0317: Walking around Florence

The visual delights of Florence are legendary – the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, etc. The artwork, both inside the many museums and outside in the many piazzas, are certainly an eyeful. But so too is almost every small side street. Graffiti and street art is often clever and thoughtful (There is also, unfortunately, plenty of awful spray paint graffiti).

Turning a corner might yield the sight of a Renaissance mural juxtaposed against modern life. Peeking in a window near the Duomo shows a workshop where artisans keep up centuries old traditions.

A stroll through a graveyard (San Miniato al Monte) showed unique headstones…

…and a most interesting crypt.

And then there is a very clever artist (or artists) at work who turns simple traffic signs into amusing and sometimes provocative statements…

…little visual asides that you catch out of the corner of your eye…

…but linger in your head…

…along with a smile lingering on your face!

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I had to include some fossils today, so I thought this little selection would work nicely.

These are gastropods from the fossil collection of the Paleontology section of the Florence Museum of Natural History.

They relate to an upcoming exhibition that will open at the museum in May. More on that as the date approaches.

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I did manage to take a break from working all of my Florence files to come up with something new at the studio. Ironically, new shooting began with my Moroccan trilobite (above) which I found in a Florence flea market! And, below, something I brought back from a walk in the woods yesterday.

Thanks for the visit.

0225: Santa Croce

While I am not big on churches in general I must say that the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence is a wonder to behold. Construction on it was begun in 1294 and it was consecrated in 1442. It is a thing of beauty. The walls are filled with stunning paintings, sculptures and frescos – work done by artists such as della Robbia, Donatello, Giotto, Gaddi, Vasari, and many more.

Toward the rear of the church are numerous tombs running along the side walls. This one, pictured above, belongs to Galileo (which we visited the day after his birthday). It sits directly across from the site of Michelangelo’s tomb. An odd note of history – Galileo was born on the day of Michelangelo’s death. Many have said that, at the moment of Michelangelo’s death, his soul passed on to Galileo!

Thanks to my never-ending interest in rocks and stones, while most visitors spent much of their time looking up, I often look down. The floor of the Basilica is a wonder of marble patterns and designs.

The neighborhood surrounding Santa Croce is our favorite area to stay. Everything is only a short walk away. There is an irresistible charm that pervades.

The local Sant’ Ambrogio  marketplace has all things fresh daily from meats and cheeses to pasta, bread and flowers. Much to my surprise, I even found fossil trilobites from Morocco on sale for a few euro each!

On a drizzly day last week we were surprised to see the Piazza Santa Croce transformed. A large  area of the piazza (directly in front of the Basilica) was fenced off with 2-4 inches of sand covering the cobblestones and some hay bales along the sides. An Italian rodeo perhaps?! Rather, we soon found out that we were about to witness a game called “historic football.”

As the story goes, the game’s origin traces back to Roman times and was played regularly by association teams. On February 17, 1530, the game was played in defiance of an impending attack on the city. To ridicule the enemy, the game went on – because nothing was going to get in the way of the Florentinian tradition. And so, annually, the game is played on that date. And we were lucky enough to stumble upon it.

At first, following the opening pomp and ritual, we assumed it to be something akin to “Old Timers’ Day” with some lighthearted attempts at a game.

We soon found out otherwise as the game was a brutal battle that all parties took very seriously. ( A local told us that teams had been forbidden from recruiting released convicts lest it become particularly nasty!).

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On a more civilized note – During the 1400s and 1500s this neighborhood was full of artists and artisans. It very much remains so to this day. Of the many artists who live and work here there is one fascinating and wonderful artist by the name of Paolo Carandini.

Paolo designs and creates objects of wonder and fascination. With the talents of a skilled artisan and the soul of a poet he builds these objects with parchment, leather and various imagery that are  enigmatic, often filled with literary references, sometimes with whimsey, sometimes with cathartic power and implication. And, if that’s not enough, each of his objects are clever and stunning visually.

Please visit his site – www.paolocarandini.com

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And, finally, some street art. I have always enjoyed seeking out the various street shrines in Florence, and particularly in this neighborhood, many of which have been in place for hundreds of years. So today I bring you one from just down the street…

…and something obviously more contemporary!

Thanks for the visit.

0218: Notes From Florence – Nature’s Designs

Amazing design is everywhere in this fine city, from buildings to manhole covers. Thanks to the folks at the Museum of Natural History, though, I have been able to explore design of a different kind – that of the natural world.

Back home I explore the natural world in the rocks and fossils around me, the mushrooms (lately), plants, etc. But here I’ve had the most fortunate experience of exploring some of the museum’s aged and treasured collections.

Of course, I begin with fossils.This one below is an interior section of a sea urchin dating back to the Miocene Epoch some fifteen million years.

And next, a contemporary sea urchin in close-up.

From the same collection (echinoderms) come the following two Heliasters, more commonly known as sea stars.

Next, from the Reptile collection is a detail of a chameleon.

And from the Entomology collection come the following three images, starting with a mantis…

…followed by a beetle…

…and ending with butterflies.

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I could go on and on with wonders from the museum but I must continue with some of the sights in the streets.

Seems like turning every corner in Florence brings you to interesting and unusual street art. I hope you like some of these examples.

And, finally, after walking and walking and walking (this city is all about walking) a relaxing break in a local park provided me with this view. Gray, moody skies dominate Florence this time of year (always so much more interesting for shooting, I think).

Thanks for the visit.

0211: Notes From Florence

Ten days into our thirty day stay in Florence and I’m beginning to think it’s not enough time to explore everything on my list. Thanks to my very dear friends at the Museum of Natural History I have been able to immerse myself in the natural sciences…

…already shooting fossils (from the Paleontological Section)…

…butterflies and beetles (from the Entomology Department)…

artifacts from James Cook’s third and final voyage through the Pacific (from the Anthropology Section), and a host of others soon to be addressed.

This is just a quick, early edit. In the meantime, though, here are some shots from the street – not the usual travel photos! Some of my favorite street art exists in Italy. And Florence has plenty of wonderful examples:

And finally, a couple more from the street. The first is a boy in the local park returning from the latest Star Wars Movie.

Our evenings are not complete until our after dinner stroll for gelato when we pass under the watchful eye of Dante, standing over Piazza Santa Croce.

Thanks for the visit.

More to come!