I recently had the good fortune to see an intarsia artist at work in his workshop in the Oltrarno section of Florence. I am happy I got some good videos and photos of him and his work. Please enjoy!

Bottega: workshop.

Below is a piece of 19th century intarsia, created in an antique (Renaissance) style. Renato just had this piece on hand.

But I mean, really, is there such a thing? Walking down a new avenue in Florence recently with friends we spotted an open front door on a lovely old palace. Of course we entered and had a quick look. The exact address is Via Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi 21, Firenze.

A monumental staircase in the foyer.

Stone tracery,

The fresco paintings I would judge to be from the late 19th, early 20th century and there is one painting, seen above, that records a name and date! This is not always the case. Aldo Nanni, built this, in 1912 it says. At the bottom it says he was the architect.

The central female figure in the vault painting is adorned with a sash that carries Latin words which I can barely make out in my photograph, unfortunately. I can read “hosts hisser aeibus ___?__” which in English would say “goes of these homes __?__”. If I am ever lucky enough to go back there, I will take a better picture, but I think we get the point, it is a welcoming message.

Pride of place

In Latin is written “human labori, astern laus” which in English reads “Eternal praise to human labor.”

Written in Latin is “ubi labor” and “obi uber” which in English means “where there is labor, there is fruit.”

High over this simple but stunningly stone encased doorway is a fresco that provides the name of the painter and the year of its execution. Translated it reads: In the year 1912 Guido Nincheri was the painter.”

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/christmas-stained-glass

“The Art and Passion of Guido Nincheri,” a 2018 book by Mélanie Grondin,

An exhibit of Nincheri’s work, “From The Secular to The Sacred” at Montreal’s Château Dufresne museum 2023

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Born in 1885 to a wealthy textile merchant in Tuscany, and educated at Florence’s Academy of Fine Arts, Nincheri came to Montreal via Boston in 1914.

After blooming its little heart out for over a month, my camellia shrub with the medium pink blooms ended the cycle of blooming. And then one day I noticed another, brighter, bloom. Instead of the paler pink, the bloom was now this corally color! Gorgeous!

Thinking this might be the last bloom of the 2026 season, I decided to photograph it each day as it opened up.

It was a fun exercise and reveals such beauty in the natural process.

And when it was fully open, it was the much lighter pink of the earlier blooms!

And I have a 2nd camellia shrub that has very pale pink blossoms. It is still going strong, as you can see below!

And just for kicks; in my neighborhood there are many mature camellias, which foreshadow the size mine could eventually become! You’ll see what I mean!

And right in my lovely neighborhood! Mi piace!

What a lovely terrace! Che bella terrazzo!

And then there is a lovely young blooming tree on the walk I take almost daily along the Arno River. I couldn’t resist a few shots!

Welcome springtime! Benvenuta primavera!

There’s a very modest church I walk by at least 3 or 4 times a week. It is usually closed when I am ambling by. But on this beautiful spring day it was open and I availed myself, for the first time ever, I think. At least I can’t recall having visited it before. Anyway, the visit was well worth the time!

In the pictures below, you can get a sense for how modest this church is, compared to the many that I show on this site. But for me, that is a big part of it’s charm.

Over a few future posts I will be revealing the glories of the interior, which are much less modest than you might expect. But in this first post on the church, I will show you a few of the bulletins posted in the church, because I think it is always interesting to see what the church wants the parishioners to be aware of.

Above: Holy Week is coming. Very important for the church! The Holy Week services at Santa Croce are detailed in this modest parish church. Santa Croce, the very important Franciscan church, is quite nearby.

Alcoholic Anonymous. Yes, even in Italy it is an issue.

A market that provided its proceeds for the poor.

Confessions available in Italiano o inglese.

And finally, some historical info on the church itself.

From this we learn that the church is named for Saint Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, who stopped at this site in 393. A chapel for a convent of Benedictine nuns was built here as early as the 7th century, and the location of the church itself has been dated to the 11th century at least. This location was outside the first city walls of Florence, until the erection of the Arnolfo circle of walls dating to 1284-1310.

In 1230 a miracle allegedly occurred in the church. Frate Uguccione failed to dry the chalice after mass and the following day found that the wine had turned to blood. Sant’Ambrogio thus became a pilgrimage site; the miraculous liquid was placed in an ampulla and housed in a marble tabernacle made by Mino da Fiesole.

Renovations were made both inside and outside the church in the 15th, 17th and 18th centuries.

There are some very artistic/culturally significant burials within the church, including, Verrochio, Simone dell Pollaiolo called Cronaca, and Mino da Fiesole and others.

I’ll be back with more on this fine historic structure.

My good friend, Stuart Armstrong, sent me this lovely video he took this Easter morning in the town of Sori, in Liguria! I asked him if I could share it and he said “si, figurati!”

Che assolutamente bello!

Happy Easter!

These precious quail’s eggs, purchased at the market, are my Easter decorations this year! I adore them!

I won’t be smashing them and putting them on a bonnet, but I will look at them and smile!