Uffizi Gallery

s maria novella on the other hand is somewhat bare without many interesting tombs or memorials but it is rich in frescoes the most famous being those of ghirlandaio in the choir and those in the spanish chapel which opens out of the cloisters here in an enormous fresco we see the dominicans in their much vaunted character of defenders of the church militant under the guise of black and white hounds the canes domini or hounds of the lord chasing heretics who figure as wolves midway between these two churches in the via del proconsolo we find a church with a beautiful tapering spire which like the dome of the cathedral and giotto's tower can be seen from all parts of the city and which although it has been restored is very ancient and was originally built for a third religious order that of the benedictines this is the badia or abbey of florence here the great count ugo of tuscany son of the foundress is buried and his beautiful tomb by mino de fiesole is one of the many works of art which the building contains the special treasure of the badia however is filippino lippi's masterpiece the celebrated easel picture of the madonna appearing to st bernard another of the massive palace fortresses which are so characteristic of florence stands opposite this church This is the Bargello, which, as we have seen, was built at the same time as the Duomo and the Palazzo Vecchio.

there are many beautiful things in this palace which is now used as the national museum statues by donatello including his st george his david and his young st john the baptist statues by michael angelo and by delicate terracottas by the della robies wrought in that mysterious glazed pottery which they alone could produce also some frescoes by giotto in which he has introduced the figure of his friend dante but the most beautiful thing of all is the ancient courtyard of the palace itself its loggia its statuary its colouring its many coats of arms and above all its outside staircase running up to the second storey all form a picture which it is impossible adequately to describe From the Bargello it is but a step back to the Piazza della Signoria, and if we cross that square to the Loggia dell'Anzi, we find ourselves at the corner of the enormous Uffizi Palace, which runs on both sides of the street, down to the Lungarno on the north bank of the river.

As everyone knows, the Uffizi Palace, which was built by Cosmo de' Medici, is now one of the most famous picture galleries in the world.

it enters from the loggia dell'anzi and is connected as we have seen by the covered gallery which runs along one side of the ponte vecchio with the pitti palace which is situated on the south bank of the arno there are immense picture galleries in this latter building also but it serves as well for the state residence of the king and queen of italy when they visit their tuscan capital and old retainers of the house of savoy in royal livery keep a watchful eye on all who enter it is fruitless to try to describe the contents of the many miles of galleries through which one may pass in these two palaces Countless books and catalogues have been written and compiled on the subject.

To visit them is a serious yet necessary undertaking, and one or two practical remarks may be useful.

Madonna of the Pomegranate.

And it's in the Uffizi gallery in Florence.

You said Da Vinci, Botticelli and Caravaggio.

Caravaggio.

And this is one image of her, but it's very particularly close to me.

And I traveled to the Uffizi and saw Venus at a very potent time in my life.

This image came right from the Uffizi in Italy near Florence.

So...

Okay, let's look at the Taurus full moon and relate it to Eve.

But there have been other instances of explosive art damage in which artworks have been the unwitting victims of deliberate acts.

So, for instance, in Florence, Italy, in May 1993, a car bomb detonated outside the Uffizi Gallery.

The attack was later tied to the Sicilian Mafia, one of numerous violent acts orchestrated by the Corleonesi family in response to new laws under which mafiosi were imprisoned in particularly harsh conditions, restricting their contact with others in order to stop them from orchestrating crimes while incarcerated.

The explosion killed five people and injured dozens more.

Now, one quick parenthesis.

Consider that at the time of the recording of this podcast, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence had just topped 4 million visitors per year.

Consider that the Academia Gallery in Florence had just topped 2 million people per year.

Consider that the Archaeological Park in Pompeii is hovering around 3.7 million visitors a year.

Here we go.

Um, is it A, The Prado; B, The Guggenheim; D, The Uffizi; or D, Reina Sofia?

I'm gonna go with Reina Sofia.

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