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Things to do in Florence and Tuscany

Michelangelo’s Tondo Doni in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence

On 15, feb 2018 | No Comments | In Guided tours in Florence | By Elena

We are so used to think about Michelangelo as a universal artist that we remain speechless when we realize that there is just one painting in the world that can be for sure attributed to him
That painting is known as the Tondo Doni, it’s housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and was painted at the very beginning of the 1500s. Leggi ancora »

Looking for Michelangelo’s footmarks in Florence

On 30, gen 2017 | No Comments | In Guided tours in Florence | By Elena

Last week it happened to have a very smart person who asked me to organize a Michelangelo tour in Florence lasting the whole day. Our tour started with the Accademia Gallery to see David, the Prisoners, Saint Matthew and the Pietà da Palestrina; it went on with the Medici chapels for the New Sacristy and the Bargello Museum housing Bacchus, Brutus, Apollon, and the Tondo Pitti. In the afternoon we planned to visit Santa Croce church for Michelangelo’s tomb and the Cathedral Museum to admire the moving Pietà Bandini. In the middle of this beautiful tour, we visited another building deeply linked to Michelangelo, where you can hardly find people: it’s the Buonarroti house. Leggi ancora »

The treausures of the Florence Cathedral

Tomorrow a first  visit to the complex of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence is scheduled. The meeting will be at 3 pm in San Giovanni Square, right in front of the Caffé Scudieri. The visit will last 3 hours, as we are going to enter the crypt dedicated to Santa Reparata, the romanesque Baptistery of Saint John, Santa Maria del Fiore’s and the new museum.

The crypt underneath the duomo is the most ancient thing we will see: it corresponds to the early christian church dedicated to Santa Reparata. The choice of this saint is due to an historical event: on the 8th of October (day traditionally dedicated to this greek saint) 405 the florentine Romans could resist againist the attack of a barbaric population. In order to thank the saint for the help she had given them, the Floretines decided to move the title of cathedral church from the ancient San Lorenzo’s (previuosly consacrated by saint Ambrose) to the new church.

One of the most interesting work on show in the crypt is the mosaic floor, decorated with a number of christian symbols. Beside them you can clearly read the names of those patrons who gave money for making the pavement: they payed for it and, sofar, they wanted to be remembered forever!

The art of the table in Florence (2)

On 12, mar 2015 | One Comment | In Florence Traditions | By Elena

The second stop is few steps away from the Richard Ginori store: at 4r piazza Antinori, in front of the baroque façade of the Santi Michele e Gaetano church, you can find one of the entrances to the Loretta Caponi’s boutique. Leggi ancora »

The Florentine art of setting the table

Italy is one of the homelands of good cooking: both the choices of Parma as location for the European Food Safety Authority  and of Milan for the Expo 2015 dedicated to food are precise demonstrations of that. It comes natural, while thinking about good cookery, to think about Italian products and, among the others, about the Tuscan ones (wine, olive oil, cheeses, prosciutto, cakes and many other dishes). Here is a question for you: is it important to us to present all these wonderful products in a becoming way? And the answer definitively is: “yes”. During the centuries local artisans have been taking care about how to elegantly set  the table and, few days ago, I have personally tested the skill of few modern creators, artisans artists and designers, having their stores in Florence . Would you like to follow me?

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The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan

On 26, gen 2015 | One Comment | In outside Florence | By Elena

I have recently come back from a short (unfortunately too short) trip to Milan, where I visited the refectory painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

Few steps away from the city centre there’s the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie: a church with its brick covered walls, with a wide façade and with a magnificent apse designed by Donato Bramate, a very famous architect from Umbria who died 500 years ago.

Beside the church front  there’s the entrance to the refectory: it used to be the dining room once used by the Dominican friars and it’s worldly known because of the Last Supper that Leonardo da Vinci painted on one of the shorter walls between 1493 and 1498. Leggi ancora »

Free entry to museums

On 15, gen 2014 | No Comments | In Florence Initiatives | By Elena

Free entry to museums every first sunday in Italy

 

Italian state museums will be open for free on the first sunday of every month, the Italian Minister for Culture Dario Franceschini decided on July 6th 2014.

The decision includes 420 state museums all over the country and is part of a move to boost museum visits.

 

San Zenobi column

On 14, gen 2014 | No Comments | In Florence Traditions | By Elena

Next Saturday, January 26th, is the anniversary of a miracle happened -according to legend- in Florence in 429 A.D. and relating to one of the city’s most admire figures, the holy Bishop Zenobi.

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Cruising the Tuscan Archipelago

On 14, gen 2014 | No Comments | In outside Florence | By Elena

Nowhere like in Tuscany can you find such a perfect balance of stunning landscapes, great art and amazing food. However, not everybody knows that Tuscany is also a maritime paradise , with an archipelago which can be discovered with a short Mediterranean cruise.
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Week-end events in Florence: why not have a short break there?

On 16, mag 2013 | No Comments | In Florence Initiatives | By Elena

Week-end events in Florence will start on Thursday 16th May with the opening of Artigianato e Palazzo (Arts and Crafts and Palace) in the Palazzo Corsini Garden (entrance from via della Scala 115).

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