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by
Kelly Kent
While
in Florence, I found a new man to dream about in the Accademia Gallery. He is
handsome, intelligent, honorable, strong, brave, and courageous. There is something
special in his eyes that signify he is constantly thinking about his next move.
He seems perfect; aside from the fact that his hands are proportionately too
long for his height and is a nudist. Did I mention his six-pack? It took four
years for Michelangelo to complete the David from a single block of
Carrara marble. The 17-foot statue shows King David moments before he fights
Goliath. Michelangelo's cadaver-stealing days were evident because you could
see the muscle and bone structures of David's youthful body.
According to our guide Elena, Michelangelo thought he was releasing statues
from the constraints of marble. Before reaching the David, there were many of
Michelangelo’s statues that were never finished. You could see the many
stages Michelangelo went 
through
before his creations were finished. Not until you see the other statues in the
Accademia, can you truly realize the brilliant talent of Michelangelo!
As well as statues, we also saw many portraits of Madonna with Child.
The Madonnas started out with masculine features, and the baby Jesuses looked
like a little man. Over at the Uffizi Gallery, the Madonnas became more feminine
and the baby Jesuses became more baby- like. My favorite Madonna portrait was
Filippo 
Lippi’s
Madonna with Child and two Angels. Madonna’s profile is believed
to have been the nun’s profile who would bear Filippo Lippi two children.
My favorite paintings included Sandro Botticelli’s long toed Venus in
The Birth of Venus and Piero della Francesca’s the bump in the
Duke’s nose in the Diptych of the Duchess and Duke of Urbino,
but my ultimate favorite was Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi’s Annunciation.
This monumental alterpiece was made with real gold. Incredibly, gold embossed
words flow from the lips of the angel towards the Virgin Mary.
We
bid farewell to Elena, went back to our hotel, and made preparations for a fun
afternoon of laundry. I sat with various mommies in the ghetto laundry mat where
we spent €10 on washing machines. After two attempts to dry our clothes
and €20 later, we realized why so many Italians hung their laundry out
to dry.
Forgetio drove us to Piazza Michelangelo where we ate a late dinner overlooking Florence. We were just a little underdressed compared to the waiters wearing tuxedos at La Loggia at Piazzale Michelangelo. We had another five-course meal, preplanned by our tour group, that consisted of bruschetta with liver paste (gag me!), fried pasta, spinach ravioli, fried potatoes, steak (finally), and a ball of ice cream with a side of cake. We also had fried pollenta which are salty, doughy pieces of bread. Ummmm!
To be continued… Hey Ro-mey-o!
**The artwork was taken from Wikipedia, except for Filippo Lippi’s Madonna with Child and two Angels. I took that from http://www.arca.net/uffizi1/Uffizi_Pictures.asp?Contatore=94.
©K. Kent Last Updated: January 7, 2008 Email Kelly Kent
