A Palace and a Garden

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Buon Giorno!

In the mood for art?  If you come to Florence you’d better be.  Even walking down the street in the historic center, there’s no escape although some of the buildings have been heavily restored and the statues are copies.

I got out late this morning after waiting around for the electrician, but he solved the television issues and got all my gadgets charging.  He was cute, too, as a bonus.

Then I took myself across the Arno via the Ponte Veccchio, the old bridge lined with jewelry stores you see in all the tourist shots like mine.  But I was on my way to the Pitti Palace where I could initiate my museum card.  I chose it as a good jet lag activity, because a lot to see exists all in one place, and it was less likely to be packed especially in the morning.

The Pitti Family built the Palazzo but then had to yield it to the Medici, who packed it to the rafters with their art treasures.  Let’s start with the Palatina.  Climb the grand stone staircase punctuated by marble statues with me.  We need the exercise.  When you enter the rooms don’t forget to look up at the carved and frescoed ceilings.   I got to say hello to some old favorites including Raphael’s Madonna of the Chair and the Veiled Lady.  You will also find superb Titians and Tinteretto.  Rubens, too!  Check out his anti-war allegory The Horrors of War.   One work I had not seen before struck me, a Sleeping Cupid by Caravaggio.  He’s no innocent little cherub.  This baby looks like he’s sleeping off a debauch!

As always I enjoyed the beautiful period rooms. The style is Baroque rather than Renaissance and show that these Medici really knew how to live.  Not everyone can display Titian portraits in the parlor.  The walls are hung with silk or frescoed.  Every piece of furniture is a work of art in itself.

Now most tourists stop there, but with my card I also got admission to the Museum of Modern Art to see some Italian Impressionists, the Museum of Costume, and the Treasury packed with ornate silver, statuettes, and various object d’arte—all exquisite.  I rather fancied a tiara speckled with diamonds that I thought delicate enough not to overwhelm me.

Then came time for a stroll in the Boboli Gardens featuring rather than flowers a series of terraces, fountains, grottos and statuary all connected with sometimes steep paths.  I climbed up and then made my wandering way down.

After a gelato break—chocolate, ginger, and cassata—I made my way to Santa Croce, a former Franciscan church.  Galileo is buried there, and Michelangelo as well although his executors ignored his request for a modest tomb.  His native city honored Dante Aligheri with cenotaph and statue of him broods over the piazza.  Many other notables also have their graves at Santa Croce, but you may not recognize their names.

Santa Croce also possesses its fair share of art treasures.  A wonderful Annunciation in relief by Donatello occupies part of the wall, and if you make your way around the chapels, you will find the Bardi Chapel, which Giotto frescoed with Scenes from the Life of St. Francis.  Although they are badly damaged, they are still worth seeing.  I overheard a young woman was telling an older couple—her parents—about Giotto’s innovative pictorial style and giving a fine commentary on the differences between the old flat iconic style and his achievement of volume and emotion in his figures.

The cloisters, being quiet, made a fine place to stroll and I had the Pazzi Chapel to myself as well.  Brunelleschi designed the latter with elegance and beautiful proportions.

Florence provides unparalleled window-licking opportunities.  To my mind the goods on offer are more attractive than Milan’s.  Milan was all cutting edge fashion and luxury goods.  In Florence one often finds traditional crafts displayed.  Of course you can also find plenty of tacky souvenir stands as well featuring plaster or plastic models of David in various sizes.  At least they’ve stopped selling his “parts.”

Food, Pil.  We're here for the food.

OK.  Few people feasted like the Medici.  The Tuscan tradition is cucina povera based on beans, bread and scraps of pork, with vegetables and herbs in  in season.  Nothing fancy.  Tuscan bread is crusty and unsalted and takes the place of pasta in traditional dishes. Italy is divided by staple foods into three parts.  In the north it's rice.  Tuscans are famed as bean eaters.  South folks devour pasta.  But the Tuscans like pasta, too, especially a thick, hearty long noodle called tagliolini which I had with porcini mushroom sauce.  Tasty but expensive. I washed this down with some lusty Brunello.

Ciao