Our first stop was the previous night's last: the Piazza del Duomo. After reading guides and reviews about Florentine sites before bed last night, we decided to forego a visit inside the Baptistry. From what I read, all the impressive relics had been removed to nearby museums, so the outside was the real (and free!) sight.
Above: Baptistry in foreground, cathedral entrance directly behind with dome peeking over.
Bell tower at far right.
There are three sets of bronze entry doors into the octagonal Baptistry. However, the east-facing doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti receive the most attention. The gilded bronze doors took the artist 21 years to complete, and feature 28 panels with biblical scenes: twenty of Christ in from the New Testament, and eight of various apostles and church fathers.
When completed, Michelangelo himself dubbed the doors the "Gates of Paradise," so the tourists flock to the doors to this very day, snapping photos of Heaven's golden gateway.
We shortly found the line to enter the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and the 10-minute wait in the shade was child's play for veteran line standers like us. Inside, the cathedral was rather plain--a stark contrast to the ornate exterior.
The interior was very spacious, but other than a painting of Dante standing in front of his Commedia, some lovely stained glass windows, and a few other paintings, the only marvel of the interior was the frescoed dome way above. Engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi in the 15th century, the octagonal dome was completely painted with a fresco of the Last Judgement by Georgio Vasari in the 16th century.
With the captivating fresco in mind, we exited the basilica with hopes of climbing to eye-level with the dome's interior. The line for this sight was considerably longer (~1 hour), and it cost us 16€ to climb the 436 steps to the Duomo's viewing platform.
First, the fresco: a truly marvelous and intimidating work to behold. The lower level of the dome was devoted to capital sins and hell, and since this was closest to our eye level, these images of tortured souls and vicious demons were off-putting, to put it mildly.
Above: Demons inserting torches where the sun don't shine.
The upper areas of the dome were devoted to Christ, Mary, the saints, and various choirs of angels. Their peaceful depiction was a stark contrast to the morbid workings of the damned below.
When we climbed to the dome's viewing platform, we were afforded a wonderful 360-degree view of Florence. We had a bird's eye view of the piazza below, the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio in the near distance, and the Piazzale Michelangelo on a hilltop across the river.
After taking a moment to enjoy the view and recover from our close-quarters spiral staircase ascent, we retraced our route down. We had a 2:30 reservation at the Uffizi, so we made a brisk walk toward the museum's plaza so I could buy our tickets (15€ apiece to reserve in advance and skip the waiting line).
In the first small area of the museum we were allowed to photograph the sketches and drawings of Italian scenes, but once we hit the main gallery area on the second level, photography was expressly forbidden.
Above: Pen & ink drawing of Lucifer, as described by Dante in the Inferno.
His three mouths eternally munch on Judas, Brutus, & Cassius.
Annie and I both loved the Sandro Botticelli works in the early rooms, and it was very interesting to see Da Vinci's Annunciation and his unfinished Adoration of the Magi.
As we moved into later artists like Titian and Caravaggio, Annie grew less impressed by their skill (though it may have been a result of her aching back from standing so long). I found Titian's Venus of Urbino impressive less for its artistry, and more for the in-your-face statement it made--quite provocative for the time period.
I also enjoyed the Caravaggio works, particularly his Medusa, which was painted on an actual shield. If anyone recalls their Greek mythology, once Perseus killed Medusa, he affixed her head on his shield to petrify (literally?) all his adversaries.
After three hours, we'd seen everything we were able to see at the Uffizi. Starving, we exited into the late afternoon and found a pizzeria for an early dinner of pizza (margherita) and pasta (gnocchi, tortellini) dishes. And beer.
When finished and full, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and walked along the river before ascending to the Piazzale Michelango for another great view of Florence.
Above: Gondola passing in front of the Uffizi.
The photos from here could adequately include the river, Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, and Duomo, so we took some good ones.
The Piazzale itself was pretty plain, aside from a bronze David statue that looked less impressive than the one we viewed yesterday. It got us excited for our morning appointment with the original David at the Galleria dell'Accademia, which we knew would not disappoint us.
When we retraced our route back towards the river, we crossed a different bridge and meandered our way back into the Piazza Siggniora where a symphony and choir were tuning up. We hunted out some gelato--lemon for Annie, pistachio for me--and sat in the piazza listening to the symphony's rendition of the 1812 Overture.
It was kind of surreal, sitting in a famous Florentine piazza, eating gelato, and listening to a symphony perform outside a palace. In this very piazza in 1498, Savonarola had been convicted of heresy and hanged, then burned: Look it up HERE.
Like I said, quite surreal--then again, this whole honeymoon has been surreal, so I should just shut up.
When we polished off the cones, we headed home to browse for lodging in Venice, tomorrow's stop.
Florence July 2 Album:
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| Florence: July 2, 2011 |
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Florence, Italy
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