Any More Information?

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the archives, getting what information I can from their holdings.  It is not much, but something.

In the morning I had ventured over to the Central Market and purchased some food for dinner.  I made a salami sandwich with fresh made salami, tomatoes, and a kind of baguette.  It was good, and tonight I plan on doing something similar.

Today was more of the same in the archives, though I finished early, around 1:30, because I had seen everything that they had to offer for me.  Yes, I am done, for now.  Oh, I did take a picture of the outside of the villa that houses the archives for now until they move into a new (and better) place next year.  I guess I will have to find something to do in Florence to keep me occupied for the rest of my stay.

I started by checking out the inside of the Duomo (after a dark chocolate gelato).  It is somewhat bare inside, but the dimensions are truly astounding.  The front of the church, under the dome, is blocked off with chairs for Mass, but you could still look up into the dome and see the frescos.  Really, more than anything, the size is hard to comprehend.  It is even more difficult to think that, since they did not have the knowledge at the time they built it to make the dome, it sat there with a hole in the roof for over 100 years!

I then went to the Baptistry infront of the Duomo.  Apparently they think it was originally a Roman temple, which does not really surprise you when you walk inside.  The true highlight is the golden roof with Christ at the center.  More than anything, for me, it is fun to think about the history of such places and who would have been in the same spot as I was able to stand.

I made my way back to Santa Maria Novella to see the museum and cloisters which was closed on Sunday.  To enter, you walk through an open space, the green cloister, with frescos on the walls depicting creation, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They also have a chapel built for Spanish Dominicans with amazingly detailed frescos on the walls.  Luckily, they have a well-written description to help you understand all the symbolism.  One thing I had not known: Domicans were often represented as dogs, watch dogs, safeguarding the Church.  They even had one depiction of St. Dominic commanding his dogs to destroy a fox, representing heresy and sin.

They also have a museum and treasury in another chapel.  I found their reliquaries especially interesting.  They included St. Catherine of Siena, St. Sebastian (a golden arm with an arrow through it), Dominican priests, and thorns and purple cloak from Christ (third class, I believe).  I always marvel at these and wonder about the stories they could tell.

So, it looks like I will not need to return to the archives.  I plan on trying to wake up early tomorrow morning to catch some of Game 1 of the World Series.  Then, I should have a good day of sight seeing.  I am not sure my plans, I will have to do some research tonight.  Hopefully I will have some more good stories tomorrow!