Following the recent reopening of this Franciscan basilica, I continue with my first visit of the church (for parts 1, 2 and 3 see here). We begin here at the east end of the basilica, in the chapels to the right of the Peruzzi Chapel:
Below is a major reliquary. I find this aspect of the Roman Catholic Church so strange.
Looking west from the eastern wall, I see this neoclassical tomb.
Castellani Chapel by Agnolo Gaddi and his workshop:
Following the recent reopening of Florence’s major Franciscan basilica, this is part 3 of my first visit of the church (parts 1 and 2 are here and here). We have reached the altar end of the basilica and here it is in all its glory!
First, let’s have a detailed look at the altar in front of the apse:
Also on display near the altar is this incredible Medieval painted altarpiece depicting St. Francis and scenes from his life:
I will be writing a post on the frescoes in the main chapel behind the altarpiece. Right now, they have it roped off and I couldn’t get into it to take decent pictures. Looking into the apse area behind the main painted altarpiece:
OK, so now we move into the big leagues as far as art historian are concerned. Two of Giotto’s major works are to be found in adjoining chapels in Santa Croce. They are the Bardi and Peruzzi family chapels. The first one is the Bardi chapel, depicting scenes from the life of St. Francis:
And now, the Peruzzi Chapel. Sadly, the frescoes are in very bad condition, having been partially painted a secco by Giotto, which means the true fresco technique did not allow the colors to become a part of the wall. Plus, the frescoes were badly abused over the centuries, sometimes even being covered with white wash.
Here’s an overall view of the 2 family chapels next to each other on the east end of the church. The Bardi is to the left, under the stained glass window, and the Peruzzi is to the right of it:
Following the recent reopening of this Fransciscan basilica this week, I continue (see Part 1 here) with my visit of the church following the quarantine.
Below is a plan of the church. My tour is coming from West to East along the north side of the basilica.
Below, I pick up my tour from the almost at the crossing. The first work on this tour today is Desiderio da Settignano’s tomb for Carlo Marsuppini. Santa Croce is rich in artworks and this is one of the best. Try as I might, these pictures do not do the tomb justice.
Moving on to the next tomb on this side aisle, we have the monument to Raffaello Morghen, by Odoardo Fantacchiotti (1809-1877). Morghen was a celebrated engraver of Leonardo’s Last Supper in Pinacoteca Repossi. Morghen died in Florence in 1833.
Next is a plaque honoring Raphael. It commemorates the 500th anniversary of his death. His tomb in in the Pantheon in Rome.
Art nouveau may not be top of mind when you are in Florence, but it exists. Here’s a quick article on the subject. Also, bear in mind that the “Liberty style,” which is what art nouveau is known as in Italy, abounds in Lucca.
Sometimes I like to talk honestly about my life here in Italy. It is a privilege to live in Florence and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But, it has its downs as well as its ups.
Recently, I’ve had a small issue with my cellphone carrier. It is hard, in Italian, to have a phone call about serious issues with critical information, so I decided to go to the Fastweb office in person. I had another thing to do in the center on Saturday, so after that and before 12:00 noon, I went to the Fastweb office to take care of business. It was closed. I had to wait until Monday morning to find it open.
So, I showed up bright and early at Fastweb on Monday and waited for my turn to be let into the store, what with the Covid 19 rules, and was able to quickly and pretty easily get the information I needed to solve the overall issue I had with my phone service.
Then, I innocently inquired what the balance was on my account that lets me make phone calls and use data. I like to keep a good balance in there, because you never know, right? I found out that I had less than 3 euro on balance.
I asked if I could pay to bring my balance up and the kind clerk said of course. He handed me off to a newer employee to finish this minor procedure. I told her I wanted to put 100 Euro on the account and she got out 2 plastic cards, each worth 50 Euro, to refresh my balance. She did a bunch of procedures with the 2 cards, scraping off the “skin” over the codes and processed them, and I received 2 dings from my phone that my Fastweb account had been recharged for 100 Euro in 2 blocks of 50 Euro.
Good enough. All this time I had my credit card lying on the top of her desk for her to charge the payment(s). At this point, she began to process my card. It was denied. She called her colleague over, he tried, it was denied. So, they are in a pickle. They gave me the credit but didn’t have a way to charge me.
I expected the to tell me that my credit card was faulty, but they didn’t. Then it came out that they had just received a new credit card processor machine and there were problems with it. For the next 1.5 hours, they attempted to call their headquarters and get the thing worked out. They kept me there because they needed my actual card. Finally, 2 hours after I walked in, I told them I had to leave. I happened to have 50 Euro with me in cash, which I left with them, and promised to return tomorrow (since I had appointments all day today) to either bring them another 50 Euro or better, have them try again to run my credit card. BTW, they tried their own credit cards to see if it truly was their new machine, and it was.
My life in Italy. It takes longer to do less. :-))
Postscript, a few days later. I went back to the store. The credit card machine still wasn’t working. How can they do business like this? A major cellphone carrier in the 21st century. It amazes me.
Prepare yourself for a huge jump from the Roman and Renaissance eras to the 19th century! The paintings below are from the facade of the duomo, which was erected in the late 19th century.
For me the highlight of the opera’s collection are the 2 exquisite cantorie by Donatello and Luca della Robbia. Originally a part of the duomo, these beauties are preserved in the museum where they are exhibited up high as they would have appeared in the cathedral. I am in their thrall.
First up, the Donatello:
Now, moving across the room to the Luca della Robbia masterwork:
Here’s a quick article of useful information for anyone on the Dante trail:
The extraordinary riches in this museum require many posts! Here is part 3 of my recent visit.
The next 2 labels deal with the custom of collecting relics some of the ones preserved in Florence:
Now on to the amazing bell tower in the duomo complex.
For more of these relief sculptures that form the program on the bell tower, see my earlier post:https://laurettadimmick.com/2020/05/25/charmed-by-the-late-medieval-carvings-at-the-museo-dellopera-di-duomo-firenze/
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