Clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70’s were the order
of the day in Florence. After breakfast,
we walk to the Museum of the Innocenti.
This museum contains works of art and a lot of history of the
Innocenti. The Institute began
in the 14th century, which makes it the oldest public institution in Italy.
Since its inception, it has been dedicated exclusively to caring for children,
to their education and to protecting their rights. Born as a "hospital of
innocents" as a charitable work of the Silk Guild who commissioned Filippo
Brunelleschi as architect, the institute has seen various changes through the
centuries but always maintaining its focus on helping children. This was the
orphanage where a baby could be dropped off anonymously on a wheel
outside in the Loggia, no questions asked.
Now, it offers services to children, pregnant mothers in difficult
situations and mothers with young children, as well as helps promote the rights
of children. The building was started in
1419 when Filippo Brunelleschi (the same
architect who will remain famous for designing and creating the Duomo of the
cathedral down the street) was entrusted with the construction of the hospital. Above the columns, in 1487, the swaddled babies by Andrea della Robbia were added.
Two of these Della Robbia swaddled
babies can be seen close-up in the third floor museum.
The Adoration of the
Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio, David Ghirlandaio and Bartolomeo di Giovanni is
one of the most beautiful masterpieces housed at the Innocenti museum.
Its
colors and rich details make it hard to believe it is over 500 years old.
We then walked to the Duomo Museum
to
get our tickets, but first had lunch in a small café across from the
Duomo.
Most of the afternoon was then
spent in the museum, which houses many artifacts, statures, etc. from the 14thcentury façade of the Duomo that was removed to permit the construction of the
current neo-Gothic façade [begun in 1860].
This Renaissance façade has been reconstructed in a 1:1 scale in the
museum.
Sketches and models of different
facades proposed for the Duomo from the 15th to the 19th
century can be seen and show the change in architectural taste. There is also a model of the Brunelleschi
dome and items used in the construction of the dome. The Doors of Paradise from the Baptistery are
displayed here. Here is a trip through
the museum with a sampling of the statuary, sculptures, etc. that we saw:
Door of Paradise
Door of Stories of
Christ (North Door)
Mary in Majesty
St. John the
Evangelist (Donatello)
Habakkuk (Donatello)
Jubal – The Beginning
of Art of Music
God Creating Eve
God Creating Adam
Drunkenness of Noah,
Beginning of wine making
Donatello’s Choir Loft
Micro-mosaic of
scenes from the liturgical year
Silver Altar with
scenes from life of St John the Baptist (250kg of silver) from the Baptistery
Mary Magdalene
(Donatello)
Pieta – Michelangelo
Going out on the terrace on the top floor, we had close-up views of the Duomo's dome.
After the Duomo Museum we proceeded to
the Baptistery to see the fabulous interior of the dome which depicts 59 scenes
of the history of the world – Creation, Life of Joseph, Life of Christ, and
Life of St. John the Baptist in glittering mosaics.
The central figure is Christ welcoming the arisen
dead into heaven with his right hand and condemning damned to hell with his
left hand.
We then return to the hostel for happy
hour. A small group of us (Inez, Sharon,
Terry, Laurie, Joe, and Sandy) went to dinner, where I had the mixed seafood salad,
This was a string orchestra with a guest contrabass
soloist. The performance was very
relaxing and well-done. We had a nice walk back to the hostel through the Duomo complex.
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