Firenze Card in hand we embarked on the first day of museum
crawling through Florence after another very yummy breakfast. Our first stop
today was to be the Uffizi gallery and to get there we went exploring Florence
on foot, passing by the Duomo with its impressive façade, tower and baptistery
and we landed in the square near the Uffizi to find sculptures contained in an
open structure that looked a bit like a church and a line of other sculptures,
one looking suspiciously like David! This was puzzling but we pushed on down to
the museum.
We had been warned of the long queues at the Uffizi gallery
and so wanted to ensure that we were there before the crush. The Firenze card
promises that you can jump the queue to gain entrance to the museums and they
were certainly correct here... straight through, bypassing the developing line.
The Uffizi is home to a storehouse of artworks, from a sculpture gallery from
the antiquities featuring busts and full body sculptures in marble, some in
three and four different types of marble. It also houses a phenomenal array of
painting, especially early Italian religious art from the 12-14th
century and many many renaissance painters, especially Florentine ones. Tracing
the development of the religious artworks from the very two dimensional and
iconic style of the eastern churches through to a more three dimensional style
is really interesting and brought back a whole host of memories of artworks we
had seen in churches throughout our time in Europe. Giottos, Cimabues and
those from these schools were there. We even tested Eminence’s theory about the
suffering Christ portrayed on the crucifix in the pre Francis and post Francis
time and the theory held up pretty well in many of the Giotto inspire crucifixes
in the gallery.
We then hit rooms 10 to 14 and there before our eyes was Botticelli’s
Venus on a half shell. La Nascita di Venere. otherwise known as the Birth of Venus. WOW is about the only word for it. This gallery was
fairly busy but there were benches provided in the centre of the room and it
was fabulous to sit there and watch, allowing the artwork to engulf you as
Rosemary Crumlin would say. It was truly beautiful and an amazing experience to
see the work in real life, along with other Botticellis and works by his
lesser known (to me) contemporaries. The next room was to contain Leonardo’s
Magi, but to my disappointment it is not in the gallery at present as it is
being restored. There were other beautiful works but not the one I had hoped to
see.
The Uffizi is built in a U shape and was we crossed the base
of the U we glimpsed a good view of the Ponte Vecchio, but more on that later.
Michelangelo and friends featured strongly on this side of the Uffizi with some
amazing renaissance painting demonstrating portraiture, patronage and full
bodied forms. There were works by artists I had never heard of that were very
beautiful, and I really liked a couple of the Raphaels. After a break on the
gallery roof for a quick drink and a view toward the Duomo we ventured
downstairs in search of the Caravaggios. En route we found a most amazing
display of tapestries, some with religious stories and some with courtly and
historical stories. Their fine woven work and golden highlights were positively
amazing and there was even a tapestry displayed in reverse so as to demonstrate
the “back” showing the way the weaver drags their threads and finishes the
work. I will never be embarrassed about the reverse side of an embroidery
again!!! There were also some displays of tapestry materials and an explanation
of the craft. Our final gallery was the Caravaggio group and while many were of
his contemporaries, the work featuring the nativity and the light emanating
from the child Jesus face was a fantastic example of the use of light in the
works... and to think that until I had seen the Conversion of St Paul in the
church in Rome I had never seen a Caravaggio either in real life or even in a
book! This gallery was a great experience.
Uffizi complete it was on to the Ponte Vecchio. This is an
amazing bridge as it is lined with shops on either side and apparently has a
passing lane of the upper level so that the well to do did not have to share
the crossing of the river with the lower throngs. Today the retail across the
bridge is gold city. Jewelry shop after jewelry shop, maybe 40 in all with
bright sparkling wares. This interspersed with souvenir sellers made for an
interesting experience and just throngs of people, some strolling, some crossing
with intent. It was our intent to head towards the Pitti Palace to see what was
there and to stroll in the Boboli gardens. The costume exhibit was closed which
was a pity as it was one I would have liked to have seen, but the gardens
provided a beautiful vista and the view across Florence from here was pretty
special too. We spent a little time here before finding lunch just off the main
strip on our way back to the Ponte Vecchio where we grabbed a mandatory gelato
for the stroll back towards the centre. We even found the “Straw market”, not
much straw here these days, really only leather merchants and scarf sellers, but
it did give me a bit of exposure to some very nice bags and wallets. Love
comparative shopping and on this pilgrimage I have not had a huge opportunity
to shop. Poor Chris!!!
We strolled back towards the Duomo and made a visit, again experiencing
that sense of being captured and enveloped by the grandeur of the space. It was
a little noisy but most of the people were more respectful than they had been in
the Duomo in Sienna the day before. We noted that Mass was 6pm with vespers at
5.30 and so wondered if we might make it back to share that experience. We
wandered back towards Santa Maria Novella in search of the leather market and
we found it... a bit like the Temple Street market in Hong Kong except during
the day, stall after stall in the streets near the Medici chapel and the
Piazza de San Loernezo. It was fun looking and comparing and we did get Chris a
tie… and I found leather bag that I liked so that was a bonus. But of course
shopping is such an exhausting experience so we went back to the hotel for a rest
before heading back to the Duomo for Mass at 6pm.
Unfortunately vespers were not on today, in spite of the
sign suggesting that they were so we hung out in the square with coffee and
wandered the area until 6 when Mass started. Mass in Italian is an interesting
experience, it is easier to understand than Mass in German and the side chapel
in the Duomo where the Mass was held was lovely. It is difficult however when
the homily is in a foreign language and it goes on for over 12 minutes! We
decided on dinner in the Piazza Duomo after Mass, risotto and pasta are such
Italian things to have for dinner and we found a lovely cake shop and took a
little pastry home to have with a cuppa. A stroll back through the markets as
they were closing was an interesting experience, the marketers being replaced
by the street hawkers selling splat toys, copy watches and copy bags, all laid
out on their sheets in case the police come along for a raid. The end of
another fabulous and footsore day of pilgrimage!
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