OF THE WORLD

HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC. NEW YORK

wanderers: so many of its aspects differ from what has been
anticipated. It is necessary to stand in the Medici Chapel in
order to understand it, to contemplate Fra Angelico's paintings
before loving them and to see the Battistero in order to admire
it. By such a process we are conquered a second time, and this

time forever.
The city forms a natural background to the daily life of its

inhabitants, who have grown up in the midst of these beloved,

admirable things, and it even plays an important part in their
lives. It is obvious to every Florentine that their city is the
loveliest spot on earth because so many foreigners come to see
it. Once assured of an appreciative audience, why should a
citizen of Florence not go on talking about his town, spinning
wondrous tales about Ginevra, who rose from the dead, about
Dante and his banishment, and about Ghiberti's golden
Paradise doors?
All those who have once visited Florence and had to leave it

long to return to the life and beauty so closely interwoven with

the pattern of this small town.
Florence once for a short time the capital of the country
when Italy in the second half of the 19th century had become
at last a political whole.
From whichever direction one looks, whether northwards from
the stairs of San Miniato or the hill of Bellosguardo, or south-
wards from Fiesole or Settignano, the lofty, clearly etched
profile of the Duomo dominates the view, seeming always near
at hand.
The Viale dei Colli, wandering romantically upwards to the
Piazzale Michelangelo, affords an ever changing vista of the
town below, seen through trees.


THE FLOWERING HEART OF THE CITY IS THE PIAZZA

della Signoria, once known as the culla della gentilezza, the
cradle of civilization. In point of fact the history of Florence
has close affinities with the history of Western civilization,
important vestiges and influences of which can be traced in

the piazza as a whole as well as in its architectural details.

However much these details changed with the varying periods,

nothing could transform or disfigure the piazza's essential

character and appearance. At no time does the piazza lose its

ancient and impressive splendour. In summer when the giuoco
del calcio, a traditional game of football, is played here, the
magnificence of the square is increased rather than lessened.
A colourful crowd of citizens, soldiers, trumpeters, and knights
on horseback, all in medieval costumes, decorates the scene.
Rows of bright flags hang along the house fronts, and the
Loggia de' Lanzi displays its priceless tapestries. In the evening
the Piazza shimmers in the warm golden light of hundreds of
torches which light up the Palazzo Vecchio and waken
the surrounding statues to mysterious life.

High up in the tower where Cosimo, father of his country,

was once a prisoner and where Savonarola awaited execution,
is the 'Vacca', the great bell whose voice calls the citizens
together on important occasions. At the base of the statue of
Cosimo I peasants from the surrounding countryside hold their
corn market. In olden times, during the winter, they wore ample
orange coats and carried big green umbrellas when it rained.

In front of the Palazzo Vecchio Donatello's proud lion

il Marzocco bears a crimson lily, the heraldic emblem of the
town.
Half fortress, half palace, the Palazzo della Si,enoria symbolizes
both the power and the fears of the nobles who ruled the city.

12
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The Florentines have a keen sense of humour. They soon found

a nickname for this Neptune: il Biancone. the big white thing. y.

13
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A cool drink of water at Ammanati's fountain makes these

horses whinny with delight.

Lengthy arguments were devoted to finding a likely site for

The choice was left finally to
Michelangelo's statue of David.
the sculptor himself, who chose this spot where Donatello's
Judith previously stood.

16
 >

On leaving the great square and entering the narrow courtyard

with its high surrounding walls. Verrocchio's Cupid appears,
beautifully poised. Upstairs is the Salone del Cinquecento, the
hall where the Signoria held its meetings, also the apartments
of Pope Leo X, of Cosimo I and his wife Eleonora of Toledo.

The name of Palazzo Vecchio the old palace was only
given to this building after Cosimo had moved into the recently
acquired Palazzo Pitti.

J7
 ^

Orcagna built this loggia in the 14th century to be used for

proclamations, the promulgation of decrees, and other solemn
ceremonies. The loggia also served as a protection against rain,
a purpose which it still fulfils today. At a later date Cosimo's
personal bodyguard, the Swiss Lansquenets, were quartered here
and gave the edifice its name: Loggia de' Lanzi.

18
Here it is possible to sit quietly, either on the rim of the foun-
tain, in the shady loggia, or at one of the tables in the cafe
opposite, and enjoy in comfort the panorama of the piazza in all

its aspects and from ever)' angle.

19
TODAY IS THE SATURDAY BEFORE EASTER, THE
Sabato Santo. There ismuch activity in the square outside the
cathedral, the Piazza del Duomo, where thousands of peasants,
soldiers, townsfolk, and tourists have congregated. The space
between the cathedral steps and the Battistero has been kept
clear except for a high black cart, strangely decorated. Ghiberti's
golden doors are open as are the great central doors of the

Duomo. A rope stretches from the high altar to the cart outside.

On the stroke of noon a mechanical dove will be sent along this

rope to light the fireworks festooned on the cart and then

return to the altar.
The scene is set. The crowd waits in tense expectation to see
if everything will go well. If the symbolic dove completes its

voyage safely the omens are good. If it fails, then the harvest
will be a bad one and hard times will be in store for everybody.

Suddenly the dove comes flying along, lights the fireworks, and
disappears back into the church. The noise of exploding gun-
powder mingles with the joyful pealing of the bells in Giotto's
Campanile that had been silent since Maundy Thursday and now
ring in Easter. Once the last smouldering remnants are
extinguished the cart is drawn away by four white oxen, flower
bedecked, with gilded hoofs and horns sparkling in the sunshine.
Then the crowd goes home rapidly, happy that everything went
off so well. The golden doors close, and the piazza reverts to
everyday appearance: the Scoppio del Carro is over.

Giotto's delicately coloured Campanile, like many church towers

in Italy, stands apart from the Duomo. Despite many differ-
ences in style tower, cathedral, and Battistero form a harmonious
architectural whole.

20
The Duomo with its springing lines and vast inert bulk seems
to link the hills in the background with the houses that cluster

around it.

22
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Lit by the blazing sun the Battistero's blend of vigorous Roman-

esque architecture and subtly balanced geometrical decorations
in white and green marble is a vision at once abstract and noble.

23
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s

Times and men changed, ceremonial remained. The Duomo

became the background to the struggle between secular and
spiritual power. It was in this cathedral that Savonarola delivered

his dreaded sermons.

24
Traffic along the Piazza del Duomo becomes increasingly busy;
there are more cars, more buses and motor-scooters. The
traditional cabs, the carrozze or carrozzelh. refuse, however, to
be crowded out.

25
!

c>-
Little is known about the building of the Battistero. The remains
of a temple to Mars, eight-sided in order to allow the god of
War to stretch his arms in all directions, are believed to have
been used as foundations during the nth century. During the
13th century the exterior of the Battistero was faced with white
and green marble, and the interior of the dome inlaid with
mosaics. The famous doors in the three porches of the Battistero
date from the 13th and 14th centuries. The south door was the

28
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work of Pisano, the east and north doors were wrought by

Ghiberti the Annunciation shown here comes from the latter.

After the war, when Ghiberti's glorious doors were cleaned and
restored to their place, on the feast of Saint John patron saint
of the town the Florentines wept for joy. Now they could
once again look at these doors every day, and enjoy the knowl-
edge that they were wrought in gold and not in bronze.

29
WHEN THE FIRST MEDICI LEFT THEIR BIRTHPLACE,
Mugello, in about noo to try their fortunes here, Florence was
already a powerful and wealthy republic. The newcomers made
good, for within a hundred years several members of the Medici
family had become leading merchants or occupied important
public positions. Despite the strong opposition of other powerful
families such as the Albizzi, the Pazzi, and the Strozzi, the Medici
succeeded in eventually supplanting all their rivals.

Giovanni de' Bicci, born in 1360, inaugurated the long line of

famous and sometimes infamous names. Through his son Cosimo,
known as the father of his country, and Lorenzo the Magnifico
it led to Alessandro and Cosimo I, duke of Tuscany, right up to
Cosimo III and his daughter Anna Maria Ludovica, last of the
Medici, who died in 1743. Neither before nor after the Medici has
any family ever set its mark so lastingly on a town. Almost every
palace, all the coats of arms on the walls, every picture in the
museums, and each piece of sculpture bear witness to the ambition
and will-power, the tastes and the loves of the Medici. This family
exerted a strong political as well as cultural influence on the
history of Europe, and, above all, it rendered invaluable services
as patron and protector of art and science.

Opposite page: Lorenzo /'/

Magnifico, surrounded by three mem-
bers of the Sassetti family (detail of a fresco by Ghirlandaio in the
Sassetti Chapel, in the Church of Santa Trinita).

30
31
Set at an angle behind the Medici's palace lies San Lorenzo,
which became their private church. Brunelleschi, the architect,
broke away from Gothic architectural tradition and based his
work on classical principles. Thus the Renaissance was born and
with it a new era began: the Quattrocento or 15th century.

32
By what might be described as the irony of fate, the grave of
the most famous offspring of the Medici dynasty, Lorenzo the
Magnificent, is today unknown and no monument was ever
raised to his memory. The place chosen for it by Michelangelo
is now occupied by his melancholy Madonna.
33
1 1 i
'
In 1 5 15 the Medici Pope Leo X visited Florence and decided to
complete the family church. A number of artists, including
Raphael and Michelangelo, were invited to submit plans for the
unfinished facade. Michelangelo's design was chosen and he
was sent to order the necessary marble from the quarries at
Carrara. The Pope's lack of funds, however, prevented the com-
pletion of this task, and up to the present day the facade has
remained unfinished.

35
Cosimo de' Medici, afraid of arousing too much envy, prudently
rejected Brunelleschi's great plans for a new palace. Deeply
angered by such a decision Brunelleschi tore up his plans and
Michelozzo Michelozzi was entrusted with the work. The build-
ing of the palace went on from 1430 to 1440, and the Medici
lived in it until 1540; later it passed to the Ricardi family.

36
 !

At important functions and on special occasions, the Carabinieri

the State police
wear their romantic traditional uniforms.

How handsome they look in our eyes and to be frank in
their own as well

37
IN 1333, AFTER FLOODS HAD PARTLY DESTROYED
the existing bridge, Taddeo Gaddi built the Ponte Vecchio in
its present form. The gallery running along the east side of the
bridge was built by Vasari in 1564 on the occasion of the
wedding of Francesco de' Medici and Johanna of Austria. It
stretches from the Uffizi Palace to the Pitti Palace and was
apparently intended to be a picture gallery. It is certain that it

was used in troubled times to avoid the street and enable armed
forces to be transferred across the river unseen.
The Ponte Vecchio may certainly be called the most frequently
crossed bridge in Florence. There is no visitor or inhabitant
for that matter who does not enjoy walking across the bridge
from Por S. Maria or returning from the Palazzo Pitti through
the Via Giucciardini. On the bridge are to be found the jewellers'
tiny shops, twenty-two on either side. Some are filled to over-
flowing with silver trinkets, inlaid work, semi-precious stones,
and red coral; other shops display the finest examples of the
work of Florence's famed gold- and silversmiths. Occupying the
place of honour in the very middle of the bridge is the statue of
one of their greatest predecessors: the master craftsman, artist,
and adventurer, Benvenuto Cellini.

At night the Ponte Vecchio no longer looks like a bridge: it

becomes just another little street!

38
 ".-

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,f1

I
In the evening you can find a cooling breeze on the banks of the

40
Arno or in the Cascine gardens, where fireflies light the paths.
4i
Outside the town, along the country lanes which are narrow
and steep between stone walls, donkey carts are the best means
of transportation. What did this Tuscan peasant bring into town
this morning? Panniers full of eggs and vegetables, or hand-
pressed olive oil in earthenware jars?

42
The Ponte Vecchio is the only bridge not destroyed by the
Germans during the last war. At its western end some old houses
were damaged but the bridge itself was untouched. In olden
times the shops that lined the bridge were occupied by butchers
but Cosimo I disliked the smell of raw meat, and moreover
preferred his daughter-in-law. Johanna of Austria, to have a
vista of jewels and gold, and therefore ordered the shops to be
rented only to jewellers.

43
-
The arched doorways or portone of the houses, borrowed from
the more formal architecture of the palaces, are a characteristic
feature of the town.

45


In Signa, west of Florence, all the year round the women,

shopping or gossiping ceaselessly, plait the straw and raffia braid
from which bags, slippers, and cases are made. This is a thriving
local industry which supplies many of the innumerable souvenirs
sold in the New
Market the Mercato Nuovo. Of course,
Florentine leather goods and the embroidered linens and cottons
for which the Italians are famed can also be found here. A bronze
pig il Porcellhw keeps watch over all these treasures.

46
If you have trudged from cafe to cafe the whole day long, trying
to sell a few postcards to the idlers sitting at the tables,one of
the broad stone benches along a palace wall is just the right

place to rest a while.

47


EVERY DAY. ON THE STROKE OF NOON, THE SOUND

of a cannon booms out over the town. The pigeons in the Piazza
San Marco never fail to flutter upwards in alarm, while the
people in the streets automatically glance at their watches and
set them right if necessary. Students stream out of University or
schools to drink a cup of espresso coffee at the bar on the corner.
Others jump on their motor-scooters and rattle noisily away into
the Via Cavour, their girl friends perched astride the pillion
seats. From the intensely blue sky the sun pitilessly pours its heat
over the town. An occasional cloud softens the ail-too glaring
where pedestrians have long since chosen to
light in the streets
walk on the shady side. Wide, overhanging eaves prevent
sunshine and light from penetrating too far into the narrow
side streets where the coolness is pleasant. Housewives hurry
about their last-minute shopping before closing time. Undaunted
by the fierce glare visitors emerge from the museums. School
children, hugging their leather-strapped books under their arms,
join the crowds waiting at the tram stops. Offices disgorge their
streams of employees into the streets that are suddenly crowded
and noisy.All hurry homewards, impatient for their pranzo,
their midday meal, and for the ensuing siesta.
Once the sun has reached its zenith the streets are deserted
again; only the restaurants and small trattorias are full of
movement and life. Customers enjoy the minestrone or thick
soup, and the roast lamb) agnello alia Fiorentina and relax
over a glass of good wine after all the stress of the morning.

In the middle of the Piazza Donatello there is a quiet garden

the English churchyard where Elizabeth Barrett Browning was
laid to rest.

48
One of the first Foundling Homes in the world can be found
in the Piazza SS. Annunziata. In the ten medallions on the top
of its pillars Andrea della Robbia portrayed the foundlings in
their swaddling clothes, the so-called 'swaddled babes', who open
their little arms in welcome to the newcomer.

5
 \

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The church of Santa Maria Novella has several large and smaller
cloisters. The Green Cloister Chiostro Verde
is by far the

most impressive. Itcontains the pride of theDominican monks:

the Spanish Chapel, upon whose walls Andrea da Firenze, in
about 1340, painted 'the Church Militant and Triumphant'.

Ghirlandaio painted wonderful frescoes in the choir, representing

the lives of the Virgin Mar)' and of John the Baptist. A number

52
of members of leading Florentine families served as models for
these paintings.

The Or San Michele, originally a covered market, later became

the church of the powerful guilds. Fourteen statues for the
fourteen niches in the facade were commissioned from great
Florentine sculptors such as Nanni, Donatello, and Verrocchio.
The interior, sparsely lit by small stained-glass windows, is

53


dominated by the splendour of a lovely medieval tabernacle

Orcagna's masterpiece.
 Vi rt

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The Palazzo Strozzi, the most beautiful palace in the whole town.

55
The Piazza della Repubblica is where all the tourists meet to
relax after shopping and sightseeing. After the Piazza S. Marco
in Venice this is certainly the most cosmopolitan spot in Italy.

Its espresso coffee is delicious, but if you are looking for

something really cool and refreshing order a granita con panna
or a semifreddo.

56
 mm "**
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On arrival it is at once apparent that Florence has an eternally

youthful soul: the railway station is built in the most modern
and functional of present-day styles.

57
'And it was only then . . . that I began first to comprehend the
strangeness of this city, which, passing itself off as one of many
European cities, is yet in its being as remote from them as would
be medieval Timbuctoo or Aleppo. In the palaces and churches,
there is an unexpected tilt to every roof, an unexpected angle to
every wall, especially to be noticed in the earlier buildings the
edifices of striped and chequered marble are in their
surroundings as exotic as would be giraffe or okapi. The uni-
versality of the Renaissance itself never succeeded in banishing
this alien element that accompanied the inheritance of Etruscan
blood; for who knows, even today, the ancestry of that mysterious
race, or whence came the originals of those enigmatic effigies
that can be seen reclining on their funerary urns in rock-
still

sepulchre and museum?

figures with slanting eyebrows and
brooding, incalculable smiles: characteristics to be repeated over
and over again, many hundreds of years later, in the Florentine
pictures, and to be observed to this day . .
.' (Osbert Sirwell, Great
Morning. Little, Brown and Company. Atlantic Monthly Press)
 *>mi

1 1

[TR

A scooter, a trattoria, men standing idly on the street corners

or lounging in doorways unmistakable characteristics of an
Italian town.

The everyday life of the market place is less easily seen by

visitors but is none the less vivid. It is a busy scene, enacted
principally during the cool morning hours. Out of doors under
60
long, overhanging shelters, or indoors in lofty-ceilinged halls, a
rich harvest is piled every day, brought from all parts of Italy.
According to the season the fruits are peaches, black and green
figs, grapes, apricots, kak'i. all carefully wrapped in big fig leaves.
Sweet chestnuts, artichokes, oranges, and lemons come from
Sicily. Elsewhere are ice-covered buckets full of fresh sardines,

anchovies, shrimps, and crabs from the blue Mediterranean,

or jars of wine from Chianti and Elba . . .

61
WHEN ANNA MARIA LUDOVICA, LAST OF THE
Medici, died she left all her property to the town, together with
her art treasures, on condition that these should never leave
Florence. The citizens must indeed be grateful for such a

bequest, for Anna Maria's legacy provided most of the contents

of their museums.
Italian museums are open on Sundays and entrance is free. Many
people, including the inhabitants, take advantage of this to walk
through the big rooms, holding their children by the hand and
telling them about the lives and struggles of the great masters
and how their works were born. There is no Florentine who
does not know it all.

Attracted by the fame of these treasures, thousands of visitors

come each year from all over the world to admire them, like the
thousands who preceded them and the thousands who will
follow. It is difficult to make a choice, there is so much of beauty
that can be seen in the space of one Sunday morning: in the
Galleria dell'Accademia there is Michelangelo's David, his
Slaves, struggling to free themselves; in the Duomo Museum,
della Robbia's fair youths sing their limpid songs to all who
care to listen; in the Uffizi, spring flowers blossom in Botticelli's
paintings. Elsewhere in ancient, dark rooms intricate machinery
bears witness to Leonardo da Vinci's invention and to the genius
of Galileo . . .

The Uffizi displays one of Italy's most important collections of

paintings, which is also of great interest to the world. It was
first started during the early part of the Medici's reign.

62
 r

63
 '.>'.,'

This authentic Greek statue was dug up in Rome and became

known under the name of its owners as the Medici Venus.
With the birth of the Renaissance, Man, the individual, came
into his own. On instructions from Giuliano and Lorenzo de'
65
Medici, who wished thus to honour the memory of Simonetta
Vespuccio, who died young, the youthful Botticelli was the
first to paint a picture with a worldly subject, The Birth of
Venus, and, shortly after, the Primavera (Spring).

Gentile da Fabriano expressed his deep emotion with touching

devotion in his picture, The Adoration of the Three Magi.

66
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Originally intended for the official residence of the Mayor or

Podesta, and therefore called Palazzo del Podesta, this building
became police headquarters in 1574 and changed its name
accordingly to the 'Bargello'. Prisoners sentenced to death were
executed in the inner court; something of the emotions and
stresses of those eventful days still seems to linger in this place.

68
The imposing rooms have a noble air and provide an
appropriate background to the displays of sculpture. An impress-
ive collection has been gathered here. There are works by Mino
da Fiesole, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Giambologna, to quote
only a few among so many masters. In his David Verrocchio
succeeded in blending form and spirit into a perfect whole,
personifying in his delicate figure the very essence of Florentine
youth.

69
In the monastery of San Marco, the branches of a great cedar
soften the glare of light in Michelozzo's whitewashed cloister.
On the walls of their cells inside the monastery Fra Angelica
painted his heavenly visions of Love and Faith for his fellow
monks.

70
Fra Angelico's The Day of Judgement (detail)

This painter was called // Beato Angel'ico the blessed and

angelic one. According to records he never took up his brush
without having prayed and never painted the Crucifixion without
tears streaming down his cheeks.

7i


In summer the cortile, or inner court, of the Palazzo Pitti

former royal palace and one of the foremost museums in the

town background for open-air concerts.

offers a picturesque
The fragrant scent of foliage fills the Boboli gardens behind the
Palace; the sky is starry, and during a lull in the music the
melodious splashing of the fountain fills the brief silence. Every
spring Florence also has its big music festival, the Maggto
Mus/cale, to which musicians come from every part of the world.

72
Special performances are given in the amphitheatre set in the
garden's slope.

The treasures of the Archaeological Museum are a reminder of

other great by-gone civilizations, Egyptian, Greek, or Etruscan,
or of the period when Fiesole was already a strong fortress,
although Florence itself did not as yet exist . . .

73
 !

NOT TO BE OUTDONE BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF

the new church of Santa Maria Novella for the Dominican friars.

the Franciscan monks decided to build a yet more impressive

place of worship and commissioned Arnolfo di Cambio, the
architect who later was to build the Duomo and the Palazzo
Vecchio. From the beginning the most famous artists, Taddi,
Giotto, Donatello, Desiderio da Settignano, and Benedetto da
Maiano, contributed to the church and to the fame which it

rightly acquired through the years.

The light the tall, narrow windows,
shines clearly through
lighting up the numerous chapels and the statues
frescoes in the
and tombs within their walls. The church of Santa Croce had
thus become the Pantheon of Italy, where her great sons were
laid to rest. Michelangelo's mortal remains, secretly transferred
from Rome, lie beside those of Nicolo Machiavelli, of Galileo
and of Giacomo Rossini. Dante has a mausoleum nearby.
Galilei,
On the six-hundredth anniversary of his birth Dante's statue
was unveiled in the beautiful square outside. Dante himself is

buried in Ravenna, where he lived and died after Florence to

its eternal had banished famous son
shame this

"I am Alpha and Omega Beginning and

the the End", saith
the Lord.' This is the inscription over the finely wrought iron
doors leading into Brunelleschi's cloister.

74
I
MHHBBHMHnHBHHi
Famous Florentine beauties such as Lucrezia Donati and Simo-
netta Vespucci were elected Queens of the tournaments and
jousts once held in the Piazza Santa Croce. Today the square
is left to the children, who are playing games there now.

76
One of the most beautiful of the creations of the Renaissance,
the Pazzi Chapel, was built by Brunelleschi. It stands in the
first inner court on a stone brought from the Holy
Sepulchre in
Jerusalem. The candles on the high altar in the Duomo are lit
on Easter Eve with fire struck from this stone.

77
On entering, you are welcomed by the tender majesty of
Rossellino's Madonna.

78
This wonderful grey space, which by its special lighting suggests
both simplicity and subtle fascination, has a reddish-brown floor
picked out with thousands of white marble tomb stones. At the
back you will find the tiny Bardi Chapel, where Giotto's frescoes
tell about the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.

79
 a*

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Desiderio certainly discovered the model for his charming Angel

in the same way . . .

8o
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... as we do, squatting near the entrance of an ancient palace.

In Florence the present is only one step from the past, and it is

only a step from the past to our present day.

81
w I
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IN OLTRARNO, ON THE LEFT BANK OF THE RIVER,
sunny spaces alternate with narrow dark streets, in which the
world-famous craftsmen, the artigiant, display the work of their
skilled hands in the little shops and workshops.
Here, in one of the wide squares called Piazza Santa Carmine, a
young man in 1428 painted the walls of a dark little chapel. His
master had started the work but was unable to finish it. As he
toiled, his face was pale and haggard. Although his real name

was Tomaso di Ser Giovanni his awkwardness and unkept

appearance earned him the nickname of Masaccio. He had no
time for keeping up appearances. Nervously, untiringly he
painted, wholly concentrated on hiswork and heedless of the
many visitors who came to look at his pictures. They were all
artists themselves who had heard about the unknown young

man who for the first time had dared to paint human beings
naked and true to nature. A painter, moreover, who by
experimenting with the laws of perspective and composition
which he had discovered himself, was able to inspire his figures
with awarm humanity such as no one had previously been able
to do. Quite suddenly one day the painter vanished from the town.
After a while people learned that these frescoes would never
now be finished for Masaccio had died, at the early age of
twenty-seven. Since then the Brancacci Chapel in the Church of
Santa Carmine has been a place of pilgrimage for all those who
understood the greatness of this innovator and were willing to
learn from him.

84
Uphill through the Costa S. Giorgio to the Piazzale Michelangelo.

85
Taking a Latin cross as his basic ground plan and using white
stucco and grey stone as his materials, Brunelleschi created this
cool and harmonious building: Santo Spirito, brightest
expression of Renaissance architecture.

86
In the spring the Easter bread sold in the Piazza Santa Carmine
is as tasty as the roasted chestnuts in the winter.

87
Towering high above the town and visible from far away, the
white and green facade of San Miniato al Monte shines in the
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rays of a late-afternoon sun, like a precious medieval jewelled

reliquary. The interior of this little Romanesque church is quite
exceptionally simple and beautiful. The decoration, already
seen on the facade, is worked out here with an unfailing sense
of rhythm in elaborate black-and-white. The choir screen, part
of the floor, and the pulpit this last richly and beautifully
carved are inlaid in black and white marble, showing an
Eastern influence.

90
The painted wooden ceiling, only colourful element in the whole
scene, is set with impressive mosaics. A mysterious light filters

through the transparent rectangular marble slabs beneath it.

9i
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The ever-varied, ethereal Tuscan landscape surrounding the

town has many gardens, each one lovelier than the other,
bringing restful peace and inspiration to many an artist past and
present.

92
On the surrounding hills noble families and rich patricians built
their big estates with splendid terraces and gardens. Here,
between cypress and lemon trees, they could enjoy the various
views over the town and the hills. Attracted by the mild climate
families from abroad, mainly English, have lone since formed
the habit of spending their winters here.

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From the Roman amphitheatre at Fiesole the landscape rolls
away to the Apennines in the north.

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"... We climbed up the steep way to Fiesole. The cypresses on

the hill rose like velvet spears, regular and decorative. The olives,

once so abundantly planted by Cosimo, subtly shimmer with

silvery lights and grey shadows against the soft blue sky.
'.
. . It is here that they live and work and are busy, are pious
and modest, loving man and nature, beasts and flowers, just as

San Francesco taught them to do.' (Louis Couperus)

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