Uffizi Gallery today.  The Uffizi Gallery was once the offices of the Medici family.  They were the ruling family for over 300 years.  They created government offices here to consolidate their power.  In 1584 it was turned into an art gallery.  It is a very large U Shaped building on the edge of the Piazza dell Signora.  The short side of the building is along the Arno River. It houses many masterpieces by Botticelli, Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci.  Back in the 1500’s artists did not choose their subjects.  Their patron commissioned them to paint what they wanted.  There are many many reglious subjects.  These paintings were kept in private homes and the families prayed to these images.  Lots and lots of versions of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.  The ceilings are also works of art in their own right.  Every inch is covered in images.  Also portraits line the ceiling.  These portaits are of turbaned men.  I found it interesting, but could not find out the significance of the turbans.  Not all of the ceiling portraits had the turbans.

We were able to see Botticelli’s Venus and Primavera.  Very large paintings showing the birth of Venus and what is believed to be a painting commissioned for a wedding, the Primavera.3

The hallways are very large and accommodate large crowds. 

Here are a couple of very famous works.  One is the “Annunciation”  There are many versions of this scene by a number of artists.  This one by Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most famous.  The Medusa by Caravaggio is also very famous.  We see it on t-shirts all over Florence!  This last photo is of a statue that I thought looked like he was taking a selfie!

After the Uffizi Gallery we are on the move again.  We get to move from the Hotel Allesandra to our apartment that we will have for a week.  It is very old and again is many many steps up.  The stairwell does have a “stairlift”, but sadly we do not have the key.  We must hike up the 46 steps to our cute little apartment.

There is a sculpture about 100 meters from our apartment.  It is the Tree of Life.  We noticed it yesterday and thought it was a very interesting piece.  Today there are flowers placed in an around this sculpture.  We have discovered that today, May 27, 1993 a car bomb was set off in this street by the Sicilian Mafia, killing 5 people and destroying a number of nearby buildings.  In January 1993, the mafia began a campaign of bombing Italian cultural heritage sites. You can see in this first photo how they have repaired the building after the bombing,

We have a small restaurant downstairs from us.  The aromas wafting up are incredibile.  We head down there for our dinner.  It did not disappoint!!  I had a spaghetti carbonara and Lindsey had grilled beef with grilled zucchini and eggplant.  Both very delish!!.  Stu came along for dinner as well. 

We return up our many steps to enjoy the Florentine evening from our windows.  The streets that were bustling this afternoon are now quiet. We leave a little of Stu on the deck below us. 

Another stunning day!!