Leyte (CVA 32) - Naval Cruise Book

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RIVALING THE CATHEDRAL for dominance is the Palazzo Vecchio located on the Piazza Della Signoria. Built by Arnolfo Di Cambio, the palazzo served for many years as the seat of the municipal government. It was occupied early in the fourteenth century by the Gonfaloniere Di Giustizia Qchief judgej and the Priori Delle Arti Qheads of the guildsj. The palazzo abounds with fabulous art treas- ures and is surrounded by many famous statues, some of which portray the intense desire of the Italian 'people for liberty. Their longing desire for freedom is reflected in the superb DAVID, masterfully executed by the twenty-eight year old Michelangelo. The JUDITH of Donatello repre- sents the Hebrew woman who liberated her people from the tyranny of Holofernes, while other artists of note speak of liberty through their individual contributions. On the right side of the Palazzo Vecchio stands the Loggia Dei Priori, consisting of three great arches under which the chief magistrate of the city and the priori used to sit during public gatherings and ceremonies. YVithin these arches may be found such masterpieces as Cellini's PERSEUS and the RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMAN by Giovanni Da Balogna. Many of the world's finest examples of sculp- ture are to be found in the Palazzo Vecchio and the surrounding area.

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X I-,,, . H ...T - ....... . W., i E l At La Spezia, tour party. boards the bus that will take thg to Florence. The group included more than sixty men. the majestic dome of the Cathedral of Florence. From a Bridge overlooking the city, three tourist sailors admire 5 4 i . 1 1 l l . I y FLORENCE IS ART! She is a city indescribably opulent in all art forms. No other city, in no other epoch, ever had i 1 1 such an intense flowering of art. Florence mothered the Renaissance, and many of the men whose creations comprised the iinest art of that period. Home of such creative geniuses, as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Alberti, 2 and Michelozzo, Florence remains today the seat of the world's highest culture. il E J Upon his arrival, the visitor is at once captivated by the towering dome of the Cathedral of Florence. The dome, E completed in 1436, is the work of Filippo Brunelleschi. Constructed by a skillful combination of classic and mediaeval i structural methods, the dome is chieiiy impressive when viewed from its exterior. The grace of its curvilinearform is admirably set oif by the lines of Giotta's slender campanile at the western end of the building. l i .s li Heart of the Florentine shopping district is on and around bridge pictured below. The Bridges in the background were destroyed A by the Germans in their retreat during the last war. This was the only major destruction of the war to that famous city. , 1 l? 5 rx 5 E E L : 3 I -

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