In between the museums, we saw some of the sites around the town itself. Here are a few of the views we saw today.
This is Florence’s Cathedral, the Duomo. Construction started at the end of the 13th century under the architect Arnolfo di Cambio. His work can be seen all around Rome, the Vatican and here in Tuscany. The dome, which is an impressive feature unto itself, was almost-but-not-quite an afterthought. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and added in the 15th century. Brunelleschi, a founding father of the Renaissance and one of the first modern engineers. There’s an interesting book about his role there. (He also held one of the first modern patents for … a river transport boat.)
Sorta makes you wonder how primitive engineers built things.
Here’s a slightly closer look at one of the corners. The exterior is a mixture of pink, white and green marble.
The front of the church wasn’t finished until relatively recently — the 19th century, between 1871 and 1887 — hence the Gothic Revival look. Emilio De Fabris, an architect, designed it after the original 13th century plans were deemed to be outdated. They held a competition
It was, Leon Battista Alberti wrote, “a structure so immense, so steeply rising toward the sky, that it covers all tuscans with its shadow.”
I will quote Alberti any chance I get.
Outside the front door there are statues of Cambio and Brunelleschi, the two architects that designed the place.
One last look, because the sky was pretty:
This is the Palazzo Vecchio’s Arnolfo Tower. The Palazzo was where David was originally displayed. The clock has one hand, typical of the time, but the oldest mechanical timepiece in town still works. The building briefly housed the Italian parliament once upon a time, but is today the Firenze town hall. Cambio, the architect, was also involved in this project, which started in the 13th century. Ruins of a previous tower were used as a part of what we see today, so it is even older than that.
This is an early 2nd century marble sculpture. It’s under a roof, but outdoors. It has been in Firenze since 1787, after being on display for a few hundred years in Rome.
That statue of the Sabine woman is really in the background of a picture of this sculpture:
That’s Heracles battling the centaur, Nessus. Heracles’ ribs and the veins in Nessus’ legs are a real treat of the 16th century workmanship. This is all carved from one block of stone. Here’s the view from the other side. In the myth, the centaur’s blood ultimately also kills Hercules. So this is all a very bittersweet open air display, really:
Heracles is a bit different than Hercules. The latter being the Roman version of the Greek story. There are differences.
There’s art everywhere here, by the way, even in the most prosaic of utilitarian features. Need to tie up your horse?
Finally, a random street scene.
And now, after a full day and three posts, it is time for bed. We have an awfully early morning tomorrow.
