Art in Florence - Ancient and Modern

Yesterday (Thursday) saw us in Florence again.  We went to the church of Santa Trinita to see the frescoes in the Sasseti chapel by Domenico Ghirlandaio.   Michelangelo was his pupil.  One of the characterisations was particularly good - what appears to be a very pious man in prayer - a bishop or a cardinal perhaps?  It turns out that he is Francesco Sassetti who was head of the Medici bank at the time of the painting, and one of the Medici"set"..  It was he who commissioned the frescoes when, as the interpretation board explained, the Medicis "wormed their way into the church" ...

After lunch, we went to the Strozzi Palace art gallery where there was an exhibition of 20th century Russian oriental art, as well as an exhibition entitled "Tree Houses" - ephemeral constructions starkly contrasting with the formal lines of the 15th century building.

Frescoes provide walk-on parts for trendy Florentines of the day

These bankers - what they get up to, eh?

A tree-house hangs precariously from the Strozzi Palace - what would the Strozzis have thought?

The arresting poster for the main exhibition

Street art - a cinquecento in the colours of the flag outside the gallery