Santa Croce and Michelangelo's Resting Place

After some confusion, we manage to gather at the Santa Croce, (Church of the Cross) where some 300 rich citizens are buried, including Michelangelo who began this trend when he died in Rome at nearly 90 in 1564, the year Galileo and Shakespeare were born. His body was stolen from Rome and moved here.

Machiavelli, Galileo and Rossini are also buried at Santa Croce. Dante is not. The church asked that his body be moved back to Firenza, but was told "No." Apparently he had a falling out with the political powers in Firenza and fled for his life. He did not return, even posthumously.

Tangled Up In Speculation

Speculation by George: Rome is all about power, Florence is all about money. The Medici's started as cloth merchants but became famous as bankers. The money part of Florence is still present in the expensive gold and leather shops. Art evidently follows both power and money.

So we are back to the discussion Marc and I had in NYC two weeks ago. The highest and purest art is all tangled up with speculation and investment and ego. We have even this treasure in earthen vessels.

Ricardo at the Uffizi

We had the very special gift of having Ricardo as our guide for the HUGE museum originally built by the Medici family as office space. Uffize means office. It now holds the largest collection of Renaissance art in the world. Ricardo was as focused and passionate as yesterday. He focused on six artists by which one may trace a coherent picture of the Renaissance: from Fra Lippo's "The Madonna" (1406) to Bottecelli's "Allegory of Spring" (1477) and "Venus Rising From The Sea", to Leonardo's "The Annunciation" (1472) and the unfinished "The Adoration of the Kings" (1475), which has no Joseph. (Ricardo believes that this has an "obvious" reference to Leonardo" father's refusal to recognize him as his son, though he did provide for him.) This masterpiece contains a young Leonardo like face turning away from the Mary and Jesus, and "obvious" reference to Leonardo's sceptical turn of mind, in contrast with Michelangelo's piety, according to Ricardo.

We were also privileged to see the only painting (frescos aside) done by Michelangelo. It is the round "The Tondo Doni of the Holy Family at Baptism" (1504) in which figures look skulpted compared to Raphael's Madonna. We then saw Raphael's "Madonna" and a portrait of Pope Leo X. Raphael died in 1520, the climax and end, says Ricardo, of the true Renaissance. To illustrate this, he focused on two paintings whose names I failed to note, whose work displays a restlessness, the absence of confidence, the doubt, and the instability we associate with Mannerism. This fundamental shift of vision and attitude reflects the new geography: (America), the new religion (Luther), the new politics (French invasion of Italy), and the plague, which brought death to 1000s. Art, insists Ricardo, must be more than beauty. It must reflect the philosophy of life and the Renaissance philosophy of life is summed up in the word "Rationality".

For Ricardo, this shift also resonates with the cultural shift that began in 1960 when the stable and confident post war period gave way to the restless and self indulgent 1960s and 70s and to the present when we "cannot even bring a bottle of water into the Uffizi". I suppose this is a vast simplification, but it was heart felt and deeply considered by Ricardo and we are grateful for it.

Walking Tour and The Duomo

The bell tower of this famous cathedral was designed by Giotto. Brunelleschi designed the dome, which is a double dome with one leaning into the other for support. I (Joanne) don't understand the architectural wonders behind the design of this impressive dome, but it is larger than St. Peter's and intentionally was to be the largest in the world at that time. It is 180 feet high and 140 feet wide.

Walking tour in Firenza

A guide named Cindy, from Kansas (and Ricardo's wife of 30 years) walked us through the old city, past the Santa Croce, past the Duomo, past the city square where a copy of David has been on site for well over 100 years. The original David, was taken to the Acadamia after being exposed to wind and weather for over 350 years. The original shows signs of weathering. Thank God he is spared from the sun wind and rain. But even this replica is worth the view.

Firenza famous for leather and gold

The next morning, we were taken back to the Piazza Signoria, where we were last night and to the Peruzzi and got a first class sales pitch on what is billed as the best leather goods in the world. The owner gave us an amusing sales talk full of jokes and information. The Peruzzi has done a good job of adapting to a diminished economy, putting in less expensive lines, toilets, discounts etc. They also sold gold. I'm sold, though we didn't buy anything.

Seven Course dinner

After our visit to the Acadamia we deposited our belongings at the hotel, and after a brief rest, we made our way to the beautiful Piazza Signoria in the center of Firenza with its many renowned treasures that we would be savoring the next day. This lovely evening stroll in the rain led us to a restaurant for a spectacular evening seven course meal Italian style. It is a wonder that Italians are not all obese with their wonderful food and wine.