Florence

Ah Florence. The last weekend has underscored for me that less is more. I went to the Uffizi, the art gallery, and was just overwhelmed. By the time I got to the room with the altar pieces I couldn’t concentrate on ‘the art’ and my thoughts moved laterally. Here were Mary and the saints standing around with eyes cast down, were they serene or were they bored, tired of these people coming through the stare at them. What is the difference between boredom and serenity? So many pictures of the same thing in the same room, it just didn’t make sense to me.

By the time I left I was so glad I had booked to go to only one gallery. The next day I went to Mass at the Badia, where the Community of Jerusalem, a new monastic community have their monastery in the centre of the city. It is a women’s and men’s community – living separately but coming together for prayer. They were exceptionally musical. Except for the readings, everything was completely sung, in a lovely part chant, which the rest of the congregation joined in.

That evening I went to Vespers at the Cathedral. It was wonderful. Again it was sung, choir to choir, between the priests of the Cathedral and the congregation, obviously local people of various ages. There was a schola to support us, and we were led by an organist on one of the smaller pipe organs. AND on the walls in front of us were two altar pieces with Mary and the saints. There they were, joining in with us. The height the pictures were placed, revealed them as part of this congregation of worshippers. And no, with the downcast eyes, they were not bored, they were following their own liturgy books. Saints, priests, people, schola, we formed one whole in the presence of God. Even though our singing was not good, the service moved me deeply and the singing of the Salve, with all of us facing a glorious stained glass window of Mary, left me in tears. So I decided to stay on the evening Mass and had another experience of how much this religious art - music, painting, architecture makes sense. Its richness lies not in the gallery but in the worship of the liturgy.
Which comes back to the ‘less is more’. I found the day at Sacre Speco, taking time to look and pray at the frescoes there more artistically satisfying than the Uffizi. We had time, space, quiet and the paintings had the chance to open up and speak to us.
Next day, I went to Mass at the Baptistery and then afterwards had to place to myself, with four women praying, to look at the mosaics.

Ah.Ah Florence in Summer – it makes Rome seem like the serene city! Ah the Uffizi, one of the great art galleries of the world. If the Florentines really appreciated it, they should had over the running of it to the Germans or the Americans. The ticketing system was bad enough. Paying to book a ticket. Standing in the wrong line because of the bad instructions, working out the mistake in time, going to another line to be told to come back at a different time, waiting to go inside to wait in another line, to get the ticket to cross the courtyard to wait in another line to go inside to wait in another line and finally to get in. And that was on the prebooked ticket. If you hadn’t booked the wait was longer. Inside the temp/humidity controls were not working – I’m not thinking of the people but the artworks, the guards were more interested in socialising and I was expecting to find a cluster together smoking. The hoards of people and this was supposedly the quiet time of the day. Why are all those young people there, hoards of school and college groups, it wasn’t for the art. Enough, enough, the complaints have surely been said before by thousands. In short, if you want to see the art of the Uffizi, go in winter.