A Renaissance Walk In Florence

Uncategorized 2 Minutes

The sunshine yesterday made a gentle amble round the centre following Rick Steves’ Renaissance walk very pleasant.

We started at the dome of the Cathedral, or Duomo.

An iconic view of the Cathedral, with its red-brick dome

However, more on that tomorrow as we have a timed slot to climb up inside the dome, and then 72 hours to visit the campanile, baptistry, crypt and Museum (All for €18 each seems not bad value).

The Triumphal Arch, built to celebrate the unification of Italy when, for just five years, Florence was the new country’s capital.

Next stop was Orsanmichele church, initially built as a granary and grain shop, but converted to a church in the fourteenth century.

Orsanmichele.
The arches were filled in during the 1300’s when it was made into a church.
Some of the original features can still be seen inside the church. This is a grain chute.

Hooks on the ceiling for looping rope through, to help move the sacks of grain.
As the building was never designed as a church, the internal layout is unusual. This is the first of two naves.

Second nave with huge tabernacle designed for Bernardo Daddi’s painting of the Virgin Mary.

After a devastating outbreak of plague in 1348, when half the city population died, survivors would come into the church and give thanks to the Virgin for their survival.

Outside the church, copies of fourteenth century statues (the originals are mainly scattered throughout the city museums) stand in niches.

The Four Saints by Nanni di Branco. They were martyred by the Romans for refusing to sculpt pagan gods.

Next stop Palazzo Vecchio and the square in front of it, Piazza Signoria.

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence’s City Hall
A copy of Michelangelo’s David stands outside the Palazzo. To me, his hands seem over-sized. There is probably an explanation for why this is, but I can’t find one. The original, now in the Accademia, was damaged in a 1527 riot, when a bench was tossed out of a palace window and knocked David’s left arm off.

The God of the Sea by Bartolomeo Ammanati.
Michelangelo apparently considered this a waste of marble.

Finally, although this wasn’t the end of the walk, a plaque in the ground.

The plaque marks the spot where a puritanical monk, named Savonarola, was hanged and burnt in 1498. After the excesses of the Medicis, he preached a return to a plainer way of life and encouraged the destruction of paintings and books produced during the Renaissance.

The Florentines, supported by the Pope and the exiled Medicis, fought back and arrested Savonarola, before dispatching him in a grisly manner.

It’s wonderful having time to watch …

While having lunch, in a corner of the Palazzo Vecchio, we watched a dozen men we took to be film crew (the blue rectangle in front of the Palazzo is a film screen) dragging, and arranging, a set of crush barriers to keep a crowd at bay. As soon as one arrangement was finished, some barriers would be undone, and carted off in another direction.

When we had finished lunch, and were standing in the Piazza looking at the statues, a gang of men in high-vis yellow arrived. They drove their van onto the Piazza, manhandled some of the arranged crush barriers into the van, drove the van to the other side of the square, unloaded the barriers and put them down into another configuration.

We have no idea what all this was in aid of, other than practice for some event. We thought we might just have to wait a bit too long to find out.

Unknown's avatar

Published by tortoisesontour

My husband, Mark, and I have just sold our house and are taking a year out to have an adventure before we settle down to retirement. We decided on a journey through Italy as it has the perfect combination of good weather, interesting history, great wine and wonderful ice-cream! As we will be starting our journey in January, we are beginning in the very south of the country.

Published

Leave a comment