Churches: Santa Maria del Carmine (Part 2 of 3)

The treasure of Santa Maria del Carmine is the Brancacci chapel, a frescoed Renaissance masterpiece.

Three artists created the frescoes in the chapel funded by the Brancacci family.  They are Masaccio ("Clumsy Tom"), Masolino ("Little Tom") and Filippino Lippi.  The two Tom's painted side by side in the 1420's.  Lippi finished the chapel in the 1480's.  While each artist had a unique style, they succeeded in harmonizing their paintings in the chapel.

We especially liked Lippi's paintings. While they complemented the earlier frescoes, they seemed more life-like, more human than the other paintings.

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St. Peter Being Freed from Prison by Filippino Lippi

The Tribute Money by Masaccio (top); The Raising of the Son of Theophilus and St. Peter Enthroned by Masaccio and Filippino Lippi (bottom)

St. Peter Healing the Sick with his Shadow by Masaccio

The Crucifixion of St. Peter by Filippino Lippi

Madonna del Popolo over the chapel altar (13th century).  The 1460 addition to the chapel of the Madonna painting followed the exile from Florence of the Brancacci family.  As a result, the Brancacci chapel was renamed and rededicated to the Madonna del Popolo.

Thanks for discovering with us the treasure of Santa Maria del Carmine.

Churches: Santa Maria del Carmine (Part 1 of 3)

Santa Maria del Carmine is a lovely church in Florence. It proves that you can't judge a book by its cover.

Construction started in 1268 after the Carmelites were forced to leave their mountaintop convent in the Holy Land.  Some settled in one of the poorest areas of Florence and set about building a church with a convent.  The result, seven centuries later, is a church complex filled with amazing art and architecture and an active community of Carmelites living n the convent.

Santa Maria del Carmine:  The Romanesque façade remains unfinished, like the facades of many churches in Florence and elsewhere in Italy.  We have learned that an unfinished façade might hide an exquisitely beautiful interior.

Santa Maria del Carmine:   Illustration of the church (left) and convent with cloister (right)

Santa Maria del Carmine:  The cloister garden was once cultivated.  The illustration depicts an earlier Gothic version of the façade with a round window and marble entry.   Over 700 years, the church was updated from Gothic to Renaissance to Baroque to Rococo.  A 1771 fire and 1966 flood required extensive repairs.   

Santa Maria del Carmine:  The Rococo-style nave of the church

Santa Maria del Carmine: The cloister today.  The cloister was once cultivated and provided food for the residents.

Santa Maria del Carmine:  A frescoed lunette in the cloister.  The figure in the middle seems to be walking right out of the painting.

Santa Maria del Carmine:  A frescoed lunette in the cloister, with a figure inviting the viewer to follow him right into the painting.

Next Up:  The treasure in Santa Maria del Carmine.

Loggia dei Lanzi

The Loggia dei Lanzi is today a public sculpture gallery next to the Palazzo Vecchio in the heart of Florence.  The building is an outdoor porch with two open sides and is covered by a roof.

The Loggia was originally built in 1376-1382 to serve as an official gathering place for assemblies of citizens and swearing in ceremonies.  For awhile in the 1500's, it was used to house the dreaded German mercenaries employed by Grand Duke Cosimo I de'Medici.  The mercenaries were pikemen, or lancers--hence the name Loggia dei Lanci.

Over time, the loggia was filled with many sculptures that remain on display there.

We stopped by recently for a look around. 

The Loggia dei Lanzi as seen from the top of the Palazzo Veccho

Perseus with the Head of Medusa, by Benvenuto Cellini (1545)

A bronze statuette of Mercury, at the base of Cellini's Perseus

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna (1582)

The Rape of Polyxena by Pio Fedi (1865)

Menelaus Supporting the Body of Patroclus, a Roman marble sculpture from the 1st century A.D.  (The statue is a copy of a Greek sculpture from the 3rd century B.C.)

The Loggia is a nice place to relax and view art while escaping the sun on a hot Florentine day.

The Iris Garden in Florence

We are enjoying the 10 Year Plan.

One benefit of living in a city for an entire year is seeing all the city has to offer during every month of the year. 

We were reminded of this benefit with the annual opening of Florence's Iris Garden, a 5-acre paradise of irises, roses and olive trees on a hillside overlooking Florence.  The viewing of the blooms only occurs during a limited time during late April and May.  Luckily, we were there!

The garden was established in 1954 and has been annually awarding prizes to expert iris growers ever since.  We recently visited the iris garden while the irises were blooming.

The pictures below do not do the garden justice.  The garden in person is amazingly lovely. 

Florentines are proud.  One of the many things of which they are proud is their longstanding symbol, the giglio.  Many Florentines believe the iris, not the lily, is the origin of the giglio and therefore are especially proud of their Iris Garden.  That pride is evident in the flags flown at Iris Garden--the EU flag, the giglio and the tricolore italiano.  (Apparently, civic pride tops national pride.)

Thanks for visiting the Iris Garden with us. 

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