FLORENCE STUDY TOUR NOVEMBER 13-26, 2019 TOUR LEADER: DR KATHLEEN OLIVE

Overview Florence has been a key part of the Western imagination since the cultural flowering known as the Renaissance. From the 18th century, it was an obligatory stop on the Grand Tour and a place to encounter the great names of the artistic canon: Giotto, Masaccio, Botticelli, Michelangelo. More recently, mass tourism has made it difficult to appreciate the subtleties of Florence’s past, as day-trippers crowd its monuments and cheap trinkets proliferate in its markets. Yet a proud heritage of craft is still there, in the artisans working in the Oltrarno’s alleys, or in the little-visited, smaller museums – many of which are only open in the morning – that preserve masterpieces. This new 14-day study tour takes advantage of the quietest time in Florence’s calendar and a residential program to unpack the city’s art, history and culture. From iconic collections – a number of which have been recently re-opened or substantially reorganised – to the Enlightenment patronage of Medici dukes and the city’s current interest in modern art, the itinerary has been planned to focus on both the highs of the Renaissance and the so-called “forgotten centuries” that followed. A series of 8 background lectures deepens your knowledge and appreciation of the sites we visit. For the duration of the tour, we stay in a centrally located 3-star hotel with easy access to local amenities. As well as the programmed sightseeing, there is free time for individual exploration of the city, relaxation, and optional visits with the tour leader.

Your tour leader Dr Kathleen Olive has more than 15 years’ experience leading tours to Italy. She has a PhD in Italian literature, regularly presents popular lectures and courses at the Sydney WEA, Nicholson Museum, and for the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society. Kathleen speaks fluent Italian.

Kathleen has a specific interest in Italian culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and in 2015 her critical

edition of the Codex Rustici – a commonplace book compiled and illustrated by a 15th-century Florentine goldsmith – was published by Olschki. It was presented to Pope Francis I as an official gift on his first trip to Florence, and the book has subsequently been launched at the Uffizi Galleries, the Vatican Museums, and even at the Custodia della Terra Santa in Jerusalem! Kathleen has led tours exclusively for Academy Travel since 2008, to Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, the USA and, most recently, Japan.

Kathleen is simply a delight – calm, so well-organised and generous in sharing her extensive knowledge.

– Participant feedback, In the Footsteps of Caravaggio,

September 2017

FLORENCE STUDY TOUR

Tour dates: November 13-26, 2019

Tour leader: Dr Kathleen Olive

Tour Price: $4,970 per person, twin share

Single Supplement: $1,020 for sole use of double room

Booking deposit: $500 per person

Recommended airline: Emirates offers daily flights into cities suitable for this tour. Contact us for quotes and bookings.

Maximum places: 20

Itinerary: Florence (13 nights)

Date published: October 17, 2018

Enquiries and bookings

For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Rebecca Fussell at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email rebecca@academytravel.com.au

Study Tours Academy Travel study tours are designed to provide in-depth intellectual stimulation. The tours feature regular background lectures, morning site visits and several free afternoons for individual exploration or optional visits with the tour leader.

Compared to other Academy Travel tours, study tours are designed for the independent and curious traveller. Walking tours are longer, there is more free time for independent exploration and we also use local public transport for short journeys within a city.

Tour Themes

CULTURAL INNOVATION The engineering of Brunelleschi’s dome, mathematics of linear perspective and introduction of the oil medium: discover the great 15th-century achievements of the Florentine Renaissance. Survey Tuscany’s long history as a fertile ground for new ideas, from the medieval naturalism of Nicola Pisano’s sculptures and Giotto’s frescoes, to Galileo’s Enlightenment experiments, and 20th-century fashion design. WORLD-CLASS ART, REBOOTED Appreciate the sense of renewal that is spurring contemporary renovation of iconic museums. The Uffizi recently doubled its exhibition space, opening new rooms dedicated to Botticelli, Leonardo and Caravaggio. The reopened Grande Museo del Duomo, at the cathedral, offers a vivid way to understand Brunelleschi’s designs, and the Innocenti Museum tracks the history of Florence’s orphans, from the 15th century to today.

THE ORIGINS OF THE CITY The earliest histories of Florence record the struggle between the Etruscans of Fiesole and the victorious Romans. Medieval and Renaissance Florentines were aware of how these stories affected their political and artistic legacies, and the Medici avidly collected Etruscan and Roman antiquities. From the Chimera of Arezzo to the well-preserved Roman theatre of Fiesole, uncover Florence’s pre-medieval past.

THE MEDICI: BANKERS, POPES, DUKES From the 15th century, Florence’s fortunes were tied to those of its first family. The Medici arrived as humble medieval peasants, rapidly scaling the heights of international finance and papal intrigue. Discover their extraordinary cultural patronage, from the colour and charm of Filippo Lippi and Benozzo Gozzoli, to Michelangelo and Giambologna’s Mannerism, and Galileo’s radical theories. CONTEMPORARY CRAFT AND DESIGN Explore Florence’s contemporary culture of craft: artists in paper and leather, goldsmiths and street artists, restorers of furniture and the great names of Italian fashion. Understand how the current revival of and respect for the arts and crafts neighbourhoods of Florence are connected to a proud history in the Oltrarno, both backdrop for and present-day location of Masaccio’s Brancacci Chapel frescoes.

Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the symbols B, L and D.

Wednesday 13 November Arrival and orientation

The tour begins this evening, with an orientation walk of our neighbourhood. Dinner tonight is in a local restaurant. Overnight Florence (D)

Thursday 14 November The urban core of Florence

One of the best ways to understand the early history of Florence is to follow the 13th-century processional route from the city’s Baptistery down to the Palazzo Vecchio. Florentine citizens were keenly aware of their urban centre as a kind of stage for civic rituals, and the sculptures, architecture and art that we see in the Baptistery (now cleaned and looking better than it has in centuries), Orsanmichele and at the Palazzo della Signoria are an artistic journey back to the medieval world view. After free time for lunch, there is the option of continuing to San Miniato al Monte, perched above panoramic Piazzale Michelangelo. Its stark Romanesque architecture, apse mosaic and Renaissance chapels are testament to its long, pivotal role – it celebrated its 1000th anniversary in 2018. This evening there is a talk in our hotel. Overnight Florence (B)

Friday 15 November The innovations of the Middle Ages

Increased trade, sophisticated accounting, luxury imports, self-government, a renewed interest in classical learning: many causes have been advanced for the cultural explosion of the Renaissance. Today we track its origins in medieval innovations, beginning at Santa Croce, where Giotto, Donatello and Brunelleschi experimented in art and architecture for wealthy private patrons. Continuing to the Bargello sculpture museum, we examine Ghiberti and Brunelleschi’s landmark competition panels for the baptistery doors, Donatello’s David (the first freestanding statue of a male nude since Antiquity) and the playful Mannerism of Michelangelo and Giambologna. Lunch is at leisure, and you may wish to use your combined baptistery ticket to book a climb of Brunelleschi’s dome. After lunch, we continue to Santa Maria Novella, where in the 15th century Masaccio, Paolo Uccello and Ghirlandaio used linear perspective to push Giotto’s experiments even further. There is a talk in the hotel this evening. Overnight Florence (B)

Icons of Florence, from the Ponte Vecchio (above), the only Arno bridge not mined during WWII, to the colourful frescoes of Ghirlandaio in Santa Maria Novella and Donatello’s pensive David, now in the Bargello sculpture museum (below)

Tour start & finish time

The tour begins in the hotel lobby at 5.00pm on Wednesday 13 November.

The tour concludes on Tuesday 26 November, after breakfast in the hotel.

Top, Venus as you’ve never seen her before: the Uffizi Galleries Botticelli rooms were redesigned in 2017 – along with the Michelangelo and Leonardo rooms. Florentine artisans have long been famous for their craft: from the construction of a giant armillary sphere (below) in the 16th century, now in the Galileo Museum, to the workshops of the Oltrarno today (above)

Saturday 16 November Pisa’s miracles

In recent years, scholars have suggested that the origins of the Renaissance are to be found in 12th-century Pisa. Today we have a full-day excursion to Pisa by train. We begin our day with a visit to the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, a little-visited museum that quietly conserves an outstanding collection of painted crucifixes, stunning Sienese altarpieces and works by Fra Angelico, Donatello and Ghirlandaio. After time for lunch, we continue with our local guide to the so-called Square of Miracles: Pisa’s cathedral, baptistery, cemetery and tower were a monumental statement of the city’s pre-eminence, thanks to its role in the Crusades. Overnight Florence (B)

Sunday 17 November The Renaissance in painting

The Galleria degli Uffizi is one of the most important collections of Western painting in the world, assembled thanks to the good taste (and forced acquisitions) of the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany, and recently renovated to double the size of its gallery space. The works exhibited here are the foundation of many of our ideas about what constitutes “great art”. After a morning together exploring the collection, the afternoon is at leisure, with the option to remain in the Uffizi as desired. After an evening talk, we share our impressions of this memorable museum over dinner. Overnight Florence (B, D)

Monday 18 November The Etruscans

From the 16th century, the Medici were keen to showcase their Tuscan conquest as the reunification of a proud, ancient state: indeed, Cosimo I was “Magnus Dux Etruriae”, or Grand Duke of Etruria. Today we explore the Etruscan roots of Florence and nearby Fiesole, Florence’s earliest rival but now a pleasant town with panoramic views. At Florence’s Museo Archeologico we admire the wonderful Arezzo Chimera and Aule Metele (Orator), fine examples of Etruscan bronze casting. After a brief exploration of nearby Santissima Annunziata, we take a local bus to Fiesole, where there is time for lunch. At Fiesole’s Museo Archeologico there is evidence of the long settlement of this hillside, from an Etruscan necropolis through to the Roman forum and later Lombard conquest. We return to Florence by bus, although there is the option to stay on if you wish. There is a talk in the hotel this evening. Overnight Florence (B)

Tuesday 19 November The rise of the Medici

If any family embodies the grand ambitions of Renaissance dynasties it is Florence’s Medici. Originally rural folk, their 13th-century move to Florence was followed by a meteoric rise as wealthy bankers, holders of lucrative papal contracts, cardinals and popes. This morning we explore the origins of the family, beginning at their neighbourhood church of San Lorenzo. Here, their patronage of Brunelleschi, Filippo Lippi and, eventually,

Michelangelo at the Laurenziana Library, was a powerful sign of growing visibility. In the nearby family palace, we admire Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes in the Cappella dei Magi, a private chapel that glorifies the cultural contributions of Cosimo the Elder and Piero the Gouty. At the Museo di San Marco, the Medici financed the entire rebuilding of the monastery, paying for Fra Angelico’s workshop to fresco every cell. After lunch, we take a tour of the Museo Galileo Galilei, Florence’s science museum, where artefacts, instruments and even relics attest to the Medici dukes’ interest in astronomy, medicine and science, and to their sponsorship of Galileo. There is a talk in the hotel this evening. Overnight Florence (B)

Wednesday 20 November Prato optional excursion / Science in the Grand Duchy

This morning there is the option to join your tour leader for an excursion by train to nearby Prato. We explore its long and continued history as a centre of textile production at the Museo del Tessuto, as well as the frescoes of Filippo Lippi in the cathedral – the artist met his great love in Prato when she was a Dominican novice and he a Carmelite friar. In the afternoon, the group reassembles in Florence to visit the Museo La Specola, a little visited, eccentric and fascinating museum of natural history and medicine. Here too the Medici dukes’ interest in scientific innovation is evident, in the observatory founded in 1790 and the Wunderkammer-like collection of specimens and of staggering models in wax. You might wish to book a visit of one of the Palazzo Pitti’s museums for the late afternoon. This evening there is a talk in the hotel. Overnight Florence (B)

Thursday 21 November How the other half lives

Today we turn our attention to the less-privileged people of Renaissance Florence: the women, children, modest clerics and even paupers who made up the great number of Florence’s population, but whose lives have only been of serious interest since the 1960s. We begin with an optional visit of the Buonomini di San Martino and the Museo degli Innocenti, the former a lay society that cared for middleclass Florentines suffering financial ruin, the latter an orphanage that raised the city’s unwanted children for honest trades or good marriages; both these 15th-century institutions have been recently restored. After lunch, we meet to visit the Cappella Brancacci, a tour-de-force in fresco by Masolino and Masaccio that documents the precariety of the Renaissance city’s poor. We continue on to explore the Oltrarno, visiting Santo Spirito and Santa Felicita. There is a talk this evening in our hotel. Overnight Florence (B)

Friday 22 November Pietra dura and ancient citrus

This morning we explore a beloved medium of the Medici Grand Dukes with our local guide. Pietra dura, or Florentine mosaic, is the careful arrangement of semi-precious and precious stones into intricate decorative forms. At the Cenacolo di

Two very different Florences of the Renaissance: Benozzo Gozzoli’s powerful and wealthy Wise Men, above, in the Medici Chapel and Masaccio’s moving meditation on charity and civic sentiment, below, in the Brancacci Chapel

Sant’Apollonia, we spy precious stones in Andrea del Castagno’s little-visited Last Supper, and continuing on to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, we see the original workshop of the Grand Dukes’ mosaicists and splendid examples of their work. There is a visit of a modern workshop before lunch. In the afternoon, there is the option to take a local train with your tour leader to the Villa Medicea di Castello, a favoured summer retreat of Cosimo I. Here Cosimo made visible his philosophy of power in the garden’s many fountains. It was also here that the Medici began to indulge their obsession with collecting exotic varieties of citrus. Some of the hundreds of exemplars here date to the 17th century, as outlined by Helena Attlee in The Land Where Lemons Grow. Overnight Florence (B, D)

Saturday 23 November Decline and rebirth

Florence was spared many depredations in the 16th and 17th centuries thanks to grand ducal diplomacy, but a feeble bloodline and a shift in European politics precipitated a long decline. We begin the morning with Michelangelo’s glorious Night and Day in San Lorenzo’s Cappelle Medicee - his wonderful Mannerism is seen as a last hurrah for Florentine art. At the Casa Martelli, the grand home of an ancient family, we admire the distinguished history behind their sculptures by Donatello and enviable art collection – from Piero di Cosimo to Luca Giordano and, at one point, Caravaggio. But in the 20th century, when the last Martelli women died without heirs, the palace was inherited by the Florentine Curia and a number of significant artworks disappeared. The museum was only recently opened after a forced acquisition by the State. There is more murky modern history after lunch, at the Museo Stefano Bardini, the personal collection of a 19th-century art dealer, who wasn’t afraid to invent an attribution (or even assemble a new “masterpiece”) if necessary. Bardini’s designs for his collection directly inspired Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston. There is the option to visit the panoramic garden of the nearby Villa Bardini. This evening we meet for a talk. Overnight Florence (B)

Sunday 24 November Florence and the notion of modernity

Modern and contemporary art is not what comes to mind in Florence, but since the 1960s the city has actively worked to show that its cultural power continued beyond the Renaissance. We begin with the Museo Ferragamo, a small museum established at the Ferragamo headquarters. It tracks the history of Salvatore Ferragamo’s career – and his celebrity clients – but also stages regular and thought-provoking exhibitions of contemporary art. We then cross the road to the newly-opened Collezione Roberto Casamonti, a small private collection in an exquisite palace, which includes works by Cubists and Futurists such as Braque, Boccioni and Balla, and Surrealists De Chirico, Ernst and Dalì. After lunch there is the option to visit the Museo Gucci with your tour leader. This eclectic and fun collection explores the Florentine fashion house but again incorporates

The calm of Stefano Bardini’s beautiful collection (above) contrasts with the exuberance of Florentine pietra dura, the mosaic work favoured by Medici grand dukes (top) and Giacomo Balla’s modern joy in the recently opened Collezione Roberto Casamonti, Florence’s answer to Venice’s Guggenheim Collection!

Hotel information Hotel Pendini (13 nights)

For the duration of the tour we stay in the exceptionally well-located Hotel Pendini, a recently renovated 3* hotel located in the city’s heart. This 19th-century palace above Piazza della Repubblica offers simple but stylish rooms, that are well-sized for the centre of the city. We have booked classic rooms for our stay in Florence, offering free wifi access, air conditioning and daily breakfast. Classic rooms look out to the historical via degli Strozzi or to the quiet inner courtyards of the hotel. Breakfast is held in an elegant room overlooking the square and guest can unwind in the hotel’s Tea Room in the early evening. Room Upgrade – Deluxe Room: We are also holding a limited number of deluxe rooms, available for upgrade for the duration of the tour. Deluxe rooms are situated on the higher floors of the hotel, offering views over the main Piazza della Repubblica, towards the Cathedral and across the city. Rooms are more spacious and include a small sitting area. The additional cost to upgrade for the entire stay is $715 per person, twin-share; and $1,430 for single use. Hotel’s website: www.hotelpendini.it

The curve of Lucca’s Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, above, still reflects its origins as the Roman city’s amphitheatre The Hotel Pendini, below, is centrally located on Florence’s Piazza della Repubblica, with amenities such as supermarkets and laundromats within easy walking distance

strong elements of contemporary design. The later afternoon is at leisure and you may wish to book a visit to the Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s David. Overnight Florence (B)

Monday 25 November Lucca

For the final day of our tour, we take an excursion by private coach to the Tuscan town of Lucca. A medieval centre of silk production, Lucca today is still the headquarters for businesses operating textile and paper mills in the region, but its patrician palaces – encased by a celebrated circuit of Renaissance walls – give the town an atmosphere far removed from industry. We begin our day with a walking tour of Lucca’s churches, fine exemplars of the refined Pisan Romanesque, from the cathedral of San Martino to San Frediano, the latter’s baptismal font a fine piece of medieval sculpture, and the former housing Jacopo della Quercia’s moving tomb of Ilaria del Carretto. At San Michele in Foro and the remains of the amphitheatre we survey Lucca’s Roman origins. After a farewell lunch together, there is free time to browse the town’s elegant shops before we return to Florence. Overnight Florence (B, L)

Tuesday 26 November Departure

Our tour concludes after breakfast in our hotel. Please check your individual travel plans for information about transfers. (B)

Tour Price The tour price is $4,970 per person, twin share (land content only). The supplement for a single room is $1,020 per person. A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is required to secure a place on the tour.

Hotel room upgrade: An upgrade to a deluxe room is available at an additional cost of $715 per person, twin-share; and $1,430 for single use. Please note we only have a limited number of deluxe rooms on hold.

Tour Inclusions Included in the tour price

13 nights’ accommodation in a central 3* hotel All public transport fares, as indicated in the itinerary All entrance fees to sites included in the itinerary All breakfasts, and selected dinners and lunches as

indicated by (L) or (D) in the itinerary Services of a tour leader throughout the tour Background lectures, site notes and onsite guidance,

including local guides where required

Not included

International air fares, taxes and surcharges (see below) Travel insurance Meals not mentioned in itinerary Expenses of a personal nature

Air travel OPTIONS The tour price quoted is for land content only. Emirates offers daily flights into cities suitable for this tour. Please contact us for further information on competitive Economy, Business and First Class airfares. Transfers between airport and hotel are included for all passengers booking their flights through Academy Travel. These may be group or individual transfers.

Enquiries & bookings For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Rebecca Fussell at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email rebecca@academytravel.com.au

Weather on tour November is traditionally the most quiet month in Florence, when the city empties of large tourist groups, there are rarely queues for major monuments, and the Florentines re-emerge. Temperatures can be low, averaging from 7-15 degrees, and it is reasonable to expect rain on a number of days during the tour. It is a good idea to bring waterproof shoes, a warm, windproof coat and clothing that can be layered.

Fitness Requirements of THIS tour

GRADE THREE

It is important both for you and for your fellow travellers that you are fit enough to be able to enjoy all the activities on this tour. To give you an indication of the level of physical fitness required to participate on our tours, we have given them a star grading. Academy Travel’s tours tend to feature extended walking tours and site visits, which require greater fitness than coach touring. We ask you to carefully consider your ability to meet the physical demands of the tour.

Participation criteria for this tour

This Grade Three tour is among our most physically demanding. To participate on this tour, you should be able to comfortably undertake up to seven hours of activity per day, over several days. Activities may include travelling long distances, walking on difficult terrain, climbing stairs, embarking and disembarking trains and/or boats, exposure to high altitudes and long days of touring. These tours may include one night stops and early starts. You should be able to: keep up with the group at all times walk for 5-7 kilometres at a moderate pace with only

short breaks stand for a reasonable length of time in galleries and

museums tolerate varying climatic conditions such as cold weather maintain a reasonable level of physical and respiratory

fitness tolerate a diet that can be significantly different from a

typical Australian diet, and where some dietary requirements cannot be met

walk up and down slopes negotiate steps and slopes on archaeological sites or

mountain paths, which are often uneven and unstable get on and off a large coach with steep steps, train or

boat unassisted, possibly with luggage move your luggage a short distance if required

A note for older travellers

We regret that we are not able to accept bookings on a Grade Three tour from people more than 80 years old, or with restricted mobility.

Study tours While study tours are full of group activities, a reasonable degree of independence is also required. You will need to make trips to the neighbourhood laundromat, and there is a nearby supermarket and grocery stores for any “hotel picnics”. We also use local public transport and there is a significant amount of walking.

Pisa Baptistery