Churches and Museums

So many of the churches and museums have established "no camera" rules. Rightly so. For the museums, preserving the art must be a monumental responsibility. Churches long to preserve the sanctity of their properties. Most tourists don't seem to understand the concept of "no flash," hence the no camera rule.

We visited the Museo Opificio della Pietre Dure, a marvelous space devoted to the art of "pietre dure" --Florentine mosaic work made with semi-precious stones. This collection includes inlay work on furniture, wall mountings, and other objets d'art. Currently a goodly portion of the art is on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Another museum we found fascinating--Instituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza. Here are exhibited many scientific instruments and machines such as Galileo's telescope. The museum is undergoing renovation at this time in preparation for the 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope next year.


Churches not to be missed are Santa Maria Novella, near the train station and Ognissanti (All Saints) with its portraits of St. Augustine (pictured) and St. Jerome (on exhibit at Palazzo Pitti).