Ciaowdy!
Today was a wonderful second day in Florence! The day began with a 6:58am train for some (who wanted to explore the city early in the morning) and an 8:18am train for others. The earlier group enjoyed free time in Florence to explore various museums and historic sites, but both groups met up at 10am in Florence for a tour of the Uffizi Art Gallery.
The Uffizi Art Gallery shows the progression of art over time from 2D and impersonal all the way to exquisitely shaded and expressive pieces. Our art history textbooks came to life as we beheld the masterpieces of the likes of Giotto, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, da Vinci, and more. This modern gallery showcases the Medici family’s incredible wealth and power and has continued to expand over time. To witness works like Primavera and The Birth of Venus, as well as the portraits of children from the Renaissance, impressed upon us the power of art to withstand the test of time and continue to depict powerful stories. While the Uffizi includes timeless works by some of the most well known artists of all time, our leaders also asked us to consider who was not represented in the thousands of paintings and sculptures the museum had to offer. There was very little art created by women, few pieces that represented any faith besides Catholicism, and all the figures depicted in the pieces were European. This realization was a reminder for all of us to appreciate the past, yet strive to create a more inclusive society for the future.
After going to the Uffizi Art Gallery in the morning, we separated into groups to eat lunch and explore Florence. One group visited the Galileo Museum, which contained a wide variety of polished gold instruments ranging from telescopes and astrolabes to a pair of wooden ducks with magnets inside. The tools were especially impressive because they were beautiful, but also functional. Some of the tools had belonged to Galileo, but the museum covered several hundred years of scientific inventions.
Another group used their free time to climb to the top of the Duomo, a massive dome capping the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The Duomo has been a constant landmark, visible from anywhere in Florence, but today we made the journey up more than 450 steps to the top of the world’s largest self-reinforced dome. It was one tight spiral staircase after another and the steps seemed to never end. We expected to bake in the heat, yet the windows provided much needed ventilation to keep us cool. Our calves throbbed and our legs trembled for most of the climb, but the view from the top was breathtaking and made it all worth it. The whole city was spread out like a postcard before our very eyes: centuries of history, dozens of rulers, thousands of lives lost, all culminating in a panorama of red brick roofs, statues of aged copper, and church steeples in the distance.
The entire group reunited at Galleria dell’Accademia later this afternoon. Two rows of Michelangelo’s marble sculptures framed his masterpiece, The David. The 6-meters-tall statue towered above our heads and was as flawless and magnificent as it looked in our textbooks. Michelangelo placed great importance on accurately depicting human beings and their proportions, with precision down to the veins in David’s hands.
Tomorrow we look forward to another great day of exploration, this time in Cortona. The city houses a piece of the original Holy Cross and dozens of other relics, as well as beautiful views, which we are excited to enjoy as our time in Tuscany draws to a close.
– Emily McCoy and Aabid Razvi
