Today was a little different than any other day that we had experienced before. Since we arrived in Florence the night before, we were already at the location where we needed to be to do our walking tour. But, at the same time we needed to have our suitcases ready and out the door to be loaded on the coach because we were leaving in the afternoon for Assisi. We had strict orders to be on the Coach before 8:40 AM so that we could make sure we arrived at the museum which holds the Michelangelo statue of David. There are usually very long lines to get in, and once we had actually arrived, our local guide indicated that the line that had formed will wait for an hour and a half to get in to see the works of art. We waited about 10 minutes – and we were in. Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 and died on February 18, 1564 at the age of 89. This in and of itself was an accomplishment at a time when the average individual only lived into their 40’s or 50’s. He was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered to be the greatest living artist during his lifetime, he has since also been described as one of the greatest artists of ALL time. A number of Michelangelo's works of painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence. He sculpted two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, before the age of thirty. Despite holding a low opinion of painting, Michelangelo also created two of the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and The Last Judgment on its altar wall – both of which we will hopefully get to see in person. At the age of 74, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo as the architect of St. Peter's Basilica.
The museum has a number of Michelangelo’s unfinished works, as it appears as though sculptors can take years to complete a work, often working on multiple different pieces at the same time. I have seen pictures of the Statue of David of course, a number of times over my life. To see it in person was really something else! The guide mentioned that they believe that Michelangelo was sneaking into the morgue at night, to learn about the anatomy of a human being. This is evidenced by the intricate veins and tendons that are visible. We were also told that two other artists had rejected the block of marble that Michelangelo used to create the status of David. There are a number of iron lines in the marble that would have made it “imperfect” for a marble statue. The sculpture is just over 13 ft. high, but as it sits on the pedestal, it seems much bigger than that. This was pretty cool!
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| Unfinished "Atlas" by Michelangelo |
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| The Incredible "David" by Michelangelo |
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| See the veins in the neck and arms |
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| The detail can bee seen in the toes |
After the museum, we wandered down the street with the local guide and she showed us the Cathedral of Florence. The thing is MASSIVE! It’s build completely of local white and green marble. The dome is only slightly smaller than the one in Rome on St. Peter’s Basilica. Since the buildings are built so close to it, I was having trouble getting far enough back to take a picture of the whole thing – even with my wide angle lens. The door was two huge pieces of metal (I’m guessing copper) as they were oxidized that light green color. This configuration was like the cathedral in Pisa where there is a Church, a Baptistery and a Bell Tower all separate.
After that, we walked to another square where they have copies of the some of the famous statues from the area. There is a copy of the statue of David there for everyone to view. We also had a look at a very old bridge (I can’t recall the significance of that bridge – but when I do – I’ll have a picture of it!).
We walked down a few more very old streets and then finally ended up at a leather place. Florence is well known for its leather. I walked by a few places that had men’s shoes, handmade, Italian leather for 109 Euros. Those are $600.00 shoes back home! However, the place that we stopped in at, showed us a demonstration of how they inlaid gold on leather and then showed us a few of their products. Diane was chosen as the model – and I have to admit the coats she wore were amazing. Poor Alf got weak in the knees as she modeled the goods. We ended up kidding him about it for most of the day. One of the coats was about 400 Euros, the other was a little over 1,000 Euro.
We stopped for lunch at a nice little place with Alf and Diane and we ordered two different Pizza’s and shared the two kinds between us. Alf and I were attempting to stall the girls from getting back onto the streets and shopping some more. Both Laureen and Diane seem to have similar taste in the light dresses that they have here. I keep encouraging Diane and Alf keeps encouraging Laureen. I think I’m winning as Diane has purchased a few more than Laureen has. We also stopped and made another gift purchase for back home before we headed back to the coach for the couple hour drive to Assisi.
Once we arrived at Assisi, we immediately met the local guide who began to lead us up to the St. Francis Basilica. St. Francis has an interesting story. Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. In 1201, he joined a military expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada, spending a year as a captive. It is possible that his spiritual conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life. In 1204, a serious illness led him to a spiritual crisis. A strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he joined the poor in begging at St. Peter's Basilica, an experience that moved him to vow to live in poverty.
The church has many intricate Frescoes hand painted on its walls and ceiling. We were not allowed to take pictures in the church and women had to ensure that their shoulders and knees were covered before they would be allowed in. Men also had to have their knees covered and could not wear hats in the structure. I walked down to St. Francis’ tomb, and area below the first church level (there is a second church level that we went to see as well). You may recall a number of years ago, an earthquake in the region damaged the church with portions of the roof collapsing. We could see the repairs that were made where possible. The view from the location was amazing and the countryside is quite beautiful. I also caught a picture of a stunningly beautiful cobblestone street near the church.
After this was all over, we hopped back on the coach and made our way to the hotel. On our seat when we got back on was a gift from Trafalgar (well, actually from Kassie), as we were celebrating our combined birthdays today. We received a nice bottle of wine, and a few small gifts from the places that we had already visited. This was very nice, and unexpected.
Got to the hotel, and as it turns out, they have a pool. Laureen and I got to our room, changed and headed straight for the water. It was hot today – I think it was somewhere in the area of 33 degrees’ Celsius. We spent about half an hour just soaking in the water. Kassie had indicated that she had arranged a drink at the bar for the group, just prior to dinner tonight as a way to just get together and chat about the things we had seen and experienced. We made it in time and sat with the group before heading for dinner. The room for dinner was quite warm, and after a few requests, we could finally start to feel the air-conditioning cool the room. However, tomorrow is an early day, so we headed for the room to get things done so we could get some sleep. Blog took me until nearly midnight! Good thing I can nap on the coach a little.
Curt & Laureen in Assisi, Italy.
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