Happy New Year everyone. Before I start on the travels of 2016 I must just finish telling you about Florence. So many authors have set their books in that city, and it is not at all surprising as it is so picturesque with all sorts of nooks and crannies. My dad lent me a book called Inferno by Dan Brown - the plot of which can only be described as drivel; however I learnt a fair amount about Dante, and Dan Brown's descriptions of Florence were interesting. I particularly liked the fact that I knew straight away that the hero was not saying very sorry and that they would make their escape from the Boboli gardens through the Vasari corridor.
Giorgio Vasari was an amazingly talented man - an artist, architect and author. His book about the lives of the artists made certain that Tuscany, and Florence in particular, would be given the credit for establishing the Renaissance, in fact he coined the term. It helped that he worked for one of the richest and most powerful families of Europe - the de'Medicis. This family of bankers ruled Florence for a number of centuries. The Uffizi building complex was originally their administrative offices. Wouldn't it be great to have your own private walkway from your home to your place of work? Well Cosoimo de'Medici thought so, and that is why he commissioned Vasari to design the 1 km corridor from the Pitti palace to the Uffizi. Here is the part of it that is above the Ponte Vecchio.
Giorgio Vasari was an amazingly talented man - an artist, architect and author. His book about the lives of the artists made certain that Tuscany, and Florence in particular, would be given the credit for establishing the Renaissance, in fact he coined the term. It helped that he worked for one of the richest and most powerful families of Europe - the de'Medicis. This family of bankers ruled Florence for a number of centuries. The Uffizi building complex was originally their administrative offices. Wouldn't it be great to have your own private walkway from your home to your place of work? Well Cosoimo de'Medici thought so, and that is why he commissioned Vasari to design the 1 km corridor from the Pitti palace to the Uffizi. Here is the part of it that is above the Ponte Vecchio.
Visiting the Vasari corridor is by appointment only, so we had to be content with slumming it in the main gallery. We arrived as soon as it opened at 8.15 and this is a great time to visit, as there weren't that many visitors, just the occasional tour party marching through the rooms being told what to look at. There is a book called 1000 paintings to see before you die; well if you visit the Uffizi you can knock off a good few hundred of them. One of the advantages of going early was that we had an unimpeded view of the Tribune room.
This room was built on purpose just to show the fabulous wealth of the Medici family.
Having seen where the de'Medicis worked, we wanted to see where they lived. The Pitti Palace is a huge imposing ugly building absolutely packed with amazing and priceless works of art. The actual rooms of the palace are incredible, although the names of the Royal Apartment rooms don't quite live up to what you see. Here is the Red Room:
Having seen where the de'Medicis worked, we wanted to see where they lived. The Pitti Palace is a huge imposing ugly building absolutely packed with amazing and priceless works of art. The actual rooms of the palace are incredible, although the names of the Royal Apartment rooms don't quite live up to what you see. Here is the Red Room:
Imagine being sent there to finish your coursework. The Pitti Palace has four museums and several art galleries, so it is impossible to see it all. However this pretty little sculpture caught my eye for a variety of reasons:
He has all his clothes on and he is not flourishing a sword and a severed head - the Florentines certainly seemed to like depictions of people having their heads chopped off. This sculpture was made in about 1830 and is supposed to be the boy Michelangelo at work. Unlike a lot of the statues in Florence it is not overwhelming.
Talking about being overwhelmed, we also visited the Boboli Gardens on the same day as the Pitti Palace. Dan Brown describes the Boboli Gardens in some detail, and he is quite rude about this chap:
Talking about being overwhelmed, we also visited the Boboli Gardens on the same day as the Pitti Palace. Dan Brown describes the Boboli Gardens in some detail, and he is quite rude about this chap:
This is Nano Morgante, the court dwarf of Cosimo I de'Medici. In this statue he is posing as Bacchus. Dan Brown says he is very ugly, but I don't think so. Why should statues all be like Michelangelo's David? Apparently it was quite common to have a dwarf at court acting as a kind of jester. I don't think he was considered ugly at the time - there is a lovely double sided portrait of Morgante by Bronzino in the Uffizi. Here it is :
One thing that Dan Brown and I are in agreement on is that this is a very large bathtub
I expect you have noticed that it is very easy to go on and on and on about Florence, but really everywhere you look there are beautiful things. For example I wonder what Christopher is taking a photograph of:
Well here it is - a gorgeous little drinking fountain
Finally, one last mention of Vasari - not content with designing one of the most photographed sights in Florence, or writing the seminal work on the lives of the artists, he also dabbled a bit in painting. Here is a part of his Last Judgement, on the underside of the dome of the cathedral
Just after Christmas I went away to watch Saints play West Ham. We lost and on the way to the underground station we were surrounded by jubilant West Ham supporters. I overheard one say to his friend "I've got tickets to Liverpool, do you want to come?" to which his friend replied "No mate, I'll be in Florence", and I know where I'd rather be.