Tuscany Villa Rental
The Duomo Group, Florence:
Forence's gorgeous cathedral offers two panoramic perches, one atop Giotto's lithe ond lovely belftower, the other al the summit of Brunelleschi's robust and noble dame. The interior or the cathedral contains some Uccello frescoes but otherwise is oddly borren and less interesting than clambering up between Q. the layers or the dame. The nearby Baptistry is also more rewarding with its O glittering Byzontine mosaics and Gates of Paradise, while inside the Museo are statues by Michelangelo, Donatello, Ghirlondaio and Andrea Pisano.
The Duomo Group
Top 07 Features:
01 - Duomo: Dome
The Duomo's crossing was thought unspannable until Brunelleschi came up with this ingenious double shell constructionin 1420.
Forge the mediocre frescoes insrde the thrill is to climb up between the layers to the marble lantern at its peak.
02 - Baptistry: Gates of Paradise
Lorenzo Ghiberti's gilded bronze panels (1425-53) show-case his mastery at depicting great depth in shallow relief (right). Michelangelo was reportedly so moved he proclarmed they would "grace the very gales of Paradise'', and the name stuck; the originals are housed in the Museo.
03 - Baptistry: Mosaics
The swathe of 13th century mosaic panels tells stories from Genesis and the lives of Jesus, Joseph and St John the Baptist.
04 - Museo dell'Opera Michelangelo's Pietà:
Michelangelo created three Pletas, this mlddle one in 1548-55 belore angrily altacking it with a hammer
05 - Duomo: Campanile
Giotto designed only the lo west leve of the"Lilly of Florence which was continued by Andrea Pisano (who added statue niches) and finis hed by Francesco Talenti. It is 85 m (276 flt), or 414 steps, to the top.
07 - Duomo: Fresco of Giovanni Acuto
Master of prospettive Paolo Uccello painted this trompe-I'oeil fresco (1436) of an equestrian statue as a memorial for John Hawkwood, an English condottiere (mercenary commander) long in Florence's employ.
