Paula's Tour Talk

The Odd History of Orsanmichele

One of the most fascinating of Florence's medieval structures is the church in the heart of the historic center called Orsanmichele. Its name is a contraction of Orto San Michele or the Garden of St. Michael because the church was built on the site of a long-gone monastery's garden.

But this building was not originally built as a church at all. It was granary with a grain market on the first floor, offices on the second, and the city's grain warehouse (insurance against famine or siege) on the third.

But it so happened that one of the pillars was decorated with an image of the Madonna and it soon became a place of devotion and miraculous healings. The granary was damaged by a fire in 1304 and the image gradually faded.

When a new loggia was built, the artist Bernado Daddi  was commissioned to paint a new Madonna. It's this work, known as Madonna della Grazie, Our Lady of Favors(on the right)), that you see today in the church. Devotion to the Madonna increased when the Black Plague struck in 1348, and by 1359 it was felt the place was no longer suitable for commerce and the grain market was moved, although the upper floor remained a warehouse. You can still see the chutes that were used for the wheat.

At the end of the 14th century the loggia was enclosed, stained glass windows added, and the building was dedicated as a church. All of the Arti Maggiori or principal guilds were charged with donating statues to fill the niches on the outside of the church. The wealthy guilds vied to hire the best artists to create statues of their patron saints. For example, Donatello was commissioned to sculpt St. George (at left), the patron of the Armorers, Lorenzo Ghiberti created his St. Matthew for the Bankers and also St. John the Baptist for the Wool Merchants.

The statues in the outdoor niches are now replicas of the originals which are being restored and prepared for a new Orsanmichele museum. It's fun to look at the statues and the guild emblems to see who's who.

We'll be seeing this unusual church next month on Time of Your Life Tour's  Tastes of Tuscany. It's too late to sign up for that one, but check out Tour News for all our upcoming tours, including a trip to Milan, Lake Como, and Venice in the spring with master business coach Caterina Rando.

San Gimignano-A Little History

The day we spend in the Tuscan countryside visiting Siena and San Gimignano--with lunch of delicious regional specialties and wine-tasting at an agriturismo farm--is always a favorite with Time of Your Life Tours' clients. We're going again this fall with our Tastes of Tuscany Tour (and with two of the spring 2009 tours).

San Gimignano is one of my favorite places, and I've been doing quite a bit of research on its history lately. I won't bore you here with the complexities of the town's ancient Etruscan beginnings or its tangled list of conquerors and rulers after the fall of the Roman Empire, or even the Medieval sagas of its feuding families (but be sure to ask me on the tour if this interests you!). But I will share a couple of the legends about its name.

It seems the town was originally named Silvio or Silvia. Perhaps it was named for a certain Silvio who found himself on the losing side during the Catiline Conspiracy which sought to overthrow the Roman Republic when Julius Caesar was a young man. He took refuge in the woods in the Tuscan hills with some companions. The city that eventually grew from this shelter was called Silvia's City.

Or perhaps, the name came from the Latin word for "woods" which is silvae.

At any rate, the name was later changed to San Gimignano, an Italian spelling of the Latin name of a fifth century bishop of Modena-- Geminiano. On the left is a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli of the saintly bishop holding a realistic model of the town in his hands. (you can see this and many more gorgeous frescoes in the church of St. Augustine in San Gimignano).

Again there are two stories, both rather dubious.

One has the people of the town praying to the (dead) holy bishop of Modena to save them from the marauding Huns. Their prayers were answered and the grateful populace changed the name to San Gimignano in honor of this miraculous intervention and, of course, to ensure his protection in the future.

However, by far the most colorful story is this one. When the Bishop Giminiano of Modena died and his body was laid out and ready to be carried in procession through the streets on its way to be buried, a young clerk passed by and was entranced by the beautiful ring the dead man was wearing. Seeing no one about, he tried to slip the ring from his finger. But, it wouldn't budge. So, this clerk took out his knife and cut off the whole finger, ring and all.

He fled and shortly after went blind, some say from guilt and remorse. In his wanderings he came to the town and went into the church and laid the relic (that is, the severed finger and its ring) on the altar. Immediately, his sight was restored, and the town was named for this "saint" whose precious finger became a draw for pilgrims seeking their own cures. His feast day is January 31st.

You can read more about this town and its sights in an article I wrote last summer: San Gimignano. I am really looking forward to returning and spending an afternoon in this lovely ancient town of towers.

Question: Is this the kind of information you want to read here? Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Bonfire of the Vanities

One of the most exciting chapters in the history of Florence concerns the Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola. He was a man at odds with his times, and apparently lacked not only a sense of humor, but also tolerance and compassion.

He was a fiery preacher whose eloquent and vehement condemnation of everything he observed in Florentine society brought him fame and a surprising number of followers. Savonarola preached against gambling and adultery, which was not unusual, but he demanded that those who indulged should be burned at the stake. He railed against the prevailing interest in Classical Greek and Roman culture. He denounced any art that was not religious, especially anything containing nudity. He preached against all forms of personal pleasure and personal adornment.

Yet, he must have struck a chord because he packed the church of San Marco every time he spoke, and attracted many to his point of view.

Florence in the late 15th century was one of the wealthiest and most splendid cities in Europe. The ruling Medici family and many of their class lived in ostentatious luxury. I think that Savonarola was able to play on the people's superstitions, ignorance, and fear of heavenly retribution. Plague and famine were ever present dangers, and nearly everyone believed such disasters were God's punishments for worldliness. Everyone was concerned for their souls, too. No one wished to burn in hell for all eternity.

So, people listened when Savonarola preached damnation. Things reached a peak during carnival in 1497. He called for an enormous bonfire to be built in the Piazza della Signoria and demanded that all "vanities" be burned. Although the people contributed great heaps of items, Savonarola sent out his army of teenage boys to search house to house for things that had been held back and hidden.

These young toughs were ruthless and they seized a mountain of valuable goods--wigs, jewelry, lace and velvet, musical instruments, playing cards, mirrors and perfumes. They even brought precious manuscripts and books, as well as numerous paintings, to be burned. This was the first and most spectacular Bonfire of the Vanities.

The radical monk staged more bonfires, and for a time the Florentines lived under a kind of reign of terror. Those who once had been sympathetic to his call for reform and a return to spiritual values now feared his excesses. Eventually, the fanatical preacher went too far and turned his fury on the luxurious lifestyle of Pope Alexander VI. This gave the Medicis and the wealthy of Florence an ally in their fight to rid the city of its scourge.

In short order, Savonarola was excommunicated, charged with heresy, and burned at the stake in 1498 in the same Piazza of his bonfires.  His ashes were thrown into the Arno so no relic-seekers could claim his remains.

Today there's a small plaque commemorating the exact spot where he died.

Life returned to its worldly state in Florence and people wondered what had come over them. It was as if a collective madness had infected them all for a time. Even Botticelli is said to have thrown many of his paintings into the bonfires. Many other artists and writers tossed their works in, too. We can only imagine what was lost.

Today you can see Savonarola's cell and a small display fragments of his cloak and other mementos in the Museum of San Marco which is also home to the lovely frescoes of Fra Angelico, a monk of an entirely different nature. 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

It really leans, and it's cooler than you might think. Although it's not one of the new 7 wonders of the world, it certainly has been considered a wonder for centuries.

Begun in 1174, by 1275 it was already leaning to the south by about seven inches. In an effort to correct this, the site manager tried making the columns on the south side taller than those on the north. It didn't work, and the angle of incline steadily increased. Numerous attempts to halt the process were, for the most part, failures. But today the tower has been stabilized and tilts 17 feet one inch from vertical, measured from the top of the belfry. There is a great deal of scientific explanation of all this and probably more than you ever wanted to know about the latest renovations (completed in 2000) at the Tower and also online at the Official Leaning Tower website.

But I think there's more interesting things to learn about this amazing building. First of all, it's a campanile, or bell tower, and it houses seven bells that are tuned to the seven notes of the musical scale. The bells all have names, and the largest two are no longer rung for fear their swinging will cause damage to the walls.

Then, although the official literature states that the tower is approximately 183 feet tall and weighs about 14,500 tons, I was fascinated to learn some different measurements. In his not-so Brief History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Piero Pierotti  explains that the medieval Pisans believed in the magical significance of numbers. And so, the height of the Tower is exactly 100 bracci Pisani (Pisan arms), which is the equivalent of 20 pertiche Pisani (Pisan staffs). The circumference measures exactly 100 piedi Pisani (Pisan feet). These "human" measurements were very useful in the days when modern tools and devices were unknown.

It is said that Galileo dropped two cannon balls of different masses from tower to demonstrate his theory that speed is independent of mass. This may or may not have actually occurred.

It is true, however, that in 1934 Mussolini wanted the tower returned to a vertical position. Why, I can't imagine. He ordered concrete poured into its foundation, but the result was that the tower sank further.

It's also true that during WWII, the Allied forces learned that the Nazis were using it as an observation post, and that a US army sargeant made a decision not to call for an artillery strike which saved the monument from destruction.

But more important, at least to me, than all of this is the fact that the Leaning Tower is a beautiful structure. Unlike most square Tuscan bell towers, it's a  cylinder with an empty core, wrapped in slender columns that are decorated at the top with fantastic figures and and nature motifs. It is dazzling white in the sunshine, elegant, and lovely.

We'll visit Pisa and see the Tower on Time of Your Life Tour's Tastes of Tuscany Tour next fall. It takes a great deal of stamina and a special reservation to climb the 294 steps to the top, but you can get great pictures right from the ground.

The Tower is just one of the gorgeous sights in the Campo dei Miracoli that we'll visit. I'll tell you more about those soon.

 

Unraveling the Medicis

When you are in Florence, the Medici family is everywhere you look. Their family emblem crowns hundreds of buildings;their palaces, gardens, family churches, chapels even crypts are museums. Many of the masterpieces of the Renaissance exist because of their patronage. The name "Medici" is a song that Florence sings, and knowing a bit about them is useful for the traveler.

But it can be confusing trying to sort out just who's who in the family that virtually ruled Florence, and much of Italy, for nearly 400 years. The Medici dynasty also included three popes and many cardinals. Plus, through strategic intermarriage, Medicis were part of the royal families of France and England.

The first thing to know is that the Medici wealth--at various times they were the wealthiest family in Europe--came from banking. In a time of political instability, the reliability of Medici banking institutions was legendary.  They lent money to kings for their wars, to nobles for their debts, to merchants for their inventories. Their accountants developed the modern double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits. The florin, the coin they minted, was accepted as currency everywhere.

The second thing to keep in mind about the Medicis is that, although they pretty much ran things in Florence, no Medici held an official position until 1537 when Alessandro was made the first Duke of Florence. The early Medicis like Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent held power in that nothing happened in the city or its territories without their approval. These men "ruled" by virtue of their wealth and influence, through their lavish spending on public buildings, public festivals, charity, and, of course, through their patronage of the greatest artists of the day.

The third thing to know is that two different branches of the family were in power at different times. Giovanni de Bicci  di Medici was the patriarch of the family in the early 1400's, and it was he who created the Medici bank. The senior branch of the family is descended from his oldest son, Cosimo the Elder, and includes the illustrious Lorenzo the Magnificent.

The junior branch came to power when Alessandro the first Duke of Florence was assassinated by his male lover (who was also his cousin) in 1537. This branch was descended from old Giovanni's younger son, confusingly known as Lorenzo the Elder (he was, of course, Lorenzo the Magnificent's elder relative). It was this Lorenzo's great-great grandson, Cosimo I who began a dynasty that included both Catherine and Marie de Medici.

I told you it was confusing! The history of the Medicis is a fascinating one, full of intrigue, plots, rebellions, jealousies, and triumphs. There are many books you can read, and my favorite is Christopher Hibbert's The House of Medici. (see link on the left).

But, perhaps even more enjoyable is the PBS program called The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. This is a four-hour series that is well-worth your time. It's widely available in libraries and video outlets like Netflix.

Here's a link to the PBS website for the program that includes all kinds of fun features including an interactive tour of Florence and a Renaissance art gallery: The Medici.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Meanwhile, I am still hoping my luggage makes it home from Italy--it's full of books and gifts, as well as nearly all my underwear.  

Venetian Courtesans

There's a lovely little bridge in Venice, the Ponte delle Tette, (the Bridge of Breasts) which once led to the red light district (at one time the law in Venice stipulated that a prostitute had to display a red light on the prow of her gondola). Here the lower class of working girls often sat topless in their windows, living adverstisements to entice both citizens and visitors to the famously carnal city.

However, not all the notorious women were common prostitutes. In fact, from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, Venice was famed for her beautiful, cultured courtesans. At a time when respectable women were pretty much confined indoors and seldom seen by anyone except their husbands and immediate families, the courtesan enjoyed a life of independence and freedom.

Young, beautiful, more highly educated than other women of the time, courtesans who managed to secure one or more "patrons," could live a life of luxury they never could have achieved in any other way. They earned as much as a ship's captain and more than twice the wages of a master tradesman. Some were even able to save enough money to allow them to marry with a sizable dowry.

They dressed in the finest clothes and jewels, and indeed often were the leading fashionistas of the day. Their tax revenues contributed vast sums to the Venetian treasury. It is said that in one year the city collected enough taxes from its courtesans to pay for 16 galley ships.

According to Jan Morris in The World of Venice, at the end of the sixteenth century, there were approximately 2,900 noble women, 2,500 nuns, 2,000 merchant class women, and over 11,600 courtesans in the city. Although this number includes many lower class prostitutes, it's still astonishing.

One of the most famous courtesans was Veronica Franco (1546-1591), who was also a celebrated literary figure, best known for her poetry collection titled Terze Rima. She led a most interesting life: in addition to her several noble lovers, she had a brief liason with King Henri III of France. She had at least six children, and she founded a home for poverty stricken "fallen women." Accused of witchcraft when Venice was struck by the plague, she successfully defended herself in the court of the Inquisition and was acquitted of the charge.

The 1998 movie Dangerous Beauty tells a fictionalized version of Veronica Franco's life and times. It's a gorgeous costume piece filmed on location in Venice and starring Catherine McCormack, Rufus Sewell, and Oliver Platt. Next to Katharine Hepburn's more modern Summertime, it's my favorite film about Venice and definitely one to feed your dreams of Venice.

I'll be sure to point out the Ponte delle Tette when we're strolling through Venice in October on An Artful Tour of Florence and Venice. It's a great spot for a photo!

The Island of Murano

For over 700 years Murano, a small island in the Venetian lagoon, has been a center of the glassmaking industry. Indeed, for many of those years it was the only center and its artisans the only people in Europe who knew how to make a mirror or a glass window. The Venetians had a virtual mononpoly and carefully guarded the secrets of glass.

Partly to maintain the utmost secrecy and partly due to numerous fires, all the Venetain glass works were moved across the lagoon about a mile northeast of the city to the small island of Murano in 1291. Outsiders were forbidden from visiting the island. The craftsmen of Murano were allowed all kinds of privileges and were richly paid and pampered. However, should a glass-maker dare to leave the island and attempt to practice his profession elsewhere, agents of the Venetian Republic were sent to track him down. The penalties were severe even by the standards of the day--both hands were lopped off at the wrist or pehaps more mercifully, the unfortunate artisan was simply put to death.

Fortunately for us, Murano is open to all and anyone interested can see a glassblowing demonstration in one of the many factories and studios. You can also visit the Museo Vetrario (the glass museum), a fairly small museum with a splendid collection of both antique and modern pieces. It's a good idea to visit the museum first, as we do on Time of Your Life Tour's An Artful Tour of Florence and Venice, before heading to the island's many glass shops and studios.

We advise by-passing the glass you see virtually every place you look in Venice, and waiting to make any purchases--large or small--on Murano. There is nothing in Venice you won't find on the island, and much that is unusual and even unique and often better priced in the dazzlng array of shops and art studios in Murano. You'll find jewelry of all sorts and for all budgets, plates, glasses, bowls, vases, sculpture, chandeliers, and more. All the inexpensive kitschy stuff is here too; much of it --as in Venice-- imported from China. The better shops display signs with an official seal proclaiming "all glass sold here is made in Murano by our craftmen."

Murano is easy to reach by vaporetto (water bus), and a very pleasant place to stroll and shop with lots of small cafes and restaurants. Its two main churches, the Basilca dei Santi Maria e Donato and San Pietro Martire, are well worth a visit, too. The former is an important example of the Veneto-Byzantine style with lavish mosaics covering the floor and the latter, pictured at the left, is a small gem with beautiful white crystal chandeliers, Tintoretto's painting Baptism of Christ, and a stunning painting by Giovanni Bellini.

I am pleased that we will be able to spend an unhurried day browsing among the treasures of Murano when visit  Venice with  An Artful Tour of Florence and Venice next October.

A Glimpse of 15th Century Milan

Just in time for my visit to Milan on a final scouting trip, I finished a terrific new historical novel about the nobles, the betrayals, intrigues, romances, and the artists of the great courts of northern Italy at the end of the fifteenth century.  The novel is Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex, and it really increased my understanding of the time period, and gave me exactly the background I wanted for Milan.

This wonderfully written, historically accurate book provides the reader with a window into the fascinating lives of the outrageously rich and famous during a very turbulent time. And it's a great read, too.

It centers on the two Este princesses, Isabella, called "The First Lady of the Renaissance," (pictured at left), and her no less illustrious younger sister, Beatrice. These two daughters of the Duke of Ferrara were mere teens when they married into the great Gonzaga and Sforza familes. They had to contend with jealousy, mistresses, intrigue, and war while maintaining some of the finest courts in Europe and producing as many heirs as possible. And they knew everyone who was anyone.

Interwoven with the story of the sisters and their woes and triumphs, is the story of Leonardo da Vinci's years in Milan under the patronage of Beatrice's husband, the larger-than-life Duke Ludovico Sforza. It is a more personal view of Leonardo than I've ever read; you get a real sense of the personality of this rather mysterious genius. You also learn all kinds of interesting information about his portraits, sculpture, and The Last Supper.

This is the perfect book to read before a visit to Milan, and a pleasure to read even if you have no plans for a trip. The story and the characters will stay with you a long time.

Click on the icon at the left, under Books we Love for more information or to purchase from Amazon.

Who was Garibaldi?

Wherever you travel in Italy, you're sure to see the name Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882). You might find a Via Garibaldi, a Piazza Garibaldi, a Bar Garibaldi, and countless statues as well as civic institutions of all kinds named for the man who is sometimes referred to as "the George Washington of Italy." Along with Giuseppe Mazzini and Camillo Cavour, Garibaldi was the leader of the Risorgimento ( the"Reawakening" of a national consciousness) that led to the unification of the Italian peninsula's patchwork of city-states, kingdoms, duchies, papal territories, and especially the lands under foreign domination (mainly the Austrians after the defeat of Napoleon). The Risorgimento movement, which began around 1815, was in full throttle by 1840, although it took until 1870 for the Italian nation to be formed. With changes resulting from the wars and treaties of the 20th century, Italy only became the land you see on maps today in 1954.

Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice in 1807 when that city was part of the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. As a young man he supported the revolutionary movement in Sardinia. Later he went to South America and became a war hero in Uruguay when he helped it win its independence from Argentina. At one point Garibaldi's troops needed shirts but there was little money. He begged old blood-stained shirts from butchers and dyed them completely red for his soldiers. (Some say this is the origin of the color red as the symbol for the Communist revolution in Russsia).

In 1848 Garibaldi returned to Italy and helped defend the Roman Republic against the Austrians. In Sardinia a few years later, he became a general in the Piedmontese army. In the 1860's he gathered 1,000 red-shirted volunteers and led them to drive out the Bourbons (French) from Sicily and Naples. He then led the armies of the Italian peninsula along with the islands of Sardinia and Sicily to unite and form the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II. Today he is remembered and celebrated as one of the great heroes of Italian unification.

Easter in Florence

The Scoppio del Carro (Explosion of the Cart) is a Florentine tradition that is re-enacted every year on Easter Sunday. Crowds flock to  the Piazza del Duomo to witness the procession and then the explosion at noon.

The history of this tradition  dates back to the first Crusade in 1099. The story is that after a long siege, a Florentine nobleman, Pazzino de Pazzi,  was the first man  to climb the walls of Jerusalem carrying the banner of the crusaders. To reward Pazzi's act of courage and daring,  Goffredo di Buglione,(the French call him Geoffey de Boullion) the leader of the crusade, presented him with stone chips from the Holy Sepulchre. When Pazzi returned to Florence, these precious relics were used to kindle the first spark of the "new fire," a symbol of the new life after Christ's Resurrection. After a blessing, this fire was distributed to other Florentine households to re-light their hearths which had been extinguished on Good Friday.

Over time, this ritual developed into the elaborate event of today. Every Easter morning a procession with participants dressed in medieval fashion is held in the city of Florence. Starting at the church of the SS Apostoli where the shards from the Sepulchre have been housed since the 14th century, an elaborate cart (carro) is pulled by oxen decorated with flowers. The oxen pull the cart through the city until it reaches the Piazza del Duomo. Once it reaches the Piazza the oxen are unhooked from the cart and a wire is attached to it. The wire extends from the cart all the way to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. On the wire in the Cathedral is a rocket that has the appearance of a white dove, which is referred to as the colombina. During the celebration of Easter Mass, the fuse is lit by a fire that was created by the vary same stone chips that Pazzi brought back from the Holy Land. The dove-shaped rocket speeds along the wire to ignite the cart, which is packed with fireworks, setting off a spectacular explosion.

According to popular legend if all goes well and the cart completely explodes, it will mean a very prosperous year for the Florentines.