Oltrarno, across the Arno from central Florence, has many wonderful things to see, particularly the Masaccio frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel.
We started early to walk across the Ponte Vecchio and climb up to San Miniato al Monte. There are great views of the city from the church and also from Piazzale Michelangelo.
This fine Romanesque church was shrouded in scaffolding when we visited. It is the second oldest sacred building in Florence after the Baptistry.
Though a church dedicated to San Miniato has been located here since 783, construction of this church began in 1018.1
The Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal was designed by Antonio di Manetto and completed in 1466. The tomb, on the right of the altar, was carved by Antonio and Bernardo Rossellino.
On the way down we stopped at Piazzale Michelangelo for the view over the city and then continued on back through the 14th century Porta San Miniato.
The church of our Lady of Mount Carmel was founded by a group of friars from Pisa in 1268. Building continued into the 14th century to create a chapter house, dormitory, infirmary and refectory which were all decorated in the 14th and 15th centuries.
A devastating fire in 1771 destroyed the church and most of its furnishings, thankfully sparing the Brancacci Chapel.
The chapel was decorated by Masolino and the young Masaccio between 1425 and 1427. Although only 24 at the time, it is Masaccio's work that is the most expressive and impressive.
Masolino left for Hungary and later Masaccio was called to Rome - he died there in 1428 aged only 27 - leaving the frescoes unfinished. It wasn't until 1481 that Filippino Lippi began to work on their completion.2
The frescoes are on scenes from the life of St Peter.
After visiting the Brancacci we went to Casalinga for lunch and it was one of the best meals we had in Florence. This is very much a traditional locals' place and it was full when we arrived, we were very lucky to get a table. I had Insalata Caprese to start - gorgeous mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil drizzled with olive oil, followed by really excellent rabbit and roast potatoes. Andrew had prosciutto and mozzarella then pappardelle con sugo cinghiale (wild boar sauce), also excellent. A mezzo of house red - a Chianti Ruffino - was also very good. We finished with espressos and limoncellos.
Later ice cream at Sorbettiere. I had chocolate and gianduja, Andrew chocolate and mango - nearly as good as Dei Neri's!
Cosimo de Medici I bought Palazzo Pitti in 1550 and moved in with his wife, Eleanor of Toledo. The palazzo was enlarged over the centuries and for a brief period was the home of the Italian kings when Florence was Italy's capital between 1865 and 1871.
Today it houses museums including the Palatine Gallery, home to an impressive collection of art including works by Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Filippo and Filippino Lippi among many others.
We mainly visited the Palatine Gallery which, being housed in rooms used by the various rulers of Florence, gives some insight into their living quarters. The rooms are all very opulent, with much gilding and many frescoes as well as paintings and furniture including exquisite pietra dura table tops.
The music room was decorated successively in the Napoleonic and Habsburg periods. Finally, after the unification of Italy in 1860, the paintings were modified to show the Italian flag and the personification of Austria became Italy in a blue cloak and wearing the Savoy crown.
Madonna and Child with a young St John the Baptist
The room names are usually taken from the subjects of the ceiling frescoes.
A famous Bronzino dual portrait in the Apollo Room shows Cosimo I's favourite dwarf, Braccio di Bartolo nicknamed Morgante, from front and back on the same canvas. He is depicted participating in a hunt, a favourite pastime of the Medici.
The Medici converted the land behind Palazzo Pitti into a huge garden. Its name comes from the Boboli family who once owned some of the land.
It is very much a formal Italian garden, symmetric in the style of the Renaissance and with many statues and fountains and few flowers.
Near the exit from the Vasari Corridor, which crosses the Arno above Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi, there is the Grotta del Buontalenti. A late 16th century creation, this had the original Slave statues of Michelangelo embedded in its lumpy walls. Now in the Accademia, replicas take their place.
The grotto is rather fascinating, in a hideous kind of way!
Towards the entrance to the Gardens is the Fountain of Bacchus with another representation of Cosimo I's favourite dwarf, Braccio di Bartolo, on a giant tortoise.
from the Pitti Palace the entrance to the gardens leads past a grotto with a fountain. This is the Grotto of Moses, from the statue of Moses which stands here. It has three sculptures of cherubs playing in the water of the basin which are rather sweet.
At the exit of the gardens are two Roman statues of Dacian prisoners. They stand in the classically accepted pose of subjugation - clasped hands and with a thoughtful expression. The bodies are made of Egyptian porphyry and the heads and hands from marble.
The statues stand on pedestals called Triumphal Bases because they were originally part of a late 3rd century Triumphal Arch on the Via Lata in Rome.
