Our Seventh Day in Florence

Today was supposed to be a rainy day.

While it did rain when we got in last night, we awoke to lovely puffy clouds in a brilliant blue sky.

Today our plan was to visit the Church of Santa Maria Novella. It is Novella (new) because when the Dominicans were assigned the area in 1221, they decided to built a new church on the site of a 9th century oratory of Santa Maria delle Vigne. (On the other side of town, the Franciscans had their Santa Croce Church.)

Architecturally, there is a trompe l'oeil effect, where the nave appears much longer than it really is. This was achieved by having the columns getting slightly closer, the aisle slightly narrower, with the floor rising slightly as well. Architects seemed to have mastered the 3-D effect much earlier than artists were able to apply it to their paintings, until Masaccio came around.

Massaccio's, "The Trinity," gives the effect that one is looking inside a small chapel, with the walls receding away. It would take another generation or two before such perspective became standard in paintings.

There are numerous other aspects of this painting that are firsts. No such barrel vault had yet been constructed since the Roman times, and Mother Mary is not the typical virginal faced girl, but an older more stern looking woman.

Most chapels held the remains of a dearly departed, and under this painting/chapel lies a skeleton with an inscription that reads, "I was once what you are, and what I am you will become."

Other important works can also be found here, Giotto's "Crucifix" hangs in the middle of the church (originally over the main alter), while Brunelleschi's wooden "Crucifix" depicts a realistic man crucified.

Brunelleschi was competing against his friend Donatello's crucifiction hanging at the Santa Croce church. Santa Maria Novella was of the Dominican Order, more intellectual, and in a sense, more noble, and so is Brunellschi's Christ. While Santa Croce was of the Franciscan Order, simpler, of the common man, and Donatello's Christ is much more a common regular man.

Also impressive are the several chapels that competing families hired artists to decorate. Each family trying to out compete each other. In one of them, the young Michelangelo worked as a teenaged apprentice before he was discovered. While another seems purposely effaced, and I wonder if the family had fallen out of favor in town.

The pulpit here, was also where the heretical words of Galileo were first condemned. "How can the earth move around the sun?" As the experts of the day all knew that everything revolves around the earth. They even refused to look into his telescope at Jupiter where they would have clearly seen Jupitor's moons revolving around Jupiter, but then they would be wrong and Galileo right. Better not to look, after all, they know the truth.

Although not a typical destination, around the corner at 16 Via della Scala is an ancient perfume shop that is defintely worth the visit. Originally part of the Domincan herb garden for their own private stock of medicine, it later offered it services to the neighborhood. Medicinal herbs as well as fragrances made the old fashioned way can be bought here.

While the web allows one to share, thoughts, images and even sounds, it cannot yet share the wonderful fragrances we enjoyed.  The shop girl sprayed fragrances onto a paper sniffing wand, and after sampling several, Hera decided upon a seasonal room fragrance entitled "Summer."

The night before we had sampled some micro brewery beer, and one that we had enjoyed was nearby. Mostodolce can be found at 114/r Via Nazionale. If you enjoy unique flavors that can only be had by smaller productions, this place is worth the visit. Besides, it allows one to rest, and people watch.

This was a new neighborhood for us. Less touristy than most, and we walked the streets, entered some shops, then headed back for home.

Cheers,

Anthony &  Hera