Florence (Palazzo Pitti)
Nov. 6th, 2016 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitWe visited the Palazzo on our second full day in Florence. To get there we crossed the Ponte Vecchio, with the crowds. So much of Florence was built and put on show to display the wealth and power of its rulers. It has the same effect on the tourists today, who are equally impressed by what they see. It is perhaps what made me feel, despite admiring the beauty, that it wasn't my sort of place. I'm so pleased we went, but it wasn't a city I could relate to particularly.
Anyway, enough of the philosophy and back to the pictures. The Palazzo is stuffed with Renaissance art - very good, but the period I have least affinity to. There is also a section of more modern art, more to my taste, but there are only so many paintings I can look at. My preference when looking through any historic building is for furniture. The smaller Royal Appartments are furnished, and although the light isn't very good for photography I took some pictures:
Clearly the first is the throne, in a room, like many others, which was predominantly red - and emphasising the power again. I find myself drawn to cabinets (there's an interesting display in London's V&A), hence the next two pictures. The final dining table was in a room which was in pale green and a very refreshing contrast to the dominant red elsewhere.
Behind the Palazzo are the Boboli Gardens. These are rather less impressive than in their heyday, but none the less have some wonderful views:
At the top of the gardens there is a Porcelain Museum, which was the high point of the day for me. So many exquisite items:
We left shortly before the gardens closed at four o'clock, when we were starting to feel a little chilly, and wishing we'd brought a jumper. Still, it's not bad wandering around in a t-shirt on November 1st.
Anyway, enough of the philosophy and back to the pictures. The Palazzo is stuffed with Renaissance art - very good, but the period I have least affinity to. There is also a section of more modern art, more to my taste, but there are only so many paintings I can look at. My preference when looking through any historic building is for furniture. The smaller Royal Appartments are furnished, and although the light isn't very good for photography I took some pictures:
Clearly the first is the throne, in a room, like many others, which was predominantly red - and emphasising the power again. I find myself drawn to cabinets (there's an interesting display in London's V&A), hence the next two pictures. The final dining table was in a room which was in pale green and a very refreshing contrast to the dominant red elsewhere.
Behind the Palazzo are the Boboli Gardens. These are rather less impressive than in their heyday, but none the less have some wonderful views:
At the top of the gardens there is a Porcelain Museum, which was the high point of the day for me. So many exquisite items:
We left shortly before the gardens closed at four o'clock, when we were starting to feel a little chilly, and wishing we'd brought a jumper. Still, it's not bad wandering around in a t-shirt on November 1st.
