Italy #7: Firenze

From Rome, we took the train to Florence. In Italian, it’s called Firenze. It is the one city whose English name doesn’t sound anything like its native name. (Roma – Rome, Milano – Milan, Genova – Genoa, Napoli – Naples, and then Firenze – Florence. Google gave no answers on the naming contrast, only the same exasperated question by so many others:

“Why did the English decide to Anglicize Italian names? Surely they are not too difficult to pronounce?”

 

So let’s leave the name aside. Florence is a small town, with none of the hustle of a big city. Quite, relaxed, peaceful, enjoyable. The city is home to the famous Pont Vecchio bridge (literally Old Bridge) which has many shops on it, esp. a lot of jewellery and gold shops. 

The city is also home to some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, from Michelangelo to da Vinci to Botticelli to Donatello and so many more. The list of great artworks was, therefore, never-ending… (The Medicis, the richest family of that era in all of Europe were from the city, and they were huge patrons of the arts, which explains the quantity of the best artists and artworks here).

 

It includes the statue of David by Michelangelo, which I described at length in another blog, in the Accademia Gallery. Pretty much all the other best artworks of Florence are in the Uffizi, which means “offices” in Italian! In earlier times, what is now an art gallery was the building for all the administrative offices.

 

Now a quick run through some of the great art in the Uffizi. The Birth of Venus by Botticelli (below, top). Venus is rumoured to be a noblewoman with whom Lorenzo Medici was infatuated. Another one by Botticelli, La Primavera (below, bottom). Again rumoured to have a Medici (extreme left) and his love interest. My 13 yo daughter was embarrassed by all the endless nudity – if the artist can put clothes on some people, why not cover them all, she asked.

 

Then there’s the unfinished Adoration of the Magi by da Vinci. I wasn’t particularly impressed by it, not just because it was incomplete, I also think da Vinci’s art is not my cup of tea. Not this, not the Mona Lisa.

 

Then there’s this one which my daughter and I loved for its savagery (and no nudity – a key criteria for her). It is based on some Biblical story of Judith decapitating Holofernes (whoever they are). Also it was by Artemsia, the first female artist to be accepted in Florence. To me though, all those after-the-event details I learnt later were irrelevant – I liked the painting, Biblical or not, first female or not.

On the same lines, I was struck by this statue – it evoked some primal instinct. It is a bronze statue by Cellini showing Perseus holding up the severed head of Medusa. 

Talking of Medusa, my daughter and I loved this portrait of Medusa. Even better, Medusa here is a self-portrait of the artist, Caravaggio!

 

Then there are the gold-plated doors to the Baptistry depicting various Biblical scenes. It took Ghiberti 27 years to finish it. Michelangelo was so impressed by it that he called them the Gates of Paradise.

 

Unlike the Louvre which is too huge to cover if you come as a tourist and is so over-crowded, the Uffizi can be covered, and is far less crowded. And dare I say, the Uffizi has better artwork…

 

Moving out of the art galleries, there is the famous Il Duomo (The Dome) by Brunelleschi, the huge dome of the Cathedral of Florence. Huge and beautiful both on the inside and outside, it is a great piece of Renaissance architecture.

We climbed up to the top of the dome for the experience. Though the view from the top was nothing to write home about. Later, we also climbed to the top of the (white) tower on the left side of the structure in the pic above.

 

In a city with so much art, what many call the “cultural capital of Italy”, it is only appropriate that they have this bronze statue in the plaza. A girl on her smartphone! Its name? Time Unfolding.

 

Firenze/ Florence was now my favorite city in Italy. By far.

A short round trip to Pisa was next on the itinerary.