Florence

I was so excited to finally get to Florence! I arrived early in the morning and checked into a hostel, a renovated convent dating from the 15th century called Santa Monaca Ostello, in the historical center of Florence. It was awesome! I could just picture how it was, back in the day. For most of my stay, I was always slightly lost in the maze of rooms and hallways, trying to find my room. But that's not to say it wasn't comfortable, the accommodations were on par with any other hostel I have stayed in so far. Anyhow, they allowed me to check my bags in, and I was off (I only had roughly 1.5 days to see as much as I could).
In looking for the Piazza del Duomo, I came across the Basilica Di Santa Maria Novella, which was the first great basilica of the city, and has been home to a Dominican Order since 1221. Massive works of art decorate the interior walls, frescos by Gothic and early Renaissance masters. The pulpit of the basilica is the location of the first attack against Galileo for believing the earth was not the center of the universe, of which he was eventually indicted of heresy against the Church. I think I remember reading the Vatican only pardoned him this year...
Still looking for the Duomo, I visited the Cappelle Medicee. The Cappelle is actually comprised of two chapels/mausoleums built for the powerful Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany, who once ruled Florence. One, the Sagrestia Nuova, was designed by Michelangelo. The other, the Cappella dei Principi, is an octagonal building with a tall dome and entirely covered in colored marble. It's probably the most spectacular mausoleum I've seen yet. It leaves you with an impression of the absolute wealth and power of the family must have had, which is exactly what they had in mind when it was commissioned!
After that, I finally found the Duomo, or Cattedrale Di Santa Maria Del Fiore, a gorgeous cathedral, built between 1296 and 1418, containing among other things, mosaics of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, that were inspired by Inferno, by Dante. Behind the Cathedral is the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, which is filled with more priceless works of art by Michelangelo, Donatello, and many others.
On my way back to the hostel, I stopped at the Gallerie Dell'Accademia, containing an extensive collection of Venetian art. It was the first academy of drawing in Europe and has housed Michelangelo's David since 1873. Lucky for me, it was Culture Week in Florence, and entry to all of the museums was free! I wondered what it would like to actually see Michelangelo's David, after having seen countless beautiful statues over the last few weeks. Would I be able to fully appreciate it?Well, when I rounded the corner and finally saw it for the first time, I was awestruck! The sheer size of the statue is a surprise, but the pose, the detail in the hands, the head (at first I thought the size of the head and hands seemed a little exaggerated in size compared to the body; found out later that it's possible Michelangelo intended the statue to be placed on cathedral roofline, and so further away from a viewer, in which case, accurately sized hands and head would seem too small. This is often a solution used in character modeling in games today, how funny is that?), the expression on his face - it's perfectly executed, just incredible.
On my second day, I visited the Palazzo Pitti, a Renaissance palace with sprawling gardens located on the Arno River. It was commissioned in 1458 by a banker by the name of Pitti, and purchased in 1549 by Eleonora di Toledo, a grand duchess of the Medici family. She was especially impressed with the ground gardens, called Giordino Di Boboli, and wanted a palace that was indicative of the wealth and power of the family (again!). There are ornate frescos and plasterwork on the walls and vaulted ceilings. Marble busts, statues, and priceless works of art, collected by the Medici family, fill the rooms, or salas. Marble floors, columns, silk wall coverings, and massive crystal chandeliers everywhere. The palace is organized into three main areas, the Galleria Palatina, comprised of 32 beautiful salas, and the smaller Arazzi and Reali Apartments. Each of these apartments contained different galleries. The first one I visited contain an exhibit called Restitutioni 2011, which is a conservation restoration project, in its 15th year. Since 1989, it has restored over 600 works of art for public viewing. Aside from the most recent works of art they had restored on display, there were videos demonstrating the painstaking restoration process which requires an expertise in both art and science. Another gallery contained a Russian exhibit of 40 paintings tracing the main stages in the development of 18th - to early 20th century art.
I then walked through the gallery of modern art, which contained more priceless paintings but - haha, in Italy, anything after the 1800's is considered "modern". I viewed the works of many artists I had never heard of before and scribbled down their names so I could look them up later.
One of my favorite galleries was the Costume Gallery. It displays of fashions from as the early the 1700's next to modern ones, demonstrating the similarities in color, textures, silhouettes, ect. between them. For example, a dress from 1780 with a boned bodice and full skirt, had a striking resemblance to an evening gown from 1989, with a tight tank top, wide belt, and full skirt. In another room, neoclassical and empire styles from the early 1800's with vertical forms were revisited in the 1920's and 70's. I found it interesting that in times of economic prosperity, more fabric and bigger skirts become fashionable, as is the 1860s, 1920's, and 1950's. The highlight of the gallery were the burial clothes of Eleonora di Toledo, Cosmo I, and their son Don Garzia de Medici from the 1500's. The clothes were removed for anthropological purposes in 1947 and restored, which took ten years because the fabric was so decomposed and no one knew how to make them anymore. As with many very delicate artifacts on display I have seen so far, the light was so dim in the room it was hard to see.
There was also a statue gallery, a porcelain gallery, and one devoted to the history of wine making, filled with artifacts depicted or used for winemaking from Ancient Egypt to the present. I ended my trip to the palace with a walk through the gardens, when it started to rain.
Later, that afternoon, I visited the Uffizi, the highlight of which was Botticelli's Birth of Venus...
Anyhow, I had dinner in a quiet little trattoria before going back to the hostel. Next up, Roma!
Florence highlight: loved cracking up waiters trying to order things in Italian.

Santa Monaca Hostel






Haha the key for the luggage room






The Arno river






The Basilica Di Santa Maria Novella






The Cappelle Medicee






The magical smell of new leather in the air....












The Piazza del Duomo






The Cathedral
















































Walking around for hours can be exhausting! A great thing about Florence is that there are lots of massive steps and benches in the plazas throughout the city...













There he is...











The Palazzo Pitti




































Going out to the Gardens






At the top of the stairs, entering the Giradino de Boboli






Looking back to the palace












I guess this is the guest house?






















































The Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that has shops running along it, mostly selling jewelry






Like this :)












More love locks






This gentleman was staying at the same hostel I was. I had noticed he carried around art supplies but never got around to asking him about his work. Then I ran into him on my way to the Uffizi. In the drawing on the left, is the woman's daughter who had just sat for him and was watching him finish her mother.






The Uffizi, no photos allowed!


















A copy






On the road again






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad