Brown Is The Color Of Florence

At least on cloudy February days.

Small street monuments.

Pigeon convention.

Relics, in a subdued color.

Mail, adding the only colors to the palette.

Church Details In Florence And Venice

Another trip to Italy, another handful of amazing things to see in various churches. Domestic scenes, impressive altars, frescos. Religious relics to enjoy.

Getting fired up at a Bronzino fresco in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence.

Basking In The Sculpture At The Palazzo Bargello In Florence

You pay a visit to the Bargello in Florence for the amazing sculpture. Michelangelo is there. He's famous for David, which is somewhere else in Florence. The David at the Bargello is by Donatello and the work is amazing in its own right. If you're in town, do not stop at one David.

There's other sculpture to see, most impressive when it looks like it's coming to life.

The building. Palatial.

Proud mother Mary. Wistful ruler.

Mary again, in a different mood.

More sculptures, more expressions.

All framed up.

Clet Abraham, Abusing Street Signs All Over Florence

French artist Clet Abraham has left his mark all over Florence (and other cities in Europe, Japan and the US), adding a little zig and zag to the standard, boring street signs. He started making his whimsical adjustments in 2010 and hasn't stopped. Legal? Not really. Entertaining? Definitely!

Bringing that rock 'n' roll spirit.

Authoritarian love and hate.

Creating creativity.

Branching beyond Do Not Enter signs.

Hauling beauty.

Palatial Digs At The Palazzo Pitti In Florence

When the Medici family moves in for generations, it's going to hoard a few treasures and do the rooms up fine. Luca Pitti had the place built in 1458. About 100 years later, the palazzo went to the Medici family. Today, it's the largest museum complex in Florence. Time to check out some fancy stuff.

The main art museum also includes a wing of period rooms.

Details, rich (and illusional) details.

Re-contextualizing the art work.

Bedroom, a study in gilded yellow.

A Walk Around Florence

Between the big stuff in Florence, you gotta take time to see small details.

Carousel portrait.

It's all about the finishes in Florence. Re-doing a square. Mighty marble at the Medici tomb. Acid taking before entry is optional.

Proud football history at a market.

Artwork breaking out in the streets and in a shoe store. The original Leonardo da Vinci on the right is in the nearby Uffizi gallery. Or is it?

Right, that guy.

Touring The Palazzo Grimani, Venice

Venice is filled with old mansions, left by various doges, that have been turned into museums. Not really. There are plenty of palaces, but maybe only small sums of Euros available for the transformation for public use.

One recent addition to the Venice museum scene is the Palazzo Grimani, opened in 2015. It dates to 1569, once the home to the doge Antonio Grimani. The museum is still figuring out how to use the space. No matter, the space itself is worth a look.

Entrance courtyard.

Inside, walls dripping with ornamentation. A clash of old and new, marble and Italian plastic.

Fireplace and sly door.

Brooding art.

Some more Italian plastic, left behind.

Visiting The Jewish Quarter In Venice

Historic city, history quarter. Did you know the word ghetto comes from the Jewish quarter in Venice? True. There's some disagreement over the exact source, something about a foundry nearby or a mis-pronunciation of the Italian soft G in getto. The quarter still stands, Jews still live there and you can tour some of the synagogues that remain in the neighborhood.

The main square, the Campo di Ghetto Nuovo.

The German synagogue.

The Canton synagogue, from about 1532.

Details in the Canton synagogue. The shutters front the upstairs women's section.

The biggest synagogue in the ghetto, Spanish.

Details.

If you're interested in more information on the ghetto and its synagogues, click here.