November 2009 Archives

Current scholarship agrees that the Palazzo Rucellai was designed by the famous artist, architect, and humanist Leon Battista Alberti, but built by Bernardo Rossellino in the mid-fiftheenth century. It is notable for being one of the first palazzos to express humanism in Renaissance residential architecture. This new style is evidenced by an elegant design that sets the building apart from the more fortress-like structures that had been built before in Florence, including the Palazzo Medici with its more heavily rusticated ground floor.

The Palazzo is currently home to the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai, a school that offers diverse study abroad possibilities to international students, especially in the field of liberal arts. A tour of the facilities offers a great opportunity to view Renaissance art, and in particular beautiful vaulted ceilings decorated with mythological figures and motifs.

The Rucellai family still occupy the top floor of the Palazzo.

Palazzo Rucellai
Via della Vigna Nuova, 18
Florence, Italy 50123
+39 055-2645910 (The number is for the Institute - visits can be arranged by appointment.)

I went down to Rome a couple of weeks ago to see some friends from America who were on holiday. The weather has been great so far (for November) and it was a perfect day for photos. Here are a few from around the Roman Forum:

There was a food market set up in Piazza Santa Croce this weekend. Not sure of the exact theme - you can see the banner they had flying below in the pics. All kinds of great stuff, including truffles - we bought a small, wild, white truffle from the guy in the photo below and I made a risotto with it (well I made the risotto with some truffle cheese we also bought from him and shaved the white truffle on top of that). Heavenly paired with this fantastic wine. More on the truffles here: Villa Magna.

We also bought a bottle of Nocino, which is a liquer made from green walnuts. Technically it is a digestif - to be had after a meal. I was introduced to it by some friends last New Year's Eve, they served their home made version, which was fantastic. The bottle we bought seems pretty close. The producer is Poggio alle Lame.

There is always something going in Piazza Santa Croce...

Last week was the closing to street traffic of the areas around the Duomo that weren't already "pedonale" or pedestrian only streets. Below are a few photos taken while standing in the intersection of Via de'Cerretani and Via de'Martelli. It feels really odd to be able to walk in the middle of these streets knowing how much traffic passed by every day. This week they also took down most of the stanchions and chains that were in the area to control the flow of traffic and keep people from getting run over! I still think that some of this whole thing was just a pro-active PR attempt by the mayor to gain some easy goodwill before the tram construction starts - this is the exact route that the tracks are supposed to come down from the station on the way to Piazza San Marco.

(Please note this entry was written in 2009 - updates to the "pedonale" areas is coming soon!)