The Gallery Talks Florence (Part 1) March ’23 Trip was thoroughly enjoyable and a good time was had by all in the group! We immersed ourselves in the beautiful art and architecture of this wonderful city and sampled the delights of Tuscan cuisine in carefully selected local Florentine restaurants.
The cradle of the Renaissance, Florence nurtured a succession of great artists, including Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. Our cultural study tour gave us the opportunity to experience first hand stunning masterpieces by all of these and more incredible and revolutionary painters, sculptors and architects.
Our visits included the Duomo and the city’s most visible landmark, Brunelleschi’s dome, the Baptistery, Florence’s most important early building, and the superb Opera del Duomo museum, where the artworks include Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. We spent a day in the Uffizi admiring Italy’s largest collection of significant paintings, especially famous for its collection of Botticelli’s, as well as studying Renaissance sculpture at the Bargello and the Academia, where of course we admired Michelangelo’s David! Brunelleschi’s tranquil Santo Spirito church, including Michelangelo’s Crucifix, and Michelozzo’s San Marco Monastery, decorated with Fra Angelico frescoes, provided contemplative time. An afternoon at the church Santa Croce included a moving talk on Donatello by a Franciscan monk and the experience of the beautiful and peaceful Brunelleschi cloisters and Pazzi Chapel.
Florence, which retains a remarkable concentration of Medieval and Renaissance artworks and buildings, was home to so many artists who changed the course of Western art and thus provides the perfect opportunity to study the foundations of our civilisation through its art.
A Gallery Talks Florence Part Two Trip is taking place this April, with a Florence Part Three Trip in October 2023. A further Florence Part Two Trip is planned for early spring 2024. Please send a message if you’d like further details about future Florence Trips.
