. First the bad news, said with deep sorrow in Gianni’s voice, Pineider is closed. He said it like a death of a friend. Maybe it was, the country has such a deep respect for handmade craft and there was something about three sons must have been the reverence for family businesses, also. All of the other stores were there, however.
Beginning and ending with Johnson and Relatives. My first and last paper stores I went in while there, they have many branches in Florence and I even went in the branch in Orvieto. They have Il Papiro papers as well as marbling demonstrations.

The paper on top is the one I marbled. It got a little creased in the suitcase. They also had packages of a variety of papers, 5 that were 8×10 and 5 that were 5×7 in each package. Good for collages.

One branch is near the Duomo another on Via Cavour.
Over near the Pitti Palace

At Piazza Pitti 37 is Gianni e figlio.
This is a piece from them and their variety packages.

I was really glad that we decided to go looking for Il Torchio. Over the Ponte Vecchio and up a side street. This side of the Arno River is called the Oltrano and is very dynamic. It was a beautiful walk.

The paper here (Via dei Bardi 17) had more metallic pigment in it (I love glitz) although it doesn’t show up in photos so well.

One not on my original list was Lo Scrittoio at Via Nazionale 126. These have a lot of metallic, also.

A surprise was in the museum store of the Duomo Museum where there was a stack of folded papers that were printed in Italy.

I loved this map.
There was also Carteria Tassotti at Via dei Servi 9/11. These are printed papers, file folders, and small prints.

I had to go in this store on multiple occasions because the silver envelopes at the bottom were actually their packaging for small items. They have beautiful script on them.
The only store we missed was Et Cetera at Via della Vigna Nuova 82 because we never got to that side of the city. From my point of view, this was a successful  paper trail.

Random impressions…

Truth be told, this was not Terry’s first visit to Florence. More than forty years ago he spent his junior year of college in Switzerland and during the break between sessions he traveled for a few days to Florence and slept on the floor of someone’s apartment. It was three months after the flood of ’66 and when he mentioned it on this trip he was invariably asked if he had been a “mud angel”. (The swarm of students that arrived to help with the clean-up.) Art work is still being restored and like our fires and earthquakes in California, the flood seared the collective consciousness. This is the entry of our apartment with a plaque well above Terry’s head on the wall. These plaques are on many walls in buildings throughout the city indicating how high the water rose on that fateful day.

Random shots of things that I liked on the trip.

Ribollita

Barrista

Brides in Florence and Siena

Alter boys in Pienza

Cats at Boboli and turtles in Siena

Fish in the Oltrarno and crows in a fresco

The market

Polizia

Terry at our doorway in Florence. You can see the size of the sidewalk and to the right just out range is a line of scooters, small cars, and bicycles ready to whiz by.

When we left Florence, Terry had his Audi (since returning home he makes sound effects for his Civic when we go up hills) but I found my heart’s desire on the streets of Orvieto.

A Fiat 500 with the colors of the Italian flag on its rag top and tricked out by Gucci. Heaven…
And for your listening pleasure…

Piazza del Duomo…

As you walk the streets of Florence you can be surprised by this type of view

where the Duomo looms up over you suddenly. Each time that happened I was struck by my original awe. The Piazza del Duomo contains the Basilica, the Baptistry of Saint John, and the Campanile di Giotta.

The Baptistry is octagonal and was built between 1059 and 1128 making it one of the oldest buildings in the city.
Inside, a mosaic dome

And mosaic marble floors

The tomb of Anti pope John XXIII

And I spy with my little eye a black and white checkerboard, I love this wall…

And, of course, the doors

And just where are the photos from inside the Duomo? As you get near the end of your stay you begin to realize how many sights you haven’t seen yet. The day we went to the Baptistry, we had already been to the Museum of the Medici Chapels, marbled paper with Gianni, seen the Museo l’Opera del Duomo and had our reservations at the Academia for 12:30. We thought we could fit the Duomo in before the reservation, but when we got to the Duomo the line looked so long we didn’t think we would have much time inside even if we got to the front of it. So we implemented Plan B.

Repair to a nearby cafe and sip a cappuccino or hot chocolate and rest your weary feet and knees. The hot chocolate is quite something…and I know someday we will return to see all the things we missed…

Basilica di Santa Croce…

Our first tour of a basilica was Santa Croce. As we walked up to it I was again struck with awe at the ornamentation on these edifices. (Oh, the whole trip was me being in awe of what I was seeing…) Pattern and ornament, mosaic and fresco, basalt and marble to create color contrast. Masterful combination of materials. I could take pictures inside (without flash) so I used my iPhone to catch what I could.

The facade with a statue of Dante to the side.

Michaelangelo’s tomb

Dante’s tomb (he never was actually buried here.)
I found my next career move-my dream job…

Cleaning mosaics with a tooth brush, preserving surfaces with a tiny brush, restoring stained glass. Yummy!
This was my first introduction to pietra serena (serene stone), a beautiful grey blue stone in this instance combined with gold

As we walked to the inner courtyard, we came upon a small chapel that when I think about the entire trip it was one of my favorite places we visited. It was designed by Brunelleschi and had lovely columns, pilasters, arches, and vaults. Plus constellation frescoes. This chapel was begun in 1441 and completed in the 1460′s and is called Capella dei Pazzi (the family that financed it, second to the Medicis). The acoustics inside are beautiful.

Over by the Duomo there is this statue of Brunelleschi looking up at the dome.

Good read: Brunelleschi’s Dome by Ross King

Good flic: A Room with a View

Uffizi…

AND MAGIC…
The Uffizi is one of the museums where you can not take pictures in the galleries. We visited on our second day and the museum is massive. It may have been the heat, it may have been the tourist groups (believe me, the groups own the territory), it may have been the jet lag, but it was the only place where I did not gasp in wonder at my first sight of a favorite piece of art. I thought in my mind that Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was going to have a pearly glow about it but in reality it was dark and ill lit. So I bought a post card that is pearly and glowy and took some pictures out the window hoping for unusual angles.

I was also able to get some shots from across the Arno.

And from right in front.

A few nights later we were in the same neighborhood for dinner at Trattoria Nella

When a pig walked by (I only put this bad picture here because you would never believe me if I just told you.)

After a lovely meal, we strolled home by way of the bank of the Arno in the dark of evening. (I did have to tutor Terry on the fine art of Italian strolling from my keen observation: gentleman with hand in pocket, lady with relaxed arm through crook in elbow, resting lightly.) We passed in front of the Uffizi enjoying the gentle evening and lights.

At the edge of Piazza della Signoria right next to the Palazzo Vecchio was a four piece band playing jazz for us as we enjoyed the out door sculpture gallery.

By the time we got to the other side of the piazza we were being serenaded by an accordion player. We kept strolling toward our apartment thinking it could not get much better, when organ music started to fill the neighborhood and reverberate off the walls of the buildings. We came upon Chiesa di Santa Maria de Ricci where every night at 9:15 there is a free organ concert. We took a seat in a pew and listened to Bach. Magic, Firenze is magic…

Gianni…

My brain’s ability to process all of the art I have seen and the museums I have visited is going to be delayed until I can get some perspective on this astounding place. Until then, small stories-starting with Gianni. Two days ago Terry cheered when I said I was done with paper stores. But then, today, we passed one more, a branch of one we had already been in (multiple times, even) and I almost walked right past but something tugged me. Last day…when will this ever happen to me again…what if there was something I missed? As luck would have it, Gianni was working the store today, even though he usually does the marbling. (He could own the place for all I know. It is called Johnson and Relatives.) He asked where we were from and then declared that San Francisco was his favorite place (all Italians say that) and then said, “Come look” pointing to his vat of thickened water. I say, “Is that carrageegan?” He explained that in the studio that is what they use, but in the store they use wall paper paste so that it doesn’t start to smell. They use acrylic paint so that it dries quickly. (Oh, I could do a lesson plan right now!) Then he invited me to comb the colors, all because I mentioned that I had been an art teacher. After we had gone off to see the owl in Michelangelo’s “Day and Night” (for Terry) we dropped by again to pick up my now dry paper to take home. I told Gianni that I would make a book from the paper and remember him. The process: