Florence: Great City of the Renaissance - Italy - page 126

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work is his Annunciation and a fresco of the life of Jesus painted not on one giant
wall but, scene by scene, on the individual walls of small monks' cells that honey-
comb the second floor. The idea was that these scenes, painted by Fra Angelico
and his assistants, would aid in the monks' prayer and contemplation; the paint-
ings are entrancing (especially in cells 1, 3, and 9). The final cell on the corridor
belonged to the fundamentalist monk Savanarola, who briefly incited the popu-
lace of the most art-filled city in the world to burn paintings, illuminated manu-
scripts, and anything else he felt was a worldly betrayal of Jesus' ideals. Ultimately,
he ran afoul of the Pope and was hanged and burned at the stake. You'll see his
notebooks, rosary, and what's left of the clothes he wore that day in his cell.
THE OLTRARNO DISTRICT
Don't try to visit the Pitti Palace

5

(Piazza Pitta, a few blocks south of the Ponte
Vecchio; % 055-2388614; www.firenzemusei.it; cumulative ticket € 11; see below
for hours) and the Uffizi on the same day. Both are astoundingly, almost exhaus-
tively, rich museums, the Pitti offering up the largest and best collections of paint-
ings by Raphael in the world. And no gallery comes closer to Mark Twain's
description of “weary miles” in Innocents Abroad than the 26 art-crammed rooms
of the Pitti's Galleria Palatina (separate admission € 6.50, € 8.50 in summer;
Tues-Sun 8:15am-6:50pm). Paintings are displayed like cars in a parking garage,
stacked on walls above each other in what the museum explains is the
“Enlightenment” method of exhibition. Rooms are alternately dimly lit, or gar-
ishly bright; rugs are mildewed, restoration projects endless. And the high admis-
sion fees are unspeakably vulgar (just my own opinion; many visitors to the Pitti
also go the Palatina on the Pitti's first floor).
And like when touring Roman ruins, visitors will find important historical
treasures amid the Palatina's haphazard collection. Some of the best efforts of
Titian, Raphael, and Rubens line the walls. Raphael's Portrait of a Young Woman
and Madonna with Child are a couple of my favorites, along with Fra Bartolomeo's
dramatically colored Pietà. (I also think Caravaggio's creepy Sleeping Cupid recalls
that weird dancing computer baby of the '90s.) You'll also see wonderful exam-
ples of the Northern European Flemish style of art, such as the intricate Cardinal
Bentivoglio by van Dyck. Titian's 1536 painting of the demure La Bella is a good
example of a proper Italian noblewoman. But if you want to see the other side of
this young lady, check out the Venus of Urbino painting in the Uffizi, where the
same model lies provocatively naked.
The Galleria D'Arte Moderna ( % 055-2388601; € 5 or as part of cumulative
ticket; Tues-Sat 8:15am-1:50pm, also some Sun and Mon), also within the Pitti
Palace, actually has a pretty good collection of 19th-century Italian paintings
with a focus on Impressionism. But if you have limited time, a visit here really
shouldn't take precedence over the Renaissance treasures of Florence.
If you want to get a feeling for the conspicuous consumption of the Medicis
and their ilk, visit the Pitti Palace's Apartamenti Reali ( % 055-2388614;
Tues-Sun 8:15am-3:50pm), where you can see some notable paintings in their
original ostentatious setting. The Galleria Del Costume & Museo Degli Argenti
( % 055-2388709; € 4; hours are the same as those for Galleria D'Arte Moderna)
shows that wealth and taste do not always go hand in hand (be sure to spend some