Tag Archives: Florence

Florence~Rich in Art and Architecture

Gallery

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This gallery contains 21 photos.

Florence is a beautiful city, busy, bustling and full of people, walking, riding bikes, Vespas, motorcycles and driving cars.  The Arno River runs through the city and under several bridges that were built in the 1200-1300”s.  Only the Ponte Vecchio … Continue reading →

Gelato, Autostrada, Pasta, Michelangelo, Wine, Bruschetta. Where was I?

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If you guessed Italy, you’re right!   We traveled there for two weeks and had a fabulous time.  We had beautiful weather in the 70s-80s F.  The only time it rained was on travel days!

“Traveling is the ruin of all happiness!  There’s no looking at a building after seeing Italy.”
~Fanny Burney

Our first stop was Florence, with a great hotel on the Arno River.  I spent a lot of time taking photos from the room’s window!  After four days in Florence our plan was to travel through Tuscany and finish in Rome.  Our stops included:  San Gimignano, Siena, Assisi and Rome.  San Gimignano was just a half-day trip on the way to Siena.  My husband offered to drive through Tuscany and drop the car at the Rome airport.   Our plan was to avoid driving in any major cities!  Barring a few wrong turns, we succeeded!

Since we got home very late Monday night…I’m just now starting to edit photos.
I’ll post as soon as I can, beginning with Florence!  Here’s one to start~

The photo was taken in front of our hotel, looking west down the Arno River.  You’ll see the Ponte Alle Grazie bridge.  This was the second bridge built over the Arno, the first being the famous Ponte Vecchio.  Ponte Alle Grazie bridge was first built in 1237 and over the years had a home for nuns; then shops and homes, as the Ponte Vecchio does now.  A fierce flood destroyed the bridge and it was rebuilt.  During WWll it was destroyed by bombs.  It was rebuilt in 1957 and remains unchanged.

Looking west along the Arno River. The Ponte Alle Grazie bridge can be seen in the photo.

 

Don’t change this channel!  Stay tuned for more updates from Italy!
Thanks for hanging in there while I was away….I appreciate my blogger friends!

Judy

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Regret

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Regret can also mean mourn, grieve, lament, bemoan or sorrow.  

I have chosen Michelangelo’s sculpture “The Florence Pieta”, also known as “The Deposition of Christ”, and “The Lamentation over the Dead Christ”.    Michelangelo intended this piece for his tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, but it was never finished.

The Florence Pieta

This sculpture shows Nicodemus as the hooded taller figure, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary mourning the death of Jesus.   However, the face of Nicodemus under the hood is considered to be a self-portrait of Michelangelo, himself, in his 80’s.   Michelangelo worked on  this sculpture between 1547-1555, near the end of his life.   After working daily for eight years he smashed the sculpture.   There was an impurity in the marble that had not been noticed until then.   After abandoning the sculpture,  Michelangelo gave it to his servant, who later sold it.  It was finished by Tiberio Calcagni who followed Michelangelo’s models.

The “Florence Pieta” is housed in Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy.    Michelangelo is buried in the Basilica de Santa Croce in Florence (the church of the cross), where he requested to be at the end of his life.  He was born in Tuscany and spent his life in Florence, a city he loved.

*Even though I have seen this sculpture and this is my photo, I used the sites below to make sure my information was correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.bluffton.edu 

Thanks for visiting today!

Judy

All text and images are copyright © 2002-2012 and are the exclusive property of Judy Johnson (unless otherwise indicated). All Rights Reserved. All Images are protected under United States and International copyright laws. None of the images on this site are in the Public Domain.

Old photos saved!

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Hello blog readers….

I am truly happy tonight!  Some very special ten year old digital photos were able to be saved from loss and I now have them in this computer.

In 2002 I went to Italy with a brand new, credit-card sized Minolta DiMage Z digital camera.  I also took my old Nikon film camera.

In those days we had a PC computer, that died a horrible death….the hard drive blew up or something.  My photos were still in the PC computer but the question was: How do we get them out and into my Mac/iPhoto?  Well, the problem has been solved and my photos are safely in my Mac.  I feel as if I’ve been reunited with some old friends!

Now that I’m working with the photos, I noticed that the pixel size is 800 max.  Digital cameras have changed so much in ten years!  I plan to show some photos in the future, but I have one to share tonight.

I took this photo in Florence.  We  were in the process of climbing the 600 steps to the top of the Duomo of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.   “Basilica of Saint Mary the Flower” (the cathedral of Florence).  Along the stairway are a few windows, and I shot a couple photos through those windows.

I really like this photo because it captures part of the city and the countryside too.

Good night…

Judy

All text and images are copyright © 2002-2012 and are the exclusive property of Judy Johnson (unless otherwise indicated). All Rights Reserved. All Images are protected under United States and International copyright laws. None of the images on this site are in the Public Domain.