The transformative power of an Italian bra

 This trip I am immersing myself in the total Italian experience.  Food, of course.  Public transport, yes.  Skincare, I'm in!  Bra, done!  I purchased an Italian bra to see what sort of magic it could perform.  Does it make me feel more appealing, more Italiana?  Smoldering, even.  It's not what I'm used to in terms of fit.  I usually go for the 'minimizer' model.  I would categorize this bra as recreational.  Alas.  Why can't I find a minimizer in this Italian line?  The answer is:

Anyway.

This morning I spent a couple hours at Santa Maria Novella, truly one of my favorite churches/museums in Florence.  Completed in 1470 and distinguished by its unique facade of striped green and white marble, it's Florentine, Leon Battista's masterpiece.  Called Romano-Gothic because of its strange (and exquisite) blending of two very different architectural design components, it seems so small when you are looking at it from the street:

In fact, the facade works to hide the actual nave of the church.  But when you enter.... gasp.  Huge vaulted ceilings, massive 6 foot diameter columns, a vast collection of frescoes, paintings, sculptures, side altars and chapels.  So many masterworks, including Giotto's crucifix:

In the afternoon, I attended a lecture at the British Institute of Florence.  It was a lecture on the life and works of Bronzino, whose real name was Agnolo di Cosimo.  Born, raised, and trained in Florence.  He developed a Mannerist style and was the favored court painter of Cosimo I de'Medici.  He did this well-known portrait of Cosimo I:

And this of his wife, Eleanora of Toledo.  I love her.  She was super intelligent and very savvy about public relations.  She convinced Cosimo to purchase the Palazzo Pitti because she felt the old digs at Palazzo Vecchio were just TOO vecchio (old).  So he did.  Then, she convinced him that it would be best to have a private covered walkway to get from the Uffizi (offices) to the Palazzo Pitti.  This became the Vasari corridor, built on top of the Ponte Vecchio.  

Bronzino painted lush and erotic allegorical works as well:

The art historian put it so well.  Bronzino created "portraits of impenetrable aloofness and material splendor."  I aspire to both of those things.  Especially in my new bra.