Last day in Florence

Florence is a city, with a history and a tradition that the people cherish. Walking in the center of the city you continually encounter houses with coats of arms. It has the feel of history.

Of course, it's at times a very sordid history, including the machinations of families and others to control the city. The church is not exempt from these types of activities - witness the burning of Fra Girolamo Savonarola at the stake, where church and state worked together.

But there are beauties to be seen there, among the most amazing are the frescos of Fra Angelico in the San Marco Convent of the Dominicans, now a museum. Sad to say you can't take photos there, but then that enhanced the experience for me. I had to stop and use my senses to take in the beauty of the frescos, especially those that graced the cells of the Dominicans.

My last day in Florence I went to the museums; but after San Marco they were a disappointment except for a few facsinating pieces - of which there were no postcards.

I particlarly remember one image from the Renaissance of Jesus and four saints, mostly because the face of St. John the Baptist reminded me of a friend in the village of Camalote, Honduras. It was striking.

What I also noted is that in most museums there are almost too many images, but even though there are scores of images in San Marcos there is something different. Except for the galleries, most of the images are still in the place where they were made for. And even though the friars no longer inhabit the cells, there was for me still a sense of their presence. Often museum art is "place-less," thus separated from the reality of the world in which they were made. Now that's something for some philosophical and theological speculation!

There was, however, one place in Florence that I visited on the last day that was striking, the Church of St. Miniato, a martyred bishop of Florence who, like St. Denis of Paris, carried his head to the place on a hill after being beheaded. The piece was serene, with a beautiful view of the center of the city, with a three-level Romanesque church.

The last night I went to Trattoria Guelfa, up the street from where I was staying for a nice meal of vegetarian risotto. What I most liked about the place is the atmosphere, locals and visitors,with families.

And so I left Florence, glad to have spent three days there, but wanting to return again to spend even more time in San Marco, contemplating the frescos. That was for me a profound experience of God.

Florence, day two

Yesterday was, in one way, my Franciscan day. Today the Dominicans were central to my time here in Florence.

I went to the church of San Marco, which is one of the Dominican churches here. I prayed before the altar where they have laid the body of St. Antoninus, the Dominican bishop of Florence.

But San Marco, especially the convento, the friars' housing is better known for two other friars. And so I spent more than two hours wandering the museum. Unfortunately they don't allow you to take pictures, but it is the most memorable time of my visit here.

Fra Angelico painted stunning frescos on the walls of the cells on the second floor of the convent.

Walking up the stairs I turned and saw at the top the famous fresco of the Annunciation. I stopped and gazed in awe. There is a beauty there and a simplicity, as Mary, seated with hands crossed, responds to the angel's announcement that she will conceive the Son of God.

There is little ornamentation in the little porch where the meeting takes place and to the left, over the wall, there are only some tall pines that I've seen here.

In this simple setting, the Word was made Flesh.

When I could detach myself from the fresco, I went and visited the cells, each one adorned with a fresco from the life of Christ, many of them with the anachronism of saints looking on.

The first cell had an image of Jesus and Mary Magdalene outside the tomb. I just realized that Mary Magdalen holds a special place among the Dominicans as the "first among the apostles," because she announced that Jesus is risen to the apostles.

But what touched me is that Jesus had a hoe over his shoulder. Mary thought he was the gardener and in this picture he is the gardener. He is preparing the new Garden of Eden for us.

The rest of the cells had a variety of images, many of them of the crucified Jesus.

No wonder that these were the friars who, at the end of the 15th century, followed Fra Girolamo Savonarola, a friar who preached conversion and led the city to make major changes. Caught up in political and ecclesiastical power struggles, he was eventually burned at the stake with two other friars in the Piazza delle Signori,

There is much more that one could say about the Museo One image by Fra Angelico showed St. Dominic with a finger to his lips - as if to call all of us to silence.


After leaving San Marco, I went to the Museum of the Church of Santa Maria Novella, another Dominican church.

There are hundreds of frescos here, some in very poor condition. But what I noted is the recurring presence of three friars -

St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers (the Dominicans) - at least once with a group of dogs - enlisting his Domini canes, dogs of the Lord;

St. Peter of Verona, the first martyred member of the order;

and St. Thomas Aquinas, who has a whole wall in the Spanish Chapel, dedicated to him, as well as a chapel in the church where Christ is giving him wisdom at the same time as St. Peter receives the keys of the Kingdom.

But what really impressed me was the large cross by Giotto suspended in the church - simply Christ, suspended between heaven and earth.

There were other places I visited Thursday - including the Baptistry and the Cathedral Museum, but nothing can match the experience of God's presence in the Convent of San Marco, especially in the frescos of Fra Angelico.

Florence, day one

It's been less than two days since I've arrived in Florence, Italy, but it feels as if I have been here several days. I've walked more in the past 36 hours than I have for a long time.

I arrived late morning Wednesday, 7 February, and after settling in my stuff in a hotel I went off to explore the city. (I did have a concern, though, since my luggage hadn't arrived with me. Somehow it decided to take a Swiss vacation and landed up in Zurich.)

I stopped at the cathedral and had the chance to pray as well as marvel at the impressive building.

Then I was off to Santa Croce, the Conventual Franciscan church.

In some ways I came away a little disappointed.

The frescos of St. Francis are not in a good condition, though I marvel at the beauty of the death scene painted by Giotto.

In addition, the church is filled with funeral monuments of "important" people. There is also a separate chapel that was built with the money of a friend of the Medicis. So much for Franciscan simplicity.

Since it was a beautiful day, I decided to climb to the top of the cathedral dome, all 493 steps. I made it in decent time, though I let younger people pass me.

The view at the top was beautiful.

After a nice vegetable soup dinner I headed back to the hotel to upload photos. The luggage arrived at 9:00 pm.

Wednesday I woke up later than usual and spent the day walking more. Details to follow.