After my intensely tiring Duomo Day, I slept in a little too much on Wednesday morning and therefore got a late start. I'd made plans with the daughter of the family that I'm staying with to go to Santa Croce in the afternoon, so I decided to spend what was left of the morning at the Bargello Museum. Everyone I've talked to, when I told them I was going to Florence, has insisted that I visit the Bargello, so I was excited to go see what all the hype was about.
The Bargello Museum has a pretty neat story actually. It is a sculpture museum, but it was originally a police station and then a prison. It looks a little bit like a mini Palazzo Vecchio. Inside it are some of the most important sculptures in Florence, including Michelangelo's "Bacchus" and "Brutus," Donatello's "David," and the original contest reliefs for the Door of Paradise by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, showing the "Sacrifice of Isaac." It was great to see such amazing works, but I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that I'm just not as "into" sculpture as I am painting. While it is fun to see these works that I know a lot about, I enjoy much more looking at paintings and frescos. There was also a lot of works out for conservation when I was at the museum (the entire second floor was closed) so I feel like I missed out on a lot of the experience (Verrocchio's "David," for example, was absent).
Anyways, here's a picture of the courtyard of the Bargello:
After that I grabbed a quick lunch from a sandwich place suggested by my book. Nothing fancy, but it was nice to not have to sit at a restaurant and instead find a place to eat in the middle of the city. I found this nice square that had a gorgeous carousel, which made me happy!
After that I made my way over to Santa Croce, another church to meet my friend and see the tombs of all of Florence's most famous citizens. They have the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, to name a few. There's also a memorial for Dante (though his remains are elsewhere) and other graves of Italian poets. While Michelangelo had actually begun a sculpture for his own grave (I talked about it when I visited the Duomo Museum) and therefore likely had an idea of what he wanted it to look like, this monument was conceived of, and the frescos done by Vasari.
Here are some tomb pictures, Michelangelo's on the left and Galileo's on the right:
There are also two gorgeous chapels within the church, one that has Giotto frescos and one that has Gaddi frescos. Giotto shows the death of St. Francis and Gaddi various episodes of the life of Mary. In the church there is also a fantastic bas-relief by Donatello showing the "Annunciation" (yep, lots of "Annunciations", lots of "Madonna and Child"s, lots of "Crucifixtions." It's Renaissance art!). Finally, there is an entire chapel designed by Brunelleschi. Interestingly, this chapel has the same night sky astronomical scene painted on it as in the "New Sacristy" in San Lorenzo (remember July 4, 1442?). This made me curious, so I looked up 1442 on Wikipedia. The closest thing they have is that on July 3, 1442, Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan was born. I think that's definitely it.
Anyways, here is Donatello's relief and the Brunelleschi chapel:
Behind Santa Croce is the leather school, where artisans have been working since World War II. It was fun to look at all of the gorgeous work (much of it, sadly, way too expensive for me to afford). Window shopping, I have found, is always fun.
After Santa Croce, my friend took me to this adorable cafe that was a little off the beaten track (a relief after spending all my time around other tourists). The cafe was in a garden surrounded by a modern art bookshop. It was nice just to hang out and talk and escape the intensity of the city. I, yet again, feel really lucky that I have the opportunity to stay with Italian friends and get a sense not only of all the art and touristy places but also of the real city.
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