Battling crowds at the Uffizi – 3/21/17

Yesterday we saw a ticket office when we were at Orsanmichele where you could buy tickets for the Uffizi. You have to pay a 4€ service fee but it guarantees you a time slot and you do not have to wait in the gargantuan line to get in. Our tickets were for 9:30 AM. When we got there the regular line was so long that the crowd was cheering every time the guards let in a few people. This is March. I cannot even imagine what it will be like in the summer when there are a lot more people and it is hot!

The line extends back a long way

Anyway we get in right away but it is really crowded and hot Inside. First thing you have to do is climb a massive staircase which is the equivalent of more than 4 stories. Luckily we survive this. Then the battle begins to try and see the artworks. The biggest problem is the tour groups and the school groups. When twenty or so people set up camp in front of a painting there is no way to see around them. You must strategically wait for the split second when one group leaves and rush in to establish position before the next group sets up shop. The kids under 10 are not quite so bad because you can see over their heads and they are generally well behaved (remarkably) but the teens are busy slouching around and more coolly disinterested. The groups of adults are worse. They are busily taking pictures of one another smack in front of the paintings. Since in this situation I am not at my best I actually tell some guy that I got a nice shot of his wife in front of a Botticelli.

Well-behaved Italian kids learning about art (this does not seem like an American class trip)
Thanks lady for standing in front of Botticelli’s Primavera so we could all take your picture

Rant over. The art is wonderful and worth the waits and hassle. You truly get to see the development from the stiff Byzantine cartoon paintings of the early 13th century slowly move by the end of the century to more realistic body forms and perspective thanks to greats like Cimabue, Daddi, and Giotto. In the next 100 years art changes rapidly until you end up with real people in real landscapes.

Giotto’s Madonna and Child (around 1300)
Cimabue’s Madonna and Child (around 1300)

The paintings and frescoes are almost exclusively about religious subjects since that was really the only thing allowed. Occasionally you might see a mythical subject used in an allegorical way to underline a religious precept like a personification of a deadly sin and how you are going to hell.

The purpose of much of the religious art is to educate a populace who is largely illiterate. Going into a church is like stepping into an illustrated comic book of the Bible. Saints and their miracles are like modern day super heroes. Everyone has their favorite whom they are devoted to. Their saintly lives decorate the walls from their births to their often gruesome ends. The people of the times understand every gesture, position, and color. They know the significance of each animal, plant, and object. So what looks like the same old same old Madonna and Child, Crucifixion, or Last Supper is actually imbued with subtle meaning by a hand gesture or a peacock.

St. Cecilia went around baptizing people in the 2nd to 3rd century even after her husband and brother-in-law were executed for doing the same. She was tortured in baths of extreme temperatures by the local prefect but did not die. So an executioner tried three time to hack off her head but it refused to come off so they left her to bleed to death which took three days. In the meantime people came and collected her holy blood and were converted to Christianity.  (Master of St. Cecilia circa 1300)

 

St. Nicholas throws in three bags of gold to provide dowries for three young women who would become prostitutes if they had no dowries (Lorenzetti circa 1330)
St. Matthew exposes magicians accompanied by dragons (Orcagna 1370)

The crowds thin out the deeper we go into the museum. The tours and school groups only view the “greatest hits.” So there are a lot of people surrounding Giotto, the Botticellis, Michelangelo’s one painting, and da Vinci. The Perugino, Caravaggio, and even Raphael works are often bypassed. We enjoy our time at the Uffizi immensely.

Some beautiful works of art we saw –

Gentile da Fabriano “Adoration of the Magi” 1423

Fillipo Lippilippi “Madonna and Child with Angel” 1460?

Botticelli “Birth of Venus” 1485
Michelangelo “Holy Family” (Doni Tondo) 1507
Raphael “Madonna and Child with St. John” (Madonna of the Goldfinch) 1506
Leonardo da Vinci “Annunciation” 1474
Titian “Venus of Urbino” 1538
Caravaggio “Bacchus” 1596

Having been on our feet with a lot of people for over four hours leaves us pretty exhausted, thirsty and hungry. We decide that we will pick up some sandwiches on the way back to our apartments. This way we can put on some comfy clothes, take our shoes off our achy feet, and lounge around while eating lunch.

John and I tell Sarah we are opting out of any late afternoon’s activities and she can make plans on her own. She makes her way over to the Pitti Palace for some more art viewing and we do laundry, read books, do crosswords, and take naps. Hey, it’s a vacation not a total art marathon!

Later we go out to Bussola for pizza! Mmmmm, the crust is so delicious! Reminds me of the Jersey shore pizza of my youth. Here people eat entire pizzas themselves but John and I decide on a salad and to split one. We end with vin santo and cantuccini, small Florentine cookies.

Baptistry, Duomo, Santa Croce, and Orsanmichele – 3/20/17

It is a little overcast this morning as we make our way to the Baptistry in the Piazza del Duomo. The Baptistry consecrated in 1059 predates the cathedral. The building is octagonal signifying the six days of creation, the day of rest, and the rebirth of baptism.

The Baptistry with the Duomo behind

The inside is amazing! The ceiling is filled with mosaics. In the center is Christ with his attendant angels, prophets, and apostles.

Mosaic of Christ
Mosaic of Christ in context

Around the dome are scenes from the Old Testament, Christ’s Passion and Redemption, and other Biblical stories.

View of the ceiling
Story of Adam and Eve
Creation of Eve

There’s also a gruesome mosaic of what is waiting for you if you don’t lead a good life. The devil is munching on people! Imagine what this all must have looked like to the people back then many of which lived hard, colorless lives. These mosaics are amazing to us today!

Last Judgment

After leaving the Baptistry, we head to Orsanmichele a building from 1359 that started as a place to sell grain and morphed into church when miracles were associated with it. The outside is decorated with large statutes of saints by such art luminaries as Donatello. Due to increasing damage from being left out in the elements, the original statues are inside their museum which is only open on Mondays. Yay! It’s Monday!

Exterior of Orsanmichele
Inside the church there is a painting of the Madonna and Child which people pray to for miracles
There are frescoes of the horrible ways that martyr/saints died. This is St. Bartholomew getting his skin flayed
St. Matthew by Donatello in the museum. His head looks too large when you look at it from this angle
But when you look at the statue from beneath as you would have looked at it from the street, everything is in proportion

After a quick stop at the Duomo (which tbh is a lot more impressive on the outside than inside) we head to Santa Croce.

Rather plain looking altar in the Duomo
Looking up into Brunelleschi’s dome

We would love to eat lunch first but we have not timed things quite right. A lot of restaurants do not open for lunch until 12:30 PM. It is only 11:45 AM. We decide to visit Santa Croce first but need a little sit-down first to re-energize. The benches around Piazza Santa Croce are a fine place to sit for a bit, bask in the sun, and people watch.

Piazza Santa Croce

 

Selfie with John

Okay, crew, on your feet! Let’s do this!

Santa Croce is a very large church filled with art. The complex includes the church and museum. Unfortunately they are out of English guides, too many American visitors. In addition to the religious works, there is also a presentation about the incredible damage done by the flood of 1966. In the church the water was 5 meters high (over 16 feet!) and the church and its artwork were covered in mud and muck after the waters receded. Sadly we saw evidence of the flood, not everything could be restored.

Here are some of my favorites from Santa Croce.

Nave of Santa Croce

 

Early painting of St. Francis and scenes from his life by Giotto
Marriage of Mary – staff of Joseph grew a tree, others did not, unchosen suitors are breaking their sticks. T. Gaddi, 1328-1338
Last supper by Gaddi showing damage

By the time we are done it is around 2 PM. We stop at Trattoria Alfredo on the way back to the apartments.

We tell Sarah to go do something else if she likes. John and I are done for the day. But instead everyone just falls asleep. It has been a busy day! We have snacks for dinner down at the pub, Caffe Megara, where you can have free crostini if you buy a glass of wine or beer.

The Accademia, more than just Michelangelo’s David – 3/19/17

Today was a rough day for everyone. Sarah woke up at 12:30 AM and could not go back to sleep and my back, knee, and feet were aching. It was a rough day for John because he had to put up with our grumpy selves.

We start early and arrive at the Accademia (art museum) shortly after they open. As the day advances they often have colossal lines and we want to avoid that. We walk in totally unimpeded by crowds. Although taking a look at the David is something one wants to save like dessert, we decide it is best to enjoy this fabulous piece of art before the hall gets too crowded.

The setting is quite impressive. You walk down a rather long room that has many of Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures to a rotunda where the David stands bathed in light from above. Even though the David is plastered on everything here from aprons to beer steins, when you see the sculpture in person it takes your breath away.

Michelangelo’s David

Such a beautiful face!
I think my favorite part is his hand

Okay, so after we can tear ourselves away we head back down the hallway to see some of the unfinished sculptures. They appear to be struggling to free themselves from the their marble blocks. You can see the the bold chisel marks, the small gouges, and some polished parts as well.

I feel a visceral desire to throw of this stone entrapping the “Prisoner’s” head

The Accademia showcases works from the 13th century to Mannerism in the 16th century.  Michelangelo may be the star of this collection but there are lots of other great pieces. Here we find Job again but all dressed up and with a sign that says in Latin “He is my savior.” No doubt that God won and Satan lost when it came to testing Job’s faith.

Moses is often depicted with horns in Renaissance art. Is it because he was Jewish? Probably not because the translation about Moses from the Aramaic states that he had two rays (horns) of light emanating from his head, 15th century.

Moses with fire-y cornu or horns

Here’s a 15th century Annunciation. They were still working out proportions.  If Mary stood up she would hit her head on the ceiling!

If the BVM stands up she will hit her head

Ever wonder why people think that dinosaurs and people existed at the same time? This picture of St. Michael slaying the dragon supports the idea that dinosaur-like creatures and humans were wandering around during Biblical times.

St. Michael and a dragon

In the work below, Perugino of the expressionless faces has painted the bottom of the Deposition. His younger counterpart, Filipino Lippi has painted the top. Look at the gaily streaming sashes more representative of some happy event. This is the mullet of paintings – All party in the top and all business in the bottom.

Perugino/Lippi mullet painting

This painting of Santa Barbara (identifiable by the tower next to her) was X-rayed before restoration….

St. Barbara’s rediscovered 6th toe

….it was discovered she had a 6th toe!

Santa Barbara’s sixth toe

This little gallery of paintings from the 13th and `14th century illustrates how quickly art was changing.

Needless to say we were very thorough looking through the Accademia. And now we are very tired. It is well after lunch. We decide to go to the new Mercato Centrale . It looks like the beginnings of a wonderful food hall.  There all sorts of purveyors and we pick up some meat, salami, and bread. We also stop for some Malaga gelato!

Mercado Centrale
Gelato

I am dead on my feet. We decide to go back to the apartments for a little sit-down and end up falling asleep until supper! Tonight we dine at Buca Mario, a restaurant where John and I ate our first meal in Florence with his Oracle comrades. It is the fanciest place we have been to. After dinner it is no problem to fall asleep.

S. Trinita, Ognissanti, Brancacci Chapel, Museo del Duomo and more! 3/18/17

(I am currently using my phone as a hotspot and hoping that I won’t burn through too much data…Later…that did not work either so I am laboriously typing this on my iPad mini which is the only device that I can get connected to the WiFi. It seems like any device updated to iOS 10 is impervious to the WiFi here)

Sarah and I have been up since 4 AM which does not bode well for the day. We make a quick breakfast of bread and cheese before we start our sightseeing.

We leave the apartment around 9:30 AM and make a quick stop at the Church of Santa Trinita on our way to Ognissanti. Among the things that we enjoy are a 14th century fresco of St. Jerome in his study. It is a change from seeing him out in the desert being a hermit with only his lion as company. I love all the doodads around his desk – a pair of spectacles, a pair of scissors, a ruler. I see he has left his cardinal’s hat up on a shelf above him. This work is by a painter of Ghirlandaio’s workshop and done in the mid to late 15th century. Another standout is a wooden crucifix from the 1200’s which has a modern look to it.

St. Jerome in his study
13th century crucifix

Walking further along down the Arno River we come to Ognissanti (All saints). The main attraction here is a Ghirlandaio Last Supper. Ghirlandaio was a teacher of Leonardo Da Vinci whose own Last Supper is in Milan. There are similarities.

Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper

The Apostles are grouped in threes and fours while the main focus is on the group of Jesus, the sleeping John, Judas and Peter. It is before Judas makes his fatal move towards the bread which marks him as the traitor but probably after Jesus has told them all that one will betray him. Peter is identifiable by the knife in his hand with which he will attack one of the soldiers later.

Central group from Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper. L. To r. S. Peter, Jesus, S. John, Judas, some Apostle

At the table each item has symbolism. The apricots on the left of the table symbolize sin while the lettuce nearby symbolizes repentance. The cherries refer to Christ’s blood and the oranges at the other end of the table refer to Paradise. Each tree, bird, and gesture has meaning.

Apostles in discussion. Apricots and lettuce on table.
Oranges and cherries on the table

After enjoying the wonderful Last Supper at the Ognissanti we make our way across the river to Santa Maria del Carmine and the Brancacci Chapel. The frescoes were commissioned in 1423 and were painted primarily by Masolino and the young Masaccio. Filipino Lippi completed the works in 1481 to 1483. The frescoes relate the life of St. Peter. There are also two frescoes depicting Adam and Eve. You can see the big difference between the more static figures of Masolino and the dynamic figures of the much younger Masaccio.

Masolino Adam and Eve
Masaccio’s expulsion of Adam and Eve

This is also true of the frescoes of St. Peter.

Elegant figures and flowing fabrics in Masolino’s Healing of the Cripple and Raising of Tabitha
More realistic people and situations in Masaccio/Lippi’s The Raising of the Son of Theophilus and  St. Peter enthroned

 

We’ve been going strong and mostly on our feet all morning and it is time for some lunch. We walk over to the Piazza Santo Spirito and to the restaurant Osteria Santo Spirito. We’ve stopped here for lunch almost every time we’ve been in Florence since we first visited in 1994. Usually we all have rigatoni with tomato sauce and ricotta salata but today we are game to try something different.

 

Now we are really tired. Both Sarah and I have been up since 4 AM and are badly in need of a nap. So we head back across the river and to the apartments. We immediately fall asleep like the dead for a couple of hours before my alarm summons us for more sightseeing at 4 PM.

We walk over to the Duomo and buy a combination ticket to see it, the Baptistry, the Museum of the Duomo, and a couple of other things. The Baptistry has closed already so we head into the museum. We have 48 hours to visit all the sites on our tickets.

Florence’s beautiful Duomo

The Museo del Duomo has been totally redone since we were last here.It is chock-a-block full of historic and artistic wonders.It includes older pieces from the early church plus other more ancient finds from the time of the Roman Empire and even back to the Etruscans. There’s a lot of great stuff about how the cathedral was built as well.

Original Baptistry Doors of Paradise. These doors faced the cathedral. When a newly baptized person stepped out these doors, they walked between the Baptistry and the church in an area known as Paradise. Biblical scenes in bas relief

Can you imagine being the stone carver given this daunting task? Each one of these pieces had to be carved by hand and then assembled to make a door surround.

Etruscan funeral block used to the build the cathedral, 5th century B.C.

Everything that was lying about was used.  It was easier and cheaper to use already chiseled out blocks. I’ve seen other churches where Etruscan carved blocks were repurposed, especially in Tuscany which was an Etruscan state. Early (and later) Christians used the existing frames of buildings to be their foundations. Often Roman temples are found under Christian churches in Italy,

Found under the floor of the old duomo was a Roman tomb. This is a 3rd century carving of Mercury guarding the doors to Hades.
Older decorations in the cathedral included bas relief plaques with bible stories and with the allegorical figures of the arts and science. Church styles change and luckily the church administrators deemed these pieces worthy of saving. (God creating woman)
Michelangelo’s carving for his own tomb.
The fabulous Donatello wood carving of Mary Magdalene
Mary and Sarah outside the Campanile in Florence

We have had a very full day and even though we succumbed to a nap in the afternoon we are really tired and decide to just eat some bread and cheese in the room before retiring (at 8 o’clock!)

Sent from my iPad mini

 

 

 

What seems like our annual trip to Italy plus first day adventures – 3/17/17

I am not going to say a whole lot about our trip here. Flying internationally these days is like childbirth. The only reason why you do it more than once is because you forget how bad it is. Our misadventures include a very warm cabin temperature for 10 hours, a security re-screen at Heathrow which makes us almost miss our connection that we had an hour and a half to accomplish, a man throwing up in the aisle between Sarah and my seats, and an endless passport control line in  Milan where we vie with the passengers of other flights for superiority while standing in line. Other than those things? A piece of cake.

We get to Milan and catch a taxi which brings us to our hotel, The Hotel Berna. The Berna has an excellent location near the railroad station which will be handy tomorrow when we start our journey south to Florence.

After a fitful night’s sleep for Sarah and me, we go down for our hotel’s award winning breakfast. Wow, it is really good!

Breakfast st Hotel Berna

Then we catch a taxi to the Pinacoteca di Brera. We spend about three hours enjoying ourselves in the museum. Here are some of my favorites:

Ran across this saint in Arezzo last year and did not know who he was. Today question solved at the Brera! This man got the rawest of all deals in the Old Testament. Horrible afflictions were given him in a wager between Satan and God. The leperous saint is Giobbe or in English, Job.

Unknown saint from Arezzo
Saint Giobbe identified in Milan!

I love learning new things. Here are a group of saints in what I used to think was just a deteriorating background. But here’s the real story. These rather static figures went out of fashion when the more realistic figures of the Renaissance arrived. The gold leaf was too precious just to discard with the old paintings so they scraped it off and used it again. The orange paint was the underlay for the gold leaf.

Saints on a previously gold background

Here is a painting by Jacopo Bellini, the father of Giovanni Bellini. In Venice we will see the younger Bellini’s fabulous triptych at the Frari. In it the Madonna appears to be practically stepping out of the frame. In this much earlier picture by Jacopo you can begin to see the elements of the son’s later style. The Christ child looks as if he is leaning forward to escape his mother’s arms.

Jacopo Bellini’s Madonna and Child

Finally here is my absolute favorite of the day, Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus. I love the realistic everyday people that Christ and his followers have become in this painting. Christ blesses bread while the others look on wondering what he is doing.

Caravaggio’ Supper at Emmaus

Now we head off to lunch. We settle on the Mo’Puglia Bistrot which has been recommended by someone on Facebook. It is pretty good.

After lunch we catch a cab, pick up our luggage and head to the train station for a train to Florence. The high speed train to Florence takes less than 2 hours. It is comfortable and quick and seems like a good time for Sarah and I to nap.

We are renting apartments in Florence right in the center of the old town. We have stayed here before and except for the terrible wifi that we hope they can fix tomorrow, everything is great.

Our living room in the Prisco apartment
We have a nice kitchen with a great gas stove
Looking across the hall to Sarah’s little apartment
Sarah’s living room

Sarah and I make a quick run down the street to pick up some staples. Sarah is charming talking to the shopkeeper in her rudimentary Italian. Our little neighborhood has it all. Within a block or so are a bakery, butcher, deli, tavern, and restaurant. We head down to the restaurant, Trattoria Marione for dinner. Afterward we head back upstairs and allow our thoroughly jet lagged selves some sleep.

March 12, 2017 – Celebrating Nathan’s 11th birthday

Nathan with cake and Jonathan

Nathan, Jon, Sarah, John and I have a festive birthday dinner at Amici’s after the guys have gone to the movies to see Batman: A Legos Movie. We have pizza and a celebratory piece of cake. Nathan is really growing up and joins in the family banter. He is getting so tall. His next goal is to be taller than Ryan, Leigh, and me.  He doesn’t have too far to go! Plus he is also becoming very handsome. Happy Birthday, Nathan!

March 5, 2017 – Too much water everywhere

In February we discovered a puddle on our floor in the dining room.  It has been raining here A LOT and the water had infiltrated somewhere on the roof and was dripping down the inside of our dining room window. We hadn’t noticed it before but apparently from the paint damage, dripping drops had been going on for a while.  So we called someone to fix it. After a couple of tries we decided it must be fixed and left for St. George on a Saturday and arrived on Sunday. Taking a shower we discovered that our shower which we thought had been fixed was still leaking.

Water leaking from the shower into the dining area

So we arranged to meet with our contractor on Monday to hash out the situation. In the meantime it started raining in California again.  Monday morning we get a text from Sarah saying that the roof is leaking again. Oh no! We quickly reset our meeting with the contractor for the morning, go talk to him (the shower guy had never come to fix the showers), get the car gassed up and leave Monday afternoon to return to our leaky roof problems in California. We were in Utah for less than 24 hours!

Hopefully the roof is finally fixed. At least we think so because here’s what is happening today!

Hail on I-680 near Pleasanton