A Florentine flâneur: the art of wandering the streets of Florence

A Florentine flâneur: the art of wandering the streets of Florence

PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

The figure of the flâneur is associated with the rise of “urban life” and especially with Paris, one of the first major cities of the industrial era in which appeared the flâneur as the person who wanders through boulevards, shop windows, and passages. This wandering character was conceived by authors Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin, who defined the authentic flâneur as an attentive and wise voyeur, and far from being a frivolous, banal, idle, superficial and clueless passer-by, he is above all a deep observer of the city, a restless traveler with no definite direction, and a forerunner (without a camera) of the documentary photography.…

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Palazzo Medici Riccardi of Florence: Renaissance paradigmatic construction

Palazzo Medici Riccardi of Florence: Renaissance paradigmatic construction

PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

It is hard to say how many times a day I pass by and around the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence — I live a few steps away from this Renaissance building, by the way, one of the most beautiful and splendorous of Florence. Besides the proximity, it took long until finally, I decided to visit it. Sometimes closeness and everydayness make us ignore the cultural gems of a city, simply because they are there and one thinks there is plenty of time to enjoy them in the future.…

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The ubiquitous Medici escutcheon in Florence

The ubiquitous Medici escutcheon in Florence

PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW

Contrary to the legend, the surname Medici has nothing to do with medical ancestors in the family, but with their move from the region of Mugello to Florence, back in the thirteen century, abandoning agriculture to devote themselves to financial life. The six red balls on the golden field of the coat of arms are not pills but bezants, a unit of weight from the Byzantine era used by merchants and medieval bankers to count. The mythical escutcheon is easily recognizable in any corner of Florence and when least expected.…

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