Firenze - The David and So Much More...

Our trip to Florence so far as been spectacular. To walk such historical grounds has been mind-boggling to say the least. We have ventured into the Renaissance and hit the ground running by seeing incredible works of art by Donatello, Verrocchio, Ghiberti, Botticelli, Da Vinci and of course Michelangelo. Yesterday, my classmate Heather had the joy of reporting on our excursion to the Uffizi where art abounds. I have to say that I was almost jealous that her Roma Reporta day was full of one famous painting after another. Today marked a high point for me with our visit to the Accademia in the afternoon. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Today, we all refueled with breakfast at the hotel. Coffee, cornetti, and the Italian version of cocoa crisps were consumed with fervor before we all met up to start our third day in Florence. Our first stop was the Palazzo Medici Riccardi (The Medici Palace) which at one point had been the site of the Medici Bank. The Palazzo houses the Cappella dei Magi which contains beautiful frescos by Benozzo Gozzilo painted around 1460. The frescos themselves primarily depict members of the Medici family, demonstrating their power and wealth and Cosimo Di'Medici's projection of the Medici's continued fortune into the future. This chapel was also used as a political tool when the Medici were entertaining dignitaries; the frescos also depicted close friends of the Medici which would not only demonstrate loyalties, but also strong alliances.

After the Palazzo Medici Riccardi the group headed over to San Marco Church where we ran into a cute little nonna who talked our Professor's ear off in Italian. Nonna shared with us that her husband was supposedly somehow related to Dante, and that she married said husband in that very church at the age of 18. Who would of thought that we'd run into such a chatty Italian in Florence? Shortly after our encounter with the little Italian, we went next door to the Museo Di San Marco which contained the living quarters of the Florentine Dominican Monks including Girolamo Savonarola's cell. Each cell contained frescos painted by artist Fra Angelico; the paintings differed from cell to cell but all portrayed various biblical scenes such as the annunciation, resurrection, crucifixion or the crowning of Mary. One of the most impressive cells was that of Savonarola's, where contained in glass was the hair shirt he would have worn as a means of mortifying the flesh.

After such a long morning, we all broke for lunch. Some of the group ran for paninis while a handful of us stole away to a little trattoria that Lisa, our Art History instructor, shared with us on our first day in Florence. I have to say, this might have been the best eating I have done in Italy so far. When Lisa first told us about Trattoria Mario, she shared with us that she eats lunch there every day. I was a little concerned that perhaps she was not branching out, but after one bite of my roasted chicken I could see why. I too ate there every day and I am not ashamed to say that I ordered the same dish two days in a row... arista al forno, molto deliciouso!!

Lunch was a nice reprieve from all the pavement we had been pounding. With full bellies and rested feet, we all met up in front of the Accademia for our afternoon meeting with David. David is a handsome fellow standing at about 17 ft.; he is beautifully carved from marble by the master sculptor Michelangelo. As we entered the Accademia, we were surrounded by various works. I was blind to everything in front of me, my mind preoccupied with what I was about to see. We entered the corridor and to the right, another corridor lined with Michelangelo's Slaves led us to his masterpiece the David. In pictures his grandeur is dwarfed, to truly appreciate his size you must stand at his feet. It is impossible to communicate here, what it was to see the original work. To know that Michelangelo carved such smooth contours from a block of marble with such a small tool as the chisel is to be left awe inspired to say the least.