The Duomo

After the Academy, we headed over to the monolithic Duomo of Florence, a mere ten minutes away.  After purchasing our tickets, we looked over at the line to actually get into the cathedral itself and decided our best bet was to head into the baptistry, a logical setup considering that you had to be baptized before they'd let you in back in the day.  The baptistry is actually older than the current cathedral by about a century; the interior ceiling is covered with 13th century Venetian mosaics depicting scenes from Christ's life.  Towards the front ceiling, Christ sits in judgement with the faithful on his right in glory and the condemned in judgement to his left.

Heading out of the baptistry, we headed towards the Duomo museum, but noticed the line going in the bell tower was relatively short and called an audible.  Rick Steves actually recommends climbing the bell tower over the Brunelleschi's dome on the cathedral; first off, the line is much shorter, and secondly, you can actually see the dome from the bell tower.  We stood in line for about half and hour and chatted with a man from Colorado who was behind us touring Italy in a camper with his kids and grandkids, then we headed up the tall, narrow structure.

The typical 14th century Florentine is not built at all like Arthur is.  He spent much of the time working up the spiral staircase with his shoulders turned so people coming down could pass.  The base of the bell tower is perhaps 15 yards square and extends straight up about 90 yards; there was a lot of spiral to the staircase.  The structure is divided into five stages with an open floor between each stage; allowing the stragglers to catch their breath and look out on a slowly descending Florence below.  This allow for some truly magnificent views of rooftops and allowed you to appreciate just how massive the dome of the cathedral is.

We headed down the stairs and over the the Duomo museum.  Most of the artwork exposed to the weather on from the Duomo are copies; the originals are inside this museum.  It was pretty amazing getting to see statues originally viewed looking from the ground up seven stories right in front of you.  Ghemberti's bronze doors, which I couldn't believe were still attached to the baptistry, are actually housed here and preserved for all time.  It was fun getting an up-close look (you could get a better view of the actual doors than you could the copies on the baptistry) at the intricate detail and the stories depicted.

We next saw Michelangelo's Deposition, a masterpiece among the many masterpieces he completed during his long productive life.  The hooded figure in the back is actually the artist himself; he originally meant this to be his gravestone.

We also saw some reliquaries, special boxes housing the relics that drove pilgrims to, well, pilgrimage.  It was pretty amazing to think about the veneration these objects have been held in throughout the years.  Standing out in my mind is the jawbone of St. Jerome and the thumb bone of St. John the Baptist.

Also inside the museum we saw some of the original scaffolding used to erect the Duomo and several of the objects that had been used to perform the sacraments and religious ceremonies in the cathedral over the years.  Overall the museum was a very cool stop along the way we would highly recommend.

We headed out of the museum and decided to walk around the cathedral to see what the line was like to get in.  Much to our surprise, we could just about walk straight in unhindered.  A great travel tip we picked up during this experience was that tourists want to eat at noon to one o'clock, so if you can delay lunch for an hour or two, you can dramatically cut down on the time you spend in line.  There were days on this trip that we completely went without lunch to maximize our sightseeing and we never regretted it.

The interior of the Duomo itself is, dare I say it, underwhelming compared to its dramatic facade and dramatic scale.  Most of the stuff that make it cool were inside the museum we had just gone through.  I had wanted to see the interior of the dome itself, but that area was roped off, one of the few disappointments we had on our trip.  The true treat of going inside the cathedral lies underneath.

The Duomo is built on the remains of four earlier churches, the earliest of which was built while the ancient Roman empire ruled Florence.  Archaeological digs have since exposed some of the ancient mosaics of the original basilica.  It is amazing how archaeological time gets pressed together; that original basilica was rebuilt three times before the current Duomo was constructed, but this was over a time span five times as long as the United States has existed.  The tombs of some important Florentines, including the Medici who really got the family going, reside down there; they are almost our contemporaries compared to the original structure.

Anyway, that was our exposure to the Duomo.  In our next post, we'll try to finish day our full day of Florence.  Omnia Vincit Amour.

The Academy

Our next day saw us up bright and early, ready for the day's activities. First on the agenda was visiting The Academy, home to Michaelangelo's David.  Not wanting to waste anytime Alex had purchased out tickets in advance, a tactic that would throughout our trip maximize the time we spent viewing sites and minimize the time spent in line.  Our reservation was for 8:30, when the doors opened.  As we walked across the city that morning we joined those rushing off to work or to school.  We walked through delivery vans making final morning stops in the piazzas before the crowds would make it a nightmare to get vehicles into the historic district.  

We were among the first admitted into the Academy.  We knew that we wanted our first stop to see David before the rest of the throng waiting in the line outside the door rushed in.  We left the chaos of the crowds in the lobby and turned the corner to the hall leading up to David at the end.  Alex got chills and Arthur may have had moist eyes when beholding this masterpiece for the first time in person.  Fourteen feet high, he is an impressive sight even at that distance.  Michelangelo originally intended for his David to stand atop Florence's Duomo, and he consequently was meant to be viewed from far away and looking up.  For this reason, David's head is slightly out of proportion to his body; the effect makes David into more of the thinking man that the Renaissance idealized.  The detail put into him is stunning; and his countenance now personifies for me quiet resolution in the face of opposition.

The hall leading up to David houses the Prisoners, statues Michelangelo never finished. The one closest to David is actually a deposition scene that might or might not actually be a Michelangelo, it certainly brings to mind a deposition definitely by Michelangelo we'd see in about three hour's time.

 At this point, we had a brief moment of panic; Alex had sent our day pack through security and hadn't picked it up.  Fortunately, she was able to go back to security and get it without any problem and that was perhaps our closest brush with calamity through the entire trip due to Alex's sharp planning.

After we grabbed the daypack and made our way past the opening atrium, we entered a room where a copy of the "Rape of the Sabanese Women" stands in the center.  Perhaps ironically, the walls of this room are lined with religious paintings from the pre/early Renaissance period.

We walked along the hall leading up to the David again, however now swarms had gathered at the base of the statues.  We glanced at some of the magnificent paintings that have the great misfortune of being displayed in site line of one of the most attention-grabbing works of art in all the world.  There was one portraying the story of Abraham and Isaac, but that's honestly all I can tell you.

Next we went into a huge room filled with final exams from aspiring sculptors from years past the at the Academy of Fine Arts next door. Busts line the walls three shelves high.  At ground level rest elaborate tombstones commemorating fallen loved ones.  We walked in a circle around the large rooms and marveled at the talent displayed.

In another wing there was a small museum for Renaissance music. Music took a huge step forward during this time with all sorts of new instruments created by luthiers and artisan instrument makers every bit the product of their times.  It was a fascinating part of the Academy, complete with what might legitimately be the oldest piano in the world.

At this point, it was time to continue on with the rest of our day in Florence, and we walked past David one last time on our way to the exit.  I did not know that I would be moved so much by the view of him; after all, I had seen pictures of him all my life.  Our trip was filled with many larger than life moments; David literally and figuratively stands out among them.

Well, the name of this post was originally "A Full Day in Florence."  I now find myself with a decent sized post after recalling two hours, and I'm disinclined to edit it down to make things more manageable.  Next time, we'll head to Florence's Duomo and discuss the baptistry, bell tower, and cathedral.  We might even get through the museum.  Omnia Vincit Amour.