Sunday, June 19, 2011

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

Saturday, June 18, 2011

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

Monday, June 13, 2011

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