 | As we sat in the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, Ken told me the story of how the archbishop who tried to assassinate Lorenzo the Magnificent was dragged up there in his robes and hanged over the side, left to twist in the wind. |
| The Bargello was once the living and working quarters for the Captain of Justice, an imposing fortress. Here you see the courtyard. Now the Bargello is an art gallery. [If only all prisons could be so converted!] |
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In this statue to the left about Florence's
victory over Pisa by Giambologna, the city is portrayed as a woman. Have
you ever before seen a Renaissance statue of a woman like this? Of course,
there are several paintings and statues of the Biblical heroine Judith cutting
off Holofernes head, but usually Judith does not appear to be gloating as
the woman in this statue does. |
| The Florentines celebrated their victories over other Italian city-states with statues and paintings of one hero or another victorious over someone. To the left, Hercules beat Cacus. |  |
 | Here Ken is standing near the plaque in the Piazza that marks the site where Savonarola, the radical monk who led a revolt against the Medici rule, was burned at the stake 500 years ago in 1498. |