We stayed in today as we are a bit tired and the weather is a bit foul.
We covered a lot of ground Tuesday and Wednesday, taking in very well known sites and no doubt contributing to our exhaustion.
Medici Chapel and New Sacristy. The Medici dukes rest at these adjacent mortuaries. Both are designed by Michelangelo, who also did the famous sculptures.
For those of us enthralled by stone work, the place was amazing. Of course, half of it is in scaffolding as the stones are starting to fall down. They were backed with stone that is deteriorating and hung on iron hooks that are rusting. They are replacing these with stainless steel backings and hooks.
The Library at the San Lorenzo complex, with its famous staircase, was also a Michelangelo project. The books did not circulate. Patrons would find the books by using the lists at the end of each row and go to the books. We assume that the books were chained to the benches.
The library had an exhibit of books written by Bocaccio -- literally. He copied the Decameron and other works, sometimes with elaborate and beautiful initial letters. The printing press came later. It also included his annotations on other texts.
The Palazzo Medici Riccardi was designed by Michelozzo for Cosimo de' Medici.
The Medicis were thrown out and Savonarola came into power in 1494. Then Savonarola was hung and burned at the stake and the Medici returned, but the palazzo had passed to the Riccardi family. The Medicis lived in the Pitti Palace and the Palazzo Vecchio.
This Palazzo Vecchio contained municipal halls and meeting rooms and is still in use as municipal offices on half the floors. Needless to say, it is heavily frescoed, mostly be Vasari. Bruce thinks Gozzoli's Procession of the Magi (1460ish) is the most impressive. The people in the painting were all prominent Florentines.
Lunch Circus( smoked salmon salad, fried artichokes, the best focaccia)
dinner mediocre donner kebab
supermarket prosciutto pasta with bolognese
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