firenze.

Buongiorno!

So, as promised, this post will be all about the cradle of renaissance: Florence (or, as it’s called in Italy, Firenze).

Yesterday, as a trip with my class, we went to visit this city of art and churches. After an hour-long bus ride from Siena, we arrived in Florence around 10:00, and met up with our tour guide.

Originally founded by Julius Caesar in 59 BC, Florence was flourishing by about the 14^th and 15^th centuries. This city was extremely wealthy, due to the textile trade and banking. Siena and Florence were very competitive during this era, as they were both cities based on banking. Even now, each city claims to have created the first bank in the world. However, as far as I know, Florence is generally accepted as the first.

One of the first things we saw was the Basilica di San Lorenzo and the Cappelle Medicee. The Medici family were prominent bankers in Florence, the wealthiest family for a long time. This family funded many great works of art. In this way, they are, at least in part, responsible for the renaissance. They unofficially ruled Florence, and much of Tuscany, starting in approximately 1434 until about 1494.

Another notable sight, of course, was Florence’s famous Duomo. Construction of this cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore (Our Lady of the Flower), begun in 1296 and was completed in 1436. It is built out of three different colours of marble: red, green, and white. There are three parts to the church: the baptistery, the tower, and the cathedral itself. Other than the overwhelmingly stunning detail and art on the outside of the building, the dome is the most striking part. Built out of over four million bricks, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, the dome is a marvel of renaissance architecture and engineering.

Unfortunately, due to air pollution and the porous nature of marble, the stone is being destroyed. Bit by bit, the statues and other features of the cathedral are being brought down, restored, and copied by a sculptor. The copy replaces the original on the cathedral and the original goes into a museum to be safely stored under a roof. We saw the workshop of one of these sculptors.

Regrettably, we weren’t able to go inside, as the line was ridiculously long, and we didn’t have much time. According to my guidebook, as well as the tour guide, the inside is not nearly as ornate as the outside. The tour guide noted that this points to the idea that the cathedral was built more as a representation of wealth than as a religious building. Florence wanted to impress its neighbours.

The last building we saw on the morning’s tour was the Basilica di Santa Croce. If you ever go, make sure you cover up. Bare shoulders and short shorts or short skirts are unacceptable. Don’t worry though, if you forget, they have blue paper wrap-arounds you can use as a long skirt or shawl. Personally, I was wearing pants and a t-shirt, so I was ok. A few of my classmates, however, were required to cover up.

The Basilica di Santa Croce is the largest Franciscan church in the world. Inside, the tombs of many famous people can be found, including Galileo, Ghiberti, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo. Also, covering a few walls are the works of Giotto, one of the first painters to break away from the flat style of the gothic period and into the more realistic, 3D style of the renaissance.

So ended our morning of churches. The tour guide mentioned that in Florence alone there are approximately 200 catholic churches, and over 200 churches of other denominations. This, she explained, was probably due to the way churches worked during the renaissance. In order to have one’s sins repented, one used to have to pay the church. Since Florence was full of wealthy sinners (it was considered a sin to work with or trade money), churches were constantly being built.

We had about an hour and a half for lunch, which wasn’t nearly long enough. Personally, I would have liked to walk around, explore the city, take in the sights, and maybe do some shopping. But in the time provided, just about the only things we were able to do were to eat and take a few pictures outside of the Galleria degli Uffizi. Inside the gallery is where we spent the rest of our time in Florence.

When we got inside the first room, a few of my friends and I realised that if we followed the group, listening to the tour guide, it could be interesting but we wouldn’t get to see much of the gallery. We had had a long day, with a lot of information, and it was hot (around 35 degrees). It was hard to focus on the tour, and we really wanted to do some exploring on our own. So, after a word with our professor, we broke from the group. We were able to walk in each room and find the paintings that drew us, rather than having someone tell us what to look at. Don’t get me wrong, a guided tour can be very interesting, but also interesting is discovering paintings on your own. Besides, the information had been just flying over our heads by this point anyway.

Here’s a bit of information about the Uffizi. First of all, it’s huge, and it would be very difficult to see everything in one day. However, it is very beautiful. The rooms are arranged chronologically, so if you start from the beginning, you can see the development of Florentine art. Art-lovers from around the world come to the Uffizi to see works by influential artists such as Giotto, Botticelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Lippi, Caravaggio and many, many others.

I don’t remember many specific artists, but I can tell you what draws me most is the baroque style. Baroque art began during the counter-reformation in the 17^th century. It is usually quite dramatic, with people in mid-action, and a high contrast between the lights and darks. To me, the art always seems like it is about to move, to finish the action. I also love the sculptures. I find it completely mind-blowing how someone can take a huge block of stone and turn it into something so real.

Anyway, we got on the bus back to Siena around 5:00. Believe me, seven hours is not nearly enough time to really see Florence. There is so much art and history packed into just this one city. If I ever come to Italy again, I would like to spend a couple days exploring Florence, including, hopefully, the interior of the Duomo and the Arno River.

Sorry to say, even though I was able to get some pictures onto my computer a few days ago, it is not working again. So I am unable to show you any pictures from Florence. If I can get some onto my computer in the near future, I will add them to this post.

I can’t believe my first week is already over. No more classes until Monday, and then it will be week two! Tomorrow I am supposed to be going to the beach with a bunch of friends, so my next post will probably be about the coast of Italy!

Thanks everyone for reading!

I love and miss you all! Ciao <3