People who know me and especially my husband know that we often come back from vacations needing a vacation. My husband is an avid, enthusiastic traveler and reads and reads and researches a place way before we get there. This means that I don't have to do a thing and get to be surprised as we visit each site.
So, the very first thing we visited in Italy was the Pitti Palace in Florence, which now is a huge and wonderful art gallery with Florence's largest public garden, which is free for locals, as it should be. After all, it's their Central Park.
It was commissioned in 1458 by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, a principal supporter and friend of Cosimo de' Medici. Check out the Pitti Palace Wikipedia page to see more history and some of the more famous art works housed there.
So, the very first thing we visited in Italy was the Pitti Palace in Florence, which now is a huge and wonderful art gallery with Florence's largest public garden, which is free for locals, as it should be. After all, it's their Central Park.
It was commissioned in 1458 by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, a principal supporter and friend of Cosimo de' Medici. Check out the Pitti Palace Wikipedia page to see more history and some of the more famous art works housed there.
Well, anyway ... when we got there they just happened to be having a special exhibit of 20th Century gowns belonging to famous Italian women.
Really fun to took at.
I tried to take notes one which gown belonged to whom and the name of the designer, but
didn't do a very good job and now just have a bunch of neat photographs.
Who knows if they will ever be useful.
BUT THEN ...
We walked into this set of dark rooms.
BUT THEN ...
We walked into this set of dark rooms.
And LOOK what was there ... oh the joys of being surprised!
The burial dress of none other than ....
Which makes total sense since she bought the palace from the Pitti in 1549 for the Medici.
This is the famous portrait of her by Bronzino.
And look, look, LOOK! There is it in my Janet Arnold book!
Complete with patterns! I've been wanting to make this gown for a long time.
Please, please, please Simplicity ... let me make this one! I don't think it would be as hard as the Tudor gown I did 7 years ago.
Please, please, please Simplicity ... let me make this one! I don't think it would be as hard as the Tudor gown I did 7 years ago.
Cosimo's burial clothes were there, too!!
It's so fun to see that those capes really were big almost circles AND
To see all the points (little ties) at the bottom of the doublet used to keep his beeches up and I never knew what was inside a cod piece before ... but look!
Makes sense to me.
Makes sense to me.
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