I shall skip the banalities of the typical morning for Day 11. After breakfast we had our second optional excursion (After the Vatican). This was to the two main art galleries in Florence: the Academia and Uffizi. Academia used to be an art school and still is in part, but its main attraction is Michelangelo’s famous sculptures, most prominently
David, but also
St. Matthew and the
Prisoners.
Michelangelo was a strange man. He was apparently unattractive, scrawny and amazingly moody. During his time, sculptures were made using a certain process. 1. The sculpture is commissioned. 2. The sculptor thinks and makes some concept drawings. 3. The sculptor molds a 6” model using wax. 4. A 4’ model would then be made using clay for more detail. 5. A full scale plaster model was made with the help of a team. 6. The sculptor leaves for another project while his team of students carves the sculpture out of marble. When it is carved, it is started on all sides, so if a mistake is made, they can just make it smaller using the same rock. Michelangelo threw almost all of this out the window. He would be commissioned to make a sculpture. He would sometimes make a wax model, seldom anything larger and not often even that. He would then set away carving alone. Instead of carving all around evenly, he would carve out all of the details from the front and work around, this made it easier for him to picture the work, but one false chisel and the very expensive piece of stone you have been carving for years is trash. The average sculptor alone would finish a full sized sculpture in 3-4 years. Michelangelo finished David in 2 years, with it being the largest sculpture ever seen at 17’ tall. In the room with
David are
St. Matthew which is unfinished and shows how exactly he carved his sculptures and the
Prisoners which appear to be 5 unfinished sculptures showing souls escaping bodies in death. It has been speculated that perhaps these
Prisoners were left unfinished on purpose to show the humans breaking free of the rock like souls breaking free of the body. Either way, they are not the focus of the gallery,
David is. I had to write a piece describing
David for class and just got it back with a very good mark, so I think I will paste it and hopefully do
David at least some justice in my description.
One of the most, if not the most, striking thing I have seen so far on this trip is Michelangelo’s David. While I had some expectations due to all I had heard about it, nothing compared to what I found inside the Academia. I am somewhat saddened in writing this because I know no matter how hard I try; I can never relate the complete effect of David into words. No matter, it is my prerogative to do my best to that end, and at least attempt to describe David and his effect on me. Before visiting the Academia I had always referred to David (On the few occasions when I felt the need to mention him) as “The David” or “Michelangelo’s David”. At this point I viewed David as simply a sculpture. Perhaps he was an exceptional example of sculpture, and renaissance art in general, but still in essence merely a monolith carved in the figure of a man. Since admiring him, I now find myself subconsciously referring to David as a person. Again, I find that words do not avail me in this endeavor. It is a gross understatement to say that David appears to be human. At very least he seems the perfect human, proportioned perfectly (when viewed from the intended angle of course), anatomically correct in any way, tension distributed just so in order to show us his intentions.
As I learned from our passionate tour guide, David reveals himself to viewers not all at once, but differently from different angles. To paraphrase, “Every time I enter this hall, I see standing at the end a roman god, poised in a posture exuding perfection and power.” When you move closer this godlike façade fades to reveal a truly human David. His abdominals seem so realistic that you can see the tension spread across in the torque of his body, you can see the veins sprawling across his hands and neck and his face is depicted so realistically that you half believe he will turn his head and address you. As you move off to David’s left you once again experience a wholly different view. From this vantage point we can see the biblical inspiration. Transcending that, we see what Michelangelo was striving to show us. In David’s face we see a complicated set of emotions, an underlying fear overpowered by faith and sheer determination. As our guide demonstrated, if you follow the biblical story of David and Goliath up to the point that you are viewing, that is, immediately after David replies to Goliaths challenge and prepares to launch his sling, knowing that the will of God is behind his swing, you can fully appreciate the expression that David exudes. It is not only his face that shows us this, but his posture as well; back straight, head up, moving forward undaunted in the presence of this giant. Personally, this angle struck me the hardest. The determination flowing from David seemed to bore right to my core, as if it was me he was challenging instead of Goliath. The next position doesn’t so much show a new David, but expands on his humanity and determination while showing admirers a new level to Michelangelo’s genius. This is the view of David from behind. According to our guide, a renowned professor of anatomy marveled at how never before had he witnessed such a perfect example of anatomy anywhere but his textbook. We can see here just how David has prepared himself for the launching of his sling. His shoulders are flexed, his back torqued and his legs taught, almost seeming spring loaded. Here also we can see what part engineering played in the creation of David. Apparently if David’s left leg was in a slightly different position, he would not be able to stand without falling forward. This is just an example of how much thought and calculation went into every part of David. The final view of David is of his right side. If you can picture him, he is focused away from you in the other direction. When I see this I imagine the part he played in society when he was created. He was a mascot of sorts for Florence. He protected the people and gave a message to all others not to pick a fight with the city, for they are protected by higher powers.
In conclusion, while some works of art are able to show aspects of science, religion, history, symbolism, and true beauty, few, if any, show such a perfect combination of all of these as David. Not only is that alone amazing, but it is more than 17 feet tall, all carved by one man alone with no model in a style that meant ruination from one misplaced chisel. If nothing else in the world is, David is an example of true genius.
While somewhat more formal than I usually write here, I think it was better that I paste that than trying to describe
David all over again. After
David I quickly visited the gallery of music showcasing some of the world’s first pianos and quite a few original violins by Stradivarius.
After the Academia we visited the Uffizi gallery which was formerly the private art collection of a very prominent Florentine family. It contains many Roman and Greek statues as well as some of the most famous paintings in the world. We were exhausted by this point so our tour guide gave us the condensed tour, showing us how Italian and specifically Florentine art evolved during the Renaissance. We started with a 13th century painting of Mary and the baby Jesus in Byzantine style with a golden background, golden halos, adult faces and disproportionate sizes (Jesus was much larger than a baby). This was meant to assert divinity over humanity and was the standard for all art of the time. We moved through the galleries watching the slow evolution of painting, from the more humanized views, to the first secular paintings (portrait of the Duke of Urbino), to some pagan figures in art (
Birth of Venus), to the beginning of sexual imagery (
Venus of Urbino) and showcasing the only two Da Vinci paintings left in Florence as well as the only surviving painting by Michelangelo in the world (the Vatican is a fresco and uses different methods than a painting), finally ending with a 17th century work depicting the baby Jesus, as the first did, but this time it is almost blasphemously human; Mary has just finished feeding Jesus and is covering her breast while Jesus yawns and places his hand on his genitals. After this journey through the renaissance we passed a showcase of Caravaggio, showing the
Medusa which actually gave me chills. Caravaggio took realism to a new level, calling it naturalism. He believed that not all figures should be presented perfectly, but naturally. For example, if a model had a scar, or dirty fingernails, or a fruit had a bruise, he would paint it as it appeared. Apparently he would attend public executions and study the expressions on the beheaded face before painting
Medusa.
After the museums we grabbed some lunch and met for class outside again. We got two sample seminars from our teacher on Homer and Hesiod. We also studied some more particulars on Classical Greek life and major people. Dinner was at a similar restaurant with similar (but amazing, of course) food. After dinner Jam (a different guy, haven’t mentioned him yet) and I prepared for our seminars (both of us were the next day) at the café. After curfew I read a bit and watched some of
(500) Days of Summer which was a very good movie.
