Bargello, 2022

We went to the Bargello again, largely to see the "Donatello and the Renaissance" exhibit there. IMHO, it was largely a rearrangement of pieces already there with some added verbiage. Minor stuff from elsewhere. More of the exhibit was at the Palazzo Strozzi, a few blocks away, but by then we were too tired and unimpressed to visit. Besides, there was a long, long Renaissance staircase. In any case, the matter caused me to reflect that most of Donatello's work was either affixed to something else (a pulpit, a baptismal font, etc.), or too massive to move at all (e.g., the Gattmelata full-sized equestrian statue in Padua). So what was I expecting? 

Previous visits to the Bargello include https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2011/06/bargello.html and https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/10/bargello-2013.html. But we still found a number of things worth noting.

The Bargello, formerly city hall, then police station, 
then jail, now one of Florence's great museums

Exhibit verbiage [click to enlarge]

Donatello's David Victorious; first full-scale nude
male sculpture since Classical times; still controversial

As Vicki noted, the face is that of a young man,
the body of a youth

Small model for a later version (from Berlin)

And another, unfinished, worked on by a disciple

Unusual dorsal view of Michaelangelo's tipsy
Bacchus

Michaelangelo's David/Apollo...unfinished because
the guy who commissioned it was beheaded for treason

The one new thing, to us, was the Dudley Madonna,
which normally resides in the V&A, a relief by Donatello,
which was the beginning of a genre...a genuinely tender
and touching representation

Thus

Disciple Desiderio de Settignano's version

Michaelangelo's version

Moving right along, a re-positioning of a fountain setting from
the Pitti Palace; the water squirts out from sorts of interesting
places

Nice pipe collection from the assorted knick-knack rooms

Holy fly-swatter

You don't believe me? Read the above...

Something very strange going on between Ledo and the Swan

Ognissanti, 2022

Our apartment was just a few blocks from one of our favorite churches, the Ognissanti (all saints), so we went there first, looking to see the Botticelli, Botticelli's burial, the Giotto crucifix, and most of all, Ghirlandaio's magnificent Last Supper, the one all the Renaissance biggies came to study. Of course, we'd been there before:

https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/10/ognissanti_16.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2017/11/ognissanti-2017.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2019/04/ognissanti.html

and you'll have to look at these to see the Last Supper, because, alas, the refectory where it is housed was closed, apparently for some time now, due to COVID staffing shortages. Major disappointment! But we did get to see a few of the other items of note.

Botticelli's St. Augustine

Ghirlandaio's St. Jerome

Botticelli burial (construction in the chapel)

Giotto Crucifix

Oh no!

Florence Apartment And Neighborhood

We arrived in Florence the afternoon of April 25th, made our way the couple blocks from the SM Novella station to our apartment on Via della Scala, and spent the balance of the day moving in and exploring the immediate neighborhood. Everything of interest to us on this visit is within a mile, so we'll be entirely on foot our eight days here.

Entrance to our building, which is in an inner part
of the complex

There are three external doors and locks to pass
through, the third of which warrants a movie, to
be posted someday

In the courtyard/parking lot; our entrance is the
wooden door on the far right

In the apartment, quite recently renovated and updated...the
sitting area

Dining, entertainment, etc.

Kitchen...all so far in a great room

View of the courtyard

Bedroom

Bath...all of it small but quite nice and very centrally located;
super quiet, air-conditioned, $100/night...not bad for central Florence

Via della Scala

The main nearby sight (and my favorite Florentine church), SM Novella

The entrance to its 13th century apothecary/perfumery two
blocks down on Via della Scala

Down the street and around a corner, an old
palazzo, the Pantheon of the Neoplatonic Academy;
the Italian Renaissance types, particularly the
Medicis, were into Neo-Platonism, a philosophy
I never could quite get a handle on; Machiavelli
lectured here too 

Despite some "new" buildings, it's a very
old neighborhood

A bit further down the street, the Orti Oricellari palazzo and 
gardens...similarly quite old, but open only by appointment,
so we'll probably not see

Roman Out-Takes, 2022

Tired though you may be, do not sit on this window sill

Not your usual all-black Italian get-up

As close to Art Nouveau as we got on this visit

Spell-check?  Or use Google Translate maybe

Definitely use Google Translate; or maybe it's an oats appetizer?

Maybe that's why she's having a cappuccino or an Americano?

Fashion coming to a mall near you

So you get a plenary indulgence just for visiting?

The elevators in our apartment building apparently
used to be coin-operated

"You have reached the confession hotline. We value your call,
which will be answered in the order received. Your confession
will be recorded for training and quality assurance purposes,
and of course we will never share you personal information
with anyone but God"

International scene: Asian guy wearing sombrero playing accordion
polka music on a bridge over the Tiber

Gelato truck

Ad majorem dei, Gloria

Only pop-up we saw in three weeks in Rome

Absentee pan-handling is now quite common...

Bell tower at St. Paul's Without the Walls...

Now renting out space to Verizon

A final memento for me...the stops on the Metro B line...I love
the way the strong female voice announces "Garbatello"