We planned to go to Ravenna on the way back from Toscana today, but one thing lead to another and it was hard to say goodbye to Nurit, so we had one more cup of coffee, and breakfast, and went for a walk to see the new vineyard, and Toscana has its own pace, it grabs your ankles and holds tight.
Yesterday, I didn't get round to writing about the two little museums Dennis and I went to see in the nearby village, Cortona, both of which turned out to be not so little, though Nurit said she thought we were the only people she knew who'd gone to see them. I wanted to go because I happen to like provincial museums, they always surprise me (like the museum in Augusta, Georgia USA that has a huge, beautifully curated, interactive gallery dedicated to James Brown, because James Brown was born in Augusta, Georgia - who knew?), and I read that the Diocesan Museum in Cortona had one of my favorite Fra Angelica paintings: The Annunciation. Photos weren't allowed, so I'm afraid I've used an image I found on the net, which doesn't really do it justice. You'll just all have to go there and see it for yourselves. All the gold you see really is gold leaf, the painting radiates.
And Dennis wanted to go because he just likes "old shit" as he calls it, and the other museum, the Etruscan Academy museum, had plenty of that. It's a large rambling place, with artifacts and art from prehistoric to modern times, mostly Etruscan, but everything from fossilized prehistoric (I think) animals found locally, to modern works of art by local 20th century artists like Severini, as well as decorative items, jewelry, everything and anything to do with the history of the area, all beautifully documented and curated (Miri, you would have loved this place too).
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