The Duomo and Medici Chapels, and a farewell to friends

(This is part of our series of posts from our six-week Road Scholar Independent Living and Learning in Florence trip to Italy in Spring 2025. We have an index to all the posts from that trip here.)

We actually did NOTHING after class yesterday (Thursday, May 22) except to go home and rest a bit–which was good, because Friday was packed! David skipped his 11 am conversation class because we had reservations for a guided tour of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, better known just as the “Duomo”, which is the most famous structure on the Florentine skyline.

This is the enormous Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore complex, which dominates the historic center of Florence. Our guide showed us this one one vantage point where it is possible to see all three structures: the octagonal Baptistry of San Giovanni, the Cupola di Brunelleschi, and Giotto’s Campanile (bell tower). The complex is faced with white Carrara marble, Michelangelo’s favorite. The accents in green marble are from the area around Florence, while the red marble is from Siena. The roof of the baptistery is also marble, and is original because of its durability. The baptistry, built in the 4th-5th century CE, is older by many centuries than both the cathedral and the bell tower.

On this, our second visit to the Baptistry of San Giovanni, we were able to get a better look at Lorenzo Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise”. Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Ghiberti designed the original doors for the east portal of the Baptistery in 1425. The 17-foot-tall, three-ton doors, cast in bronze and gilded with gold to protect the metal, became an icon of Renaissance and one of the most famous works of art in the world. Michelangelo Buonarroti gave the doors their nickname because of their striking beauty. The original doors were damaged in the 1966 River Arno flood, and after restoration were removed to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo; these are reproductions cast in 1990 from the originals. (We took more detailed photos of the originals when we visited the Museo two days later.)

Ghiberti “signed” his work by including small portraits of himself and his son, who was his main assistant, in the middle of the two doors.

This painting is above the entrance to the Cathedral. Note the incredibly detailed marble carvings and other decorations that cover the entire surface.

Giotto’s Campanile (Bell Tower). We decided not to climb it–we’d already seen plenty of views of Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo a few days earlier.

The mosaic depicting the Annunciation in the lunette above the Porta della Mandorla in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, made by the brothers Domenico and David Ghirlandaio, is one of the finest examples of wall mosaics ever made. The central portion of the mosaic bears the date of 1490.

After touring around the outside of the complex, we entered the Cathedral itself. This is the dramatic vaulted ceiling of the Cathedral’s nave.

The clock above the main door inside the Duomo is the only one of its kind in working order anywhere in the world. It has only one hand, running counter-clockwise from the Roman numeral XXIIII at the bottom, which indicates the 24 hours of ora italica (“Italian time”), beginning and ending at sunset. The clock marked the hour when evening Mass began (at I). The mosaic below the clock depicts the coronation of Mary, with frescoes on the sides depicting six angels giving a concert for her.

Flower design in marble floor, referencing the name of the Cathedral, “Saint Mary of the Flowers”. Cosimo de’ Medici had the marble floor of the Duomo installed in the 1500s to replace the original terra cotta floor.

The monumental fresco adorning the ceiling inside Brunelleschi’s Duomo is The Last Judgment, begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1572 and completed after his death by Federico Zuccari in 1579. Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned the painting to advertise his role as a Christian ruler and promoter of religious art in Florence, and to demonstrate his support for the Pope. The design, inspired by the Book of Revelation along with Dante’s Divine Comedy, is painted in concentric circles, with the upper areas featuring Christ, the Madonna and the angels, while the lowest circle features eternal torment to depict man’s descent into the horrors of the underworld.

The Medicis were not shy about letting the public know how much the rulers’ wealth had benefitted the city. The full inscription around this design–one of several in the Cathedral floor–reads, “Cosimo II Duke of Florence commissioned this marble floor.” (He later proclaimed himself Grand Duke Cosimo I, which sounded better to him than being the “Second”.)

After lunch, we walked toward our next stop, with a brief visit to Florence’s Mercato Centrale. Unfortunately, we got there just as it was closing–but not before we saw this case full of future Florentine steaks, the signature dish of the city.

There were also a few healthier options at the market. Of course, every display case was beautiful.

We passed the Basilica of San Lorenzo, with this contemporary sculpture in front of it, on our way to our tour of the Medici Chapels.

Beatrice, one of the teachers at our language school, led our tour of the Medici Chapels. Unlike our morning tour, this one–like all the school’s tours–was entirely in Italian. The sculpture behind her is of Anna Maria Louisa de Medici, the last Medici heir, who directed that the family’s entire collection of art and relics be left to the City of Florence for the enjoyment of the public.

Inside the Medici Chapel. Commissioned by Cosimo I, Giorgio Vasari produced a plan in the 1570s for a magnificent marble-clad mausoleum equal to the glory of the House of Medici behind the choir of Basilica di San Lorenzo. However, building didn’t begin until 1605, and the structure wasn’t completed until almost 30 years later. The interior decoration continued sporadically for centuries, with the floor not finished until 1962. The Chapel is a monumental octagonal hall internally clad by with rare marble, granite, jasper and semi-precious stones. The side chapels host the monumental sarcophagi of the first six Grand Dukes. In this photo, the sarcophagus of Cosimo I is on the left, and Ferdinand I is on the right.

Frescoes inside the cupola of the Medici Chapel.

Altar in the Medici Chapel.

The tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici, Duke of Nemours (1479-1516) and brother of Pope Leo X. The two marble sculptures are by Michelangelo.

The tomb of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino. Again, the two marble sculptures are by Michelangelo.

Tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-92) and of his brother Giuliano (1453-78). The center sculpture is “Madonna and Child” by Michelangelo. The twisted torso of the child Jesus shows Michelangelo’s artistry and deep understanding of human anatomy.

After our tour of the Medici Chapels, we walked over to the Piazza della Repubblica to meet up with our Road Scholar group for our weekly happy hour and review of the week.

Our Road Scholar happy hour at Procacci 1885, a 140-year-old Florentine institution specializing in wine and truffles. We got to sample several appetizers made with truffles.

From the happy hour, we hurried to a lovely restaurant, FrancescoVini, to join 14 other ABC School classmates and friends for a farewell dinner. Patrick, the gentleman at the end of the table, was celebrating his 78th birthday. He and his wife Hannah, who live in Canada, and the group on the right side from Switzerland, were all leaving Florence the next day after several weeks of studying Italian.

The dinner group in the wine cellar of FrancescoVini. This cellar is part of a 1,000 year old Roman amphitheater. The building above it, where the restaurant is located, is 700 years old!

By the time we got home from our fabulous dinner and went to sleep, it was 12:30 am–quite late for this old couple!