April 14: Full brains and Sore feet in Firenze!

Nine o'clock seemed like such a reasonable time to book our tickets to the Uffizi Gallery, but our seven o`clock wake-up call seemed far too early for this trip -- we have been much more in vacation mode this trip, not even setting an alarm many days.  However, we did manage to get to the wonderful Ufizzi, where we studied diligently for four hours.  By Caravaggio our brains were full, and we just weren`t taking in any more information.  A spot of lunch – happily paying the “sitting down” fee -- revived us, and we headed off to the duomo.  We saw the duomo itself, the baptistery, and the “crypt” before we tackled the campanile – and exhausted, headed back to the hotel for a bit of computering.  Right now we are headed out for pizza.

The Uffizi is a world-class museum, like the Louvre or the British Museum, and so it is very popular.  We had pre-booked a time for home, and when we arrived at 8:35 for our 9:00 appointment, the line-up to get in was already several hours long.  Museums in Italy are generally closed on Monday, so for those with only two days to see Florence, this was museum day, and the place was packed.  We had to wait our turn to read signs and view pictures, but were generally able to do so, with some assertiveness.  We made the mistake of getting a “headset for two” for €10 instead of one each for €12, and so were leashed to each other.  We don’t wander too far from one another in crowded places, but I hadn’t counted on the number of people all scrambling for the same view.  We developed a system where Ian wore the headset, and I listened on the hand-held device, and then popped it his shirt pocket until the next masterpiece.

Halfway down the first corridor.  There are two busts and then a full statue.

The other long hallway.

View of the Ponte Vecchio over the Arno River, taken from the window of the Uffizi.

And masterpieces there were!  Botticelli, Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo:  all in this amazing museum founded in 1560 by Cosimo Medici.  The building itself is wonderful, even though damaged in WWII.  In fact, not only are Michelangelo and da Vinci represented here, they too came to see the amazing works of art, especially the Greek and Roman sculpture.  The last time we were here, our guide marched us past the Roman busts and statuary, to Ian’s great chagrin, but Ian was able to get one to nose with famous Romans today – they were largely ignored by the crowds.

The so-called `Dying Alexander`

I often find that I like the less famous works as much as the ones hidden behind the crowds.  We didn’t bother to take many pictures, as it was nearly impossible to get a shot without some stranger in it, and paintings never photograph as well as the pictures one can find on line. 

Cosimo Medici had three of these paintings in his bedroom.  This one is in the Uffizi, there is one in the Louvre, and we saw the third "Battle of San Romano" by Paolo Uccello in the British Gallery at the beginning of this trip.  We have seen all three!

Fillipo Lippi's "Madonna col Bambino" with two angels.  Lippi was a monk, and all of his "Madonnas" were a beautiful nun who was also his lover.  Tradition has it that the angel looking directly at the view is their son.

Caravaggio:  "Bacchus".  You can actually see the rings in his wine, as though he has just picked up the cup.

Titian`s "Venus of Urbino".  I liked the servants rummaging in the trunk behind her for something for her to put on!

 

On total overload, we stopped for expensive coffee and pasta far too close to the tourist centre, and then decided that we couldn’t handle another museum – not even our beloved archeological museum – so we went off the duomo.

Officially the ‘Santa Mara de Fiore”, the duomo is free, but there is a €10 charge now to see the extras, and another charge to climb to the top of the dome.  We paid the first fee, and felt that this was money well spent as soon as we went into the Baptistery, officially called San Giovanni.  It gives its name to the square, and was rebuilt in the 11^th century.  Dante calls it “my fair San Giovanni” and thought the mosaics were as beautiful as any in Ravenna.  The dome is certainly lovely, and reflects Byzantine mosaics, but there are influences from all over in this beautiful space.  It really shows how cosmopolitan the medieval period was.  One could just imagine being baptized in the font and seeing the triumphant Christ raising the dead over one’s head.

The famous bronze doors were swarmed, but suddenly several groups left at once and we had at least 15 seconds to view the doors before the next swarm descended.  These are copies – the originals, like the pieta, are in the duomo Opera museum – and it is closed for upgrading.

The duomo surprised us by being rather more austere than the duomo in Siena.  Ian really has a taste for marble floors, and I think he thought the floors here were the best bits.  The painting inside the cupola is amazing, and we really liked the figures at the top, climbing over an imaginary band in an attempt to come down to the viewers below.

Funerary momument to Sir JOhn Hawkwood, an English mercenary who won many battles for Florence.

One of Ian's cool floors.

The dome of the duomo.

A few scant mosaics at the rear of the duomo.

After looking at the inside of the dome, we steeled ourselves to go into the crypt.  Happily, it was really more of an archeological dig than the “crypt” we were expecting, showing the remains from the Roman era, and from the former church of St. Reperata, built in the fourth century.  

Mosaic floor from St. Reparata.

Proving this is a crypt:  tomb marker from 1327.

We made full use of our tickets by climbing the bell tower – a total of 277.9 feet, and getting an amazing view of the city.  It is a winding and narrow staircase, and you often can’t see too far ahead.  When you meet people going in the opposite direction, one side stops, and the other side literally squeezes by.  There are five levels, and the top three levels are each larger than the one below, so that seen from below the tower looks straight, and the effects of perspective are exactly cancelled out.  Although I did not count, the information when we got back down said that there are 414 steps.  We made it to the top of them all!