Chapter 9 - Formal Touring in Florence

Morning Walking Tour

This was an intensive tour day with Sirena, an attractive 40ish art history major who speaks with her hands.  She had just the right mix of cheerleader and scholar. We saw landmarks and "everyday" memorable sights through the day. The morning focused on a summary of the Medici power struggles and the building of the Duomo. 

We also went in the Duomo. Surprisingly, there is a clock that was used as a kind of "call to worship".

While the walls are simple and geometric,

the inside of the dome is elaborately painted.

On the lighter side, we saw this...

And this, the wild boars symbolic of Tuscany.

Our walk showed us "the real Florence" in between the famous places, the Florence of simple old houses,

covered arched walkways,

and alleys that called out to you to wander down.

The other major sight of the morning was the Piazza della Signoria, a large square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. This is the tower of the Palace.

The Palace is impressive. The square contain many statues, all very political.

The most famous is a copy of Michelangelo's "David" - the original being in the Academia.

There was also quite incongruently, a large contemporary sculpture which stood out like a sore...turtle.

But among all the statuary and the grandiose scale, there were also lovely corners of quiet Florence beauty for the eye.

Yet perhaps the greatest memory of the morning was something unbelievable on a street that we walked by. It was the re-creation of famous art in chalk with copies to sell. Our guide said there were several artists who did these...and then the rain washes them away...amazing.

After a long morning and early afternoon of walking, we were ready for lunch. It was great to sit for a bit with a typical taverna meal. Most folks had already eaten.

"Afternoon" - The Ufitzi Gallery

Needless to say, The Ufitzi is one of the most famous art museums in the world. Truth in packaging - Medieval and Renaissance art are not our favorite time periods. So, it was great to have a guide with us to show us the "best/most famous" stuff.

What isn't often mentioned is what a stunning building the Ufitzi is. Here is what you see when you enter the "courtyard".

 And when you enter the building....

Even if you don't look at the art, you can't help being awed by the rich gallery floors...

or even the ceilings.

Some of the ceilings are works of art unto themselves.

One of the first paintings that caught our eye seemed to be a testament to diversity.

Yes, there are many famous pictures... the Duke and Duchess of Urbino 

A bit unusual until you do a bit of research..."Choosing the representation in profile was an inescapable choice. In fact, the Duke lost his right eye during a tournament and for this reason only the left side of his face is portrayed. His nose was also broken in a tournament."

There are famous Venuses - " Venus on the halfshell" by Botticelli.

and Venus of Urbino by Titian

Thanks to our guide's expertise in art history, we learned how Renaissance art was revolutionary in portraying people naturalistically, instead of as idealized beings. When you look closely at the faces, you can see this emerging clearly.

This was true in sculpture, too. Here is a Roman one...

as compared to a Renaissance one.

In all this very serious art, there were moments that seemed to appeal to Lester's strange sense of humor. Like these statues seemingly trying to get a taxi (pre-Uber)...

Or this early Trump ancestor painted on glass...

But the items in the Ufitzi that can take anyone's breath away are portraits, like this one by Goya which screams the quiet elegance of the Court.

The faces of the Renaissance portraits are amazing in their "reality".

Especially striking were the "selfies" by the world's greatest artists...before photography.And compare this pre-Renaissance by Raphael...

 To these later ones...like Velasquez

or Rembrandt

or, especially, Van Dyck.

A bit of a visual break as you walk through are the views of the city from the windows, like a peek at the Duomo.

Or the bridge with the Vasari Corridor running away from the the Ufitzi and across the top of the bridge - our next tour.

"Arternoon" - The Vasari Corridor

This is a covered walkway on top of Ponte Vecchio bridge across the Arno and can be only accessed via a pre-arranged private tour. Per Wikipedia: "The idea of an enclosed passageway was motivated by the Grand Duke's [Medici] desire to move freely between his residence and the government palace, when, like most monarchs of the period, he felt insecure in public, in his case especially because he had "usurped" the Republic of Florence The meat market of Ponte Vecchio was moved to avoid its smell reaching into the passage, its place being taken by the goldsmith shops that still occupy the bridge."

The walkway is filled with thousands (YES) of portraits collected initially by the Duke and then continually added to by the Ufitizi, including 20th and 21st Century ones. The idea was for artists to submit portraits (ideally self portraits) for the collection.  Here is the entrance from the Ufitzi.

Part of the floor is a stunning maze of marble.

Most of the Corridor is long hallways with portrait after portrait in mostly chronological order.

Among the older ones, these called out to the camera. 

This one for its creepiness.

And this one for its ingenuity - "how to paint a self-portrait".

Along the way, we got to peek into the Medici's private chapel through an opening.

And there are windows looking down on the shops on the bridge...

and out on the homes above and across.

The modern portraits were a nice surprise and an interesting contrast to what we had been seeing. They helped show the further evolution of the genre to and through the 20th Century.

As the collection moved into abstraction and beyond, our interest waned (just not Lester's kind of stuff). But, a few items were intriguing.

After returning to the hotel, we changed for dinner at a boutique hotel - WARNING - GLORIOUS FOOD  PICS AHEAD!

Ristorante Santa Elisabetta is that hotel's formal restaurant (they also have a cafe). The hotel is a renovated ancient women’s prison. The dinner room was very small in a stone turret. It made you think that you were having dinner in a private dining room.  

We started with Prosecco with a very light foie gras mousse that was called a ganache (it was so smooth and creamy) along with delicious homemade breads.

That was followed by bay scallops on a bed of shredded cabbage with green apple and yogurt—a wonderful mix of flavors. This was accompanied by a Sangiovese rose' from Lambretta.  

We then had black risotto with squid and taglioni cheese, surprisingly rich and succulent.

The final course was a beef steak with some tomatoes. 

Steak is a specialty of Florence and this definitely showed that---so delicious.  We both had Tuscan Sangiovese reds which were a perfect match. Looking back, this dinner was a very special one.

Another very full day...but, not so full that we couldn't run into another quintessential Italian street "thing" - this seemed to belong to a street musician.