Florence is gearing up to offer various attractions for the Christmas season and one of them includes a retrospective on the famous Florentine painter Furini. Major works of Furini will be exhibited at the Museo degli Argenti (Silver Museum), Pitti Palace from December 22, 2007 upto April 26, 2008.
 
Francesco Furini (1603-1646) is a famous Florentine artist who painted many famous works mainly on commissions from the House of Medici in the late seventeenth century. Furini’s paintings have a captivating and sensuous quality. This made him a favourite painter of the Medici. 
 
Between 1639 and 1642 Ferdinand II commissioned Furini to cover an entire wall in the Pitti palace with a fresco. Furini covered the wall with “L’Accademia Platonica di Carregi (The Platonic Academy of Carregi) and “L’Allegoria della morte del Magnifico Lorenzo (Allegory of the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent).” Although his paintings also hang in other Medici Villas it is extremely appropriate that Pitti Palace is the venue for his retrospective.
 
The show will showcase many of his major paintings in chronological order. Some of his best and most acclaimed paintings will be on display from local and international collections. Some of his paintings, like the Hylus and the Nymphs have been borrowed from the Furini Art Gallery. The Hermitage has been gracious enough to lend the Three Graces and Prado has lent his famous painting Lot and his Daughters.
 
Florence has been the centre of art and culture from time immemorial. We welcome you to enjoy the joys of the holiday season and all its artistic and cultural aspects with us.

The Rose Garden or Giardino delle Rose in Florence is situated near Oltrarno towards the left banks of the River Arno. It is a park which is on the hills near the Piazalle Michelangelo leading westwards to Viale Joseph Poggi. It offers one of the best views of the city of Florence.

In 1865 when Florence became the capital of Italy the municipality began beautifying the city. It commissioned Giuseppe Poggi to design the Giardino delle Rose in the style of French gardens. In May 1895 it was opened to the public to commemorate the “Festival of Art and Flowers” conducted by the Horticultural and Fine Arts Societies of Italy.
 
The Rose garden has over four hundred varieties of roses and several thousand plants. Although admission is free it is open for only six weeks of the year from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is open from the first of May to the sixteenth of June when the roses are in full bloom. The temperate climate of Florence is very conducive to the flowering of roses and if you love roses and all other flowers like I do try to visit Florence in summer. You will definitely get enamoured by the beauty and fragrance of the different types of roses including ancient and modern ones. 
 
The gardens consist of a main terrace in the middle and four distinctive areas. It has It has beautiful fountains surrounding the rose bushes. Besides roses the gardens has a lot more to offer. It has a beautifully designed Japanese garden and a Secret garden. It also offers a breathtaking view of Florence, the Arno Valley and the surrounding beautiful hills.

Cimabue as he is most often referred to is a famous Italian artist of the Byzantine period. He is also known as Cenni di Peppi or Cenni di Pepo. He was born in Florence sometime between 1240 and 1245 (the exact date is unknown) and was a contemporary of Dante.
 
Cimabue was a popular artist and painted many frescoes in churches in Florence and also in Italy. Some of his important works are showcased in art galleries like the Santa Trinita Madonna at the Uffizi in Florence. In the National Gallery of Art, Washington you can find four of his famous works. They are tempera on panel and depict the Madonna and scenes of Christ with famous saints like Saint John, Saint Peter and Saint James. The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Two angels is part of the collection in the National Gallery of Art in London. The Madonna and Child in Majesty surrounded by Angels hangs at the Louvre in Paris and the Virgin and Child at the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London.
 
Cimabue strove to break away from the sharp lines and stylized regulations of Byzantine art and renew pictorial reality in his paintings. By emphasizing visual presence he represented space, fluidity, body and light in such a way as to influence fourteenth century art and artists mostly notably his famous student Giotti.
 
He has worked with tempera on wood and also on mosaic. Some of his important works are part of many churches and cathedrals. He was the artist who created Saint John which is part of a larger mosaic in the Cathedral at Pisa. He is also the mosaicist for a series of frescoes in the San Francesco Church in Assisi depicting scenes from the New Testament and also a magnificent but badly damaged Crucifix in the Church of San Croce in Florence.
 
He died in 1302 leaving behind his work and his mentoring of students which have rightly earned him a place in Florentine history and art.

The seventh edition of the India EU initiative the Florence Indian Film Festival has begun in the historic city of Florence from December 7 to December 13. This prestigious event showcases Indian films and also included three prestigious awards for Best Feature Film, Best Short Film and Best Documentary.

This year the retrospective section of the film festival River to River features the well respected and talented film director Bimal Roy. Three of his most famous hits Do Bhiga Zameen, Bandini and Devdas are being screened. In the 1954 Cannes Film Festival Do Bhiga Zameen won the Prix International Award.

The venue of the festival is the Cinema Gambrinus which is situated on Piazza della Repubblica in Florence. It is about ten minutes away from the Duomo and the closest train station is the Santa Maria Novella Station.

The River to River festival showcases mainly Indian films including short films, feature films, animation films and documentaries. To get a wider impact and give a broader perspective films form the neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. There is no entrance fee.

This film festival is an excellent way to nurture cultural ties between India and Italy including economic ties as the Indian film industry especially the animation industry is growing by leaps and bounds. There is a rich and varied set of films which are being showcased at the festival so come and enjoy the Florence Indian Film Festival 2007 River to River.

The Heidelberg Market in Florence has begun once again at Piazza San Croce. The historic centre of San Croce is ablaze with lights and the atmosphere is lovely out here. Come visit us and spend Christmas here in Florence at one of our innumerable properties here in Florence including one in San Croce or in our villas dotting outskirts of the city.
 
The Heidelberg Market travels from Heidelberg in Germany to celebrate the Christmas spirit with the Florentines. It features fifty picturesque wooden huts bursting with all kinds of goodies. There are many a food stall for you to experience and savour all kinds of traditional and popular Italian food including meats, cheeses, bread, sausages, kraut, strudel and many more delicacies including vin brule which is warm wine delicately seasoned with spices.
 
There are also many quaint and exclusive stalls set up by artisans from Germany of course, Poland, France, Austria and other European Union countries. At these stalls you can pick up a wide range of handmade goods including clothes, toys, porcelain items, ceramic items, hats and candles. It also features many Christmas decorations and toys for setting up the Nativity Scene which is an old and still popular Italian tradition.
 
There are also colourful carousels which I think not only children by adults like me still love to ride on. So come join us to celebrate Christmas in Florence with its brilliant lights and innumerable Christmas attractions. The Heidelberg Market in Florence is on from November 29 to December 17, 2007.