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The Florentine
Filippo Lippi’s celebrated Madonna and Child painting is back at Palazzo Medici Riccardi after being on display at Palazzo Strozzi and the Louvre in Paris. The painting formed part of an exhibition titled The Springtime of the Renaissance: Sculpture and the Arts in Florence, 1400-1460, which
Fresh from the resounding success of TF’s first ever digital-only issue (you wouldn’t believe us if we told you how many people downloaded and read it), The Florentine is happy to be back on paper on January 30, available free of charge from its usual
SANTA MARIA NOVELLA Church of Santa Maria Novella Gothic church marked by impressive bold stone vaulting. Piazza Santa Maria Novella - Tel. 055/282187; Mon–Thurs: 9am–5.30pm, Fri: 11am–5:30pm, Sat: 9am–5pm, Sun: noon–5pm; Entrance: € 2.70 Museum
Florence's San Lorenzo area no longer boasts its ambulant and busy market. In efforts to clear up the area around the basilica of San Lorenzo, re-pave the age-old stones and introduce an electric bus route through the centuries-old piazza, the City of Florence has obliged market
Chariot racing conjures up images, at least for me, of ancient Rome and, in particular, of Ben Hur, the Oscar-winning film in which the hero, played by Charlton Heston, drove his chariot and team of four white horses full pelt around the Circus Maximus. So it was quite a
In search of something crafty to do in 2014? Knitting might be the thing. Florence is brimming with knitting groups stitched with an international make-up. Head to the knit café at IBS.it bookshop in via de’ Cerretani, 16R, on Mondays from 5 to 7pm. Participants
Once, while out with his nonna, my son, who was just learning to talk, proudly identified the backside of a strange woman standing beside them: ‘Culo!’ My extended Italian family members were highly amused by my mother-in-law’s subsequent retelling of the episode. I, on
Philippe Daverio is one of the greatest popularizers of art on Italian television and an important opinion leader (though he hates being called a ‘critic’). His TV program Passepartout, which ran for over a decade, is the prime example of his incredible ability to converse about literally any
The great-grandfather of Italian cuisine, Pellegrino Artusi (see theflr.net/artusi), has a recipe in his 1891 cookbook, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, for a dessert that he calls Dolce Firenze, a previously unnamed dish that he savoured in Florence. While it is no
When I first visited Florence in the summer of 1988, I was surprised to find that the city’s most famous square, piazza della Signoria, had been reduced to little more than a gigantic hole in the ground. The purpose of this excavation was to unearth some of the
Tuscany is not synonymous with ‘winter sports’: indeed, the mountains here are not nearly as good as in the Dolomites or the Alps. But avid skiers or snowboarders can nonetheless find temporary satisfaction in the region. Abetone, northwest of Pistoia, is a little under two hours’
Florentine firm Pampaloni is famous for its original and beautiful silverware. Behind the brand is a dynamic company headed by two brothers who continue the business that their grandfather started more than 100 years ago. Kirsten Hills went to check out the brothers’ latest innovations. If you walk
The traditional low season in the Maremma offers a moment for embracing, rather than escaping, the cold and the customs that come along with it. With winter in full swing, the Maremma in Tuscany’s south has fallen into a fitful and satisfied hibernation. With months before the tourist
Rust-colored circles stacked in diagonal rows fit neatly in the rectangular holes in the church’s tan stone walls; the gray drips down the ledge of this bottle-bottom window mark the many birds that come and go to perch at this exact spot. This is the view
High up on the bell tower of Santa Maria Maggiore, the stone head of a woman, known as Berta, juts out bizarrely from the rough façade. The story goes that on September 16, 1327, Cecco d’Ascoli, a doctor, astrologer and teacher, was being led to
Museums and the Web may be the most important on-going discussion of digital practice in the arts and heritage world. Scholars and museum professionals meet to trade ideas and experiences about everything from social media to augmented reality as these innovations apply to museums and cultural institutions. What was
Culturally and historically, Italy does not have an overtly philanthropic nature, or perhaps it is fairer to say that, traditionally speaking, giving back to the community has not represented a mainstream mentality: while the important charity work of confraternities and the like have centuries of history, and Italy is at
