As we walked back to Le Murate, our arms filled with packages to give to the cook, Sister Agnese pointed out the rising walls of the new Pitti Palazzo under construction in the distance, beyond the bridge to the east. To the west were the towers of the Palazzo Vecchio, “the seat of government for our Republic,” she told me. “And just beyond it are the stone walls of the Bargello, the soldiers’ fortress and prison.”