Spent a magical day in Florence. Started the day with a visit to the Cathedral of Florence known as the Duomo. It’s was designed by Arnolofo di Cambio who also carved some of the statues there at the end of the 13th century. The facade wasn’t complete until the late 19th century, so the project was only about 600 years or so behind schedule. The church wasn’t even consecrated until 1436, 140 years after work on it started. Beneath it we visited the archeological dig that uncovered the remains of an earlier church, dedicated to Santa Reperata built around 400 AD and torn down in 1375. Needless to say the Duomo has been witness to and site of a lot of history. Notably the temporary reconciliation of the Catholic and Orthodox churches under the Council of Florence in 1439.
From there we were off to the Galleria dell’Accademia where Michelangelo’s David is housed. You aren’t allowed to take pictures in the museum so here’s my picture of the post card I bought and also of the replica of David from the Palazzo della Signoria down the street.
David was commissioned in 1501 when Michelangelo was 26. It was chiselled from a leftover block of marble which had previously been worked on by various other artists. It’s very impressive though the scale seems off when you see it at eye level. The head and upper body are too small. Apparently this was Mike’s intention as he thought the statue would be mounted on a pedastal and therefore the upper body should appear farther away. Regardless it’s impressive in it’s detail, the finger nails, the veins on the neck, etc.
From the Academy it was off to the Ponte Vecchio, literally ‘ye olde bridge’ across the Arno. Before getting to the bridge I knew that it was the only one that the German’s hadn’t destroyed during their retreat in WW II, that it had been built in 1345 to replace an older Roman bridge destroyed in a flood and that it used to be home to butchers and tanners before the Medici kicked them out in favour of goldsmiths who were less odiferous and paid higher rent. What I didn’t know was that the focus of the bridge is now locks. Literally hundreds of locks put there by lovers who then toss the keys into the Arno to seal their love. Well, when in Rome, er Florence, do as the Romans, er Florentines.
Please keep your ‘aww, shucks’ comments to yourselves.
The views from the bridge are great despite the tacky tourist shops and the guy trying to sell me one of his 30 genuine Louis Vuitton bags.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering from patio to patio until we came across a little art market. We loved the work of this fellow Vitaliano Iannettone and bought a great piece showing the Tuscan country side. More importantly he gave Ali a lesson.
All in all a great day…
Cheers,
Mark & Ali
P.S. We also visited a small museum dedicated to the machines of Leonardo Da Vinci. George loved it!
P.P.S. Those of you in Toronto should go see our friend Joann in Problem Child & Criminal Genius at the Alumnae Theatre. More info here. I promise she’ll be great.
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