Florence with so much art it's hard to take it all in . . .

Florence -- With So Much Incredible Art . . .

Stepping out of our hotel and walking a few steps, it was pretty clear we weren't in Sofia anymore -- or Midway either.  This is the Arno River.

Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio

Our first stop, and a good one.  A lot of famous statues were in this outdoor "porch."

Hercules Slaying the Centaur

Beheading of Medusa (the lady who had snakes for hair).  All men in those days had six-packs, apparently.

Rape of the Sabine Women (definitely a Sunday School lesson topic).

Below is the major Hall in the Vecchio Palazzo - the Hall of the Five Hundred.  Rather large.  I learned that in 1502-3 Leonardo da Vinci (Mona Lisa, etc. etc.) was asked to paint the entire side of one of these walls.  Michaelangelo was to paint the other side.  They both made their choices of battles they were to paint.  Da Vinci made a wonderful "cartoon", as the sketches were called, was unhappy with the paint, and quit.  Michaelangelo drew up his "cartoon" and was interrupted by a call to paint the Sistine Chapel.  Neither of two original sketches remain -- only parts of them copied by other artists.  Wouldn't it have been fantastic to have two giant frescoes right across from either other:  one from Michelangelo and the other from daVinci?

This name for the Hall comes from it's use as the Forence City Council Chambers where the 500-man assembly gathered in the 1600s.  It is still used for government and civic functions. 

The Palazzo Vecchio became the home in 1540 for the Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, Florence's most powerful family.  The family lived here for TEN years beginning in 1540.  Much of the Rennaissance beauty in this palace was created for him in his TEN-year stay.  Just think of that as you scroll through the "remodeling" that was done on his "house."  Below are a couple of the famous statues that grace the walls at floor level. 

This is "The Genius of Victory" by Michaelangelo.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And this is a statue about Hercules.  But wait . . . check out the close-up below!
 

Now that's something you don't see very often!  Ouch!

Below are a few of the beautiful, and expensive, ceilings in the Vecchi Palazzo.

A carved wood ceiling . . .

Below is an interesting wall painting in one of the dressing rooms.  Everyone is scooping up water.  Note the realistic thirsty baby (and the less-than-chivalrous men). 

In one of the second or third story halls, there was this door in the wall -- quite a small closet, I thought.

Nope!  It's a bathroom!  On the second story, no less.  At first I thought I was just a make-do indoor outhouse, until I started thinking and realized that THIS was as good as it got back then.  Three cheers for modern plumbing.

In all the interior rooms, there were incredible doorways leading from one room to the next - marble and carved wood, with wonderful paintings.  Keep remembering all this is in a Rennaissance palace for a ruler who lived there only 10 years, whereupon he moved to the Pitti Palace and I'm sure remodeled it as well.  (We didn't "do" the Pitti Palace).

All marble below ...

That tall fellow standing there (a relative of mine by marriage) gives an idea of the height of this interior doorway.

Another "utilitarian" doorway leading to the map room with a giant world globe in the center of it and a roomful of maps drawn by the owner of this palace.

In a few of the room there were these cool little "dressers.  Sorry for the blurry picture.

Nice.  But on more detailed inspection, each of those "illustrations" on the drawers are mosaics made of semi-precious stones.  Below is the center picture.

Detail:

Further detail:

Each difference color is made of small pieces of semi-precious stone cut, sanded, installed, glued, and polished. 

Below is a famous statue of "Judith" surrounded by (real) gold fleur-de-lis wallpaper.

The door below was basically an "also ran."  It was so incredibe upon further inspection, but it was hardly noticeable amidst all the marble and gold.  Each differently-colored piece is a separate piece of wood.  It looks like the dome is recessed, but in truth, it is flat.  The perspective is done by different colors of wood.  

Further detail.  The fingernails are a different piece of wood.  The folds in the cloth are each a different piece (and color) of wood.  If Florence would send just one piece of art like this to Midway, Midway would be famous.  AND the art would get its just due!

Below is the original (approx.) 13th century marble floor (810 years ago).  We noticed that the marble wears differently.  The white marble is harder, so it has not worn away as much as the orange, softer marble, so as we walked over the floor, it sort of undulated under our feet.  I thought of all the people that had worn that floor down over the years  -- what a story that floor could tell (in Italian, unfortunately, so I'd never understand it!!)  

The tower, constructed in about 1200, with a one-handed clock (1600s) replacing the original one-handed clock.

A view from inside of the famous neighboring buildings, the Duomo and the Bell Tower.

Cheers!