On Thursday, the 20th, we decided to finalize our Siena trip and find out where and how to get bus transportation to Pisa where we will fly next Thursday to Frankfurt for our last night before flying home on Friday. We walked to the train station, made our arrangements for the bus and tours, and located the bus stop for Pisa. The Church of Santa Maria Novella, one of the most important Gothic churches in Tuscany, is across the piazza so we stopped there.
Santa Maria Novella from the piazza that leads to the train station, Firenze SMN (Santa Maria Novella)
Initial entry took us to the Grand Cloister and from there to the Museum in the Small Cloister and Refectory. Beautiful and well restored pieces of art. We then entered the main church with its wonderful side chapels and beautiful main altar. Also on the inside was the Gondi Chapel which contains a wooden Crucifix by Brunelleschi from 1410-15 which he completed in competition with his friend Donatello.
The cloisters. There are 56 of these cloisters and most have been used for the school for the Carabinieri since 1920.
Art in the Spanish Chapel. This painting depicts Triumph of the Doctrine. The dogs of God (a pun on the word Dominican – domini canes) are sent to round up lost sheep into the fold of the church
Depiction of the Virgin Mary along a side wall of the nave.
The Strozzi di Mantova Chapel (left transept) is dedicated to St. Thomas Aquinas
The Gondi chapel left of the main altar contains a wooden Crucifix by Brunelleschi from 1410-15 which he completed in competition with his friend Donatello.
The main altar is equally amazing with beautiful stained glass and paintings beyond comprehension along the side walls. From the altar, we walked to the center of the nave to see Giotto’s Crucifix which hangs from the ceiling.
The main altar – too much back lighting to see the crucifix or get a good view of the paintings but the altar is really intricate and beautiful.
Wall to the left of the altar – just amazing.
The Crucifix by Giotto hangs in the center of the central nave as all his crucifixes were intended. The empty air all around it reminds you of Christ’s actual crucifixion on the wooden cross.
Outside we captured the front façade of the church and although we did not get a great photo because it was overcast and a little dark, we were walking by later that evening and captured an even more beautiful picture of the church.
Church of Santa Maria Novella early evening.
Later in the afternoon, we walked back down to the main shopping streets near the Duomo where we picked up a few things. We also took the time to walk across the Ponte Vecchio and window shop the many jewelry and gold stores which line the sides of the bridge.
On Friday, we took in the Acccademia with its amazing works of art, including Michelangelo’s David. We wished we knew a great deal more about famous artists and their artwork, style and periods but just to walk through and view the art made for a wonderful and memorable morning. We were extremely pleased to note that at 10:00 AM, there were very few tourists in the Accademia which made our visit even better.
Michelangelo’s David in the Tribune of the museum. In the hallway leading to this rotunda are several unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo. Heard it said many times – this is the best statue/sculpture in the world.
Side view of this beautiful sculpture. Notice also the hands and feet, larger than proportional.
From behind the altar of a church we didn’t note. We think this is The Annunciation. Look at the colors though, for paintings so old this is amazing.
Believe this was labelled “stages in the Virgin Mary’s life.” Amazingly beautiful.
This is called “The Trinity.”
Since we were close by, we stopped in the Church and Convent of San Marco. The convent is now a museum housing another series of beautiful and famous art.
Church and Convent, now museum, of San Marco.
Altar in San Marco.
After San Marco, we went over to the Church of Santissima Annunziata. The church was formed as an Oratory in 1250. The oratory is connected to a miracle whereby a Friar Bartholomeo was painting the face of the Madonna in a rendition of The Annunciation in the church when he fell asleep. When he woke up, the face had been completed, supposedly by angels. The present church was actually constructed in the mid-1400s and consecrated in 1516.
The ceiling in the Basilica of Santissima Annunziata was gorgeous, and mostly gold!
Basilica of Santissima Annunziata.
This Tabernacle is located at the rear of the nave and appears to be where many of the masses are celebrated.
This might be a good time to suggest that while we have done a little research on each place, church, etc., we have visited, we would have to write a book to include all that is important about these places. We recommend you use the internet to research any of the places in which you are interested.
Wrapping up the sightseeing, we went down to the shopping area, picked up a couple pair of shoes (Jim and me) and then headed back to the apartment. While walking the streets of Florence, the smell of beautiful leather is all around you. We’ve never seen so many leather jackets or purse stores in our lives. All were amazing and beautiful! We stopped off at a restaurant I had seen earlier this week and had lunch, in part because it offered a traditional Tuscan vegetable soup. In talking with Roberto, our waiter, we decided we would return when the time came to take on some Florentine beef!
Le Fonticine, a great little restaurant around the corner from us.
Traditional Tuscan vegetable soup.
Later that evening, we went to dinner with Marco and Elena over in Oltrarno, the South side of the river. The little restaurant is about two blocks away from the Piazza of Santo Spirito if you are checking maps. It was a nice 20 minute walk from the apartment and since the reservation was for 8:00 PM, we traveled at night – and the city is still beautiful! During dinner, we coordinated another rendezvous with Marco up in Fiesole where he works. We’ll get to meet his artist boss. We learned that all the work Marco and his boss do is for cities other than Florence: Milan, New York, Paris, etc. In his words, “how can we compete with the great artists of Florence past even though they are all dead. Can’t come close. And Florence is not much into contemporary art.”
Cousin Marco Pace, Elena, Jim and me at a neat little trattoria on the artsie side of the river – Oltrarno.
The walk home took us past the Mercado Centrale and its piazza. While our photo looks nice, what was amazing is that in the daytime, those streets and the piazza are filled with vendors – you know, like any tourist area: scarves, T-shirts, purses, selfie sticks, umbrellas, etc. Hard to even walk by they are so packed in and have so many people milling around. But at night, I guess they all must move out, perhaps to make room for the folk who live in the apartments surrounding the mercado and piazza to have parking space!
Mercato Centrale at 10:30 PM.
We are off to Siena, San Gimignano and the Tuscany hillsides Saturday so I think I’ll post this effort tonight. Back at you in a couple of days.