Incredible Florence

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Florence

A day so full that Haim faced a rebellion at the end, but that’s a story yet to come.

We awoke at 6:30, not fully rested, and at 8:00 began our walk to the Galleria della Accademia.  Despite having timed tickets, there was a very long line, so, putting on our earpieces, we had a study session while we stood in line to get in, focusing on Boccaccio’s Decameron, specifically “Day The First Abraham the Jew, at the Instigation of Jehannot de Chevigne, Goeth to the Court of Rome and, Seeing the Depravity of the Clergy, Returneth to Paris and There Becometh a Christian.”  It’s a wonderful tale, and there’s much to discuss and think about.

Ultimately we entered, and began a tour with our guide, starting with the astonishing “Rape of the Sabine Women” from 1856 by Giambologna:

 We next toured the Instrument Museum section, full of beautiful instruments, none of which are ever played.  This includes a Stradivarius violin which has never been played.  To me this is a travesty.  These instruments are made to be heard not to be looked at, and keeping them as specimens to view violates their purpose.  Our Smithsonian, for example, has a complete quartet of Stradivarius instruments which are constantly loaned out to be heard.  That’s not the philosophy here, however. 

We next went to see the Michelangelo David.  We had a delightful lecture on the David from our guide, and there’s much to learn.  David, of course, is now indoors, but originally he was where there is now a copy in the Piazza della Signora, and the gaze which now simply looks away, originally faced Rome, the traditional Florentine rival.  David here is portrayed as a Greek god, and there’s lots to be thought about when combining the bible story and the goal of Michelangelo.  The statue is magnificent:

After finishing our tour of the Galleria, we walked to the synagogue:

We had a tour of the synagogue, built in 1882 in Moorish style, with a Byzantine basilica form, after the lifting of the restrictions on Jewish life.  It was done in such a way as to reflect the assimilation of Jews into Florentine life.  The Aron Chodesh is enormous, and held 130 Torahs which dated from the 15^th to the 17^th c.

We walked the streets of the Florence ghetto, and standing on a street corner at the entrance to the ghetto we reflected on the relationship of the Mecicis and the Jews of Florence.  It was complicated and quite up and down.  This plaque was in our study book:

COSIMO DEI MEDICI, GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY

AND HIS SON THE MOST SERENE PRINCE FRANCESCO

MOTIVATED IN ALL THINGS BY GREAT PIETY

WILLED THAT THE JEWS BE ENCLOSED IN THIS PLACE

SEGREGATED FROM THE CHRISTIANS BUT NOT EXPELLED 

SO THAT THROUGH GOOD EXAMPLE THEY MIGHT COME

TO BOW THEIR STUBBORN NECKS TO CHRIST'S LIGHT YOKE

YEAR OF THE LORD 1571

We discussed what it meant to be segregated but not expelled.  We next walked back to the Duomo for a tour of the 13^th c. cathedral:

There are so many treasures inside that choosing what to show is difficult.  Here is a mosaic of the crowning of Mary from 1300:

Interestingly, the walls are devoted to famous Florentines, not to saints.  Here’s Dante:

And the decorations reflect the works of those memorialized.  Here’s a descent into hell on a ceiling:

 We next walked to the Palazzo Vecchio, the secular heart of the city and the place where the city government was housed:

In front is a statue of Neptune, another reflection of the fascination of Renaissance Florence with the Roman past:

In the Palazzo we studied the proclamations which are in the city archives from August 27, 1463.  These included a number of regulations concerning the Jews, such as this one:

All Jews whatsoever, male and female, more than twelve years of age, included or not included in the Condotta with the city of Florence, and whether they reside in the city of Florence or not, are required to wear within the City of Florence the sign of "O"-that is, a large yellow "O" on their garments over the left side of their chest so that it might be readily seen, and that such distinctive sign must be at least a third of a cubit in circumference, and at least a finger in thickness, under pain of ....

And:

 Jews are permitted to keep, read, study and copy their sacred books and books of science of whatever sort [libri di scienza di qualunche ragione si fussino] except those infamous and condemned writings [infamati et incolpati] of the community of Cortona, or any books against the Christian faith.

Finally we climbed up to the fourth floor of the palace and were able to have a great view of the city from a balcony there.  At this point, 5:15 PM, Haim began another lecture, this one on the resolution of conflicts between the Levantine Jews and the Italian Jews in the civil courts.  Members of our group were sprawled on the floor, leaning on posts, dozing standing up, and about two of us were able to pay attention.  It was time to quit for the day, and in as gentle a way as we could, we told Haim he had lost us.  He looked around, somewhat surprised, as I think his energy is so amazing that he doesn’t realize the rest of us are ordinary mortals.  We ended our day and staggered back to the hotel.