The City， Seen from the circle of hills which surrounds the city，
Florence gives an impression of completeness of design， its medieval
and Renaissance architecture dominated by Brunelleschi s immense
terracotta dome erta sopra e cieli， ampla da coprire chon sua ombra
tucti e popoli toscanf ( Soaring above in the sky， large enough to
cover with its shadow all the Tuscan people }， as Leon Battista Alberti
described it in his Trattato della Pittura with its celebrated dedica-
tion to Fflippo di Ser Brunelhisco . The city is a perfect whole to
which nothing can be added or removed without altering the
harmony which it has been given by man over a span of about eight
centuries. In perhaps no other city are the intention of man and the
design of nature so bound up together. The city is born out of the
valley， its monuments enclosed by an amphitheatre of hills. Its
architecture has been created by the human mind in imitation of its
natural setting， and Brunelhischi cemented this relationship for ever
with his great cupola， a poetic masterpiece of engineering.
I advise any visitor， before penetrating the streets and piazze of the
city， to take himself without the city gates ， up onto the circle of hills，
so as to perceive the physical unity which embraces the spirit of
Florentine art， Probably the most remarkable of all Florentine views
is that from the hillside of Bellosguardo， approached by a winding
road from which the natural landscape can be seen blending with
that of thb city. The view from the top of the hill takes in the faqades
of the most important buildings in an almost unconscious summary of
the beauties of Florence， to paraphrase one of the oldest guides to the
city. Thousands of modest roofs covered by simple terracotta tiles
remind us of the humble but highly skilled craftsmanship which is
still an important characteristic of daily Ire in the city. Above these
rise the principal monuments of the city which testify to the presence
of exceptional artists， from the Romanesque period onwards， who
made Florence the centre to which the art world looked for inspira-
tion and guidance.
|
内容加载中，请稍后...
商品评论（0条）