Florence March 25th – April 5th
Wednesday, 10th April 2019
Florence 25th March – 5th April 2019 Researching next novel
I have already embarked on writing my third novel. A trilogy. Frankie and Richard with the addition of their young son Dante. In the concluding chapter of ‘A Love as Strong’ they had just flown back from Florence. I therefore decided to continue my research in that wonderful city.
My friend, Jeet, drove me to North Camp station to catch the afternoon flight from Gatwick. I was fortunate because the young man at the check-in desk found me an aisle seat at the front of the plane and a member of ground staff offered me a spare place in the buggy to the aircraft. Aboard I was seated next to Chia Ling a classical music composer. I intend supporting a concert partly arranged by her. It takes place in the Royal Festival Hall at 6 pm on June 2nd.
Music of Today: Composers’ Academy Hear world premieres by three emerging composers in the culminating concert of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Composers’ Academy.
Over the course of the year, they have worked closely with Philharmonia musicians, visiting composers and Unsuk Chin, Artistic Director of Music of Today.Players from the Philharmonia Orchestra Geoffrey Paterson conductor
Chia-Ying Lin: Rubato (World premiere)Alex Woolf: Octet for mixed ensemble (World premiere)Benjamin Ashby: Some mad ideas (World premiere)
When I landed at Peretola Airport in Florence I joined the taxi queue. Fortunately a taxi service 4390, recommended by Ray Lane leader of our U3A Italian group, arrived when it was my turn to travel. I booked to reside in Monastery Stays with Suore Oblate dell’Assunzione Borgo Pinti, 15 50121 Firenze. The taxi cost 22 Euro.
That night I began a very pleasant research holiday in a well-run convent.
I had a comfortable room on the second floor of a beautiful in sight of the Duomo. My allocated room was a good size with shower, plenty of wardrobe space and an extra pillow and blanket. Daylight shone through two big windows and the heating was regulated sufficiently warmthrough two radiators at regular hours. Spotlessly clean B&B. Sheets and towels changed every four days. All needs well catered for.
On that first evening I was helped by the very kind Andrea Campbell who is completing further research in Tuscany art. Having arrived tired and late into the evening I was delighted to receive information about the local restaurants. We often met throughout my eleven days stay. Andrea sometimes chatted in both English and Italian when she was not engaged in her research.
The sonorous bongs from Il Duomo woke me at seven. After a modest breakfast in the refectory, clasping a map kindly marked for me by Sister Jean, I went in search of the Tourist Information Office. A nun in a branch of St Paul’s Publication store directed me to one that had not been opened for the season. Another lady sent me in the direction of a Tuscan restaurant ‘Trattoria Da Rocco in Mercato S. Ambrogio. Again recommended by Ray. As it was a very windy day many of the stallholders were strenuously holding down their covers protecting their wares.
| Segnala È utile? |
As the restaurant was indoors I was able to enjoy a typical Tuscan two course meal
After the meal when I asked ‘Scusi, dov’è il bagno? ‘ I was directed to toilets
where I was introduced to a very well informed and friendly toilet attendant. He seemed to maintain the public facilities very well. But the interesting thing for me was that he mistook me for an Italian! We held a half an hour discussion on many issues all conducted in Italian. He corrected me when I used two superlatives together: pui meglio! We exchanged opinions on state of the Catholic Church. He recounted how local people reacted when the cardinal arrived for a recent celebration and the clergy checked into a five star hotel instead of bedding down in rooms provided by the nearby monastery. As we parted he commended me again on my use of the Italian language saying that if I acquired the accent perhaps I could pass for a genuine Italian!? Being aware of the many mistakes that I make with word ending and gender agreements and I doubt that. However, that praise gave confidence in my efforts.
I found my way to Piazza Santo Croce intent on visiting Dante on his pedestal outside the huge church.
Here I am! This is at least my third visit to Florence and each time I have had my photo taken beneath this statue of my namesake. His first name and my surname. However, he is generally known as Dante. This time I asked a lovely French lady to take my photo.
I proceeded to visit the interior of Santa Croce and surroundings.
Michelangelo is buried there as is Rossini, Machiavelli, and the Pisan-born Galileo Galilei, who was tried by the Inquisition and was not allowed a Christian burial until 1737, 95 years after his death.There is also a memorial to Dante, but his sarcophagus is empty (he is actually buried in Ravenna as he was exiled from Florence).
There is an immense artistic wealth in Santa Croce; frescoes (1380) by Gaddi in the Cappella Maggiore tell the story of the holy cross, “santa croce”, and beautiful frescoes by Giotto in the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels show scenes from the life of St. Francis and St. John the Evangelist. An unusual relief, the Annunciation, in gilded limestone by Donatello decorates the south nave wall. There is a memorial to the 19th century playwright Giovanni Battista Niccolini to the left of the entrance said to be been the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty.
.
There are sixteen family chapels that help compose the Santa Croce Basilica, considered the largest Franciscan church in the world and legend tells us that that Santa Croce was founded by St Francis himself. Well-to-do families typically had chapels built and decorated in their honour (and often to appease the church or seek forgiveness for sins they were unwilling to stop committing) and dedicated to a favourite saint. Below are highlights of some of the more famous chapels.
When I came to The Scuola del Cuoio of Florence, a hidden treasure inside the cathedral of Santa Croce, I was taken aback. What has expensive leather in a monumental church to do with the poverty professed by St Francis and those first friars? I sought information and pondered:
In the wonderful framework of the cathedral of Santa Croce, the “Scuola del Cuoio” (School of Leather) of Florence is an enchanting place, surrounded by the silence of the ancient dorm designed by Michelozzo and decorated with frescos by the Ghilandaio school.
A treasure hidden in one of the most beautiful areas of Florence, which was full of artisan workshops even during the Renaissance as it was easier to access the River Arno from there, essential for the workshops.
Water is precisely what linked Santa Croce to leather
We met Benedetta Panelli, school assistant, who walked us through the history and the interesting stories of the Scuola del Cuoio of Florence, where the master and the apprentice work side by side, in an exchange that has always made every product unique.
“The school was created as a social project after the second World War by the monks of the cathedral of Santa Croce, who wished to teach a skill to the orphans of the “Città dei ragazzi” of Pisa, aided also by the Gori and Casini family, artisans of leather ever since the thirties. Marcello Gobbi gave life to the Scuola del Cuoio, which opened its doors to the public in the fifties and nowadays is run by his daughters and his granddaughter.”
Carlo Sieni still works at the school: he was accepted when he was fifteen and he is now 81 and not only he is a master of covering objects with leather but he’s also a teacher of the short courses held by the school itself. We are all impressed by his manual skills, by the dexterity and elegance of his gestures, which, combined with his authentic Tuscan spirit, make him a symbol of the history of this place.
Time and time again I was impressed and distraught with the opulence of both present day Franciscan and Dominicans. They even try to outdo each other. Where is the mendicant poverty of St Francis and Dominic?
Did God sent the 1966 Flood to bring them to their senses?
The church of Santa Croce was severely hit by the flood of 1966, a tide plate shows how far up on the pillars and walls.
I went in pursuit of the signs that showed how high the waters reached all around the city. With the help of the security police and another local man I found them almost at roof level. When I visited the church S.Maria Novella a few days later I spoke to a lady who was seven when the flood swept through the whole city.
- To be continued on next blog