April 15: Firenza: Art and Sunshine

We began our day at the Galleria dell'Accademia, reacquainting ourselves with Michelangelo’s David.  We just had time to grab a cappuccino before we met our group for a tour of the Vasari corridor, a “secret passage” that links the Uffizi  to the Pitti Palace.  After an unforgettable tour, we grabbed lunch in front of the Palace, then went in to see two of the museums and the Boboli Gardens.  The Gardens were the real draw, and it was the perfect day for them.   Since the museums were included in the ticket to the gardens, we wandered through the costume museum – neither of us particularly interested in Italian fashion – and then saw the “Argenti” treasure museum, with amazing frescoed state rooms, and found it a wonderful cap to the day.  Everything in Florence is up a flight of stairs and then back down, and we both got a bit of sun to chase the snow we got at the beginning of our trip.  Tired, but healthy and happy, we are both “computering” before heading out for a nice meal.  I am going to wear my dress, to justify having brought it!   

We began our day by walking to the Accademia following the instructions given by Google Maps and my netbook.  At one point, Ian stepped into the street to go around a woman headed in the opposite direction, as one does here, without realizing that the curb, only an inch high where he stepped onto it, was now about 14 inches high.  This was the most spectacular trip and recovery I have ever seen Ian make – or anyone else, for that matter.  As the woman and I gasped in alarm, Ian made four gigantic strides – the first one clse to the splits – and by sheer velocity brought himself up to an upright position.  It was an example of athletic prowess par excellence, and he didn’t even skin a knee, let alone break an ankle.

There are more parts to the Accademia than are dreamt of in the philosophy of most group tours.  After admiring the “Rape of the Sabine Women”,  which is an exercise in making three figures from one block of wood, we began by looking at the musical instruments, which include Stradivarius violins, the first upright piano, and many archaic wind instruments that no longer exist.  There is a small computer station where one can listen to reproductions of these instruments being played, and Ian scared the LIFE out of me by appearing behind me while I was listening. 

First upright piano

Ian sneaks up on me!

Going down the hall to the “David” are Michelangelo’s unfinished ‘Prisoners’, and they appear to struggle to free themselves from the rock.  

 I forced myself to really look at the exhibits in the hallway before admiring the David, which is just as wonderful as I remember it being.  Although it is huge, the marble – from a block rejected by two other sculptors as too difficult to work with – seems to breath and have a light from within.  The fact that Michelangelo was only 26 when he created the David just makes me feel inadequate.  I am nearly ten years older than that already - or is that thirty years?

Ian claims he was taking a picture of the veins in his hand . . . of course, I am the one who picked this out of about 20 really excellent shots.

We viewed the earliest works of Italian art in the galleries.  The last time we were in Florence, I accidently overdosed Ian on triptychs with gold backgrounds, but he has gained an appreciation of them, as have I, after we learned about them from our guide at the Uffizi last time we were here. Seeing the best of the best was a real experience, especially since these rooms were closed when we were here in 2007.

The plaster cast room was also more interesting when we learned that the rather spotty figures are actually covered in “points” that were carefully added so that the plaster casts of clay originals could be carved into marble and matched exactly.  It’s a pretty interesting method.

The Campbell sisters.  If you look carefully at their faces, you will see small iron "dots" that were used to make sure the good marble copy was exact.

By far my favourite thing in the Accademia, besides David, was an alter cloth that was painted and embroidered over 500 years ago.  Photos were not allowed, but it was in perfect condition, and very beautiful.

We left the Accademia in plenty of time to get to our next tour, even with a cup of coffee and moment to sit down.  Our next tour was something truly remarkable:  The Vasari Corridor is the secret passageway between the Uffizi (“Uffizi” means “offices”, and were the offices of the Medici family) and their new residence, the Pitti Palace.  

You can only go on this tour if you pre-arrange it months in advance, so I am glad Ian thought of this.  One enters the passageway in the Uffizi Museum, from the top floor, through a rather non-descript door that I didn’t even notice when visiting the day before.   The entire thing was built in just five months on the orders of the Grand Duke Cosimo Medici in anticipation of his wedding, and it allowed the Medici family to travel (carried in litters) high above the streets of Florence.  It is over a kilometre long,  and has windows where one could listen and spy on the people below.  The Medici were always murdering, scheming and being murdered, so they needed this little security corridor.  I guess that since Cosimo had just replaced the Republic of Florence by making himself Grand Duke, he had a few enemies.

Interior, going over the bridge.

The exterior, going into the police station.

Of course, the Vasari corridor (named for its architect) wasn’t needed for this purpose in later years, so it has been used to house some important works of art near the Uffizi, and then a long long gallery of self-portraits of famous artists who were either from Florence, or who studied in the city.  It was fascinating to see the fashions change, both in the dress and appearance of the artists, and in the painting styles they chose.  

The architect, Vasari, made this self-portrait that begins the gallery.

 

Chagal's self-portrait is much nearer to the end of the corridor.

The corridor literally runs through towers that belonged to families – the Medicid just bought a room and closed it off from the rest of the house – and along the facade of Santa Felicita.  The Medici had a balcony built into the church, so that they could attend church and not be seen.   

View of the interior of the church and the Medici balcony.

 One family refused to let the passage run through their home, so the route makes a two right angles to go around it.  It goues right over the Ponte Vecchio, and ends up in a police station today – although tourists need to get out just before the secure area starts.

Grotto at the end of the corridor where Leonardo's Prisoners originally stood.  They have been replaced with copies.

The corridor has an interesting history.  Originally, the butchers were on the Ponte Vecchio so that they could throw offal in the river (apparently, it used to be much deeper).  The smell offended the Medici, so they had the butchers moved and goldsmiths were moved to the bridge, where they remain to this day.  The Arno River has flooded as high as the passageway several times, the last time in 1966.  In WWII, Mussolini had windows on the bridge enlarged so that Hitler could have a better view of the river.  Hitler was so impressed that when the Germans were retreating, they blew up every bridge across the river except the Ponte Vecchio.  However, they blew up the streets at both ends, destroying two sections of the corridor. 

The view that Hitler loved.

 No sooner had this been repaired, when the 1966 flood occurred, and the corridor ws cloased again.  In 1993, the corridor was severely damaged by a Mafia car bomb (they were protesting the passing of laws against them) and several priceless paintings were damaged beyond repair.  They have been replaced in their damaged condition as a reminder of the effects of violence on art.

This Caravaggio was mostly destroyed, but the unburned pieces were reassembled with the help of the painting at left, an exact copy created by one of his students.

 We popped out exactly where we wanted to be:  the Pitti Palace.  We had an expensive lunch right outside, and then had to decide which set of tickets to buy:  One ticket, at €13, gets one into the state rooms, and the other, at €7 Euros gets one into the Boboli Gardens, the costume museum, the porcelain museum, and the Argenti (treasure museum).  Since we really wanted to see the Boboli, that is what we chose.  

 We started off with the Costume Museum – up 5 loooonnng flights of stairs – and it was okay.  The rooms were nice, but I am not that “ìnto” high fashion.   

We came out into our happily remembered Boboli Gardens, and it was perfect weather – a nice breeze, warm sunshine, and lots of spring colour.  The gardens are steep, and of course we walked to the very top, then down one side, then back up, and then down the other side – which is why you will not see my purple sweating face in any pictures.

The obelisk is from Ancient Egypt, and the "bathtub" is from the baths of Caracalla in Rome.  Can you imagine getting these in place in the days before trucks and machinery?

Ceres greets you when you finally reach the top.

The heron is real -- not part of the statue.

 

View from the terrace at the top of the garden.

At the very top of the Italian garden is a porcelain museum.  When the Grand Duches collected this porcelain, much of it from Meissen, it was worth more than gold.  There were certainly some beautiful pieces in the museum, but it was really beautiful outside . . .

The “English” side of the garden is made to look more wild and natural, but you can tell it takes an army of gardeners to keep it so “natural”.  At the very bottom of te English side is a pond with oranges in the middle, and Ian and I were very happy to see it again.

I don’t know why we didn’t go into the “treasure” museum last time, but we didn’t, and so were in for a surprise.  The treasure museum holds precious things that were once owned by the Medici family.  The most amazing sights were the frescoed “summer rooms” done by Caroni.  He took his inspiration from the Sistine chapel.  There were also amazing furnishings, and all sorts of, well, treasures.

We completed the walk back to our hotel at an increasingly slow pace as the past two days slowly caught up with us, and after a brief rest, went out for dinner at Le Buchero, where we ate a few nights before.  The crustini calde were fabulous, and then I ordered a steak with a walnut and gorgonzola sauce – amazing, and Ian ordered osso bucco.  Ian’s food took extra time, so they brought him ravioli in wild boar sauce while he waited.  We also ordered roasted potatoes and grilled vegetables.  This was a three hour meal, where we split an entire bottle of San Giovese and then had an aperitif.  We floated home, but I sure couldn’t finish the blog – but now I did!