Italy 2001

 

Florence

 

 

Another view, this time from inside of the Loggia dei Lanzi
This is an exact copy of the original David by Michelangelo (AD 1501-1504)

 

Piazza della Signoria and the Fountain of Neptune

Piazza della Signoria, the heart of the city and right in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, the dukal residence

 

No, not 'peeing' the water comes from the little cup, same as the others. It's a matter of perspective and obviously, I did not catch this particular POV issue until I was home.
Piazza della Signoria. When artists would present their latest marble statues here, the crowd was the judge and there were times when they would burn the statues right here.

 

Part of the Fountain of Neptune by Bartolomeo Ammannati - Michelangelo thought it 'wooden and graceless'

 

 

Palazzo Vecchio

 

Today this is the Townhall of Florence and one of the most impressive in the world. Statues by Michelangelo line the walls.

 

Individual halls and rooms are absolutely dazzling. each one a work of art or a collection of artworks

 

It is impossible to convey the impact of the seemingly endless array of floor to ceiling art, each individual panel worth being in a museum

 

Ponte Vecchio

 

Other than just a rather old and odd, partly covered, bridge with mostly jewelry shops on it, this is just a bridge over the River Arno

 

However, from up high something very different is revealed. The Dukal passage way. An elevated walkway that permitted the Dukes of Florence to walk in privacy and safety from palace to Uffizi, to the cathedral, and here, all the way across the river, to a large administration building. No one would know when the Duke would arrive at a given point in the city. Windows allowed views of city life w/o being part of it.

 

Basilica of Santa Croce

 

Santa Croce and a place I will definitely have to go into, on a revisit. Michelangelo, Rossini, Machiavelli, and Galileo Galilei are buried here

 

 

The ever cheerful Dante Alighieri (who went to hell and back)

While he has a sarcophagus in Santa Croce, and this statue outside, he is actually buried in Ravenna, where he spent his last years, after being exiled from Florence for political reasons.

 

 

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