Following Michelangelo: Firenze/Florence I (7/12/1983)

Tuesday, July 13, 1983

Marsha C and I went down to the breakfast buffet of processed cheese, ham and salami, rolls, packaged croissants, zwieback toast, butter and jellies, two-types of juices from a mix Tang-style of unknown flavors, and boiled eggs. We stuffed ourselves, then walked towards the Duomo/Cathedral. We stopped at a corner bank, having to wait a half hour in line for Marsha to cash 500 CHF/$250 travelers’ cheques, and me to cash 200 CHF/$100 into Italian lire.

Money exchange receipt

Headed down Via Ricasoti and saw the large crowd standing in front of the Galleria dell’Accademia, with lines extending down the street in both directions! So we continued to Piazza di San Marco, first going into the church and then next door to the monastery, paying the 2,000 ITL/$1.30 entry fee.

Fra Angelico Museum ticket

This is the Fra Angelico Museum, where purity, delicacy, gentleness, and humility are characteristics of the artist who created the color of Angelico blue, giving him the nickname of Beato/Divine Angelico. He was a great observer of nature, and it is said that his painting equals praying. His works are considered at the same time, ornate and simple, detailed and mystic. We entered the cloister shaded by a “famous” cedar of Lebanon. The tympana above the door level were frescoed. Starting immediately on the right, the rooms contained Fr a Angelico’s canvases: Crucifixions, Madonnas, Descents from the Cross, Last Judgments, and St Dominic at the foot of the Cross. We entered the lavabo, but the main refectory was cordoned off, resulting in only glimpses of works by Fra Bartolomeo. We found ourselves in the rear cloister, then coming through a small refectory with Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper, where we noted Judas counting his silver. We went upstairs to the monks’ cells, and at the top of the stairs was Fra Angelico’s Annunciation where you were to note the characteristic blue color. We went from cell to cell, each with its own little fresco with a scene meant to encourage meditation. Most depicted a saint at the foot of the cross, but we also saw the Apparition of Christ (with funny crossed feet) to Magdalena in the first cell to the left, the Annunciation in the third cell, the Transfiguration in the sixth cell, and Coronation of Mary in the 9thcell. At the end of this corridor was Fra Girolamo Savonarola’s rooms with portraits, including one by Fra Bartolomeo. Savonarola was a fierce, passionate, and obstinate man whom we were always able to recognize later on. One room had his desk. In the corridor to the right of the staris were more cells and a library designed by Michelozzo.

We returned to the Accademia, but the crowd had not abated one little bit, so we walked over to Piazza Santissima Annunziata. It had an equestrian statue of Fedinando I de’Medici by Giambologna, and two Baroque fountains. On one side was Filippo Brunelleschi’s loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti/Foundling Hospital/orphanage, with the putti/swaddled babies medallions by Andrea della Robbia. Antonio da Sangallo copied the loggia for the church at the end of the square and for the Servi di Maria/Brotherhood of Servants of Mary across from the orphanage. We entered the church of Santissima Annunziata/Holy Annunciation, going to the atrium or cloister dei Voti/of the votives, which was frescoed by many artists including Andrea del Sarto, il Rosso, and Jacopo da Pontormo. Immediately to the left inside the church was a highly decorated chapel with a Byzantine-like painting of the Holy Family, and we assumed this was the miracle image. But it was Fra Bartolomeo’s Annunciation in this chapel. It is said he had difficulty getting the heads of the Virgin right, and he fell asleep. When he awoke, the painting was miraculously finished. Leo Battista Alberti designed the round choir, and although he is buried here, we didn’t find his chapel done by Giambologna. From the left transept we walked into the Cloister of the Dead, and looked back above the doorway to see del Sarto’s Madonna with the Bag where Joseph is leaning on a sack. The chapel of St Luke was closed.

We walked over to the Ospedale degli Innocenti/Foundlings Hospital where I showed Marsha the spot where there was a window with a wheel to bring in the babies that were abandoned. We paid the 1,000 ITL/65 cent entry fee to see the art gallery.

Ospedale degli Innocenti ticket

Upstairs we saw the Luca della Robbia terracotta Virgin and Child, and an Adoration of the Magi near the stairs. We went up another flight to see an earlier work of Fra Filippo Lippi, and a Mystic Marriage of St Catherine by Piero di Cosimo. Andrea del Castegna, a draftsman, did some of the frescoes. down near the entrance was another della Robbia-type glazed terracotta, perhaps by Andrea della Robbia.

We decided to go to the Archaeological Museum, but had to walk back a long block to its entrance. We paid the 2,000 ITL/$1.30 cent entry fee.

Archaeological Museum ticket

We walked through a new exhibition, and passed the archeological garden that was closed. Upstairs we saw the extensive Medici collection of Etruscan, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman art. It wasn’t terribly interesting, but we went through every room possible.

We returned to the Accademia, to find there were still huge crowds waiting to enter. We continued down Via Cavour to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi (1445 by Michelozzo); very rustic. Upstairs to the right was the Medici Chapel with tapestry-like frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli, showing the Medicis as kings in the Procession of the Three Kings. Within the painting we couldn’t find Gozzoli wearing a hat saying Opus Benotti. We returned to the courtyard and up another set of stairs to the gallery, usually used for meetings, but it was open today. On the ceiling was a fresco by Luca Giordano, the Apotheosis of the Medicis, where we couldn’t see how the Medici family was portrayed. We went to a doorway to the left of the entrance, where it seemed like there was a modern exhibit. I asked about the museum, and was told it didn’t exist anymore! The Palazzo Medici-Riccardi was where Michelangelo came to live under the sponsorship of Lorenzo di Medici. (A few windows in the façade were designed by Michelangelo as a way of closing off open arches.)

We went around the corner to Piazza di San Lorenzo that had an open-air market. We wandered through the stalls to the left of the church to enter the Laurentian Library. We had to go up through the cloisters and then into a short entrance hall with the majestic, but small staircase designed by Giorgio Vasari and Michelangelo. We climbed the steps to sign a guestbook, then to see the library designed by Michelangelo. We couldn’t tell that the pillars between the windows were wider at the top than the bottom. In fact, it looked just the opposite! Beyond were some manuscript displays.

We left to go to the church of San Lorenzo, designed by Brunelleschi. Across the façade are the Medici coat of arms with six little balls, said to be pharmaceutical pills by some, in reference to the name Medici meaning physicians. Inside San Lorenzo, we could not find the sacristy, and walked all the way around the church to find the Medici chapels. We paid 350 ITL/22 cents to enter, first going up to the huge Prince’s Chapel that imitates the Baptistery.

Medici Chapels ticket

It is rather vulgar, in a garish way, with all the differing types of marble, and giant tombs of the Medicis. We went through the New Sacristy that was designed by Michelangelo using pietra serena, a dark greenish-gray sandstone. The sculptures are also by Michelangelo and I was frankly disappointed. The statues of the Medici (Giuliano as Action and Lorenzo as the Thinker) were good, but the Virgin and Child was mediocre. The latter is supposedly the first time the Christ Child has his back to the audience.

Michelangelo's Virgin and Child

The allegories lying on the tombs were ugly, out of proportion; just terrible in my mind. On the other was a young strong male Day and a young female Night. The latter was the most finished with an owl and a mask.

Giuliano de' Medici Tomb with Giuliano in the center as Action,
Night to the left and Day to the right

On one tomb the male Twilight and female Dawn were unfinished.

Lorenzo de' Medici Tomb with Lorenzo in the center as the Thinker,
Dusk/Twilight on the left and Dawn on the right

Dusk/Twilight is unfinished

Wandering behind the altar, I found the walls covered with charcoal sketches attributed to Michelangelo when he took refuge there.

We wandered through the market on the square, then headed to the Duomo/cathedral and Baptistery, which were both closed, so just examined the exteriors. The Romanesque Baptistery was of green and white marble. The East Door facing the cathedral was said it could be the Gates to Paradise by Michelangelo. A couple panels were still undergoing restoration. Lorenzo Ghiberti took scenes from the Old Testament and put them in action against receding landscapes or architectural settings. Ghiberti portrayed himself in one of the medallions as bald and malicious. We circled to the North Door, also by Ghiberti. He had continued Pisano’s framing, but added more detail, movement, and classic drapery, in the scenes from the Life and Passion of Christ. The South Door, the first to be completed, had scenes from the life of St John the Baptist and below were the eight Christian virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, and the five Cardinals of Humility, Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, and Prudence) by Andrea Pisano. His panels are rigid geometrically with the bare essentials of gesture and setting. The doorframe was done by Ghiberti’s son.

Next we looked at the Campanile/bell tower with its multi-colored marbles. Giotto designed the tower but only completed the first two stories. Pisano did the next two, and Francesco Talenti finished the top. Now we studied the Cathedral, begun by Arnolfo di Cambio and topped by Brunelleschi’s dome. The neo-Gothic façade is in multi-colored marble. On the south side we saw the two similar doors; the Canon’s Doors. We continued all the way around the north side to see the Mandorla Door with a relief of the Assumption (Mary is in a mandorla/almond supported by angels). The Annunciation mosaic above the door is after Ghirlandaio.

Next we went to the Piazza della Signoria with the equestrian statue of Cosimo I de’ Medici by Gaimbologna and the Neptune Fountain by Bartolomeo Ammannati. Michelangelo is said to have criticized the central figure of the fountain, claiming Ammannati had ruined a good piece of marble. The fountain is surrounded by bronze nymphs and satyrs. In front of the fountain is a plaque in the pavement marking the spot where Fra Savonarola was burned.

In front of Palazzo Vecchio/Old Palace was the small lion sculpture (il Marzocca) holding the city coat of arms with a lily. Copies of Michelangelo’s David, and Bartolomeo Bandellini’s  Hercules and Cacus also stood there. We did not see Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes. The Loggia dei Lanzi, once a speakers’ forum and later a guardroom, has been made into a gallery by the Medici family. To the left was a copy of Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze Perseus with the Head of Medusa, and to the right was Giambologna’s Rape of Sabine.

We headed towards Ponte Vecchio/Old Bridge. We had a Mangiabevi/fruit cup (2,500 ITL/$1.60 each) as a snack. Near the bridge we found Gialli’s was open and got ice cream. We wandered across the bridge, checking out the shops, and Marsha bought a couple silk ties.

There is a secret corridor that runs from Palazzo Vecchio, through the Uffizi, across Ponte Vecchio, and up to the Palazzo Pitti. A couple stories above ground, you do see a corridor that connects the named buildings. It doesn’t seem so secret! Ponte Vecchio’s shops were once for tanners and butchers, but the Medicis replaced them with goldsmiths. We couldn’t find the plaque thanking the Allied soldiers for not bombing the bridge during WWII.

On Ponte Vecchio/Old Bridge

We headed along the river to the Galleria degli Uffizi. In the Piazzale degli Uffizi, there were sidewalk artists doing portraits and caricatures. Looking at the ends of this street, one end framed the Palazzo Vecchio, and the other framed Forte Belvedere. In every niche along the street were statues of famous artists, but no bust of Cosimo I by Giambologna. We joined the line to enter the gallery, paid 3,000 ITL/$2.

Galleria degli Uffizi ticket

Because of the crowds, we missed the Sandro Botticelli Annunciation if it was near the coat check. Upstairs we found the Bronzino portrait of Laura Battiferri, then entered the gallery of wall frescoes and tapestries with copies of classical sculptures. Many of the tapestries were covered to protect them. After another room of sculpture, we came to the paintings. In one room we compared the Madonnas of Cimbue (two-dimensional and emotive), Giotto (three-dimensional and dramatic), and Duccio di Buoninsegna (two-dimensional). We saw the Annunciation by Simone Martini, that had delicacy of line and the archangel dominates, rather than Mary. There were the Virgin and Child with St Anne by Masaccio, and the Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello. The latter was huge and it was hard to imagine that even more panels of the painting exist (in Paris and London). It used to hang in Lorenzo’s bedroom!

We saw a Fra Angelico Coronation of Mary, Fra Filippo Lippi’s Noviziato, Coronation of Mary, and Madonna and Child. Also Piero della Francesca’s “blunt” portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza, the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. The Adoration of the Magi by Gentile da Fabriano and one by Lorenzo Monaco were side by side to see that one was luxurious and one restrained.

Now the Botticelli room with the Birth of Venus (c. 1484) and the Primavera/Spring (c. 1482). Venus was modeled on Simonetta Vespucci,, who is also somewhere in the Spring painting. Also by Botticelli are and Adoration of the Magi, a self-portrait, Dallas and the Centaur, and a Madonna della Melagrana/Pomegranate. In the same room was an Adoration of the Shepherds by Hugo van der Goes, and a Pietà by Rogier van der Weyden.

The next area contained Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Magi showing great detail. An Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci that was supposed to have great composition, and a Baptism of Christ by Andrea del Verrocchio, plus an unfinished Adoration of the Magi. we had to wait in line to enter the Tribune, a room where only 30 people were allowed in at a time, in order to control the humidity. In the center was the Medici Venus sculpture, and the walls were lined with lots of paintings, mostly portraits. In the next rooms we saw Andrea Mantegna’s triptych of the Adoration of the Magi, a Giovanni Bellini allegory, Albrecht Dürers, Hans Holbein the Youngers, Antonio da Correggios, etc. There was Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Adam and Eve and across from it was Albrecht Dürer’s own pair.

We crossed over to the third corridor, where supposedly we were to see the Greek Red Marsyas sculpture that Michelangelo restored. There were two men hanging from a tree by their hands, but neither looked red. Next was a room with a Raffaello self-portrait and a portrait of Pope Leo X, also his Madonna of the Thistle. We saw Michelangelo’s Holy Family with its bright colors and the nudes in the background. There was Parmigianino’s Madonna with a Long Neck, and a couple Dosso Dossis. Now we have come to Tiziano’s Venus of Urbino, considered very human and sexy, plus his painting of Flora and portraits. Also the Annunciation and the Holy Family with St Barbara by Paolo Veronese.  Leda and Swan, and Christ and the Samaritan by Tintoretto. Madonna on the Throne with saints by Domenico Veneziano.

Another room had Peter Paul Rubens’ portraits of Henry of Navarre and Isabella Brandt, and his triumphal paintings for Maria Medici. There were Anthony van Dyke portraits. The next two rooms were closed, with a sign in Italian saying something about a transfer to the Bargello. We were disappointed, mostly in missing the Caravaggios.

On to Palazzo Vecchio, where we entered the courtyard to see the Andrea del Verrocchio fountain with a cupid holding a dolphin. We paid the 3,000 ITL/$2 and went straight up to the Sala dei Cinquecento/Hall of 500 painted in fresco by Giorgio Vasari among others.

Palazzo Vecchio ticket

The room was lined with large sculptures, including the Genius of Victory by Michelangelo.

Michelangelo's Genius of Victory

It was in this room that Leonardo da Vinci did his cartoon of the Battle of Anghiare and Michelangelo countered with his Battle of Cascina. The cartoons have since been lost.

We never saw the Sala dei Dugento/Hall of 200 because we never saw tapestries! We may have seen Francesco Medici’s studiolo, but did see many painted little rooms. We crossed a gallery over the Sala dei Cinquecento, and found ourselves on a back porch with a view. We made our way out of Palazzo Vecchio, sort of the Town Hall of Firenze/Florence, and walked over to the Bargello/sort of the police station of the city, to see it was only open in the mornings. Instead we entered the church across the street, La Badia. On the left was Filippo Lippi’s painting of the Virgin appearing to St Bernard. Next we headed to Orsanmichele, but stopped at a jewelry shop called Blue Point. All the items were displayed in locked glass cases and the only light came from in the cases. You could have an item taken out by the salesgirl for a closer look.

It began to rain as we ran into Orsanmichele, built as a chapel with a wheat granary upstairs! It was meant as an oratory for various guilds of Firenze/Florence. Inside we saw the highly carved tabernacle of Orcagna on the altar of bas reliefs in marble of the life of the Virgin. A Bernardo Daddi painting of the Virgin was in the center. Someone had dropped in a coin to light up the altar, so we were able to walk around to study the bas reliefs. There was also stained glass. We tried to go upstairs, but apparently there is no longer a museum up there. We sat to wait out the rain, and finally were able to go outside to see all the statues (all copies now) of patron saints that each guild put up in the niches. Often the material of the statue identified the guild, such as bronze, marble, and terracotta. We couldn’t really tell about the other guilds! On the Via Calzaiuoli side, we saw from left to right: Ghiberti’s St John, Verocchio’s St Thomas, and Donatello’s St Mark. On the left side we could not tell which two were by della Robbia (none?). We went around the Orsanmichele to Palazzo Lana, the wool guild.

It began to rain again, so we dashed into a bar for drinks (mineral water). Later we headed through Piazza della Repubblica with its awnings over cafés towards Palazzo Antinori on Via Tornabuoni, a restaurant I had been to with Jan B. We still had time before it opened at 19:00, so we went over to Piazza Santa Maria Novella. The square had an obelisk and across the way was a loggia of the San Paolo hospital with Andrea della Robbia medallions. The church façade was in dark green and white marble. We entered and went left to the third bay we saw the Massacio Trinità, a first example of the perspective, which was left by Giorgio Vasari when he was told to whitewash the walls! In the chancel we saw Ghirlandaio’s frescoes of the Life of the Virgin on the left and the Life of St John the Baptist on the right. We couldn’t be sure which were the saint and angel that Michelangelo may have painted in the scene of the Death of the Virgin. The Tornabuoni family members were supposedly depicted in the scenes of St John. We imagined Michelangelo’s idea for Christ was used in the Baptism scene, and we saw the John going into the desert, which was supposedly modeled on Michelangelo. We did find the kneeling boy and two bearded men in the scene of the Baptism that Michelangelo may have painted.

In the first chapel (Gondi Chapel) to the left of the chancel was the Filippo Brunelleschi Crucifix with a slight figure of Christ (1410-1425). It is said that when Donatello first saw the sculpture, he dropped a basket of eggs in awe. In the end of the left transept was the Strozzi Chapel up some steps above a tomb, but it was too dark to see Nardo di Cione’s fresco of the Last Judgment. The refectory was closed. My notes were too jumbled to match what was listed to what we saw, even as to the decreasing distance between the pillars. So we missed seeing Giuliano Bugiardini’s St Catherine Martyr done from Michelangelo sketches.

Santa Maria Novella cloister ticket

We paid 3,000 ITL/$2 to enter the cloisters; first the Green Cloisters frescoed by Paolo Uccello and his school, mostly in green. They were very faded but all were labeled. We followed the tour which took us to a restored rose window and then to Giovanni della Robbia works, before leading us to the Spanish Chapel covered with frescoes by Andrea di Buoaiuto to the glory of the Domenicans. We picked out the New Testament scenes of the Glory of St Thomas Aquinas, Liberal Arts or Learning, Militants of the Church, and the Triumphant Church. In the last scene were the Hounds of the Lord (i.e., the Domini Canes that equals the Dominicans!) attacking heretical wolves. We came to a gallery of fresco bits and papal capes.

We returned to shower and dress for dinner, and were among the first diners at the Cantinetto di Palazzo Antinori. Marsha ordered a bottle of Spumante, and I had mineral water. Marsha had the marinated mushrooms, and I tried the Ribollati/Tuscany bread soup. It was a good vegetable soup with chunks of bread soaked in it. Then I had delicious thin slices of veal in a delicate tuna fish sauce, and Marsha had thin slices of roast veal in a brown sauce. Marsha then had two smooth mozzarella balls with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. We had been wondering if a fellow diner had two boiled eggs, but they were the mozzarella balls. For dessert, Marsha tried the Zuppa and had a taste of the Grandma’s cake (cream pie?) from the lady at the next table. I had the Brutti ma Buoni/”ugly but good” cookies that were really good. They had edible paper on the bottom, and nearly tasted like chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips! The restaurant filled up fast. There was a fresh vegetable display on the bar and a 3-D picture of a wine cart on a wall. They even opened up the upstairs section. We finally got our bill that came to 51,400 ITL/$33.40, more than double our previous dinner bills! Really gourmet! Marsha was flirting with the waiter, and when we left the waiter put his hand on her arm. But nothing more!