After we got back from Cinque Terre, we stopped and had pizza for dinner. It was very different from what I'm used to and it was very good. We got back to the room and I soaked in the tub and went to bed and slept hard. The next morning, we got breakfast and then split up. I wanted to museum and tourist, and Erik wanted to ride a bike in Italy. I went to the Duomo and the Piazza and Erik did a 70 mile bike ride up into the mountains above Florence. It worked out well for both of us.
It is tough to get a feel for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Piazza. This is my best shot.
There are three buildings here, the octagonal Baptistry, the Cathedral with its dome, and the Campanile of Giotto. It would be better from a drone and up about 200 feet so you could have some perspective.
Battistero di San Giovanni - The Baptistry of Saint John
The Baptistry is the oldest building in the complex, consecrated in 1059 over an existing 5th-century Baptistry. The cladding on the walls, like that of the Cathedral and Campinile, is of white Carrera and green Prato marble. There are three bronze doors on the north, east and south sides. These doors were constructed between 1330 and 1452. The last doors, located on the east side facing the cathedral were designed and crafted by Lorenzo Ghiberti and his son from 1426 to 1452. They told stories from the Old Testament.
When Michelangelo saw them, he said they were the "Gates of Paradise" because of their beauty and craftsmanship, and they've been referred to as such ever since. There was some humor in the name. These are the east gates that face the cathedral. Theologically, babies are in "original sin" and cannot enter the Cathedral until they are baptized. Then they can be carried across the courtyard to enter. This area between the Baptistry and the Cathedral was called Paradise. Hence, they ARE the Gates of Paradise. These are the current doors.
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| Moses and the Ten Commandments |
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| David and Goliath |
The original doors were there from 1452 until 1966 when a flood on the Arno River caused the doors to be washed off their hinges and several of the panels were broken out. Luckily, all the panels were located and restoration work started and lasted 27 years, the same length of time that Ghiberti used to make them originally. Now, the original restored gates are in the Duomo Museum. And they are majestic! These doors are of gilded bronze and are 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
The Gates of Paradise - Lorenzo Ghiberti - 1427-1452
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| Adam and Eve |
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Cain and Abel
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Abraham and Isaac
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| Isaac and Esau and Jacob |
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Isaac and Esau and Jacob
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Joseph Being Sold into Slavery
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| Moses and the Ten Commandments |
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| Joshua and the fall of Jerico |
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| David and Goliath |
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Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
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Giberti was given the contract to make these doors based on the doors that he made for the north entrance, which are used now. The panels are of scenes from Jesus' life. The originals are now in the Duomo Museum next to the east doors and replicas are in place in the Baptistry.
The third and second row from the bottom represent
The Annunciation The Nativity The Baptism Discussion with the Elders
John Matthew Luke Mark
Entering through these north doors, the Baptistry is an incredible building, reminding me of the Medici Chapel. Inlaid on the floor in Latin as you enter is "Here come all those who want to see wonderful things." Unfortunately, restoration work is being done on the mosaics in the ceiling. The large scaffolding in the center threw me off and I didn't get any good wide-angle shots inside. On the other hand, there was plenty to see.
The upper terrace.
The Baptismal font and the wall behind it
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The scaffolding going up into the ceiling.
There is a screen under the working platform
that represents the actual mosaics.
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| The Apse and Altar on the west wall |
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This is the actual ceiling from the Wikipedia article. This is the first restoration work and close visual analysis of the mosaics since 1907. The age and condition of the roof have allowed water penetration and much of the mosaic tiles (or tesserae) and their glue have been in a perpetually wet state. Obviously, this work needs to be done. It's too bad for touristing though.
The ceiling is divided into thematic segments. For example, west side represents the Last Judgement. 
Several other rings represent the life of Christ, and scenes from Genisis.   The Duomo Museum has much art from the Baptistry. I think the one statue that affected me the most was a wooden carving by Donatello of the "Penitent Mary Magdalene". It shows her in old age, ragged, and tired, but at peace with her life.
It is a wonderful structure, inside and out.
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The Cathedral
The glory of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is its exterior and Brunelleschi's dome. It is big, the third-largest cathedral in the world. It is 502 feet long and 300 feet across at the transept. Construction was begun in 1296 over the existing church of St Reparata constructed in the 5th century. Parts of the older church can be seen in the croft of the new church, which was consecrated in 1436 after Brunelleschi's dome was completed.
A facade was initially placed on the front, but it only went up a way above the doors and stopped, as shown in the picture to the upper right. And it stayed that way until the 1870s. After several decades of competitions, a design for the facade was accepted in 1876. The remodeling was completed in 1887. Finally, 16 years later, the bronze doors were finished and the church as it stands now was completed in 1903.
Piano Spostamento Casa-Lavoro (duomo.firenze.it)
When the church was constructed, a hole was left in the roof over the altar 150 feet in diameter to support a dome. However, the technology to build the dome did not exist at the time. The hole remained open for 120 years before Brunelleschi developed a process to construct the dome without internal scaffolding. It took 16 years to build the double structure, a dome within a dome. The same design has been used repeatedly in other domes, such as the dome over the United States capital.
The North Side of the Cathedral The South Side of the Cathedral
The West Side of the Cathedral
For all its historical importance, the interior of the cathedral is rather sparse. There is very little art on the wall, as opposed to the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
The altar is also a little plain.
There is some artwork on the walls, the primary ones are of
Niccolo da Tolentino, 1456, A commander of the Florence army
and
Dante's Purgutory, 1445, with Hell to the lower left and
Paradise, which looks a lot like Florence, on the right.
An important statue which is now in the Duomo Museum is a Pieta by Michelangelo,
Michelangelo start the work in 1546 and worked on it until 1555, when he smashed it apart in frustration over the quality of the marble. Grand Duke Cosimo III purchased the pieces and put the reconstructed statue in the crypt of San Lorenzo in 1671. It was moved to the Duomo in 1722. The head of Nicodemus is a self-portrait of Michelangelo and he meant it to be near his grave in Rome. He is interred in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.
Erik and I met up at the hotel and decided tonight was a(nother) night to splurge. We found a restaurant and had Steak Florentine along with a little Chianti wine. It was very good!
1 Kg = 2.2 pounds of Steak!
Before After!
And strangely, when we sat down, there was a map of the Chianti Region on the wall next to my shoulder. Right in the middle was the town of Radda in Chianti, our destination tomorrow for the next two nights! The circle is over the vineyard and the town is the gray under the word RADDA.
Far Out!
When we got back to the hotel, I went up with a couple and found the observation deck. It was locked at that time, but they gave us a key at the front desk. I took a picture for them and they took one for me with the Duomo in the background. It was a good day.
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The upper terrace.
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