Firenze (Florence)

Florence is an amazing city but pretty overwhelming when it comes to the number tourists, museums and churches.  I've been ticking a few off my list but have to be thoughtful about how much I try to see in one day.  They do have a tendency to start to look similar.  You may not know but there are three Michelangelo David's in town.  The original is in a museum, a copy stands in a courtyard where the original was first placed and another replica is in a park above the city named after Michelangelo (one of my favorite places in Florence.  It provides a breathtaking view of the city).

In one museum I visited today (the Bargello, mostly sculpture) there are four David's by three different artists, all of them very unique.  The earliest completed in 1408 to and the latest in 1530.  I wonder which David is the closet representation to the real shepard boy who slayed Goliath.

A highlight has been the Museum of San Marco.  It was a monastery and features the work of Fra Angelico, a monk who was an wonderful artist as well.  The monk's cell were pretty bare except for a fresco painted on the wall that they could reflect on during their prayers. 

One of the few disappointments has been going into a church or museum and finding that the most important work there is either out on loan or under restoration.  It happened today in the Santa Croce church.  There are a series of fresco's by Giotto (considered the first great modern painter, if you consider 1325 modern).  One of the fresco's is the Death of St Francis,my favorite saint (not the Latter-Day variety).  The whole series was closed off because of the restoration work.  I'm glad that it will be there for generations to come but sorry I didn't get a chance to see it.

Tomorrow the Uffizi, the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere.