Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Interior
After the visual wham-bam of the facade, the sparse decoration of the
duomo
's vast in-
terior - 155m long and 90m wide - is a surprise. Most of its artistic treasures have been
removed and those that remain are unexpectedly secular, reflecting the fact that the
duomo
was built with public funds as a
chiesa di stato
(state church).
Clock
Upon entering the
duomo,
look up high to see its giant painted clock. One of the first mo-
numental clocks in Europe, it notably turns in an anticlockwise direction, counts in 24
hours starting at the bottom and begins the first hour of the day at sunset. The clock was
painted by Florentine Paolo Ucello between 1440 and 1443.
Funerary Monument to Sir John Harkwood
Ucello painted one of the monumental equestrian frescos on the wall in the left aisle. Its
subject, English military leader Sir John Halkwood, (1320-94) led Florentine troops to
victory against Pisa in the Battle of Cascina (1364).
Dante's Divine Comedy
Near the dome ticket window (left aisle) hangs
La Commedia Illumina Firenze
(1465) by
Domenico di Michelino. It depicts poet Dante Alighieri surrounded by the three afterlife
worlds he describes in the
Divine Comedy:
purgatory is behind him, his right-hand points
towards hell, and the city of Florence is paradise.
Mass Sacristy
Between the left arm of the transept and the apse is the
Sagrestia delle Messe
(Mass Sac-
risty). Its panelling is a marvel of inlaid wood carved by Benedetto and Giuliano da Mai-
ano, and the fine bronze doors were executed by Luca della Robbia - his only known
work in bronze. Above the doorway is his glazed terracotta
Resurrezione
(Resurrection).
Dome
When Michelangelo went to work on St Peter's in Rome, he reportedly said: 'I go to
build a greater dome, but not a fairer one', referring to the huge but graceful terracotta-
brick
dome
(combined ticket to dome, baptistry, campanile, crypt and museum adult/child under 14 €10/free;
