PART 18: Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi and Bargello
Galleries, A Rainy Day
The Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) dates from the early 14th century. Today it is mostly a museum, but was originally Florence’s town hall. Cosimo de Medici made it his personal palace in the 16th century, and in the 19th century it was the seat of Italy’s provisional government when Florence was the temporary national capital. Now the Mayor of Florence and the City Council have offices there.
To the right of the Palazzo is the Loggia dei Lanzi, once a terrace from which the Medici princes could watch ceremonies in the piazza. Today it is an outdoor covered display area for large renaissance statuary. Here is:
In hindsight I wish I had taken more pictures of the Loggia. The statuary is excellent and is available for photography (contrary to most museums). Here is a picture of it taken from Wikipedia.
Some of the paintings we saw:
The Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) dates from the early 14th century. Today it is mostly a museum, but was originally Florence’s town hall. Cosimo de Medici made it his personal palace in the 16th century, and in the 19th century it was the seat of Italy’s provisional government when Florence was the temporary national capital. Now the Mayor of Florence and the City Council have offices there.
To the right of the Palazzo is the Loggia dei Lanzi, once a terrace from which the Medici princes could watch ceremonies in the piazza. Today it is an outdoor covered display area for large renaissance statuary. Here is:
Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head
of Medusa
and Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women.
 |
| Picture taken by Kristine Derigne |
In hindsight I wish I had taken more pictures of the Loggia. The statuary is excellent and is available for photography (contrary to most museums). Here is a picture of it taken from Wikipedia.
The Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the western world. Rick Steves says it is the “greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere…it is not nearly as big as it is great…Few tourists spend more than more than two hours inside.” And there are lots of tourists, and it is crowded. And you are not allowed to take pictures. But we did have the advantage of a guide (Juliane Krumacher) who led us through the transition from medieval to Renaissance art.Some of the paintings we saw:
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Boticelli’s Birth of Venus & Primavera
.
Ghirlandaio’s Duke of Umbria
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Rembrandt, self – portraits
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Ucello’s Battle of San Romano
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Titian’s Venus
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Caravaggio’s Bacchus
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da Vinci’s Annunciation
.
Michelangelo’s Annunciation
All of which I remember from art history. And many many more that I did not know about. Here is a link to Wikipedia’s page on the Uffizi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi
After seeing the great paintings we had an early lunch on the patio of the Uffizi’s caffe, where we could take pictures and wonder whether it was going to rain and what that would mean for our free afternoon.
After lunch we went on our own to the Bargello Museum, which is a sculpture museum and “houses the best collection of Florentine sculpture.” (Steves Guidebook) It is smaller than the Uffizi and nowhere near as crowded. It was relaxing to be able to wander from statue to statue, spending as much time as you want at each piece. The downside of this is that you miss the perspective that a knowledgeable guide can give.
I also managed to get pictures of some of the pieces - which was not allowed, but not fully enforced:
Donatello’s David: done 60 years before Michelangelo’s and the first male nude sculpture in 1000 years. Can you hear your teacher/professor: “Compare and Contrast.”
Pietro
Francavilla’s Jason and the Golden Fleece (late 1580’s)
This is the most unusual sculpture in the Bargello – a canon with the head of St Paul on the back end and two little lion critters sitting on its top. It is by Cosimo Cenni (1638).
There are also two rooms with excellent ceramic and terra cotta pieces. Among them: several Montelupo ceramics from the early 17th century and an Andrea della Robbia glazed terra cotta from the 1470s.
The Bargello’s courtyard is decorated with small ceramic panels that make the plain masonry look interesting.
And
then the rain came
We tried to wait out the rain in the dry and nicely appointed Restaurant of the Sinners
When the rain let up we chanced the ten minute very speedy walk back to the hotel. We saw as much color on our walk as we did in some of the museums.
We spent the afternoon taking impressionistic photos of a fading Duomo and Tuscan tile roofs.
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