Saturday, June 30, 2018
A Day at Leisure to Explore Florence: Orsanmichele, Convent of San Marco and the Uffizi Gallery
With our conference having come to a close, I had one day of leisure in Florence. Prior to leaving the States, online I had already booked tickets to enter the Convent of San Marco (timed for 1.00 pm) and the Uffizi Gallery (timed for 4.00 pm), but I had a morning to stroll through the city at leisure. There was no need to wake up early, so I had a luxurious lie-in, showered slowly, packed my case and went down for breakfast where I feasted for the last time on a huge meal of muesli with yoghurt, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and sausages and a decaff Americano. I had committed to accompanying my colleague Tim to a hat shop called La Borsalinoand he met me in the hotel lobby about half an hour later when we entered a cab that took us to the famous shop in the snazzy heart of the city’s shopping district.
Buying a Hat at La Borsalino:
Tim had once owned the famed Panama Hats that La Borsalino makes for the princely sum of $250-300 each! However, because he had left it behind in Manila on one of his trips, he was keen to buy another. Hence, our excursion to a place I would never otherwise have placed on my agenda. I was shocked by the price and it was perhaps my reaction to the sticker that dissuaded Tim from buying a hat—much to the annoyance of the snooty saleswomen who muttered under their breath when we moved on. So rude!
Instead, somewhat chagrined, we sauntered off towards the open-air leather market from where Tim wished to pick up a black leather belt for his wife. We looked at some possibilities together, but again, Tim drew a blank. It was in this market that we came upon Il Porchetta, the huge bronze boar that is the lucky mascot of the city. Tourists are known to rub his nose for luck—little wonder that it is polished to a shine by their countless hands rubbing back and forth each day.
The Church of Orsanmichele:
Quite by chance, Tim and I, while aimlessly wandering through the narrow streets, found ourselves outside the renowned Church of Orsanmichele. What is unique about this church is that it was built on the foundations of a 13th century grain market which is evident on the ground floor by the loggia on which it is constructed. On the upper floor, the city’s various guilds got together to produce sculptures of their patron saints. They called forth the best-known sculptors of the period such as Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Verroccio and Giambologna, to produce larger than life-size statues that once adorned the exterior of the church. Today, while replicas still encircle the church, the originals might be found on the top most floor of the church where they were beautifully displayed. Reached by a spiral staircase, the top most floor also offers lovely views of the dome of the Duomo and the square below.
However, what I found most stirring about the church is its splendid side altar that is so intricately carved in fine Carrara marble as to appear like finely-wrought lace. It holds a lovely depiction of the Madonna delle Grazieby Bernardo Daddi.
A Visit to the Convent of San Marco:
I had purchased a ticket to see the Convent of San Marco before I had left the States as it too was one of the attractions of the city that I had not seen previously. Known for its fresco depiction of The Annunciationby Fra Angelico which the art scholar Marina Vaizey numbers among her 100 Masterpieces of Art,I was keen to see it. My ticket was timed for 1.00 pm and Tim decided to accompany me and see the venue too. That, basically, was all I knew. What I did find within the precincts was so astounding as to become one of the highlights of my visit to Florence.
What I had also not planned on was to bump, quite coincidentally, into my friends who were wrapping up their days of Florentine discovery! Delyse and Nafisa were seated in the cloister. They were taking a break from three unrelieved days of frenetic sightseeing that had left them physically and visually exhausted. I had sent them lists of Must-See places in Florence on a three-day, first-time visit (for clearly one cannot, despite one’s best intentions, see absolutely everything that one can on the Firenze Card and do them justice). Clearly, they had not heeded my advice. The end result was that they had run themselves ragged. I introduced Tim to them and we took a few pictures together in the main cloister before we bid them goodbye to undertake our far less frenetic tour of the premises.
The Convent of San Marco, in addition to being a church, also housed the living quarters of the monks of the Dominican order. These were commissioned by Cosimo il Medici in the mid-1400s, through the work of his favorite architect, Michelozzo. Around his cloister, which provided the monks with quiet time for prayer and daily exercise far from prying eyes of the public, are their private quarters. Each monk was allocated one tiny ‘cell’—within it, he could find rest after a hard day’s prayer and manual labor—in keeping with the oaths of the Dominican code of work and worship. Fra (Friar) Angelico was one such monk. Gifted with stupendous talents, he passed his days painting frescoes on the walls of the monks’ cells—each monk had one scene painted on his wall. Apart from providing the only bit of decoration in the austere space, it also provided a spiritual and visual focal point to encourage prayerful contemplation.
Visitors walk through the monk’s private quarters taking in the marvels of Fra Angelico’s work. Yes, his Annunciationis the very first fresco you encounter as you climb the stairs to get to the second floor where the cells are located. And it is striking indeed—there is no doubt. In its subdued shades of beige, its depiction of a humble Mary and a triumphant Angel Gabriel who arrives to give the news of her impending virgin birth, there is profound spirituality. But, for me, the monotonous rigor involved in painting dozens of frescoes in each of the cells, was a far more meaningful endeavor and achievement. I was simply floored by the exercise and paused often to look at the serene courtyard below through the tiny windows that afforded occasional slivers of light. It allowed me to contemplate the life of these medieval ascetics, their devotion to God, the simplicity of their routine—lived in imitation of the principles of their founder. Indeed, the space for me was deeply inspiring. In addition, the space provided a two-roomed cell for Cosimo himself that is clearly marked. He used it as a ‘retreat’ from his world of Renaissance excess. I had a recording of Rick Steves’ guide through the space—but, frankly, in the end, I wanted to be surrounded by my own thoughts. I wanted to make of it what I willed, not colored by the impressions of someone else. And indeed I was glad I did—for Fra Angelico spoke directly to me, one-on-one, with an immediacy so powerful that I have only very rarely achieved in attempting to assess the impact of famous art works upon my own psyche. (The Picasso Museum in Paris had a similar impact upon me, when I had visited it for the first time, 35 years ago).
Other than Fra Angelico, the other most illustrious resident of the monastery was Girolamo Savoranola who has entered history books as the monk who criticized the church and its practices with a fearlessness that had never previously been known. From the main piazza outside the monastery, he preached regularly and gained quite a fan following—indeed he might be perceived as one of the earliest reformists—at a time long before the Reformation would sweep across Europe. For his pains, he was burned at the stake as a heretic. The monastery proudly displays some memorabilia from Savoranola’s life, well curated and labelled in the tiny cells that he had himself occupied during his lifetime in the monastery.
Since these were the living quarters of an order of working monks for centuries, they comprise a refectory, a meeting hall and a library. Each one of these spaces stuns with its frescoes and its paintings that have beautifully stood the test of time. There is so much to see in this one place that one could easily spend an entire morning here. With the two hours we had at our disposal, Tim and I did a very competent job indeed of letting the space and the art works speak to us.
Pizza Lunch at The Yellow Door:
By this time, both Tim and I were getting peckish. Before I joined the throngs to see the Uffizi Gallery for the third time in my life, we decided to get some lunch. From the year he had spent with his wife teaching at NYU-Florence, Tim remembered fondly a pizzeria that they used to frequent called The Yellow Door.
We found it nestled in one of the narrow cobbled streets behind the Duomo. Inside, Tim treated me to a platter of grilled vegetables dressed with a balsamic vinagrette and a vegetarian pizza that we split and washed down with mineral water. Indeed it was delicious and afforded us the chance to have a long catch-up before we split and went our separate ways—I, to the Uffizi, and Tim to do some yoga back at our hotel.
Re-discovering the Uffizi Gallery:
One of the prime objectives of my return to Florence was a re-visit to the Uffizi Gallery that houses some of the world’s greatest painterly and sculptural masterpieces and some of my own personal favorites. I had a ticket for 4.00 pm and had been advised to arrive at the window with my voucher at 3. 30 pm. There, I discovered to my horror, that pandemonium prevailed. The security gates with their electronic devices had failed and patrons were being manually frisked before entry was permitted. This resulted in obscenely long queues that snaked around the courtyard seemingly forever. Luckily for me, I knew exactly where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. Hence, I did not despair—as, I am sure, first-time visitors to the space might have done.
Long story short, we did eventually get into the museum and without losing any time, I bounded up the broad stone stairs to the top floor to begin my exploration and contemplation of the most significant pieces. Once again, even though I had it recorded on my I-phone, I did not listen to the downloaded app provided by Rick Steves. I simply allowed the paintings (that I was seeing for the third time) to speak directly to me. And speak they did. So here is my assessment of the most significant works in the Uffizi and the ones that I saw, spent time at, contemplated thoughtfully and photographed.
1. The Madonnaby Duccio.
2. The Ognisanti Madonnaby Giotto
3. The Annunciationby Simone Marti
4. The Coronation of the Virginby Fra Angelico
5. The Battle of San Romanoby Paolo Uccelo (there is a similar one in Paris at the Louvre and one at the National Gallery in London—all of which I adore).
6. Doni TondoorThe Holy Familyin a striking rondel by Michelangelo (the only oil painting he ever did that has survived)
7. The Birth of Venusby Sandro Botticelli
8. Primavera (featuring the famed Three Graces) also by Sandro Botticelli
9. Replica of Laocoon and his Sonsby Baccio Bondinelli (the original, in damaged condition, I have seen in the Vatican Museum in Rome)
10. The Virgin with Christ and John the Baptistby Raphael
11. The Duke and Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca
12. The Madonna of the Goldfinchby Raphael
13. John the Baptist in the Desertby Raphael Sanzio (we would see copy of it in the Pinocateca Nationale in Bologna, a few days later)
14. The Adoration of the Magiby Gentille de Fabriano
15. The Nativity by Hugo van der Goes
16. The octagonal Tribuna Room whose ceiling is studded with countless real nautilus shells and which houses some of the favorite works of art of the Medici dukes
17. Adamby Lucius Cranach
18. Eveby Lucius Cranach
19. The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci
20. The (Unfinished)Adoration of the Magiby Leonardo da Vinci
21. John the Baptist Baptizing Jesusby Leonardo da Vinci
22. The Venus of Urbinoby Titian
23. Boy Removing a Thorn from his Foot (Classical Greek sculpture)
24. The Farnese Hercules (Classical Greek sculpture. I have seen the original in the Museum of Fine Arts in Naples.)
25. Judith Cutting the Head of Holofernesby Artemisia Gentelleschi
26. Doubting Thomas by Caravaggio
27. The Medusa by Caravaggio
28. Bachusby Caravaggio (my favorite painting in the Uffizi)
29. Three Self-Portraitsby Rembrandt
And then, before I knew it, it was almost 6.00 pm and announcements about the museum’s closing began to assail our ears. But they did not bother me. I’d given myself more than enough time to really ‘see’ the paintings—to savor and understand them, to decide why they are considered among the world’s finest masterpieces. And I loved every second of the time I gave myself alone in quiet and happy contemplation of the works. The crowds and the jostling did not bother me at all. Lost in my own world of art appreciation, I gave myself up fully to the pleasure of drinking in the Uffizi and its treasures and the remarkable views it offered from every window. Indeed much of the charm of the Uffizi lies in its location on the banks of the Arno, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio from some windows and the massive courtyard below from others.
Dinner with a College-Mate from Ages Ago:
After using the loo and freshening myself up, I hurried out of the Uffizi which soon began to wear a sad and desolate look as another day of visiting came to a close. I would be meeting an old college-mate named Vanessa whom I had not seen for at least 35 years. It was only very recently that Vanessa and I had resumed contact. It had been fun connecting on Whatsapp and by email and, since she lived just an hour outside of Florence, she offered to come and meet me in Florence and to have dinner with me on the evening I was free.
It was indeed a joy to see Vanessa again. My other friends, Delyse, Nafisa and Shahida also joined us, as planned, at the main entrance of the Uffizi and after we were all introduced, we began to look at the pizzeria at which Vanessa had made reservations for five. Unfortunately, we soon realized that her reservation was in a place in the Oltrano, on the other side of the Arno, near the Pitti Palace. It involved a walk of a good fifteen minutes. My three friends had, by that point in time, grown close to collapse by their indiscriminate sightseeing of the past three days. They were not about to haul themselves, twenty minutes back and twenty minutes forth, for a pizza. Furthermore, it was the last evening of our stay in Florence. Early tomorrow morning, we would be leaving to start our travels in Italy with a departure for Sienna. None of us wanted to have a late night. For all these reasons, we requested Vanessa to cancel the reservation and decided, instead, to go back to The Yellow Doorwhich was just around the corner for pizzas.
And that was exactly what we did. Over beer and pizza and spaghetti with a vegetarian sauce, we had ourselves a nice dinner. Best of all, we had the opportunity to catch up with Vanessa who brought me gifts and photographs of her family members and chatted non-stop as she tried to make the most of our limited time together. Indeed, it was very precious time and we discovered, that we have friends in common in the States!
There was just enough light in the Duomo square outside to allow us to take a few pictures with Vanessa before we said goodbye to her and made our way back to our respective hotels along Via San Gallo. Back in my hotel, I packed up my case and got into bed after requesting my Reception desk to call a cab for me at 6.00 am the following day. We were ready to begin our travels in Italy with a first stop in Sienna.
Until tomorrow, arrivederci…
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