Florence 4/9-13/14 rocks, S. Lorenzo

   We are sadly using up the remaining days before we leave Florence.  Mostly, we are returning for review of some major works and major sites.  Wonderful, but nothing to write home about.

We revisited the facade of the Duomo, confirming that it does not present a program such as that we would find on any Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe.  There is a madonna and apostles and scenes from the life of Mary on the door.  But the rest is important Florentines.  The message is Florence, not the Church.  The other sides are just decorative.

4/9  We went back to  the Ufizzi.  After three trips, we have gone through it once. Too much to pick out anything to mention.

4/10 We revisited Santa Croce and reviewed some of the frescoes addressed in the Peterson book.  Long lunch on the piazza.  Sprang for the mid-range and expensive glasses of Chianti.

lunch p. sta croce: chopped liver,salad.   dinner zibibi??2duck, liver pate, citrus ravioli, cheese cake, lemon tarte

4/11  Revisit San Lorenzo, again with the Peterson book.  It remains, in our opinion, the most impressive of the churches as a church.

  Like most of the churches here, its facade is unfinished:



Those that are finished, like the Duomo, are relatively modern.  The Duomo is late 19th century.

Inside the Duomo is one of the least impressive churches.  The floor and the dome are fabulous, but it is not great space.


We went to the mineral museum at the university.  The collection is impressive.  Here's the agate slice display:

It is an excellent collection designed to educate with displays showing crystal structure.

Za Za fried calamari, pasta with duck sauce
Yellow bar:  ravioli with tomato cream sauce; ravioli with butter and sage.

4/12  We started the day at Santo Spirito.   This was Brunelleschi's last commission.  The ceiling has unconvincing tromp l'oeil coffers.   Worse, there's a large altar at the crossing that damages the interior space:

   So, on to the Specalo, a nice shell collection and rooms upon rooms of pickled and stuffed animals. Unusually, some of the shells contained their animals:

In the same building was a relatively new installation of a private collection of crystal specimens chosen solely for their visual appeal.  It is billed as the best collection of crystals in the world.  There probably aren't many crystal collections.  Nevertheless, We have seen a lot of this stuff over our years and we do not this this is an overstatement.   Photos attempted with our cheap point-and-shoot will give you an idea.

       Very limited patronage, since it must compete with the Raphaels in the Pitti Palace next door.

       There's also a "Galileo room" that once contained the scientist's instruments that are now in the Galileo Museum covered in an earlier blog post.  The room was expressly designed to be a secular temple.

lunch:  P. S.Spirito potato tortelli w/ meat sauce; foccacia with splash of tomato
dinner:  Natalino   ossobuco; fried chucken