Florence is shaped with the delicate chisel of universal geniuses such as Michelangelo, Giotto or Brunelleschi and colored with the virtuous brushes of Raphael, Veronese, Caravaggio, Tintoretto, Vasari or Leonardo Da Vinci. The Renaissance, the return to the classics, meant an explosion of creativity difficult to overcome with the appearance of very multifaceted artists supported by the current account of the Medici, rulers of the city for more than three centuries and whose mecenazgo was key.
Together with ancient Athens and Jerusalem, Florence shines in the world as a beacon of civilization. Pregnant with art, located in a splendid landscape, surrounded by a belt of harmonious hills, Florence is also the expression, through its history, of all possible forms of political organization.
In Florence, power is intertwined with the patrons of art, with the reflection of political thought (Macchiavelli), with the religious prophetic spirit, with the birth of language and poetry (Dante and Boccaccio); with the great expressions of modern artistic renewal that start from Giotto; from Botticello to Fra Angelico; from Donatello to Michelangelo.
This is how the capital Tuscany is presented, a city full of charm that never ceases to amaze, with its masterpieces of art, the colorful marbles of its churches and its architectural works that evoke the splendour and role played by the city in the development of Renaissance culture and art.
The heart of Florence is the Piazza del Duomo, with a monumental complex that includes the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore with the majestic dome of Brunelleschi, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, magnificent example of Florentine Romanesque and the Bell Tower of Giotto, a masterpiece of Florentine Gothic architecture.
He was both painter, anatomist, architect, paleontologist, artist, botanist, scientist, writer, sculptor, philosopher, engineer, inventor, musician, poet and urbanist. He died accompanied by Francesco Melzi, to whom he bequeathed his projects, designs and paintings. After spending his childhood in his hometown, Leonardo studied with the Florentine painter Andrea de Verrocchio.
For those who have seen the great 2021 TV Series about Leonardo da Vinci and want to know the corners where the series was filmed, for those who are curious to know the truth about the real and fictional characters that move in the incredible history of fiction and in part in Leonardo's real life, here is the perfect tour!
We will find nooks and little squares, places frequented by Leonardo and Verrocchio, such as the convent of Fra 'Luca Pacioli and the site where the workshop of Leonardo's Master stood, we will see where the house of Ginevra de' Benci stands. Leonardo painted a famous portrait for her. In this palace, according to the fiction, little Francesco, the secret son of Caterina da Cremona and Ludovico Sforza, was raised.
Monna Lisa’s model, Monna Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, was born and died in Florence. Only us, here in Florence, know in which palace the most famous model of all time was born and where the most famous model of all time is buried. Follow us and we will show you!
We will talk about Salai, Leonardo's great love, of the artistic wars between Michelangelo and Leonardo. We will get to know Jacopo de 'Saltarelli better and see where this gigolo from a noble family lived, we will talk about the sodomy accusation for which Leonardo was arrested on April 9, 1476. And again Ludovico Il Moro and Beatrice D'Este, Cesare Borgia, Bernardo Bembo, Stefano Giraldi and the other real characters of fiction.
Last, but not least, we will analyze the figure of Caterina da Cremona, the beautiful, sweet, unfortunate and intelligent model, who in the fiction represents the love of Leonardo's life, together with his beloved Salai. But …… will it be true? Was it really her, Caterina, the model for the painting of “Leda and the Swan”? We will discover it together during this exhilarating tour, which reveals the secrets of Leonardo's complicated and adventurous life in the city of the Renaissance.
Here the link of Leonardo tour: https://www.madeoftuscany.it/leonardo-tv-series-florence/
