That's the Ticket

This is a catch up, but I want to lead off by saying we are now in Siena, and are the proud owners of a €30 parking ticket.  When we found our bed and breakfast with our tiny Fiat 500 (gray still), I pulled in to the only parking space on the street.  Our host told us we should be fine there but move the car to the other side of the street because street cleaners would come in the morning.  When we returned home from roaming downtown Siena, there was a ticket on the windshield.  We'll ask about it in the morning.

Imagine climbing 463 stairs to the top of the Duomo in Florence.  What an experiene.  Imagine going up a staircase that is so steep it is as if you were climbing straight up.  Most of the stairs are spiral and the wedges of eah are very small.  The space in which we climbed was very narrow.  If you extended bent arms out from your shoulders, your elbows would bang the walls.  There is very little light but up, and up, and up we went.  Right under the place where the cathedral walls become the dome, we exited long enough to walk half way around the dome looking down on the floor of the cathedral and the ant-like people walking below.  The up and up we went again and when we thought we could bear the confinement, the dim light, and the exertion no more, out we popped at the top.  Oh, what a view!

We could see the rooftops of the city, the train station, and all the way out to the surrounding hills.

It was a dizzying look down, but despite the spitting rain we stayed up for quite some time.  Then it was time to go down.

The story of the dome is testament to the human belief in possibility.  The cathedral of Santa Marie del Fiore (its official name) was begun in 1296.  The cathedral was to showcase the status of Florence as one of Europe's economic and cultural capitals, grown rich on banking and the wool and silk trades.  The powers that be decided that the crowning structure would be the largest cupola or dome on earth.  This dome would have no flying buttresses to support it, nothing visible to hold it in place other than the elegance and beauty of its structure.  The problem was that in 1296, and in 1350 and in 1400 no one knew how to build a dome nearly 150 feet across, especially as it would have to start 180 feet above the ground, atop the existing walls.  Finally in 1418,  a short, homely, and hot-tempered goldsmith named Filippo Brunelleschi appeared on the scene with enough knowledge and chutzpah to do the deed.  As an applicant in a contest sponsored by Florence's reigning powers, Brunelleschi promised to build not one but two domes, one nested inside the other, without elaborate and expensive scaffolding. He refused to explain how he’d achieve this miracle, fearing that a competitor would steal his ideas.  After a lot of negotiation over several years, the contest went to Brunelleschi and he began to build.  On March 25, 1436, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pope Eugenius IV and an assembly of cardinals and bishops consecrated the finished cathedral, to the tolling of bells and cheering of proud Florentines.  

OK...that is your history lesson for this day.  Now, we'll offer you some pictures with not a lot of explanation.

After climbing the dome, we went across the street for a visit to the Baptistery.

And after a quiet time inside, we found our way down the winding streets of Florence to the Medici Chapel.

  Where we found, among many things the crest of the Medici's worked in marble in the floor.

In the chapel there are two sarcophagi commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, future Pope Clement VII.  He asked Michelangelo to carve memorials for the mauseoleum honoring several family members.  As Michelangelo worked the marble on one of the figures, a crack developed.  Because he was perhaps the finest sculptor in history, Michelangelo was able to work with the crack by contorting the figure's arm.  You can see the crack in the upper left of this figure's left arm.

Next, we visited the Laurentian library, yet another Medici building, for which Michelangelo designed the stairs.  They are magnifient to see.

  The library is a long hallway with these book stalls lining either side, an aisle down the middle.  On the end of each bench is a heading that describes the kinds of books found here (Science, Mathematics, Philosophy, etc.) and then a list of the actual books to be found in that section.  One could sit and read and study on the benches by the books.

Also in the library there was an exhibition of some of the first published copies of Dant's Divine Comedy.  It was in this city that Dante read his allegorical poem aloud publicly.  Dante was very popular and people flocked to hear him read what was to become modern Italian.

After our library time we had some lunch and a quick walk through the Galileo Galilei Science Museum.  Having just finished reading Galileo's Daughter, I was fascinated to see many of the instruments and experiments Galileo invented and put into common use.

 An intricate model of how everything revolves around the earth--a conept that Galileo Galilei disproved and was almost excommunicated for publishing.

On the way to our last museum visit of the day, we met a street mime who took a shine to Pam...

Finally, we met our guide to the Uffizi Museum, Chistina Mifsud.  Christina came to us recommended by our friend Betty Brockelman Eich.  It seems that some time ago, Christina used to guide New Trier Latin students and their teacher, Linda Knier during summer trips to Italy.  So thanks to Linda and Betty we had a wonderful guided look at some beautiful pieces in the Uffizi.  Christina is a wonderful teacher and after our time with her, I understood more about Renaissance art, thought, mores, and transitions than I ever had...better late than never.  So, I will leave you with one more story

This piece is by Michelangelo.  It is called a tondo, meaning that it is round.  One of the first things we learned is when a sculptor paints, he also sculpts.  Mary's arms show a sculptor's attention to musculature and definition. This piece was done on commission for a wealthy merchant.  The agreed-upon cost was 40 ducats.  When the piece was done, Michelangelo sent the piece over to the patron.  The buyer looked at it and told his servant to take 30 ducats to Michelangelo for the painting.  Michelangelo was angry and told the servant to tell his master the price of the painting was now 50 ducats payable immediately.  The merchant sent his servant back with the original agreed upon price of 40 ducats.  Michelangelo, now incensed, sent the servant back with the message that the cost of the tondo was now 80 ducats and if the merchant didn't pay, Michelangelo was coming immediately to relclaim the painting.  The merchant paid.  This Doni Tondo as it is called is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive.

Last stop of the evening was the Mercado Centrale.  This is a lively, jumpin' place where any kind of food or beverage one can think of can be had.  We shopped for our food, got our chianti, pulled up at an empty table and let the good times roll all around us.  Irreverent, fun, and a great way to spend our last evening in Florence.

  Ciao and Good Night.  BB & P