Florence: Accademia and Uffizi

4/2/08
Today has been a very full day. But first I must write about what happened last night. The town put on a flag show at 9:30 in the square between Santa Chiara and the church. Three groups of drummers and flag throwers and people in medieval costumes marched into the square one by one. First was the group dressed like Romans with the Roman flag, then the Florentines, then for Castiglion Fiorentino. They took turns putting on flag shows with drum cadences. They threw the flags really high, higher than the columns of the church, and one man juggled five flags at once.

Today we came to Florence for the last time. We visited the Accademia and Uffizi museums.

Thursday, 4/3/03
The Accademia had a plain, nondescript exterior. The museum itself wasn't very large, either. There was the grand room with many religious paintings, which I'm at a loss to discover how they can be of interest to me. In the center was the sculpture of the Rape of the Sabine. I actually like the copy outside the Uffizi better. The real thing seems really crudely finished compared to the polished copy.

The most important room in the Accademia was Michelangelo's room which, of course had the David, as well as his four marble-bound slaves. The David looks a ton better up close and looking up, than from down a hall. Michelangelo designed his proportions so they would look perfect when he was standing on a forty foot pedestal, so from looking straight on his legs look so scrawny and his hips like a child's. I finally realized yesterday why the David looked so familiar to me even though I never knew what it was before I came to Italy. I'm positive that Disney modeled Hercules after him. The hair, the face, everything matches.

I actually liked Michelangelo's slaves better, though. At first glance they looked like unfinished sculptures. But Marco talked about how the purpose was that they are figures trying to break out of the marble, and Michelangelo knew exactly when to stop, exactly when enough of the human form was exposed. This was a revolutionary idea of his, and that's why those sculptures are more important than the David, even though he's so revered. Another interesting room was full of plaster models for marble sculptures. I saw the plaster model of L'inconsolible, a statue I saw and loved at the cemetery in Pisa.

After the Accademia we broke for lunch and I went with Morgan to McDonalds (I don't know why she likes to eat there so much). On the way we passed through a market and I got Dad a tie with a pattern of the flower symbol for Florence. Finally we went to the Uffizi. Ouside in the narrow square that it wrapped around, among the columns were several painted men. Two were white and one was gold. They were almost completely still, holding expressions on their faces (happy or sad, depending on whether they were getting money in their hats) and sometimes people took pictures with them.

Inside the Uffizi, Marco took us on a Gothic religious art tour. We saw some Giotto as well as others like Martini, whose Mary I found interesting.

I write, erase, rewrite
Erase again, and then,
A poppy blooms.

A swirling snowflake
Going round and round
Falls from the sky

~~12 year old girl

These are a couple of Haiku's from Dr. R's presentation which I'm at this moment.

The room we were all excited to see in the Uffizi was the Botticelli room with the Primavera and the Birth of Venus. Those were beautiful. I really like his style. I suppose the art I like is Renaissance through modern. But my favorite Botticelli, though I don't know why, was Pallas and the Centaur.

Another highlight of the Uffizi was two paintings by Caravaggio. I really love his because of their radiant highlights while the rest is dark. From what I gather, he was one of the first to experiment with light in the extreme.

We got caught in our first Italian rain shower! Apparently it's stormy all over Italy right now. When Kate an I were in the train station waiting for the train home I found a mouse pad with the David's head on it. I'm going to give it to my brother! 3 down, 3 to go. I have to buy little cheesy gifts for my family because I have no money.

This morning I was in a somber but not depressed mood. Maybe it was the rainy day, maybe it was the time of the month, maybe it was because I didn't get to the studio (I read Scottish fairy tales instead). I hardly said a word at lunch. I didn't feel bad, I just felt nothing. I was in a rare nothing mood. It was the same in studio. But Kate really cheered me up by the end. She talked about funny things and even gave me a hug. And Omar and Chase keep teasing me about having a mean streak. Of course I like the attention.