Ironically, the Medici's most lavish residence is named after one of their rival families, the Pitti, who went bankrupt trying to keep up with the Medicis. Today the Pitti houses several galleries, many of which feature the Medici art and jewelry collections.
We enjoyed this museum more than the Ufizzi which, while it has an incredible collection, is not as lavish of a building, being built for bureaucrats not Medicis. The Pitti has a tremendous art collection housed in a lavish mansion. In fact, the Pitti even has a bathroom specifically built for Napoleon (but never used). Apparently his view of Italian plumbing was not unlike ours. Here's a sample of the chandeliers found in many of the rooms:
Often such chandeliers hang from Baroque ceilings painted by Pietro da Cortona to represent the education of the prince. Machiavelli be damned! A typical ceiling is shown at the top of the page. Do you really plan on taking over the world when your teachers are primarily nude mythological figures? Do they snap towels at each other? In turn, these lavish ceilings are often framed by cornices such as this:
We found most of the galleries closed except for the first floor Palatine Gallery and an exhibition space showing a pretty good show on Edvard Munch. (The collection of modern art was in a closed gallery).
Fortunately the trip was well worthwhile since the landmark Palatine Gallery was open. The Palatine has a dynamite collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings (Raphael's, Van Dykes, Titians, all the usual suspects) purchased by the Medicis and displayed just the way they crammed the walls with them -- theme and chronology be damned! The collection is a gift from the last Medici who was married to the Elector Palatine (a German bigwig).
As darkness descended, we crossed again over the Arno to another guidebook restaurant. The next morning we said goodbye to Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo. Please join us by clicking here.
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