Click to enlarge
A miscellaneous store in a little Florentine street. Too bad I can't pick up a statue or two for the garden.
The Medici Library - the books were kept under the desks, chained to them. Below, the library
staircase designed in 1524 by Michelangelo. Grey sandstone. Very stern and angular.
From a display of the history of writing - a divorce decree from 569 AD. My people - writing on clay, on papyrus, on parchment rolls, on flattened deerskin hides, and on a strange new material "made from macerated rags" - paper.
San Lorenzo - the Brunelleschi chapel. He and Donatello were friends until Donatello made the round inset decorations that the great architect of domes hated. Bruce said they didn't speak to each other for years.
A page by Fra Angelico, who started his artistic career as a scribe, lettering and painting books.
The famous Fra Angelico annunciation in San Marco. Very plain, unlike many of the others. He paints amazing folds, beautiful sweet faces, incredible delicacy.
Señora on the street - I asked Bruce to take this pic because it's the first time I've worn a skirt the entire trip. Hidden under the t-shirt is the giant gap in the skirt's waistband - I can hardly do it up. The dome of the Duomo in the background.
Lunch at Eataly - the soup tasting menu, with the bruschetta tasting menu in the background. Loosen the skirt a little more.
The Duomo. Spectacular. I then went alone to see Santa Maria Novella, jam-packed, yet again, with great art and architecture, frescoes, paintings, sculpture, and a beautiful cloister with more frescoes. Then to the Farmacia nearby, a shop started in the 1600's and still selling perfumes and expensive soaps. It smelled good. And then - time for a rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment