Recently I had the opportunity to experience a beautiful concert of organ music, such as I had never heard before. The musical program was written to show off the wide range of sounds this particular organ can emit, and it was as surprising to me as it was enjoyable.

Not to mention the opportunity to sit for an hour or so, serenaded, in a magnificent Renaissance church in Florence, and the chance to study slowly and with purpose, many of the architectural details that are so easily missed on a visit.

Here is the program for the evening.

How did this opportunity come to be? The Friends of Florence are again to thank.

The historic Tronci organ inside the Basilica of Santo Spirito in Florence sounds again after more than six decades of silence, following a complex restoration made possible by the support of the non-profit foundation Friends of Florence.

The instrument and its decorative structure — including the carved wooden choir loft (cantoria) and case — were formally presented on 23 April 2026, after an intervention carried out under the supervision of Italy’s heritage authority. 

The project involved both the musical instrument and its elaborate decorative setting, restoring not only the physical integrity of the structure but also its original function within the church. The organ, rebuilt in 1824 by the Tronci family of organ makers and later expanded in the 19th century, is a large Romantic-era instrument with 68 keys and 38 stops, designed to reproduce orchestral sounds ranging from trumpets to clarinets and bells. 

Restoration works were carried out by the firm Chichi Organi for the instrument itself, while the decorative elements were restored by a team led by conservator Sandra Pucci. 

Beyond technical repairs, the intervention also revealed the original appearance of the wooden choir loft. Layers of later grey paint were removed, bringing back the walnut surface and gilded details, and restoring the overall aesthetic coherence of the structure. 

The restoration highlights once again the role of Friends of Florence, a US-based foundation that funds conservation projects across the city’s cultural heritage. In Santo Spirito alone, the organization has supported multiple interventions over the years, including works in the sacristy, major altarpieces and sculptures. With the organ project, the foundation has contributed not only to preserving an artwork, but also to reactivating a key element of the basilica’s liturgical and cultural life. 

More broadly, the project reflects the foundation’s approach: combining conservation with public accessibility and long-term use, ensuring that restored works remain part of the living fabric of the city rather than static museum pieces.

Once upon a recent time, I went to Rome to visit a friend.

He took me on a wild ride, starting with the fabulous Palazzo Barberini! Here are the best of my pix from that visit.

Just a modest ceiling fresco to start the visit! Look for the bee, the symbol of the Barberini family, throughout the palace!

Bees, bees, bees!

Above is the lovely man who took me on the wild ride and showed me many familiar and unfamiliar spots all around Rome. He is an enthusiastic, energetic, and most excellent guide and it is my good fortune to have found him!

But let’s focus on the artistic highlights from that day!

As always, I love looking at masterpieces of Italian art, and I most enjoy finding the everyday details from the period that the paintings so often transmit to us, 600 years after they were painted. For example, look at the gorgeous bed, with the hanging curtains and the incredible bedspread. Even the pillows look modern. I wonder if they used the hardest soft version of the pillow like one still finds in Italy today. Probably. Pillows have come a long way from that uncomfortable genre!

Also, look at the detailed feathers in the wings of Gabriel, the angel whose job it is to tell the Virgin she is going to give birth to the Son of God. No small feat. If you were going to imagine feathers on a human-type angel, how would you begin?

Look at the thin, elegant, transparent scarf that wraps around Mary’s wrist and leads the eye down to Gabriel’s hand, which holds the stem of the lily that symbolizes Mary’s virginity and leads the eye back up to the top of the painting. We are in the hands of a master here, without a doubt. Just portraying such a delicate object at all is astounding. But then to use it as a compositional element!

Gabriel’s corona, or crown, is composed of blossoms of pale pink roses arranged in a concentric shape. The forms of the flowers echo his curled hairstyle.

Best of all, at least for me, is the quotidian detail of 2 servants on the far right side. One is ascending and one descending the almost hidden stairway. Their movement and the gestures of their hands convey a sense of excitement from this quintessential moment from the story of Christ. Of course the 2 donors who presumably commissioned the painting are portrayed below, kneeling; but they interest me less than the other details.

Next: the so-called Tarquinia Madonna, also by Fra Filippo Lippi.

Again, it is the details that capture my attention. Her rings!

Her scarf! His gesture!

Her prayer book and jewelry type bookmarks! Below: the artist assigned the date of the painting.

There is much much more to show you in upcoming posts!

Alla prossima!

According to Giuseppe Verdi and as found on the back of an espresso machine in Montecatini!

The guy in the yellow shirt is wearing the corona, or crown of laurel leaves, that is worn to celebrate a recent college graduation.

What a gorgeous sentiment!

In Palazzo Barberini in Rome there exists an incredible marble stairway.

Above: not a great picture but in the simple Doric columns there are the Barberini bees.🐝

🐝 back soon with part 3 of this visit. Too cute? Be back soon.

The social season in Florence is in high gear and there is something marvelous to attend sometimes several times a week! Last evening New York University’s satellite campus in Florence, which is incredibly housed within the Villa La Pietra just outside the city, held an event showcasing some efforts by current undergraduates. My friends and I went, not so much to hear the undergraduate students speak, as to experience the surroundings. And the villa and its gardens did not let us down! I’ve been there before, but had forgotten the magnitude!

Below is a view of the villa itself from the interior garden side. I mean, wow!

Can you hear the crunch of the gravel as I walk along taking pictures?

But our evening actually began inside the villa and the next few photos will show you our evening as it unfolded. I did my best to capture the interiors into which we were allowed (it is a tightly guarded facility) and the few photos of the grounds outside the windows that I was able to take.

I am a mah jong aficionado and so, apparently, were the children who lived at the villa back in the day. This is in the so-called “children’s room.”

Finally I was able to get to a window and shoot some exteriors! It was a gorgeous evening and I just wanted to be outside not inside listening to some lucky but silly undergraduates.

Can you spell: manicured?!! Ha!

Back inside we continued.

More shots out windows:

Eventually the talks ended and we found our way outside where I was thrilled to wander for a while and shoot these photos and videos! Enjoy the visit from wherever you are in the world!

Glorious and opulent, no?! There’s more I want to show you, a 2nd post coming soon with photos taken at the golden hour.

In Villa Ada, I found peace and tranquility on a beautiful Roman morning in May!

I love looking at the leaves, and seeing the new, lighter green ones reaching for the sun!

Happily walking with a friend through the Barberini Palace in Rome recently, I fell in love with his massive Murano glass chandelier. I love the emerald green accents to the clear glass.