Two more must-see things in Florence are the Santa Maria Novella Church and Palazzo Pitti. We were suppose to see the Palazzo Vecchio with Santa Maria Nouvella, but something came up so we swapped Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Vecchio. They are both close and it was nice to have a little fresh air and walk between the two stops.
Santa Maria Nouvella Church
Santa Maria Novella was one of the first things we saw when we arrived in Florence. We had lunch (pizza + wine) right in the square. How jet leg do we look? 😛 I’m bummed I left that scarf on the plane on the way home.
The Santa Maria Nouvella Church was the city’s principle Dominican church. It’s hard to see in my photos, but near the top of the facade reads Giovanni Rucellai son of Paolo in the year of salvation 1470 in Latin. After funds to complete the church ran out, Giovanni Rucellai offered to finance it in exchange for his name on the facade and guaranteed salvation. Our tour guide also told us that he wanted one service a year dedicated to him. That was 550-some years later and apparently they still dedicate a service each year. Inside the church is gorgeous! Lots of paintings, frescos and artifacts.
The most memorable thing inside was one of the chapels on the right side of the alter. The Strozzi Chapel includes frescoes by Filippino Lippi. The fresco on the right is called St Philip Driving the Dragon from the Temple of Hieropolis and shows a dragon farting something so fierce, it kills the young man (in the blue). Farts were funny even back in the 1500s.
The Palazzo Pitti
The Palazzo Pitti in Florence was originally a home for Luca Pitti, but was later bought by Cosimo I de’ Medici and his wife Eleanor of Toledo. The Medicis put on an addition almost doubling it in size. It stood to show the money and power of the Medici family. The picture above is taken from the front, looking out to the right. You can see the large courtyard area that sets it off the street.
After entering, there is an interior courtyard that leads out to the Boboli Gardens (we toured these at a later date). They used this courtyard for theaters and apparently did a reenactment of Jonah and the whale here by filling it up with water.
Again, there were paintings adorning every wall of every room of the museum. The first one above is Madonna with the Child and Scenes from the Life of St Anne by Filippo Lippi. It depicts three scenes, since often people got information stories from paintings they often continued multiple scenes as part of the overall story. It was set off the wall because there is a graphic on the back that has yet to be identified. (Do you smell a Dan Brown book?) The second painting, the Portrait of Pope Leo X had just been restored. It was painted by Raphael in 1520. The guy on the left is Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici.
The third painting, and the one that stuck with me the most, is Judith with the Head of Holofernes by Cristofano Allori. Judith is apparently a biblical heroin, although she isn’t in my NIV Bible. The scene portrays her killing her rapist, who was commissioned by her father to help her. There is another piece of art in the Uffizi that depicts this scene in a slightly different way. It was very jarring to hear the story while studying the painting. I also felt a little bit of a “You go girl!” while starring at her face.
More Italy Posts
- Palazzo Medici-Riccardi + San Lorenzo Church + San Marco Monastery
- Day Trip to Siena + San Gimignano + Pisa
- Bargello National Museum + Opera del Duomo Museum
- Accademia Gallery + Wine Tasting at Il Borro
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