Weather predicted rain and the morning was cloudy so I went to Casa Buonarotti, a museum in homage to Michelangelo. The building was owned by Michelangelo but he never lived there. He owned a number of properties, investments, I suppose. The great nephew of Michelangelo, called Michelangelo the Younger renovated the building and created the museum to his illustrious ancestor.

It has two original works, the first sculptures done by the young Michelangelo. The incomplete Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs

and Madonna of the Stairs or Madonna della Scala.

The great nephew collected a number of paintings and statues of Michelangelo and commissioned works for the museum which celebrate Michelangelo. The best of the latter is Artemisia Gentilleschi’s Allegory of Inclination, referring to Michelangelo’s desire to create (even though his father beat him to try to make him stop).

The museum holds the largest collection of Michelangelo’s drawings. A few at a time rotate on display and there is a screen that shows some of his drawings digitally.

The museum is near Santa Croce. The piazza had a market of what seemed to be French food, wine and handmade items.

I went for a long slow walk in Oltrano, the south side of the Arno River. It brought me to the church of Santa Felicita and the Capponi Chapel which has Pontormo’s painting.

There is some debate, mostly on the side of the chapel not being designed by Brunelleschi.

I continued on and peaked at the river from next to Hotel Lungarno.

I crossed on the Santa Trinita bridge where I’m pretty sure I saw Conan O’Brien. Two guys with British accents walking behind me also recognized him but couldn’t remember his name.

I had lunch at Cafe Gilli, which is on Piazza della Repubblica. Service was unbelievably slow, probably because it’s a large popular spot and understaffed given the size of the place. The space was nice to look at and I had my ebook to read while I waited and waited and waited.