On many, many street corners in Florence you will encounter an early mode of “street art.” Of course, they are religious. Most art from these periods was religious.
I love seeing them all over the city, these combinations of painting and sculpture:
Month: December 2019
Procacci, Florence
Right in the heart of Florence, on its famed Via Tornabuoni, sits Procacci, one of the city’s oldest delicatessens and a lovely meeting place. The decor maintains its vintatge appeal. Procacci was founded in 1885, and quickly became acclaimed among Florentines, especially for its culinary specialties with truffles and its famous sandwiches.
It’s a heavenly little spot for a prosecco of an afternoon, with a truffle sandwich on specially made, fluffy buns. What a treat!
Patrizia, one of my favorite Florentines!
Pietro Tacca’s fountains in Piazza della Santa Annunziata, Florence
Here’s an eerie image taken in Florence on a stormy day.
I love this sculpture and its matching partner created by Pietro Tacca (1577-1640) and now installed in this major piazza in the center of Florence.
Tacca was born in Carrara; he joined Giambologna’s Florentine atelier in 1592. Tacca took over the workshop of his master upon the elder sculptor’s death in 1608. He finished a number of Giambologna’s incomplete projects and succeeded him almost immediately as the court sculptor to the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
These bronze fountains were originally destined for Livorno. Fortunately for Florence, they were installed here instead. Created in the Mannerist style, Tacca was inspired by Flemish goldsmith’s work, from which he borrowed the grotesque masks and shellwork textures.
In the center of this grand piazza stands this equestrian statue:
It is Giambologna’s equestrian bronze of Ferdinando I de’ Medici (Grand Duke of Tuscany), which was completed by his student and assistant, Tacca.
Tacca also contributed the bas-relief panels on the base for Giambologna’s equestrian statue of Cosimo de’ Medici in the Piazza della Signoria.
Telling time and other things: the Palazzo Medici
A quick visit on a winter’s Sunday afternoon; what could be better? Not much, to me.
Strolling through a few galleries, I noticed this timepiece on the wall. A way to time an hour, I suspect?
Milan, random beauty shots, December 2019
I got to enjoy a few days in Milan this week and here are some random pictures of things that caught my eye. Some are just fun, some are quite lovely!
Milan has a lot of stunning architecture:
Italy has an endless kaleidoscope of decorative iron work:
I was happy to learn that Santa really exists!
Aww….Merry Christmas!
Hello, Leo! Everyone is celebrating the 500th anniversary of your death this year! Gone but not forgotten.
In Milan, college graduates wear the corona too. Auguri, young scholar!
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, you are ever so lovely:
My vote for prettiest antique bakery goes to Pasticceria Marchesi, founded in 1824. I love anything from this shop (and I think there is a little something something from here under my tree at home?).
Piazza del Duomo:
Other places:
T’is the season:
From the grand train station, one of the most impressive in the world:
An 18th-century Neapolitan creche scene
The one below is in Milan, in the Sforza Castle collection. It’s about 4 feet tall and very impressive!
Fashion in 1952
Lisa Fonssagrives by Richard Rutledge 1952
Christmas time in Milan
On a recent trip to Milan to visit some museums (I avoid them during the high season, as I like to enjoy my art without crowds), I enjoyed many random bits of holiday time throughout the city.
Milan is apparently planning on having a super Christmas this year:
I enjoyed the following billboard that reassures us that Father Christmas is real (at least if you have an iPhone 11 with Iliad):
The famous pastry shop, Marchesi, founded in 1824, has wonderful windows:
The Marchesi building is a quaint affair on a major thoroughfare.
Scenes like the one below are fun to spot throughout the city:
And the warm glow from an old-style paper store on a cold winter evening is a lovely sight:
I visit a lot of churches (looking for art), and while most have a creche scene, very few are decorated like this one in Milan. It is Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church attached to the convent rectory with that famous scene of a last supper….
And, on the train ride home from Milan, I saw snow! The first I’ve seen this year!
A Florentine wonder of wonders, the Medici Chapel
A brief visit to this glorious space on Sunday afternoon meant a few more quick pictures. I always see some new detail to enchant me, when gazing at this masterpiece!
Leave a trail
Japanese proverb:
Let us not follow where the path may lead.
Let us go instead where there is no path
and, leave a trail.
get back, lauretta! 
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