Nov 8 Day 35 Still Such a Tourist in Florence

The rain subsided a bit, long enough for some church and museum-hopping.  I really know how to party.

I started with Santo Spirito, a lovely 15th C church on the inside, but plain boring on the outside.  Apparently Brunelleschi planned a facade, but it was never built.  There are a number of famous paintings along the 38 chapels (that seems like a lot of chapels for one church), and the design of the church is grand.

Afterwards, I went to the Brancacci Chapel, in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine - where you are required to make advance reservations before going (and I called all morning to no avail, but they still let me in when I showed up). The altar is surrounded by amazing frescoes by some of the greatest Renaissance artists - Massaccio, Masolino by Panicale, and Lippi.
Many of the frescoes are about St. Peter but there are also a couple of Adam & Eve.

There is restoration work on the dome of the famous Duomo right now, so no visitors are allowed.

I liked this view, being able to capture the cathedral, dome, and bell tower.  The bells ring every 30 minutes and are loud and happy.







Since I could not go into the dome, I went to the Duomo Museum and saw Michelangelo's famous Pieta, which is really beautiful.  Story has it that Michelangelo was angry that the marble was not perfect, so he broke the arm - and it was later repaired by another artist.  This sculpture is unfinished, but still wonderful.  It was in the courtyard of this Museum that Michelangelo carved his famous "David."

The Museum also has this lovely Madonna con Bambino, also by Michelangelo.

I also visited Michelangelo's childhood home, which has a few of his sculptures, and it was fun to think about him as a little boy, drawing on the walls and having to sit in "time out."

This is the tomb of Michelangelo, at the famous Basilica di Santa Croce.  Galileo's tomb is also here, are are monuments to Machiavelli and Dante, as well as others.   Donatello's beautiful relief of the Annunciation also stands out.

Naturally I did a bit more shopping, both inside and out, and found this great wedding gown that we should have known about before Emily's wedding - complete with a fun hat!