Dear Italy,
This is clearly unfair. Not only do you have amazing countryside but you have astronomically beautiful art and architecture. My weak sensibilities have no chance under the influence of red wine and yellow sun. I hope you're happy in making me love you.
- Molly
On Thursday I saw Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/jubilee/jubilee1.jpg
http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek05/tw0107/0107arch_8jubilee_b.jpg
It was Rome without being Rome-y. Masonry but not married to a box or a sphere. I think I left part of my heart there. I can't say much more than that.
Yesterday I went to Florence for a day-trip because I really needed to see the Duomo (also the Baptistery) in person as well as the Uffizi and the Academia.
Duomo
http://www.usm.maine.edu/eng/duomo%20brunel.JPG
Baptistery
http://pictures.exploitz.com/Baptistery-Florence-photo--_smgpx10001x14546x1e07af6dd.jpg
I took the train from Termini at 10:30 am and got into Firenze at noon. As I came out of the train station I checked on my map to see what direction I needed to walk to find the Florentine masterpiece of Santa Maria del Fiore. But I didn't need a map, had I looked up instead of been engrossed by the map, I would have seen a GIANT DOME. I discovered this when I put the map back in my bag. Originally it looked as if there were two large churches right next to each other a few blocks away, but when I came up close it was just one huge (and when I say "huge" I mean at least several dinosaurs)church.
http://www.romanconcrete.com/graphics/florence_dome.jpg
That was the really nice frescoe they had on the dome interior but aside from that the walls were pretty much blank (with the exception of a few very small paintings of notable Florentines, Dante, etc.). I wasn't disappointed, just surprised really. It's actually kind of nice to look at structure for a change. It's a reminder that great architecture doesn’t just happen; it's not just a physical work but also a mental work as well.
The Duomo itself is an interesting story. During the Middle-ages every city was trying to prove its worth with a greater and grander cathedral than its rivals (usually neighbors). Florence was desperate to prove its strength over Pisa so a grand cathedral was planned, larger than any other in Europe at the time. However the plans called for a huge dome (this dome was to be an equal to the Pantheon in Rome, just a few feet less wide but over 60 feet off the ground) that no one knew how to build, but they figured by the time the rest of the church was built, someone would have figured it out. WRONG. No one knew how to complete the church and it was left unfinished for many years until this guy:
http://paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/images/Portraits/Fathers%20of%20Perspective/Brunelleschi-BR500.jpg
shows up. The son of a watch-maker, goldsmith/architect: Filippo Brunelleschi. He kept it secret how he solved the problem. But the drum was too small, the weight was too much and the arches were too high. Still today people aren’t really sure how he figured it out.
http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/pics/duomo.cross-section.jpg
The line at this point was too long to climb to the top of the Duomo so I said "maybe later" and marched myself towards The Uffizi.
Let me sum up my reaction to the Uffizi:
This is me:
http://www.speakeasydesigns.com/richter/pix/nerd.jpg
This is me at the Uffizi:
http://img.stern.de/_content/56/29/562954/fan1_600.jpg
I loved it. Here is just a laundry list of SOME of the greatness they have there:
http://www.igreens.org.uk/Titian-uffizi-Venus.jpg
http://www.svreeland.com/judith-uffizi.jpg
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/greekroman/images/SandroBotticelli-The-Birth-of-Venus-1490.jpg
http://www.sai.msu.su/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/botticelli.la-primavera.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Caravaggio12.jpg/524px-Caravaggio12.jpg
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/p/parmigianino/long_neck.jpg
The last one is a painting I had seen before in books and had really hated. Mary's head should be falling off and Baby Jesus looks dead. But seeing it in person, I really liked the figure of a prophet in the background. I mean, the scale is not really right for the space, but it was intriguing. So I still don't like it, but I don't hate it as much as I used to.
Those are just a few of them, there was over 2000 paintings, it just kept going. Amazing.
After that I walked down and saw the line for the Academia. Under 30 min, so I bought a sandwich and hopped in. Midway through the sandwich was a wonderful surprise of tomatoes and meat which I had no idea was there. It was like this sandwich was blessed with magical properties that gave it the powers of a gourmet meal. This may have been the Omega Sandwich, which all other sandwiches aspire to become...it was extraordinary.
In the Academia there was a small gallery which I walked through, and then followed another one, all the while wondering where they were hiding the David, I mean, it's huge. Then I found it.
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/michelangelo_david2.jpg
the important thing about the David (why it's so famous) is because of the story it tells just by standing there. He's not looking at you; he's looking at his side. He hasn’t thrown the rock yet. Look closely in those eyes, is that fear? Concern? This is David right before he strikes Goliath, He's sizing him up. It's the tension of that moment.
Finally I was walking back to the train station and saw that the line for climbing the Duomo was non-existent, so I paid and started to climb. Almost 600 steps later I saw this:
http://www.placestovisitinflorenceitaly.com/photos/duomo-belltower-florence.jpg
at sunset. Check out pictures on facebook, to be posted this afternoon.
There were also some people taking pictures of biscotti at the top of the Dome. They were from a gourmet food magazine. At least I hope so, because otherwise they were from a magazine about Biscotti. Which I'm not sure would be interesting. I mean I don't know the drama behind dried fruit prices or chocolate coating but I don't know if I would subscribe to "Biscotti Quarterly".
Who am I kidding, Of course I would.
Molly: "Can I take one of those?"
Lady: "What? The biscotti?"
Molly: "No, a picture"
Lady: "You don't want a biscotti?"
Molly: "Well, If you're offering..."
she was not.
Then I took the 7:30 train back and crawled into bed in Rome at 10:30pm 12 hours of great fun.
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