Sunday, December 16

Florence #20: Instructive or Entertaining?

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What's the difference between a guiding light and a monument? Florence brought that distinction to mind as I walked among ancient things that were in everyday use. Here for example is the interior of a Medici Family mansion's off-street portico. It was a great roofed room with one wall open to the street so that carriages could drive right in and deposit their passengers out of the elements. The carefully preserved details are still rich and elegant. But do they lead us to a better place, or tell us of a past moment? Are they a harbinger or a memory? Is it all romantically fuzzy because we can see it affecting our future? Or our fairy tales?

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