Romano Foundation

Our tickets to Brancacci Chapel included admission to the Salvatore Romano Foundation, adjacent to the Spiritu Sanctu church. We had never heard of the Romano Foundation, but it was on the way, and free, and we were curious and in need of some amusement and.... Romano was an antiques dealer; how he came by this hall, not far from ground zero Florence, must be an interesting story. Also the connection with Santa Maria del Carmine. In any case, there were a number of 12th and later century items well worth a look.

Salvatore still there, overseeing things

Madonna and Bambino; no, St. Christopher
and Bambino

Brancacci, 2017

We visited the Brancacci Chapel in 2011 and 2013, and my posts then, http://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2011/06/brancacci-chapel.html and http://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/10/brancacci-chapel-2013-and-uffizi.html, convey most of the story. Especially, 2011. As in the previous post, I'll just do a few new/improved items and assume you'll look at 2011 and 2013 for the whole story.

It's all part of the Santa Maria del Carmine complex

Inside the great old church, Baroquen in the 17th century

Some wonderful trompe loeil high up

Pano of the great chapel frescoes, 15th

Masaccio

Masolino

Masolino, Massacio, Brunelleschi (ignore the guy looking at you)

First meeting of Jocks for Jesus

Maslino left for a gig in Hungary, Masaccio died very young, and it was left,
years later, to Filippino Lippi to finish the chapel; Filippino was the son of
Filippo Lippi, Botticelli's teacher, and Botticelli took on Filoppino as a student;
looking at you is Filoppino's portrait of his teacher

The chapel and its historic work cause you to forget it's all part of a functioning
church, just a side-chapel...

Ognissanti, 2017

The Ognissanti church is one of my favorites: a very old church complex filled with art history. The post I did in 2013 (http://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/10/ognissanti_16.html) (required re-reading!) conveys most of what's of interest, and I'll just augment it here with some new/different pix.

Just a few doors from the Ognissanti, a beautiful Art
Nouveau...so out of place in Florence, but so gorgeous

The Ognissanti (All Saints), main church

Interior

Botticelli's St. Augustine; it was visiting Brazil in 2013

The writing in the book is mostly gibberish, except for a derisive line about the
order that had commissioned it; B was a bit of a prankster, I have read

Across the nave, Ghirlandiao's St. Jerome

The Vespucci chapel (I had misidentified it in the 2013 post)

Botticelli's resting place, at Simonetta's feet

More Florence Scenes, 2017

There's always plenty to see apart from the churches and museums...

Love those rusticated walls

Also the really old towers that pop-up here and there

At one of the fancy clothing stores downtown

Where 1,148 euros will buy you this cute pre-stressed dress;
shopping tip: maybe check at the Goodwill first; wait, no,
the Goodwill would throw this in the rubbish bin

Walking past the Orsanmichele (we call it the Orson Wells)

The kind of gelato joint Vicki now says to avoid

It was a bit nipply on a few of the days we were there

Vicki says the sculpture is of gelato droppings

A favorite place in Florence I never miss...in the main square,
where they tortured, hanged, and then burned Savanarola at the
stake; thus always to demagogues

Accompaniments to the gelato droppings

Ditto

Outside the Uffizi, Vicki has commissioned a work of art

We climbed it in 2013 but would have had to
stick around into the next week to get
reservations for 2017; perhaps in 2018; we've
both read Ross King's Brunelleschi's Dome
since 2013 and want to have another look

So if you're really smitten by the neo-classical thing, you
can have your own at one of the several stores like this

Fair warning: I can't remember how many times during our travels
I've walked into a bar/cafe/restaurant, asked whether they have
wifi, and then been served a glass of white wine...