Florence the ineffable

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I would like to dedicate this book in memory of my great friend and guide, the lawyer Roberto Colcellini, who was born and lived in Florence and who recently died in tragic circumstances. Roberto was nicknamed “the ineffable”, because of a certain je ne sais quoi attributable not only to his undeniable charisma, but also to an unflappable composure which he maintained at all times, with an inscrutable naturalness that led one to believe it was an “innate” attribute.

FLORENCE looks out at us from the pages of this book and laments the death of Roberto from the cemetery of San Miniato but, as always, the city unfurls beneath our eyes with the same rhythm of the Arno and shines day and night, it too “ineffable”, illuminated by its monuments, its streets, its fine palaces and the charm of its women, as always embracing us, moving us and warming our hearts with its eternal beauty.

In consideration of all of the above, I decided to call my book :“FIRENZE L’INEFFABILE” (“FLORENCE THE INEFFABLE”). My thanks to all those, Florentines and non who, like me, love and admire this wonderful city and willingly surrender to its irresistible enchantment.

Every book tells a story and, just as a story is not judged on individual words but on the complete whole, with every sentence linked to the next through to the last line, the same must be true of a photographic book: its value does not lie in individual photographs, but in the volume as a complete entity. In the world of books, there are short stories and other volumes which are longer. My volume belongs to the latter category. I only hope my readers will not find my tale tedious.

One last note: should the reader be perplexed by the many photographs of DANTE ALIGHIERI, this is because the statue of our greatest poet, which once stood proudly in the middle of Piazza Santa Croce, is now relegated to a little corner of the homonymous basilica. To my beloved Dante, Florence’s greatest son and the father of the modern Italian language, I wanted to justly devote a place of honour in my book.

MARIA PIA SEVERI, April 2013