Florence Cathedral Baptistry

The much older Baptistry rivals the Duomo in interest, at least to us. It was built in the 11th century, but, because of its octagonal (Roman) shape, Roman columns and sarcophagi, Islamic geometic floor mosaics, etc., was long thought to be much older than merely Medieval.

The Baptistry

Most people, including us in the past, visit the

Baptistry only to see the great 15th century
bronze doors done by Ghiberti (who won the
competition over Brunelleschi (who decided
to try architecture instead)); but the great east
doors, now kept in the Duomo museum, were
undergoing restoration; hence we skipped the
museum, and thereby missed the above,
Michaelangelo's beloved Conehead Pieta

The Exact Replica Doors were there, and still

pretty impressive

Detail: Creation, etc.

Moses getting The Law

David slaying Goliath; etc.

Ghiberti self-portrait

Inside the Baptistry, things get really interesting...the altar

with its weird designs

In the gallery, more interesting, seemingly

Roman designs

And the seemingly Islamic mosaic floor

The great dome of the baptistry is totally Byzantine, as one

would expect from its age; gleaming gold mosaic telling all

the relevant Biblical stories

Another day, another Pantokrator

Resurrection

Hell and a great Satan

Have you ever wondered whether you can be

de-poped? Sure you have! And the answer is

yes, you can have your papacy revoked, as in

fact happened with the guy buried here, the

original Pope John the 23rd, now more
officially known as Anti-Pope John the 23rd;
this was during the Great Schism, early 15th
century, with popes in both Rome and
Avignon, and eventually a third one, too; J23 is
here in Florence because Florence backed him
and not the pope in Rome; check it all out at
http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipope_John_XXIII

Florence Duomo 2011

Florence's Duomo, its cathedral, and particularly its great dome, dominate the city's skyline and identity like no other great city and great building. The green, white and pink marble Gothic building was erected in the 14th century--anticipating the largest dome that ever had been built--but without the engineering nor architectual expertise to complete such an endeavor. But in 1420, Brunelleschi solved these problems, studying the Pantheon in Rome, drilling into its dome to see how the Romans had done it a millennium earlier. He solved the problem and many underlying engineering problems: one of the earliest patents granted was for the special hoists he designed to lift 3 ton blocks into the sky, along with thousands and thousands of bricks, all resting on a complex system of arches and buttresses and a double-dome. It's been standing up there for nearly 600 years, I know, but I am always nervous in these ancient and gigantic buildings that are held together by nothing much more than friction and gravity. And genius.

The Duomo, from Piazzale Michaelangelo, across the river

Speaking of genius: here is the campanile, the

bell tower, built a bit earlier; 267 feet tall;

designed by Giotto, aka "Father of the

Renaissance," in painting at least; but he also

did campaniles, bridges...one begins to

understand what being a "Renaissance Man"

was all about...

Ground-up view

West facade and campanile

Intitially, the interior looks rather stark, if huge (3rd largest

nave in Christendom)

But then when one begins looking around,

there are all kinds of interesting things:

e.g., this giant bass-ackwards 24 hour clock

in Roman numerals

Super-billboard-sized illusionistic paintings of

local equestrian heroes

Great glass, and

This merely billboard-sized painting of Dante explaining

his Divine Comedy to the Florentines; he was subsequently

exiled and died in Ravenna, but Florence would really like

to have his mortal remains back now

And then the KO punch: the interior of the great dome is just

as colossal and impressive as the dome itself...Vasari's Last

Judgment

Great Hell and Satan scenes

But best of all, at the very top, hanging in over the edge,

this motley crew of illlusionistic skumdullions lightening
things up a bit...

Glimpse of a Last Supper behind the altar

And beautiful della Robbias all around

Ospedale degli Innocenti: Hospital of the Innocents

It doesn't look very revolutionary to our eyes, but the Foundlings' Hospital would have amazed anyone who saw it in 1424, the first of Brunelleschi's architectural designs. (That road trip to Rome he took with Donatello and Masaccio changed a lot of things, in sculpture, painting, and architecture). The Foundlings' Hospital was a new concept as well, a secular hospital for abandoned innocents. The wheel on which unwanted infants anonymously were left, for more than 400 years, is now gone. But Andrea della Robbia's touching medallions, between all the arches, remind us of a practice and charity that continues to our own time.

CamperStop Florence

After our 4th day in Florence, the Tuscan sun disappeared behind storm clouds and there were violent thunderstorms morning, afternoon and evening for two days. We wondered how far above the river our camperstop might be. As I said, it was in a near suburb, Poggeto, I think, about 3 km from the city center. Still quite urban. Anyhow, with the bad weather, we decided to take a couple days off.

CamperStop FLOG; actually, it was a large parking area

serving a big community center among the scores of

apartment blocks; a Coop a couple streets away for groceries

and the usual assortment of shops all around; from my now

vast experience in such neighborhoods, I estimate that every

street has at least one tabachi, one alimentaria, 3 bar/cafes,

one trattoria, one dry-goods/hardware store (maybe 200

square feet, crammed wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling), a

pet store, 3 snack bars, and 6 pasticerrias; amazingly, one

never sees a pastry shop without customers (nor a bar); yet

seldom sees a seriously over-weight Italian

One evening, during a lull between thunderstorms, I noticed

considerable commotion in the car parking area, and followed

the crowds to the community center, which was jammed

For a dance recital

I have no idea whether it was a school event, a neighborhood

thing, someone's private dance school recital

But there were people of all ages there

It's a very family-centered society

Return to San Lorenzo

Our first visit to San Lorenzo we saw mostly the Medici Tombs. This time we saw the church proper, and especially the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Lorenzo the Great's Library).

Despite the great wealth of some of its parishioners, the

church of San Lorenzo somehow never got a proper facade

Another vast 14th and 15th century church,

architecture by Brunelleschi (at the same time he was doing

the Duomo dome); one might describe it as battleship-gray,

but the real name is pietra serena, and it really has a serene

effect

Map of the heavens, in one of the chapels

In another chapel, Lippi's Annunciation, noted for its use

of perspective

Entering the great old Biblioteca

A beautiful old room; the books were kept out on the reading

desks, chained

Arranged by subject...

The books, all incunibles, displayed in another room; note
chain

Works of Plato, Constantinople, 11th century

Elixirs, Balms, Ointments, Balsams, Essences, and Free Radicals

The Dominican friars at S. Maria Novella were selling rose water as a disinfectant as early as 1381, and their Farmacia is famous world-wide. It is mostly natural and traditional stuff, undoubtedly blessed, and we saw several people making 100 and 200 euro purchases. Most of the space is a pharmacy museum.

One of the several showrooms

Museum

Ditto

Ditto again

And again

What? Your local pharmacy doesn't have a chapel with 16th

century frescoes?!

Pharmacist desk reference

Yes, but no band-aids, multi-vitamins, nor sun-screen; nor

lottery tickets; nor condoms