White & Green

San Zanobi is one of Florence’s local saints. He was born here, became Bishop, and way back when (on 8 October 405 to be more precise) he defended the city from an attack by the Goths. He worked miracles and relentlessly promoted and defended Christianity. Originally he was buried in the church of San Lorenzo, however in the 9^th century it was decided to move his bones and place them in the new cathedral of Santa Reparata (this is the name of the original church where today’s cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, stands).

When the body was moved a leafless tree located near the Baptistery miraculously flowered and became alive again. In the spot where the tree originally was there is now a column to recall this special event. And that is why the piazza turned different hues of green for a weekend in November.

In conjunction with the event Florens 2010 - the first International Week on Cultural Heritage and Landscape (12-20 November) the area around the Cathedral and the Baptistery became a city park for a few days. And what a beautiful spot it was!  

On that Sunday morning the autumn rain actually stopped for a bit (another miracle perhaps) and Alessandro and I took a nice giro into the center of town by bicycle to experience what was going on. Indeed excitement was in the air – the religious center of the city was not just marvelous buildings made of marble and stone but was also a field of lush green grass. At first I was afraid to walk on the soft ground, I didn’t want to ruin the perfectly placed golf like grass.

            And then I saw him, Michelangelo’s David. The icon was standing to the left in front of the cathedral’s facade. This copy was made especially for Florens 2010. David was being placed in different positions around the city, reenacting the debate to decide on the statue’s final placement under Piero Soderini’s Republic in the early 16th century. On another day the young defender was high on the level of the cathedral’s balustrade. There was also talk about placing him under the Loggia dei Lanzi. David was eventually placed in front of Palazzo Vecchio, where we see the 19^th century copy today.

Leonardo's Anghiari Battle

It has been VERY interesting the conference on Leonardo Da Vinci at the Salone del '500 in Palazzo Vecchio this morning... Maurizio Seracini, professor at the University of California in San Diego spoke on modern technology used to investigate works of art and architecture. In this particular case, the frescos of Vasari, trying to demostrate the presence of the original fresco by Leonardo underneath...even if the mistery is not yet solved!

Angelica

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjzx90OUn4g

The Other Bargello, Part I

The National Museum of the Bargello is a jewel box. It looks very intimidating from the outside (well it was a prison for over 500 years!) however after entering one finds an immense amount of treasures. The Bargello is like that ring which you inherited from your grandmother, it grows on you. An added plus is that it is a jewel which is never very crowded (also because it has rather limited opening hours… but that is another story).

The Bargello is one of the oldest public buildings in Florence. It dates back to 1255. Most people come for the sculpture. Here we are able to understand the progression of Renaissance sculpture from the 15^th to the 16^th century with Donatello to Michelangelo to Giambologna. However the museum also holds an important nucleus of “decorative  arts” including ivories, jewelry, metalwork, ceramics, glazed terracotta, tapestries, coins, armory, small bronzes and varying “wunderkammer” objects. My next few blogs will focus on different works found inside the museum.

Louis Carrand was a connoisseur and collector from Lyon and when he died in the 19^th century he left his eclectic collection of works to the museum. There are some wonderful cameos. If you understand the technique you can appreciate the work so much more! Cameo is a technique of carving precious or semi precious stones. An image is carved into the stone as a low relief and the changes in color which are created come from the stratified layers naturally found in the stone. In the Renaissance artisans also began carving designs on shells. Amazing!

Here is an example of a cameo found in the collection from Burgundy, a married couple in a loving embrace from the 15^th-16^th century which is made out of shell: