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After Montpellier, our favourite small city in France is Blois, which is located on the Loire river, featured in the second photo taken in 1999. The 16th Century Hotel d'Alluye, in the first photo, is a beautiful example of French Renaissance architecture.
Here in 1994 is the famous dome of the Florence cathedral. Designed and built by Brunelleschi, it was one of the foremost architectural achievements of the Renaissance. The cathedral complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The dome posed major technical challenges which Brunelleschi managed to resolve. Construction was from 1420 to 1436.
Masaccio, who lived from 1401 to 1428, was the first great painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. Because few of his works survive, I was eager to see his famous frescoes here in the Brancacci chapel in Florence in 1994. Masaccio is famous for being the first painter, with the possible exception of Giotto, to paint the human figure as three dimensional, using perspective and placing his figures in proper proportion to their surroundings. His innovative work had a strong influence on other painters despite his brief career. Seeing these frescoes was a high point of our Italian vacation.
This building, the Cappella dei Pazzi, photographed in Florence in 1994, is considered to be a gem of the Italian renaissance. It is a small domed chapel designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and built between 1442 and 1461. The dome and portico were completed in conformity with his plans after his death in 1448.
