A Flourishing Florence
By Joanne Lane There is something about Florence that inspires the romantic, the artist and the poet in me. I want to sit by the river with my easel before me and paint, stopping only to munch a grape or suck an olive, and suntan in the warm Italian sun. The only problem is I`m not an artist. My stick figures look like ... sticks. I have no form, no perspective, no creativity with a brush. My poetry holds no aspirations of inspired love, I can describe no Romeos or the death of a great Captain. My one artistic talent is with the pen, or at least I like to think so. So I take my notebook and sit by the famous Ponte Vecchio, waiting for inspiration. I think of Room With A View, Forster`s famous novel, and the kissing scene with Florence in the background. I am still moved by the sight of the famous duomo and defy anyone that has seen all the great European churches to remain unaffected by it. And I guess the words just come, they just flow because I do sculpt out an article... of sorts. This city is the cradle of the Renaissance so it should be inspiring. It is home to Dante, Machiavelli and the Medici. It houses Botticeli`s Birth of Venus and Michelangelo`s David stands in the Galleria D`Accademia. There`s a copy in the Piazza della Signoria and a third copy stands just outside the Uffizi Gallery where a young man has taken to dressing in white like a statue and wearing an apron featuring David`s more well known parts. Florence could be the back for a movie. It`s honeymoon-romantic and is over run with tourists, artists and merchants. There`s a current here of art and the celebration of it. Every second person has fashioned something from the settings and has commercialised it somehow. The joe black on the street with a sketching knack draws portraits outside the Duomo, landscape artists paint the Florentine scene and sell them in the squares and I guess I`m not much different. But here people appreciate it, they pay a lot to see it and in Florence it flourishes. You begin to wonder though if the art appreciation is from Florentine`s themselves or merely from tourists when you discover that while it has more treasures than other city in the world most of them remain locked away or sitting in dusty attics. The restoration budget for the city is so low that worldwide fundraising efforts had to be made, and some ancient treasures have been sold when removed for cleaning and were replaced with copies. The other impression Florence gives is that there are more tourists than residents. There are only half a million inhabitants but the city absorbs visitors like a sponge. It has 400 hotels of various categories with more than 20,000 beds and this does not include camping sites, youth hostels and pensiones (private residences). One estimate from the early 1990s put the ratio of tourists to locals in Florence at 14:1. A fellow traveller assured me the best way to stop the heaviness that came to your soul from battling crowds of tourists was to close my spiritual and emotional "gates". But tourists can`t complain about tourists, and the city at least has life, excitement and is on the move. And there are still the quiet times where you can forget about some of Florence`s modern day problems. At night one of the best activities is sitting on the Ponte Vecchio, with a dripping gelato, listening to a saxophone belting out heartfelt blues, or watching the sun set over the towers and spires as Florence burns red in the fading light and wondering how it looked years ago. Florence was founded in about 200 BC as a colony of the Etruscan city Fiesole. It was later a strategic Roman garrison where it began to recover from the decadence of the barbarian ages. It flourished in the Middle Ages as a banking and commerce centre with growth previously unequalled. This continued under Medici rule in the 15th century where artistic, cultural and political development gave birth to the Italian Renaissance and created the Florence we know today. In 1865 it became capital of the new Kingdom of Italy until 1871. Quite an amazing history. And the most amazing thing about the city is that even though a flood in 1966 destroyed and damaged many pieces of artwork, and all bridges bar one were bombed in WWII, there is still so much to see. Thankfully the Germans left the Ponte Vecchio alone. This 14th century bridge is one of the worlds most famous and the bridge in Bath, England, is a copy of it. It is now lined with gold and silversmith shops and gelato eating tourists. But it once housed butchers and a private corridor was built along the first floor by the Medici family so they could cross the river between the Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi Gallery away from prying eyes. Days could be spent wandering the piazzas, seeing the sights, eating gelato and stopping in the many cafes and trattoria`s but the quintessential Florentine experience is the Duomo. I don`t care if you`ve seen one hundred Duomo`s already this one will still make an impression. Whoever thought of blending a green, pink and white facade with a red dome obviously did not follow the usual colour rules but there is no conflicting chord here. It is a masterpiece. This duomo is the fourth largest in the world and one of Italy`s most famous monuments and the lucky Renaissance architect Brunelleschi who won a public competition to design the dome has ensured for himself eternal fame. It was named the Cattedale di Santa Maria del Fiore and was begun in 1296. It was not completed for another 150 years. It is decorated with frescoes by Vasari and Zuccari, and with stained glass windows by Donatello, Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello and Lorenzo Ghiberti. The walk to the top of the Dome provides a closer look of them. From the very top the striking of the hour from the bell towers around the city is an experience. The area around the duomo is also of interest. I used the line, "No I`m not interested but I heard that lady over there really wanted her picture painted", to avoid the portraiture and souvenir sellers and took a look at the bell tower at 82m tall and the Romanesque baptistry, the oldest building in Florence. It was built between the 5th and 11th centuries on the site of a Roman temple, again no thought of preserving previous artworks. Crowds of tourists helped me find the famous gilded bronze doors The Gates of Paradise, although many of the original panels have been removed for restoration and most of these are copies! Florence has 21 palaces, 55 historic churches, 8 galleries and 20 museums. This does not include the gardens, piazzas and other squares. There is no way to see it all but the two palaces that belonged to the famous Medici family should be seen at least from the outside. The Palazzo Vecchio was the traditional seat of the Florentine government before it became the ducal palace of the Medici family in the 16th century. They later moved to the Palazzo Pitti. The palace`s turrets, battlements and 94m bell tower loom above Piazza della Signoria full of cafes, fountains and the scene of some important political events. Just inside the entrance is the Michelozzo courtyard with paintings of Austrian scenes that I supposed were painted for a homesick royal member as the House of Lorraine that succeeded the Medici`s were related to the Austrian Habsburgs. The Palazzo Pitti, the Medici`s other residence, was also designed by Brunelleschi. Their royal apartments are on display. After two days of wandering the city I finally got up the courage to join the throngs waiting to see the Uffizi Gallery. I had regarded these queues ominously for days but with only several hours left in Florence it was now or never. I arrived before opening time but it still took three hours to get inside. A very helpful sign indicated only 600-odd visitors were allowed inside at one time for safety reasons and they apologise for the wait. I wondered if they were still worried about a bomb attack inside the building in 1993 that damaged the second corridor but even then I am sure the stream of visitors leaving was more than those going in. Still it was more than worth the wait. This gallery houses the most important art collection in Italy, paintings mostly collected by the Medici family from the 13th to 18th centuries. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Giotto and others are all here but Botticelli`s work, particularly the Birth of Venus, for me epitomises Florence. There is a hint of seduction in the naked Venus as she stands innocently on her shell that Florence also embodies. I think she would understand Florence and perhaps she was what finally inspired me to write, feigning that I too had some understanding of this Renaissance city and could perhaps one day be remembered and celebrated as other artists are. OTHER THINGS TO DO There a wealth of galleries, gardens and buildings to visit in Florence and several days could be spent on these alone. For a sunset view cross the Ponte Vecchio and walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo. If you have time to see more of the Tuscan landscape visit the medieval hill towns like San Gimignano, Siena and even little known Certaldo. This landscape is a patchwork of green vineyards and fields, bathed in the beautiful golden light Tuscany is famous for. HOW TO GET THERE
National and international airlines fly into Florence, only 5km from the city centre. It is also on the main Rome-Milan rail line with regular trains to Venice and Trieste. There are regular buses to the closer towns like Sienna, San Gimignano and Volterra. WHERE TO STAY
Florence`s 400 hotels and various youth hostels provide a wealth of choice for people of all budgets. For something a little different travellers may choose to stay outside the city limits in the Tuscan countryside. Little known Certaldo, only 50 minutes away by train, has a wonderful medieval town and you can stay in a converted Benedictine monk XIVth century villa called Fattoria Bassetto. It is the perfect place to do day trips to Florence and many of the other Tuscan towns. Phone 0571 668 342 when you are in Italy and they will pick you up from Certaldo train station. BOOK HERE |
