A taste of Italy: Florence 5

Years ago it was Florence's jail and the site of executions, but today the Bargello is the city's best sculpture museum with works by Michelangelo, Donatello and Giambologna.

I was allowed some snaps in the courtyard (site of the aforementioned executions)...



...but inside they were a bit more strict about the 'no photography' rule, so you'll have to take my word for it that Donatello's bronze of David is looking quite spiffy for its 580 years after its recent clean.

Another highlight of the museum are some of the entries for the new doors the city leaders commissioned in 1401 for one of their oldest buildings, the baptistry next to the cathedral. The competition engaged the city's most talented artists who employed new techniques rarely seen before in Western art.

Here's a copy of one of the panels which made it to the baptistry's doors, with a remarkable level of depth and perspective.

It also had not occurred to artists before when depicting crowded scenes like this that each person should look different from one another and be made to interact with one another like real people. This emergence of individuality is one of the hallmarks of the Renaissance.

Elsewhere in the Bargello were rooms of coins, ceramics, miniature bronzes, cannon, carved ivory and tapestries but of all the museums we visited in Florence it seemed the most expensive considering in relation to what was on view. Four euros was a lot to pay for such a small museum.

On to the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, which you'll be pleased to hear is not a museum about opera. Phew! Instead, in Italian 'opera' means 'labour' and this is where you can find most of the artwork removed from the cathedral during its renovation along with models, tools and designs from the building of its dome.

This is the depository for the works stripped out of the sanctuary, along with most of the cathedral's exterior sculptures and friezes. Because these were meant to be seen from the ground, at eye-level the proportions sometimes look a bit odd, but it was a rare opportunity to see something like this up close.

The highlights of any visit are Michelangelo's Pieta and Donatello's Mary Magdalene.

This isn't THE Pieta (the more famous one of his is in the Vatican in Rome - see the photo at left and squint), as 'pieta' is a generic word that refers to the descent of Christ from the cross. In this version, Nicodemus is holding the body of Jesus. Michelangelo never finished the statue and in a fit of temper broke bits of it off with his hammer, so it remains rough around the edges. Look close at the face of Nicodemus though, because it's Michelangelo's self-portrait.

The figure of Mary Magdalene is striking for two reasons. First, she is carved out of wood instead of marble, and she is stood draped in nothing but her own matted hair. Apparently she spent a spell in the wilderness and let herself go a bit. The statue fell victim to Florence's great flood in the 1960s when she was found waist-deep in mud and following restoration she seems to be enjoying her 2nd floor perch in the museum.

Enough sculptures, how about lunch?!

We opted for another back street hideaway, this time Trattoria Pallotino, which promised a 2-course lunch for €8.50. When I asked to see what that entailed, the waitress sent for the headwaiter who came over with a pad of paper on which the chef had written down that day's menu. From what I could pick out with my limited Italian, our choice of starter was either pasta, soup or salad to be followed by roast pork, an omelette or... something with beans.

Christian had the penne pasta in a tomato sauce then a spinach omelette, while I had a bean stew and large slabs of toasted ciabatta, one covered in tomatoes and the other with a bean salad. By the time we added a bottle of water, small carafe of wine, some bread and the obligatory coperto (cover charge), our €17 lunch turned out to cost us €28. A bit dear, but again all the food was fresh and tasty. If you're interested, the address is Via dell'Isola delle Stinche, 50122, Firenze.

Now, did someone say it was time for...ice cream?!