It was my first trip to Florence, but definitely not my last. It was a cold and rainy day, but walking around and seeing all the important buildings and works of art overshadowed the weather. There are so many things that I could talk about but I'd be writing all night. Florence is a big city and art is the most important part of the culture here.
It's difficult to pick what to talk about, but I will start with the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. I've written research papers on this building and it is by far one of my favorite buildings, and Michelozzo one of my favorite architects. The Medici palazzo is incredible, it's inner courtyard and garden are beautiful, the rooms and frescoes inside the main living quarters is overwhelming. Almost every room has a frescoed ceiling and the art in the meeting rooms where the Medici entertained guests are all lavishly decorated.
Obviously I must talk about Santa Maria del Fiore better known as the Florence cathedral. This cathedral is very ornate and has dark green and rose colored marble details, it has hundreds if not thousands of small sculptures and reliefs. All of the detail and dramatic decoration still can't take away from Bruneslleschi's dome. The cupola is massive, you can see it from anywhere in the city and the maroon colored dome stands out in the Florentine skyline.
Another one of my favorite buildings in Florence, also designed by Brunelleschi is the Ospedale Degli Innocenti. It is one of the first, if not the first pure Renaissance building ever. Brunelleschi used classic Greek and Roman architectural elements with Vitruvian principles to create this hospital, which now is a museum.
I also visited Santa Maria Novella, ponte vecchio, palazzo vecchio where Michelangelo's David was originally placed ( now a copy is placed in the piazza and the original is in the Galleria dell'academia.) I saw too much stuff to write about in one shot. I still haven't gotten chance to go into the Uffizi museum or the Galleria dell'academia.
I did manage to make it to the museum in the Palazzo Pitti and I saw a lot of works of art by: Rafaello, Peter Paul Rubens, Tiziano, Caravaggio, Pontormo, Dolci, Guercino, and so many other incredible Renaissance-mannerist-baroque painters. I was in the palazzo Pitti for about two and a half hours and still didn't see half of their collection. Ill try to finish up next time I go and hopefully it will be nice out and I can walk around the Boboli gardens which are part of the Palazzo complex.
Ill try to post as much as possible about Firenze, but it's impossible to speak about everything. Enjoy the photos.
-R
