Florence 2022

The Magnificence of Florence: A Cultural Experience

“Florence, more than any other city, has the gift of making the most ordinary person feel like a special one.” – Vasari

First impressions

Florence is a city located in central Italy and is the capital of the Tuscany region. It is known for its rich history and cultural significance, as it was the center of the Italian Renaissance. The city is home to numerous historical landmarks and art museums, including the iconic Duomo cathedral and the Uffizi Gallery, which house works by famous artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. The city’s vibrant culture is also reflected in its cuisine, which includes dishes such as ribollita soup and bistecca alla fiorentina.

Masaccio’s Trinity: Perspective, Science, and Religion Unite at Santa Maria Novella

It’s a treat to see Masaccio’s Trinity.

Anyone who studies perspective in the context of art history learns about this fresco. But this painting is more than just about perspective; it’s a fascinating study of the convergence between the Holy Trinity’s visual depiction and its’ theological concept.

The painting has six figures: the kneeling patron and his wife, the Virgin Mary, Saint John, Jesus, and God the Father. Masaccio painted them in two interlocking triangles (see my drawing), which meet precisely in the body of the crucified Christ. The figures are situated in their logical perspective place, but God the Father is floating in both spaces, as only God can.

The cadaver tomb below the painting says: “I was once what you are, and what I am you will become.”

The Meaning of the Word “Duomo”

Duomo is the Italian word for any cathedral, but it is often used synonymously with this Florentine cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. The word derives from domus, Latin for “house,” here, the “house of God.” The basilica is crowned by the great Renaissance dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi.

From the Uffizi: The Statue of Marcus Aurelius

Many bust sculptures are on display at the Uffizi, none with broken noses. Some depict strong personalities, others soft, some handsome, others less, some famous, others unknown, regardless they all look like you and me.

One, in particular, made me excited to meet – Marcus Aurelius, the warrior and philosopher. While leading his Roman army in a fight against the Barbarians, he wrote “Meditations,” a book that became the cornerstone of Stoicism.

The essence of this approach to life can be summarized by the serenity prayer, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

The Legend of Saint Minias and His Miraculous Walk

The church is named after Saint Minias, an Armenian prince who made a pilgrimage to Rome in the 3rd century. While traveling, he decided to settle in Florence instead and live as a Christian hermit. When the Roman Emperor found out that Minias refused to bow down to the pagan gods, he was tortured, becoming Florence’s first Christian martyr. Legend says he was thrown into an arena with a panther who refused to devour him. Nevertheless, the Romans beheaded him. And this is where the story gets really good; the beheaded Minias picked up his head and marched across the Arno to the present-day church site.

From the Uffizi: Botticelli’s Captivating Paintings of Madonnas and Ladies

It’s hard not to love Botticelli’s stylistically “sweet” paintings. His handsome Madonna and ladies have similar features as if only separated at birth. To his credit, though, the subjects of Botticelli’s paintings are more than just Madonna and Child. I love his depiction of sheer clothes and fabric patterns.

From the Uffizi: Bacchus and Satyr: The God of Wine and Excess

Bacchus was the Roman God of wine, ecstatic ritual, musical trance, drink, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. I guess he is the God that represents what we all want and need more of in life. Bacchus leans on Satyr in this sculpture and mumbles, “take me to bed. I think I drank too much.”

Galileo Chini’s Exhibition at the Bardini Garden: A Fusion of Beauty and Panoramic Views

Galileo Chini’s spectacular exhibition at the Bardini Garden was a perfect combination of beauty, a fantastic city panorama, and loving company. I had never heard about Chini, an early 20th-century multi-disciplinary artist. His colorful ceramic glazes reminded me of my dear friend, the ceramic artist Anna Silver. One day her artworks will be exhibited here too.

The Synagogue: An Icon of Moorish Architecture

The Synagogue is in a beautiful Moorish style. It is definitely worthy of the city.

The Moorish style is a type of architectural style that originated in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula and was influenced by Islamic and Byzantine design. The style is characterized by the use of arches, domes, and geometric patterns, and it is often associated with structures such as mosques, palaces, and public buildings.

Santa Croce: The Majesty of the Pazzi Chapel

It made me feel uplifted to be in the presence of luminaries like Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Dante, even though it’s only with their spirits.

The light illuminating the colorful stained glass windows is magnificent and awe-inspiring.

The Pazzi Chapel, commissioned by the Medici’s rival family and designed by Brunelleschi, is perfectly geometrical, austere, and serene. No frescos, paintings, or sculptures are required, and none are present. The beauty and grandeur are in minimalism.

From the Uffizi – Leonardo’s Luminosity

The Uffizi Gallery is filled with great master paintings, including Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Rafael. On this visit, I was most impressed by Leonardo’s paintings. Three of his paintings greeted us in the first gallery, each in an enclosed, almost invisible, glass box; two of the paintings the maestro completed, and the third was left in its early stages of development. 

I read about Leonardo’s greatness from several art historians, but seeing his craftsmanship closeup, particularly the thin layers of brushstrokes, made me appreciate his artistry in a new light. Leonardo’s colors are not saturated; but have a sense of lightness, depth, and translucence. His slow painting method began with a detailed drawing in neutral gray or brown. He then started layering with tiny bits of color added to hefty amounts of glazing material. The many layers of glaze explain why the paintings have a unique sense of luminosity and transparency.

I came out of the gallery with a deeper understanding of Leonardo’s greatness and his detailed and time-consuming process, which probably contributed to the limited number of paintings he completed in his lifetime.

Lucca: Home of Giacomo Puccini

Lucca is located about 35 kilometers west of Florence. It’s the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini, who was one of the most popular opera composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his works “La Bohème,” “Tosca,” “Madama Butterfly,” and “Turandot,” which are among the most frequently performed operas worldwide.

We enjoyed an exquisite Italian gourmet feast at All’Olivos restaurant with our gracious hosts, Danny and Alejandra Beim.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi: The Medici’s Lasting Legacy

When the last Medici died in 1743, the family’s enormous private art collection was bequeathed to Florence on the strict condition that it never leaves the city. The last Medici may be dead, but their family legacy lives on, and its fortune is filling up the city’s treasure chest to the present time.

Pasta and lasagna cooking class.

Pasta is an integral part of Italian culture and heritage. It is more than just a national staple; it is a source of national pride and cultural and social identity.

From the Uffizi: Caravaggio’s Revolutionary Visual Language and Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Gentileschi, Rembrandt, and others.

Caravaggio took the pictorial drama of light and shadow to new heights, which many Dutch and Spanish artists followed. Note the homoerotic overtone, the dirty fingernails, and the decaying fruit in Caravaggio’s Bacchus, the intoxicated young boy – supposedly based on a self-image.

It’s also interesting to note the numerous visual interpretations of a beheading act, whether the beheaded is Holofernes or John the Baptist.

The Ponte Vecchio: From Butcher to Jewelry Market

We stayed at an Airbnb near the Ponte Vecchio bridge; it was not like “Room with a View,” but close enough. The bridge is a pictorial site, especially with Sandra and Burt Sigal in the front. They are inspirational! At 81 and 86, they led the way.

The Ponte Vecchio was a butcher market way back in the 14th and 15th centuries conveniently situated above the river; what better place to dump the meat remains than straight into the river? Until one of the Medici Dukes said, this is too filthy for me to pass by back and forth to work every day.

Let’s convert it into something cleaner and more refined, like a jewelry market. So they did; the same families have run these stores since then.

Later the Duke said, this path is not safe for me; I am concerned about being assassinated; I need to have a private corridor to my office at the Uffizi. So, the second floor was designed and added by Vasari.

From the Uffizi: The Madonna with Long Neck by Parmigianino: An Exploration of Mannerism and Paintings by Pontormo, Titian, Veronese, and others.

The Madonna with Long Neck by Parmigianino is by far the tallest Madonna ever painted. After the artistic period of High Realism, the new style, Mannerism, was meant to look unreal. The more distortion and exaggeration, the better.

An Early Morning Walk With my Beloved

Central Florence is small and is to be experienced and discovered on foot. An early morning walk is an opportunity to be alone in the streets, with only a few locals heading to work and the street cleaning crews. The sunrise made the sights look fantastic, and we had them all to ourselves. We stumbled upon some finds and photographic opportunities that are harder to notice during the day.

Donatello at Strozzi Palace: An Anti-Climactic Exhibition

Some experts consider Donatello’s sculptures in relief, terracotta, and marble the true soul of the Florentine Renaissance, especially in their deep understanding of perspective. The exhibition did not move me. Although it is centered around sculptures, Donatello’s famous sculpture, David, was notably absent.

Florence is an open-air museum; each photograph you take might become a masterpiece if only your back is to the sun and the framing is interesting. Often walking outside a museum is more interesting than being inside.

Fra Angelico and San Marco: A Window into Renaissance Florence

San Marco belonged to the Dominican order, known for its austerity and deprivation. On the cloister’s second floor, there are 43 rooms. They are small, like a jail cell, only 13 by 8 feet, with a tiny window. One monk occupied each room; they must have been freezing in the winter, which makes me wonder how they kept themselves warm.

Fra Angelico lived and was created in this convent during the 15^th century; he is one of my two great discoveries on this visit to Florence; the other is Galileo Chini. He was a devout monk known for saying, “He who wishes to paint Christ’s story must live with Christ.” His nickname, Fra Angelico, was given to him as a token for his angelic painterly skills.

He painted a beautiful fresco in each cell for the resident monk to look at, pray and meditate on, which might have alleviated some of the winter colds.

San Marco was also Savonarola’s parish for a while. He was a charismatic extremist who preached the destruction of secular art and culture in Renaissance Florence. And he had his way for a short period. Thankfully, when he was having his lunatic bonfire of the vanities, he left the frescoes alone.

The Last Judgment by Fra Angelico and a comparison with Caravaggio

San Marco is a Mecca to Fra Angelico’s admirers. On the second floor are the frescos and on the first floor is a feast of colors displayed on wood panels. One painting, in particular, mesmerized my imagination, The Last Judgment.

At the top center of the picture, Christ sits in judgment on a white throne flanked by his angelic advisors and saints. He is the judge, his left hand pointing down to Hell, his right up to Heaven. On Christ’s right hand is paradise, with angels leading the anointed ones through a beautiful garden into a shining city. In the middle are the broken tombs of the dead who rose to be judged. On Christ’s left, monsters direct the damned into Hell, where they torture them. At the bottom is Satan in a feast, devouring three of the doomed ones.

Thinking about Fra Angelico, I can’t avoid comparing him with Caravaggio. The church canonized Fra Angelico for his angelic attributes, both artistic and personal. Caravaggio, on the other hand, was canonized by art historians for his extraordinary talent and unruly behavior, bloodthirstiness, imprisonment, and, in the end, becoming a fugitive. Fra Angelico and Caravaggio were innovative for their time and depicted biblical scenes with utmost devotion and awe.  

From the Uffizi – The Depiction of Baby Jesus in Renaissance Art

I never liked how in Medieval art and early Renaissance paintings, Jesus’ face is that of an adult, but his body is that of an infant. It is hilarious. Yet when I look at some of these restored artworks, it becomes secondary to the vivid colors and the gold, ooh, the gold!

Why was this his standard depiction?

First, religious iconography is meant to be idealistic rather than a realistic representation of the figures.

Second, Baby Jesus represents a young depiction of Jesus and the notion that Jesus was born fully formed, wise beyond his years, and prepared to transform the world.

Third, while praying underneath a painting of Mary and her baby son, worshipers wanted the consolation of their prayers to be in the hands of someone who could assist, not a baby

In later Renaissance paintings, Jesus’ depiction became naturalistic and pleasing, and he looks like a cute child.

Last impressions

“To be in Florence is to be in Paradise.” – Dante Alighieri

“Florence is so beautiful that it is almost impossible to be unhappy there.” – Edith Wharton