A Musicologist in Florence: Inside the Duomo and Some Random Organ Music

Yesterday, we went inside the Duomo for the first time as a class and saw the beautiful, harsh, and enormous interior of the cathedral. It was quite spectacular and not nearly as crowded as the outside of the building would have suggested, since nearly all of the Piazza was full of tourists. The murals in the Dome itself were amazing (see some of the pictures below and make sure to click on pictures to get a better overall detail) and the amount of art and work that went into the cathedral was stunning. Basically, take a look at some of the pics I took. I would have uploaded more had it not taken almost 10 minutes to upload 14 pictures just now...ugh.

Inside the Dome of the Duomo

A famous painting of Dante in the Duomo

The view from underneath the Dome and looking back into the Duomo

Some detail of the Hell scenes on the Dome

Alter at the Duomo

Another wideshot of the Dome

Also, today I was walking back from class and lunch at the other student apartment and walked past some intense organ music coming from a church. Curious, I stepped in and sat down and was immediately hit by one of the loudest, most impressive organs I have personally experienced. A JS Bach work (which I could not identify...) was being performed by a lavish organ, with pipes spread throughout the church. You can see some of them in the pictures I took below. The piece behind the alter also had pipes sticking out of it in different directions and the "surround sound" effect that was intended was effective. For something I randomly stumbled on, this was one of the more impressive musical experiences of my life. It is easy to tell how people were drawn to the Church with its ability to awestruck people with music.

Another tip: if you are curious about it, go to it. Simple as that.

Santa Maria de' Ricci - where there is random amazing organ music in the afternoon and nights

For a small church, there is some great art

The wonderful organ...at least part of it

This is the church with the organ music for future reference

Also, here are some pictures I took on the walk back to the apartment. They looked nice, so there you go. I really like the "Musica" sign down below that looks like a truck may have hit recently. The Florence Gelato Festival starts today which could be extremely dangerous to my overall weight.