People
“Superficially, large areas of the city have returned to a normal aspect, which is a remarkable tribute to the energy and initiative of the Florentines…. Behind the superficial appearance of normality, however, there is still human tragedy. There are several thousand families who are not yet able to return to their ground-floor homes, apartments, or shops. During the remainder of the winter these families are going to undergo hardship. The situation is being ameliorated by grants from the government, from the commune, and by the action of the various foreign-relief committees including the Special Committee for the Relief of the Florentine Artisans. Our preoccupation with the damage to the artistic and cultural patrimony should not blind us to the need for continuing relief of the Florentine people.”
Myron P. Gilmore, “Progress of Restoration in Florence,”
Renaissance Quarterly, v. 20 (1967), p. 96
(mid-January, 1967, little more than two months after the flood).
