Florence, Jerusalem and Ethiopia

Tuesday, December 31, 2019 We began the day with an hour-long talk on the Medici family, a truly fascinating insight into the transition from the bishop-run city-state to the wealthy merchant-run hereditary fiefdom, the Duchy of Florence.   According to our lecturer, politics and economics were significantly better before the Renaissance, with a rudimentary democracy in the city-states of the north of Italy.   The golden age of crafts and economy was pre-Renaissance, in the 1100s and 1200s.   Most city-states were taken over by a family, and in Florence it was the Medicis.   We heard stories of Cosimo, the Medici who cared for the common people, and of his grandson Lorenzo (the Magnificent) who bankrupted the family.   It was a lively and entertaining portrait of an intriguing bunch of people. In the late morning we walked to the nearby Santa Maria Novella church, another Florence gem.   Built starting in 1279 as a Gothic Dominican basilica, it r...

Monday, December 30, 2019 This was a truly remarkable day, and I’ve managed to pare my photos down to 24 for this post.   Apologies for so many. We started with a short walk to the Palazzo Vecchio: The entrance has the copy of Michelangelo’s David on the left and Bartolommeo Bandinelli 's  Hercules and Cacus on the right. The courtyard is magnificent: The building has three parts, the oldest being a medieval castle dating from 1299.   The great hall was added in the 15 th century and Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464) added the palatial third part.   It was in front of this building that Savonarola was executed in 1492 after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent.   We had a wonderful guide who abbreviated a lot of history for us.   In any case, the Medici family ruled Florence for 300 years, and was responsible for much of what we saw.   The enormous great hall has huge frescos, and a ceiling with many panels....

Sunday, December 29, 2019 Yesterday we slept late, and met with some of our Road Scholar group for lunch.   We had an orientation in the late afternoon where we met the others of the group of 20 taking this New Year in Florence Art Tour.   It seems like a lovely group of people, and we had a get-to-know-you cocktail party and dinner. The education began this morning with a wonderful lecture on the Renaissance, with many references to the history of Greece and Rome and the schism in the Church into the Western Roman Empire (which ended in 416 C.E. with the invasion of the Barbarians), and the Eastern Roman Empire (which lasted another 1000 years until 1453 when the Ottomans invaded).   We heard about the transition from nudity in art to clothed figures, and back again.   We heard of the Church’s requirements for Byzantine art, with the stiffness and lack of movement of religious figures, and much, much more.   It was a wonderful capsule of art from the...

Museo Galileo and more of Florence We slept late again today, and are close to getting our rhythm back.   After breakfast we strolled along the streets which have very pricey shops with famous names.   Some of the fashions were, to my eye, simply outrageous.   We passed a few antique stores which were fun to rummage in.   As our entire next week will be art based, our destination today was the Museo Galileo for some science history. The museum is wonderful!   Concentrating on the developments in science in Europe from the 16 th to the 19 th century, it is especially focused on the contributions of Galileo and the support of the Medici family for scientific development.   There is a great bust of Galileo:   The large number of inventive constructions by Galileo which demonstrated principles he developed, are beautifully displayed.   This simple trough on a slant with bells demonstrated the law of falling bodies.   The bell...