Maggie's Farm

Some things brought home from Italy, Part 1

Hadn't been there in four years, and it is always a stimulating visit for us Yankees with our cold, northern European blood.

1. Art does not progress, or improve, or even evolve...it just changes, like fashion.

2. "Duomo" doesn't really translate as "dome" - it generally refers to the seat of the Bishop, as does cattedrale. Other large cities have their duomos.

3. The year a building was built means little: over hundreds of years, they are changed, so that any old building contains the accretions, remodelings and re-decoratings of history. Witness the "modern" facade of the endlessly-photographed Firenze Duomo, which I refuse to photograph: it's faux antique and over-done.

4. In 1400, Firenze was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world. Making fabric from English wool, leather, but especially banking. It was a seaport: the Arno was navigable up to Firenze until the "bad" Medicis dammed and blocked it for military purposes.

5. I need to find time to learn Italian.