The Stones of Florence and Venice Observed

The Stones of Florence and Venice Observed are wonderfully vivid and perceptive descriptions of two great Italian cities, told throu gh their history and art, revealing Mary McCarthy to be one of literature`s greatest travelling companions. Here she depicts Florenc e through its tempestuous past, from the reign of the Medicis to Savonarola`s bonfire of the vanities. Her account is dominated by t he splendours of the Renaissance - the statues of Michelangelo and Donatello, the architecture of Brunelleschi, the paintings of Gio tto and Botticelli - but she also shows Florence as a living city with a bustling street pageant of sounds and smells. A gold idol w ith clay feet, McCarthy`s Venice is a city of illusion and spectacle, carnival and commerce, entrancing visitors with its grandeur a nd richness, its reflection glittering in the waters of the Adriatic.

• author: Mary McCarthy