Along the Walk Up to Piazzale Michelangelo
I know... you're all expecting the archetypical view of the Santa Maria del Fiore as the opening photo for Florence. Well it's in the opening set there somewhere, though of course my cell phone can't render it the way the professional photo shoots do, so don't get too excited.
This morning was the Uffizzi museum; then a very leisurely lunch on Republic square; then a very long walk up to Michelangelo plaza for that archetypical view. But somewhere in there I took a wrong turn and it felt like I was walking through the Tuscan countryside. Which was very pleasing, and very quiet with virtually no tourists. So that was a very fortuitous wrong turn. Not to mention it wasn't a bad job to work off that huge lunch I had. So I'm opening with the feel of Tuscany because that was very serene.
I do also want to make some observations about the Uffizzi Museum. If I put all my thoughts down here this email would go on way too long, so just a few thoughts. First is how enjoyable it was not to have a guide. The place was crazy crowded, and of course tons of guide groups. And the guides stop in front of select painting, talk on about it, and move everyone along. But I was so enjoying just wandering where I wanted to study the paintings in my own way, and in my own leisure. And after all I have had two art history classes in college and, by gosh, I am as comfortable in an art museum as I am in a subway. And even with all the people I was able to weave through the interstices of the crowd's flows to find little eddies of calm to enjoy the art.
My two favorite paintings were Botticelli's Spring and Venus. I did take photos of them, which of course do them no justice. To my eye both of those paintings could be contemporary. There is a lightness to them which, to my eye, is almost like a pastel pallet even though it definitely is not. Far beit for me to second guess Botticelli, but I do think he really did get the feet wrong in the Venus painting.
The final observation I'll make here is that seeing so many Renaissance paintings depicting scenes from the life of Christ (actually, mostly Mary - which is another whole thing) makes it obvious how we reimagine 'history' to fit our own contemporary context.
Along the Walk Up to Piazzale Michelangelo
I know... you're all expecting the archetypical view of the Santa Maria del Fiore as the opening photo for Florence. Well it's in the opening set there somewhere, though of course my cell phone can't render it the way the professional photo shoots do, so don't get too excited.
This morning was the Uffizzi museum; then a very leisurely lunch on Republic square; then a very long walk up to Michelangelo plaza for that archetypical view. But somewhere in there I took a wrong turn and it felt like I was walking through the Tuscan countryside. Which was very pleasing, and very quiet with virtually no tourists. So that was a very fortuitous wrong turn. Not to mention it wasn't a bad job to work off that huge lunch I had. So I'm opening with the feel of Tuscany because that was very serene.
I do also want to make some observations about the Uffizzi Museum. If I put all my thoughts down here this email would go on way too long, so just a few thoughts. First is how enjoyable it was not to have a guide. The place was crazy crowded, and of course tons of guide groups. And the guides stop in front of select painting, talk on about it, and move everyone along. But I was so enjoying just wandering where I wanted to study the paintings in my own way, and in my own leisure. And after all I have had two art history classes in college and, by gosh, I am as comfortable in an art museum as I am in a subway. And even with all the people I was able to weave through the interstices of the crowd's flows to find little eddies of calm to enjoy the art.
My two favorite paintings were Botticelli's Spring and Venus. I did take photos of them, which of course do them no justice. To my eye both of those paintings could be contemporary. There is a lightness to them which, to my eye, is almost like a pastel pallet even though it definitely is not. Far beit for me to second guess Botticelli, but I do think he really did get the feet wrong in the Venus painting.
The final observation I'll make here is that seeing so many Renaissance paintings depicting scenes from the life of Christ (actually, mostly Mary - which is another whole thing) makes it obvious how we reimagine 'history' to fit our own contemporary context.