For a long while I have wanted to visit the city-state of Florence (or Fiorenza, as the locals pronounce it), but at the same time I have been anxious that I might be disappointed; well, time to swallow my doubts. We are going, and see what the city really is like under the hand of Lorenzo de Medici, the banker and de-facto ruler of the city whether the city elders approve or not. I have calculated the coordinates so that we will arrive in February of 1484. The city gates will be closed until early morning so, as representatives of a nearby town seeking financial support, we will join the handful of early travellers bringing produce from the fields. I think, in addition to our period clothes, it would be sensible to wear thick woolen cloaks against the pre-dawn chill.
While the city should be relatively stable and well-ordered by now, it is worth remembering that it is only six years since Lorenzo's brother, Giuliano, was murdered in the Pazzi conspiracy. Had it not been for quick reflexes, Lorenzo too might have been killed. What made it worse, was that the assassination took place in the Cathedral itself!
It seems that the first people on the city streets are mostly those who never leave them anyway, mostly beggars and the occasional cutpurse. Some of the beggars have the most hideous deformities and it is hard not to look away, particularly since I know that most of their diseases will be quite easily treatable in centuries to come.
I suggest the best plan of action is to make our way to the Cathedral and see what is happening there; since it is commonly used by everybody as a well-known meeting place we may be able to eavesdrop on some of the conversations and find out what news is making the rounds.
The Cathedral itself is a revolutionary building; proudly known locally as the Duomo or "dome", the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, to give its full name, was planned in the thirteenth century, but construction almost stalled when it came to building the dome itself. It would be the largest freestanding dome in all Western architecture, and a noble tribute to the glory of God, but after the death of the first architect, Arnolfo di Cambio, nobody was certain that a freestanding dome of such enormous size could practically be constructed. It wasn't until the Woolmerchants Guild, the Arte della Lana announced a competition to design the dome that a viable plan was developed.
Among the competitors, two men stood head and shoulders above the rest. The first, Lorenzo Ghiberti, was a skilled sculptor and metalworker who had rediscovered the method of lost wax casting originally used by the ancient Romans, but since forgotten.
The second was Filippo Brunelleschi, originally trained as a goldsmith, but also a sculptor and architect, the first artist to describe the laws of perspective.
By my reckoning the time must be getting on toward eight o'clock, in which case, hopefully most the people heading into the cathedral are on their way to attend the early mass.
It's not hard to sort out who is important and who isn't as we watch them enter. Puffed and slashed garments of velvet and silk are virtually the uniform of the wealthier merchants, and everybody is wearing a hat of some kind. I would almost bet money that the group of about eight men approaching includes Lorenzo de Medici himself. Why should I think that? well, the three armed guards, for one thing.
My thinking was that if we attended mass we should have a fair chance to see some of the most important people in the city today. I was interested to see how many of the new humanist thinkers were still concerned about the welfare of their eternal souls. My guess was that we would see that the christian tradition that is so deeply rooted in this culture would not be quickly swept aside. Once mass is over, I realize that it will not be quite so simple to identify the movers and shakers of the city. We obviously can't eavesdrop on every conversation going on as the congregants disperse, and I only know one or two faces from paintings, but I don't recognize anybody leaving the cathedral.
In any case, we can still spend a while wandering around the market in the piazza nearby.
We've been in the piazza for what I guess must be about ninety minutes, and a rather gaunt-looking friar in the white dominican robe with black cloak has shown up. He seems to have plenty of time to talk to the beggars, and goes from stall to stall, soliciting odds and ends of produce which he distributes to the beggars. Once he has made his rounds of the beggars, he climbs the pedestal of the cross in the center of the piazza and raises his hands, lowering his head.
When he raises his head once more, he declares in a loud, clear voice, but without shouting;
"vidi alium angelum descendentem de caelo habentem potestatem magnam et terra inluminata est a gloria eius et exclamavit in forti voce dicens cecidit cecidit Babylon magna et facta est habitatio daemoniorum et custodia omnis spiritus inmundi et custodia omnis volucris inmundae quia de ira fornicationis eius biberunt omnes gentes et reges terrae cum illa fornicati sunt et mercatores terrae de virtute deliciarum eius divites facti sunt"
I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.
With a mighty voice he shouted:
"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil[a] spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."
As he continues to speak out against the corruption of a government ordained by God, the passion of his words seems to still the noisy bustle of the Italian marketplace: even stallholders lower their voices, and one or two turn to listen more carefully. This must be the famous (or infamous) friar Savonarola. By turns fiery and tender, he urges the common people around him to dedicate themselves anew to seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, trusting in God rather than the "broken reed of pagan teachings, which so long ago were done away, but now are held up once more by faithless men, seeking to usurp the sovereignty of God!" Savonarola takes the bold step of blaming the humanist patronage of the Medicis for the spread of "French Pox" within the city, and I wonder whether somebody will summon the constable, but it seems the crowd agrees with the friar.
By the time is sermon is finished, some of the listeners are already kneeling in prayer, and the friar moves among them, blessing them before he leaves the piazza.
It doesn't take long for the Italian spirit to reassert itself, and one of the first voices to pierce the quiet is a young man, singing and accompanying himself on a rather old and battered gittern. Once his song is finished, and before he begins another, it is possible to ask what he was singing. It seems he has got hold of a song by the city's patron, Lorenzo de Medici.
X:17 % number
T:Canto de Profumieri % title
N:a rough translation of the title would be "I sing of your perfume"
C:Lorenzo de Medici (Il Magnifico) % composer
O: % origin.
M:C| % meter
L:1/4 % length of shortest note
Q: % tempo
K:Bb % key
V:1 name="Tenor" sname="T." % voice 1
V:2 name="First Bass" sname="B.1" clef=bass
V:3 name="Second Bass" sname="B.2" clef=bass
%==============2======3=======4=========5=========6=========7=========8============9======10
[V:1] c2 c2 | B3 c | d2 d2 | e2 e2 | e2 e2 | d3 e | f2 g a-| a g2 ^f | g2 z2 |
w:Sian ga-lan-ti di Va-len-za qui per pas-so ca-pi-ta___ti,
[V:2] c'2, c'2 | g3 a | b2 b2 | c'2 c'2 | c'2 c'2 | b3 c' | d'2 b c-| c'/a/ g A2 | g2 z2 |
w:Sian ga-lan-ti di Va-len-za qui per pas-so ca-pi-ta___ti,
[V:3] c2 c2 | g3 c | g2 g2 | c2 c2 | c2 c2 | g3 f/e/ | d2 g-f | e2 d2 | G2 z2 |
w:Sian ga-lan-ti di Va-len-za qui per pas-so_ca-pi_ta__
%
%==========11=======12========13======14======15======16========17=======18====19========20
[V:1] g2 g2 | d2 e2 | f>e d>c | B2 B2 | e3 e | d2 c2 | f2 e d-|d c2 B | c4 |: c2 c2 |
w:d'a-mor gia pre-si et le--gha-ti del-le don-ne di Fio-ren----za. Son mol-
w:*********************voi vin-
[V:2] g2 g2 | b2 c'2 | f2 f2 | e2 e2 | c'3 c' | b2 a2 | b>a g-f | e c B2 | c4 |: c'2 c'2 |
w:d'a-mor gia pre-si~et le-gha-ti del-le don-ne di Fio------za. Son mol-
w:********************voi vin
[V:3] c2 c2 | g2 c2 | d2 d2 | G2 G2 | _A3 A | B2 f2 | B2 c-d | B c G2 | c4 |: c2 c2 |
w:d'a-mor gia pre-si~et le-gha-ti del-le don-ne di Fio-----za. Son mol-
w:*******************voi vin
%
%==========21=====22========23========24======25======26======27==========28=========================29===========30
[V:1] d2 c2 | e3 f | g2 a g-|g f2 ^e | f2 z2 | f2 f2 | d3 e | f2 f2 |[M:4/2] g2 e f>e d/ c/ d2 |[M:C|] c4 :|
w:to gen-ti-le~et bel------le don-ne nel-la ter-ra no-------stra;
w:ce-ted'as-sai quel-------le co-me'l vi-so di fuor mo-------stra
[V:2] b2 c2 | g3 a | g a2 g | b c'2 b | f2 z2 | a2 a2 | b3 c' | d'>c' b-a |[M:4/2] g b c' d'2 c'2 b |[M:C|] c'4 :|
w:to gen-ti-le~et bel------le don-ne nel-la ter-ra no--------stra;
w:ce-te d'as-sai quel-------le co-me'l vi-so di_ fuor_ mo-----stra
[V:3] g2 c2 | c3 f | e c>d e | f d c2 | f2 z2 | d2 d2 | b2 b2 | b>c d2 |[M:4/2] e>d c B2 c g2 |[M:C|] c4 :|
w:to gen-ti-le~et bel-------le don-ne nel-la ter-ra no-------stra;
w:ce-te d'as-sai quel-------le co-me'l vi-so di_ fuor mo------stra
%
%===================31=======32========33======34========35=========36
[V:1][M:3/2] g4 g2 | f4 d2 | e4 e2 | d4 d2 | d4 e2 | f4 e2 |
w:ques-ta gran bel-le-za vo-stra con a-mo-re~a
[V:2][M:3/2] e'4 e'2 | d'4 b2 | c'4 c'2 | b4 b2 | b3-a g2 | f2-_a3 g |
w:ques-ta gran bel-le-za vo-stra con a-mo-re~a
[V:3][M:3/2] e4 e2 | B4 d2 | c4 _A2 | B4 B2 | B4 c2 | d4 c2 |
w:ques-ta gran bel-le-za vo-stra con a-mo-re~a
%
%==========37======38==============39========40======41========42========43
[V:1] d2 d4 | B4 B2 |[M:C|] c2 c2 | e2 e2 | d2 d2 | c2 c2 | g2 g2 |
w:com-pa-gna-te; se non sia-te~i-na-mo-ra-te e' sa-
[V:2] g4 f2 | g4 g2 |[M:C|] c'2 c'2 | c'2 c'2 | b2 b2 | c'2 c'2 | e'2 e'2 |
w:com-pa-gna-te; se non sia-te~i-na-mo-ra-te e' sa-
[V:3] B2 B4 | G4 G2 |[M:C|] c2 c2 | c2 c2 | g2 g2 | c2 c2 | c2 e2 |
w:com-pa-gna-te; se non sia-te~i-na-mo-ra-te e' sa-
%
%===========44========45======================46==
[V:1] f3 f | d d c2 |[M:4/2] B2 c d2 c2 =B |[M:C|] c4 |]
w:ria me-glio es-ser sen---za.
[V:2] d'3 c' | b b a2 |[M:4/2] g2 e f>e c d2 |[M:C|] c4 |]
w:ria me-glio es-ser sen---za.
[V:3] B3 c | d B c>d |[M:4/2] e>d c B>c A G2 |[M:C|] c4 |]
w:ria me-glio es-ser sen---za.
To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit].
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