Villa i Cancelli and Santa Maria Novella - 14 April

Villa i Cancelli in the morning sun

Tonight I am writing this in the peace and quiet of Villa i Cancelli, a convent up in the hills to the north of Florence. Last night at the appartement I hardly slept at all, the noise of cars and passers-by was very annoying. I don't know how people can live like that and retain their sanity; some people like it buzzy, but there are limits, and mine have been well and truly reached and gone beyond. Now I am at Villa i Cancelli, surrounded by olive groves, gardens and orchards; it is lovely. It's the convent of the Suore Orsolino di San Carlo, the Ursuline Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo, whose foundress was Saint Angela Merici, a remarkable woman who set up her own order based on the third order of the Franciscans. They were later absorbed into the Catholic Church because the male hierarchy was uncomfortable with a community of religious women who were not under direct Church (read male) rule. Typical men!

There are lovely gardens here, decorated with terracotta urns and with views over Florence and up to Fiesole

And an old tortoise

Fiesole is on the highest hill.

"The Faith is a comfort of our day"

White banksia rose

Statue on the wall of the guest wing.

This was a Medici villa, one of the smaller ones, but lovelier for all that. It has a human scale and was built to accomodate, not to impress. The German Army requisitioned the building during the war, and one of the nuns showed me a mirror with bullet holes where soldiers shot at it. But "that's in the past, now" she said, "we're not supposed to talk about it". 

Went to Santa Maria Novella this morning, my favourite church in Florence - if you see only one church here, it should be this one. Unlike the Duomo, much of the artwork and furnishings are still in place, so we can get a much better idea of how the church would have appeared during the Renaissance, plus there has been very little Baroque meddling. The frescoes by Ghirlandaio in the apse are wonderful, particularly because the artist portrayed the characters in contemporary costume; it's like an encylopedia of late 14thc women'swear. This must have been quite startling at the time, even avant-garde. Imagine if Biblical scenes were painted in churches now with characters in modern dress. Miley Cyrus as the Magdalene, complete with foam finger? Yes, definitely.

Massacio's Trinity

Ceiling behind the high altar

Altar pillars

Here's a particularly Renaissance device; one character looks out from the picture, including the viewer in the action, in this case a very fetching young man.

 Nativity of the Virgin

Nativity of John the Baptist; women coming to coo over the baby and congratulate the mother.

Altarpiece in the Strozzi Chapel - late Medieval

A lot more of the Santa Maria Novella complex is open now than when I first visited in 2007; then, only the church and the first cloister were able to be visited, now 2 more cloisters and several other chapels surrounding them are open, plus a small museum of reliquaries and vestments. This is a treasure house of art. So many churches have been stripped of their treasures, it's good to see so much still in situ and in context.