Fairwell view of Firenze, tomorrow Rome and then to Jonesboro.

Buono Notte, Firenze. Our last dinner in Firenze at Quatro Lioni.

The winners of the Santo Spirito Facade Designs.

Santo Spirito was designed by Brunelleschi in 1428, but his facade was never built and was left blank.

History is unclear about why the facade was never completed. Nevertheless, a few hundred years ago the people in the Santo Spirito community decided to add stucco to the rough stones that now lay beneath. This forms a great template to challenge students with, and I asked them to design a facade. Below are their solutions. (We do this every year, and this year's are the best so far!)
Early in our stay here we learned tat Sarah Ferguson fell in "love" with gelato, and it is no surprise that she chose it for her design.
Megan Fowler's solution was to do a "tie-dye" front to the church.
Morgan Wilson decorated her facade with patterns of color and added elevated "enter" and "exit" signs. (She also "trade marked" her signature as you can see an encircled R beside her name.)
Bright, cheerful, geometric patters appealed to Melloney Dunlap.
Shanshan Ai decided to add a traditional motif in black and white following the curves of the facade.
Daniel Holt reached back to the Eastern countries with this cartoon look exhibiting great perspective qualities.
Another monochromatic design was developed by Sara Brannen. She filled the facade with lots of Renaissance symbols and deigns decorations.
Britynn Davis has seen lots of mosaics while in Florence, and she constructed her design using a pattern of mosaic tiles.
Obviously, Abby Ganong was influenced with the new Florentine tradition where lovers lock their symbolic padlocks to the Ponte Vecchio and throw the keys in the Arno River to prove that their love will always endure. So here is a lock and two kissing giraffes.
Allison Brewer created a bit of starry night with geometric forms to tie her design together.

San Miniato al Monte. The oldest church we visited begun in 1013.

Magnificent Romanesque church, perhaps the finest example in Italy.
View of the mosaic depicting Mary, Christ and San Miniato.
While there, Allison takes every opportunity to photograph reflections for her photography class.
It was a long walk up the steps, and everyone wanted to rest in the shade.

Visit to the Galleria dell'Accademia.

View of Michelangelo's David (with crowd) to the right one of his so called "Slaves" which are unfinished pieces from which he did not yet "liberate the form from within the stone."
Clandestine picture of David taken from my iPhone with the help of Morgan.
Class studies David.

Waiters having fun, too!

I came across this image of my family visiting Pam and I in Rome two years ago. I wouldn't normally post a family picture, but I couldn't resist sharing this one. We were acting as most tourist and asked our waiter to take a family picture, and we all looked to the camera. Unknown to us, two other waiters were having a great time in the background! We never knew about these jokers until we looked at our pictures back in the USA. (Click image to enlarge.)

Inside the Bargello

Photographs are not allowed inside the Bargello, except for the interior courtyard. So above is the class descending the stairs.
Abby and Shanshan.
And, the class walking through the courtyard.

Bargello (The National Sculpture Gallery)

Donatello's bronze David was the first nude sculpture since antiquity, cast around 1440 to 1450.

Beach at Monterosso.

Most people went to the beach this weekend.

Medici-Riccardi Palace

Medici-Riccardi Palace with frescos of the Procession of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli.

Hall of Mirrors in Medici-Riccardi Palace

Thursday's Sunset Party, Terrace Pictures

Thursday's Sunset Party

Everyone brought something to share, posed, then "dug-in" to the food.
(Click picture for larger view.)

Thursday's Sunset Party

View of the sunset from Dean and Pam Reeves' Terrace.
(Click picture for larger view.)

Daniel faces the scupture as a mirror image.

Photo by Allison Brewer.

Allison Brewer took a great photo of Michaelanngelo's staircase in the Laurentian Library.

Shanshan reports on Street Corner Tabernacles.

The subject of Abby's discussion, Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women.

Abby talks to the students about the Sabine women, and poses at its base.

Megan looks at a sculpture with her new binoculars.

She got them as a gift in her "Happy Meal" at the Florentine McDonalds.

Standing in the rain during this morning's class.

Daniel gave a talk about 6 statues in front of Palazzo Vecchio.

Not even rain will stop the flow of tourists in Florence!

Today is a rainy day. We had scheduled a sunset party on top of Piazzale Michaelanglo, and will hold it instead at the Dean's apartment.

There are some steep hills in the Boboli Garden!

(Photo by Shanshan.)

Reports from the Boboli Gardens.

Megan spoke about several of the artifacts in the gardens. On the left she talks about the sculpture of the Medici Court Jester, and on the right she explains the island pond.

The Boboli Garden is not only a garden but an outdoor sculpture court.

While in the garden, Sara reported on the Neptune Fountain and Giambologna'a Abundance,1608.

Class portrait in the Buboli Gardens.

On the right side, you can see the famous Neptune Fountain, behind that is the Pitti Palace, and beyond in the distance is the city of Florence. (Click image for larger view.)