Hi, I'm Rick Steves, back with more of
the best of Europe. This time, we explore the city
that pulled Europe out of the Middle Ages
and into the modern world -- Florence. ♪ 15th-century Florence
was the home of the Renaissance and the birthplace of
our modern Western world. Within a few hundred yards
of where I'm standing, you can enjoy much of
the greatest art created during
that exciting age. And we'll do just that --
gaze into the eyes of Michelangelo's "David," enjoy Botticelli's
"Birth of Venus," delve into the 3D wonders of Ghiberti's
glorious bronze gates, appreciate Fra Angelico's
serene beauty, and climb the dome that
kicked off the Renaissance. And beyond the art, Florence knows
how to embrace life. We'll cross the Arno to where Florentine artisans live,
work, and eat very well. Oh, beautiful. But first,
a little background. After the fall
of ancient Rome, Europe wallowed in centuries
of relative darkness. There was little learning,
commerce, or travel. Then, in about 1400,
here in Florence, there was a Renaissance. This exciting rebirth of the cultures of
ancient Greece and Rome swept from here
all across Europe. In architecture,
the Renaissance brought a return to the balanced domes, columns,
and arches of the ancient world. In painting, it revived
realism and emotion. Artists rediscovered
the wonder of nature and the human body. Portraying beautiful people
in harmonious surroundings, they expressed the optimism
and confidence of this new age. The suddenly perky
Western civilization made up for lost centuries with huge gains in science,
economics, and art. Florence was the center
of it all, and for good reason. This is where capitalism was
replacing feudalism. Being the middleman of trade
between East and West, the city had money
and it knew what to do with it. Wealthy merchant
and banking families, like the Medici,
who ruled Florence for generations,
showed their civic pride by commissioning
splendid art, and Florence,
recognizing and paying creative genius like
no one else, unleashed an explosion
of innovation. The Renaissance was
an age of humanism. It was a time of confidence,
when people worked hard, business was respectable,
and excellence was rewarded. The Church no longer put
a ceiling on learning, and the great
pre-Christian thinkers, like Plato and Aristotle,
were back in vogue. In about 1400,
with the advent of the Renaissance,
man, now alert, begins to stand on his own,
moving out of the shadow of the church. This "David,"
by the early-Renaissance Florentine sculptor Donatello,
is one of the first freestanding male nudes sculpted
in Europe in a thousand years. It's art for art's sake,
adorning not a church, but a rich man's courtyard. While the formal subject is
still Biblical -- David slaying the giant, Goliath's severed head is
at David's feet -- truth be told,
it's a classical nude, a celebration
of the human body. A generation before,
this would have been shocking. But with the Renaissance,
it's art. Florence was long
an economic powerhouse. Rather than its church,
it's the city hall, once the palace
of the Medici family, that towers over
the main square. Michelangelo's "David"
originally stood here. This is a copy. The original "David" is
the centerpiece of the nearby academia gallery, which feels like
a temple to humanism. At its altar,
one very impressive human. The shepherd boy, David,
sizes up the giant. Thoughtful and self-assured, he seems to be thinking,
"I can take him." The statue was an apt symbol, inspiring Florentines
to tackle their Goliaths. When you look at "David," you're looking at
Renaissance man. Artists now made their point
using realism, and they did this by
merging art and science. For instance,
Michelangelo actually dissected human corpses to
better understand anatomy. This humanism was not
anti-religion. Now people realized that
the best way to glorify God was not to bow down
in church all day long, but to recognize their talents
and to use them. Artists like Michelangelo even exaggerated realism
to make their point. Notice David's large
and overdeveloped right hand. This is symbolic
of the hand of God. It was God that powered
David to slay the giant, and Florentines liked to think
God's favor enabled them to rise above rival
neighboring city-states. The nave-like hall
leading to "David" is lined with Michelangelo's
unfinished "Prisoners," struggling to break out
of the marble. Michelangelo believed
these figures were divinely created
within the rock. He was simply chiseling
away the excess. Here we see the Renaissance
love of the body as Michelangelo reveals
these compelling figures. While these statues are
calledunfinished, perhaps Michelangelo was
satisfied he'd set them free and he moved on
to other challenges. Now that the old
center of Florence is essentially traffic-free, the city itself is more
enjoyable than ever. Early in the morning, the service trucks
make their deliveries. Then the people happily
retake the streets. The city is easy to navigate and its sights
are close together. Everything in this episode
is within a 15-minute walk. And without the noise
and distraction of cars, the architecture is
easier to appreciate. The Renaissance lasted
roughly two centuries. The High Renaissance,
or 1500s, is well known for
the work of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael, but the first half
of the Renaissance, the 1400s,
is often overlooked. While the main structure
of the Florence Cathedral is medieval,
its remarkable dome and much of the art
decorating its facade, Baptistery,
and bell tower define this first century
of the Renaissance. The Duomo --
that's Italian for "cathedral" --
is huge, the largest anywhere when
finished in the 15th century and still in the top 20. The church's claim
to fame is its dome, the first of the Renaissance
and the first great dome built in Europe in
over a thousand years. The church was built
in Gothic times, but rather than being
capped by another spire, it was left with a gaping hole,
waiting for technology to catch up with
the city's vision. In 1420,
Filippo Brunelleschi won the job
and built the dome that kicked off
the architectural Renaissance. Brunelleschi's dome,
which inspired those that followed,
from the Vatican to the US Capitol,
showed how art and science could be combined
to make beauty, and today, it rewards those
who climb to the top with a grand Florence view. While the Duomo's architecture
and statues are impressive, the Baptistery,
across from the Cathedral, is centuries older. The Baptistery is separate
because in medieval times you couldn't enter the church
until you were baptized. Its interior glitters with
Byzantine-style mosaics created in the 13th century,
long before the Renaissance. These vivid scenes, bringing countless
Bible stories to life, inspired the medieval faithful. Jesus sits at
the center of it all. Overlooking creation
on Judgment Day, he gives the ultimate thumbs-up
and thumbs-down. On his right,
Angel Gabriel blows his trumpet, bringing good news
to the saved. And on
the thumbs-down side... Well, you don't want
to go there. Some say the Renaissance
began in 1401 over the excitement caused by
a city-wide competition to design and build
new doors for the Baptistery. Lorenzo Ghiberti won
the commission and spent decades
on this project. These bronze panels,
Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise," were revolutionary
in their realism. By utilizing the mathematical
laws of perspective, Ghiberti helped
give the art world a whole new dimension -- depth. He pulled out all the stops to create maximum
three-dimensionality. The tiles have lines which converge to
a vanishing point. The bench is fore-shortened
to extenuate the depth. Elements are added to
establish a foreground distinct from the middle
and the background. The effect? As viewers,
we become part of the scene. While the panels,
like most of the art you see outside,
are copies, the originals of the cathedral's
greatest treasures are stored safely
out of the elements in the adjacent
cathedral museum. After nearly 150 years
of construction, Brunelleschi's dome was up and the Cathedral
was nearly complete. Then they began decorating
the interior with the finest art of the day. The Cathedral's
statues and relief showed a realism
and emotion unprecedented in
European art. The work of Donatello was
a ground-breaking example. This balcony for the choir captures the exuberance
of the age. Dancing and swirling
in a real space, oblivious to the columns,
Donatello's happy angels celebrate the freedom and motion
of this new age. Some say Donatello invented
the Renaissance style that Michelangelo would perfect
half a century later. He was an eccentric, innovative,
workaholic master who lit up his statues with
an inner spirituality or soul. Donatello's "Mary Magdalene,"
carved out of wood, is provocative,
shockingly realistic. The prostitute,
rescued from the streets by Jesus,
folds her hands in prayer. Her once-beautiful body
has been scarred by the fires of
her fasting and remorse. While her physical body
is neglected and her eyes are hollow,
her spirit stands strong. The museum's most famous piece,
sculpted a generation later, is this "Pietà"
by Michelangelo. The broken body of
the crucified christ is tended by three mourners -- his mother Mary,
Mary Magdalene, and Nicodemus. Michelangelo sculpted
Jesus taller than life. Notice the zig-zag of his body. This accentuates its weight,
making the theological point of the statue clear --
Jesus is dead. Nicodemus is a self-portrait of
the 80-year-old Michelangelo. After spending a lifetime
bringing statues to life, Michelangelo reflects
tenderly upon his savior, looking down thoughtfully
at what could be one of his final creations. I'm meeting my
Florentine friend Tommaso at I Fratellini,
a venerable hole in the wall much loved among locals for its
tasty sandwiches and wine sold by the glass. "Grazie." And when you're done,
you leave it on the rack. Boy, it's intense in the city.
Yes, it is. Well, if you want to
leave the tourists, let's cross the river, and let's go to where the real
Florentines live and work. Where's that?
The Oltrarno area. Steves: There's much more to
this town than tourism, as you'll quickly find in the characteristic back lanes
of the Oltrarno district. Artisans, busy at work,
offer a rare opportunity to see traditional
craftsmanship in action. You're welcome to just drop in
to little shops, but remember, it's polite to
greet the proprietor. Your key phrase is,
"Can I take a look?" "Posso guardare?" "Certo.
Grazie." Here in this great
city of art, there's no shortage of treasures
in need of a little TLC. This is beautiful. How old is this painting? This is
a 17th-century painting. From Florence? Mmm...we don't know. Maybe the area is Genova. Genova. Steves: Each shop
addresses a need with passion and expertise. Fine instruments
deserve the finest care. Grand palaces
sparkle with gold leaf thanks to the delicate
and exacting skills of craftspeople like this. A satisfying way to wrap up
an Oltrarno experience is to enjoy
a Florentine steakhouse which any Italian meat lover
knows means Chianina beef. The quality is proudly
on display. Steaks are sold by weight
and generally shared. The standard serving is
about a kilo for two, meaning about a pound
per person. So, both of those for 4 people.
Yeah. Steves: The preparation is
simple and well-established. Good luck if you
want it well-done. Oh, look at this. Oh, beautiful. [ laughs ] Chianina beef. Okay, perfect. So, the meat is
called "Chianina?" That's its name, because it comes
from the Chianti. Oh, Chianti, okay.
Exactly. And tell me about this concept of the "good marriage"
of the food. Well, when you have
a Chianina meat, you want to have
some Chianti wine. And they go together well,
they marry together. We say "si sposano bene." "Si sposano bene,"
a good marriage. The wine is from Tuscany
and the meat is from Tuscany. Exactly, you don't want to have
a wine from somewhere else. Steves: We're staying at Hotel
Loggiato dei Serviti. This spiffed-up
16th-century monastery offers a good mix of
character and comfort. From the understated elegance
of its lounges and breakfast room, stone stairways lead to
comfortable bedrooms. Once the cells of monks,
today's rooms, with air-conditioning,
antique furniture, and mini-bars,
wouldn't be recognized by their original inhabitants. A block away is
another monastery, with simpler cells than
our hotel, but better art. The monastery of San Marco,
with its peaceful cloister, is now a museum,
welcoming the public to enjoy the greatest
collection of frescoes and paintings by Fra Angelico. Working in the mid-1400s, Fra Angelico,
equal parts monk and painter, fused medieval spirituality with
early Renaissance techniques. In this painting,
he creates a realistic scene set in what many consider the first great
Renaissance landscape. Christ is mourned
by both haloed saints and contemporary Florentines. The scene is holy,
but rather than in heaven, it's set on a lawn in Tuscany, among real trees and people. The monks lived above
the cloister, and greeting them at
the top of the stairs was Fra Angelico's
sublime "Annunciation." The quiet beauty
and exquisite detail in these 500-year-old frescos
can put even a busy tourist in a peaceful
and reflective state of mind. The halls are lined
with monks' cells, each with a single
meditation-enhancing fresco. Studying these religious scenes, we can see how Fra Angelico
thought of painting as a form of prayer
and why it's said he couldn't paint a crucifix
without shedding tears. This is the cell of Savonarola, the charismatic monk who,
by giving fiery sermons denouncing the decadence
of the Renaissance, threw out the Medici
and, for a time, turned Florence
into a theocracy. Ruling the city, he ordered
"bonfires of the vanities," in which his followers would
collect and burn jewelry, fleshy paintings --
anything decadent, modern, or humanistic. Even the Florentine painter
Botticelli got caught up in this moralistic hysteria,
tossing some of his "decadent" paintings
onto the fires of Savonarola. Finally, when Florence decided
it preferred the Renaissance to a church-sponsored
return to the Dark Ages, Savonarola himself
was burned. Today's Florence could
provide plenty of decadence for a Savonarola rant, but if you want to enjoy
a splash of materialism or just appreciate
the fine symmetry of Italian
window displays, Florence can fill the bill. For shoppers,
Florence means high quality and top fashions. Wandering through
medieval streets while being tempted
by a seductive array of fine fashion
and Italian design can make for
a delightful afternoon. The Ponte Vecchio,
or "old bridge," has been busy with shoppers
since before the Renaissance. Jewelry is
a Florentine specialty. The bridge is lined with
gold and silver shops, a tradition that
goes back centuries. Nearby,
the Medici family ruled Florence from this grand palace,
the Palazzo Vecchio. Their offices, or "uffizi," were next door. Now these offices hold
the finest collection of Italian paintings anywhere --
the Uffizi Gallery. Each day here
and throughout Europe, frustrated tourists who don't
study their guidebooks waste precious hours in museum lines. Meanwhile, travelers who made
a reservation by phone or purchased
the city museum pass, as we did,
are allowed right in. The Uffizi's collection, displayed on
one comfortable floor, takes you on a sweep through
Italian art history from the 12th through
the 17th century. Gilded Gothic altarpieces,
like this "Annunciation" by the Sienese master
Simone Martini, must have dazzled
the faithful in the 1300s. The stars of the Florentine
"Class of 1500" are all here. Leonardo da Vinci's
Annunciationis exquisite. Michelangelo's
"Holy Family" shows he can do more than
carve statues. And Raphael,
considered a synthesis of the power of Michelangelo
and the grace of Leonardo, captures a delicate moment in
his "Madonna of the Gold Finch." And the collection follows art
after the Renaissance with masterpieces
like Parmigianino's slippery "Lady with the Long Neck." For me, the Uffizi,
like Florence itself, is all about the thrilling leap
from medieval to modern, as happened when Europe moved
from Gothic to Renaissance. These altarpieces are Gothic. Being pre-Renaissance, they simply tell their story through symbolism
rather than realism. The gold-leaf sky
isn't realistic, but it implies a rich
and holy setting. The angels are stacked
like a totem pole. Flanking this cross,
panels like painted pages tell the story
of the crucifixion, but with little sense of depth. Yet, artists were trying. To show Jesus'
head leaning out, it actually does. Giotto, while still Gothic, is often considered
the first modern painter. Notice the progress. His more realistic setting
places Mary and baby Jesus on a throne occupying
a believable space. The kneeling angels in front
and peek-a-boo saints behind create an illusion of depth. If the Renaissance was a foundation of
our modern world, a foundation of the Renaissance
was Classical art. Sculptors, painters,
and poets alike turned to ancient work
for inspiration. 2,000-year-old Roman
and Greek statues like these decorated gardens
of the wealthy. This ancient art was considered
the epitome of beauty. Kings made copies of it. Napoleon stole his
favorite pieces. In the 19th century,
young aristocrats on the grand tour
came here and swooned. During the Renaissance,
as in the ancient world, people saw the glory of God
in the beauty, order, and harmony of the human body,
God's greatest creation. Classical statues clearly
inspired Sandro Botticelli. For me, his "Birth of Venus"
is the purest expression of Renaissance beauty. The goddess of love,
born from the foam of a wave, is just waking up. Botticelli combines the beauty
of nature and the human body. The hands, wings,
and robe mingle with the wind. With Venus' flyaway hair,
the airy spaciousness of the distant horizon,
and the flowers, caught at the peak
of their beauty, tumbling in slow motion,
the world itself is fresh and newborn. Botticelli's "Primavera,"
or "Springtime," shows the Renaissance
finally in full bloom. The warm winds blow in, causing flora to sprout
flowers from her lips. Meanwhile, the figure of Spring
spreads petals from her dress, the Three Graces dance, a blindfolded cupid happily
sprays his little arrows, and in the center
stands a fertile Venus, the classical
goddess of love. Visiting Florence
leaves lovers of art and good living
with rich memories. And while much of the great art
of the Renaissance remains here, the influence of
that cultural explosion, the Florentine Renaissance, reverberates throughout
the world, and for that,
we can be thankful. I hope you've enjoyed our look at the artistic
splendors of Florence. Let's explore more of
this great city and more of Europe
together again soon. Until then,
I'm Rick steves. Keep on travelin'. "Ciao." This time, we look at the city
that pulled Europe out of the Middle Ages and into
the Dark Ages -- Siena. Florence. Florence. That's Superman coming. The suddenly perk-- [ man speaking indistinctly ] [ music playing
on laptop ] Man: This is after only
two weeks on the road. Imagine what happens
after a month. It's the world with
a pretty melody.
