Florence – the city of lilies
After the bookfair I had a day free and took the chance to visit Florence with Evi. Our intention was to visit Uffizi Gallery but we had to skip it as the queue was quite long. We didn’t booked the ticket online because we did not plan the visiting date. I guess this will give reason to visit Florence next time.
This was only part of the queue.
Nonetheless, I took interesting pictures around the gallery:
Both were real men disguising as statues.
Evi and I later wandered to the nearby Piazza Della Signoria and saw Neptune Fountain. Neptune seems to be everywhere in Italy.
The Fountain of was commissioned in 1565 and the work-of-art of sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati. The Neptune figure, whose face resembles that of Cosimo I de’ Medici, was meant to be an allusion to the dominion of the Florentines over the sea. The figure stands on a high pedestal in the middle of an octagonal fountain. The pedestal in the middle is decorated with the mythical chained figures of Scylla and Charybdis. The statue of Neptune is a copy made in the nineteenth century, while the original is in the National Museum.
However, when the work was finished, it was not appreciated in particular by the Florentines, who called it Il Biancone (the white giant).
Work continued on this fountain during the next ten years. Ammannati, with the assistance of the best Florentine sculptors and casters, added around the perimeter of the basin, in a mannerist style, suave, reclining, bronze river gods, laughing satyrs and marble sea-horses emerging from the water. The monumental marble and the dynamic bronzes give nevertheless a coherent impression. The fountain served as an example for future fountain-makers.
And then, we walked to the great Il Duomo!
Il Duomo or Florence Cathedral or The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (English: Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo construction was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.
The cathedral is one of Italy’s largest churches and the the 150-foot-wide (46-meter-wide) dome remains the largest brick dome ever constructed, built without flying buttresses or freestanding scaffolding, using experimental methods that many contemporaries believed would surely fail. But it didn’t, it stood there for nearly 6 centuries now. And do you believe that the creator of the dome, Filippo, was just a homely, hot-tempered goldsmith with no serious architectural training? I admire his brilliant masterpiece.
Geared with a cup of hot coffee, a Moleskine sketchbook and watercolor, I sat at Smalzi Café with Evi and tried to draw the building:
Massimo Ricci, an architect from an ancient Florentine family, dedicated his life trying to work out the construction techniques that Brunelleschi used to build the dome. After 40 years, he concluded that the geometry of the dome resembles the petals of a flower. Massimo, in his interview with Tom Mueller from National Geographic, laid out some of the evidence for his theory of the dome’s flower, which he considers to be the breakthrough in his conception of Brunelleschi’s method. He told Mueller, “In fact, Santa Maria del Fiore means Saint Mary of the Flower and the symbol of Florence is a flower, the lily.”
Getting to Florence: KLM operated 2 time(s) daily from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Florence – Peretola (FLR).
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_of_Neptune,_Florence
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140210-duomo-florence-brunelleschi-cathedral-architecture/
47 Comments
jaja
wah… long way to go.. hehehe 😀
jaja
cantik bangunan tu walaupun tak sepenuhnya siap.. 😀
jaja
mimik muaka kak em paling comel bila tekun buat lukisan… 😀
jaja
* muka ye.. hehehe
jaja
seksi Neptune dengan saudara2 beliau.. hehehe 😀
jaja
gambar no 2 tu si cupid ke? dewa cinta… tua semacam je.. 😀
jaja
baru perasan kak em tulis “Both were real men disguising as statues”
woowowowowowow
jaja
untuk 18 tahun ke atas je ye.. hehehe
mummy yang tengah pregnant pun tak digalakkan.. 😀
jaja
Lya dengan farah tak boleh.. hehehe
Ann
Amazing entry 🙂
Ann
Adore the way u re sis emila 🙂
Ann
Ure so relax while sketching and it’s make me smile 🙂
Ann
Liliessssss
Ann
Colorsssss
Lya
Kak Em…nk ikut jugakkkk
Lya
Menarik org yg jadi patung tu…
Lya
Sempat lagi Kak Em melukis…. Kagum ka dgn Kak Em
Lya
Sebenarnya tak sabar tunggu Kak Em buat entry ttg pemenang ga April
Lya
Kak Em… Di sana byk bunga lili eh?
Lya
Jajaaaaaaaaa 🙂
Lya
Sure Kak Em busy kan… Semoga mak Kak Em cat sembuh 🙂 aminn n
Lya
Unik kan Jaja?
Lya
Panjang barisan tu…..
Lya
Upsssss!
Hazural
wowowowoooo…. 😀
glory jane
saya pun mula2 ingat patung… rupanya org menyamar ^_^
glory jane
bila kata melukis smbil travelling, pada saya cuma melukis dgn pensil/ pen je… tapi k.em siap bawak watercolor ke mana-mana … 🙂
Yukino Hinata
florence is full of statues. naked statues -_-
imaisha
whattt?! itu org ke.. mmg mcm patung yg sebenar (O.O)
imaisha
but that was only part of the queue (o.o) wow, mesti best sgt Uffizi Gallery sampai ramai sgt nak melawat kan..
imaisha
yela.. fokusnya pada lukisan.. patutlah cantik je semua lukisannya.. kak Em lukis dgn bersungguh-sungguh tuu 😀
imaisha
hee.. malu nak tgk walaupun umur dah lebih 18 >.<
imaisha
nampak tua sbb tu org sebenar bkn patung.. hehe.. dia teringin nak jadi cupid kot 😛
imaisha
itulah bezanya kita dgn artis hebat mcm kak Em.. huhu.. kat meja di cafe pun blh melukis pakai watercolor 🙂 dahsyat~
imaisha
yela kot.. kalau tak, masakan namanya the city of lilies 😉
imaisha
betul tu.. cantik je walaupun ada byk dot.. itu mmg extra effect ke watercolour tumpah.. but it looks more like added touch to make the building somehow seems magical ^_^
Hafsah ahmad
Wahhhh
Hafsah ahmad
I realize that did h usually travel with Evi? Hehee
Hafsah ahmad
I realized that you’ve mentuined her quite often. Heee
Hafsah ahmad
Mentioned*
Hafsah ahmad
Florence, as you mentioned, is city of art and architecture. It is amazing that the main icon of the city is the Florence Cathedral.
Hafsah ahmad
Since you mentioned that it was engineered by Brunelleschi, who was just a homely, hot-tempered goldsmith with no serious architectural training.
Hafsah ahmad
I guess we can never underestimate people hehe…they may have the capabilities that is out of their field 🙂
Hafsah ahmad
And the guy Massimo Ricci. To conclude that the dome resembles the structure of a flower, took a long time. 40 years! Wow. What a dedication to study for that long
Hafsah ahmad
Another thing that I learn is that, great building icons like this cathedral and eiffel tower in paris, are inspiration from Allh’s creation. Dome like flower, eiffel tower like bones… 🙂 🙂
Hafsah ahmad
Love your illustrations
Hafsah ahmad
And love your cd-like watercolor set. Heee