The Adventures of Il Duomo, The Florence Cathedral, & Santa Maria del Fiore.
Surprise, it’s all the same thing.
Day Eight began with a 414 stair climb up Giotto’s Campanile (the bell tower of the Florence Cathedral) to find a blinding fog that allowed me to see as far as the intricate design on the Florence Cathedral (Il Duomo) and the Baptistry of San Giovanni.
Following this climb, we made our way over to the Baptistry of San Giovanni. My favorite work associated with the Baptistry is Gates of Paradise (1425-1452) by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Ghiberti was granted the opportunity to complete his first set of doors (the North Doors) after winning the Sacrifice of Isaac panel competition with his greatest competitor being Filippo Brunelleschi. The Gates of Paradise are found to the East of the Baptistry and were coined their name from Michelangelo himself due to their striking golden beauty. A replica of the doors are currently found on the Baptistry; however, the following picture features the real doors found in Museo dell' Opera del Duomo.
After the Baptistry, we waited in line to visit Santa Maria del Fiore (The Florence Cathedral) for over an hour. After heading inside Il Duomo, I had flashbacks to the Colosseum in which almost everything was roped off with the expection of the ceiling of Brunelleschi’s Dome. This beautiful painted ceiling is credited to Giorgio Vasari. Featuring The Last Judgement scene, Vasari’s ceiling compliments Brunelleschi’s dome and lantern very well.
Our next stop was at Museo dell' Opera del Duomo, the accompanying museum to the Florence Cathedral. My favorite piece from this Museum was a rather small marble statue of Santa Reparata (14th century) by Andrea Pisano. This piece was placed in the same room as Donatello’s Mary Magdalene and I feel as if it is extremely easy to look over it; however, the realistic beauty that shines through this piece truly made me stop and stare. Pisano’s expertise with intricate design allowed for the illustration of motion through the clothing of Santa Reparata. Her face seems to be telling a story with just one expression. I am not sure why a statue that is about one foot tall pulled so much emotion out of me, but I really do enjoy this piece.
Our final stop was at Santa Maria Novella. This massive cathedral offered so many wonderful works that it is extremely hard for me to pick my favorite; however, when looming through my pictures to write this post, I stumbled upon what is now ome of my favorite pieces I have seen since coming to Italy. Pictured below is Last Supper (1560) by Plautilla Nelli. This oil on canvas Last Supper was in the Refectory of Santa Maria Novella, but was not moved there from its original location of the Convent of S. Caterina da Siena in 1870 after the supression of religious orders by Napoleon. The difference in this Last Supper scene from those in my post yesterday? This one was completed by a woman. Praised by Vasari in the second edition of Lives of the Artists, Plautilla Nelli ran a workshop of artists through her convent amd created this piece. Although it is not well known, I believe it definitely should be. This piece is signed by Plautilla Nelli and a saying of “pray for the paintress" was place in the upper left hand corner.
Today was a good day. I enjoyed each part of today and even powered through all 414 steps of the Campanile, rewarding myself with Italian McDonalds for lunch.
