History of art

There are more than one places around Florence that are called Apparita. More than one traveler on his way to Florence will think that the name derives from a miraculous apparition of the Madonna or of some saint. But no: everything comes from the fact that from there you begin to glimpse the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and, above all, begins to appear the dome. An apparition, certainly not miraculous, but no less amazing. It appears among the fields, among the country villages, among the olive groves and the hills...

At first glance, he just looks like a young man. He is well planted on the ground. His feet rest on the ground. It seems to be anchored to the ground with a shield, a pure geometric figure, a large rhombus crossed by a cross. The left arm is stretched out along the body. The right-hand rests on the shield. The short cloak is knotted at the neck. The head is uncovered. The serene face looks forward; the slightly frowning eyebrows, the wrinkles on the forehead, the strongly marked pupils give the sense of contained energy...

And above all, he was famous for being the author of a prank that had gone around the city - and it was no small title of merit in a mocking city like Florence. With the complicity of a large group of friends and a complex screenplay had made a naive woodsman, Manetto called the Fat, believe that he was another person. That was another way - like the invention of perspective - to create a parallel space just as truthful as the real one. He had made several trips to Rome to rediscover the monuments of antiquity, so he had a certain theoretical experience, curiosity, intelligence...