One Hill At A Time: Day 13: Florence, the David & the Duomo

Day 13

Today we met Aniko, who took us on a tour through the Accademia Museum, or Galleria dell'Accademia Firenze, and the Florence Duomo. She told us that in BC 59, the Romans travelled up to what is now Florence. They found a beautiful field of lilies, which is why the fleur de lis is the symbol of Florence. It is everywhere in the city! The Acadamia serves as a Museum and an academy of fine arts, where students come from all over the world to study.

Here we are in the morning, fresh as daisies!

The Galleria is best known for Michelangelo's sculpture of David. But it also serves as a tribute to the many ways the Medici family contributed to the arts. (Pronounced MEH-di-chi.) Their contributions brought about the Renaissance Era, a rebirth of the arts, pioneering new approaches to art and culture. For example, during the Dark Ages, artists did not paint with perspective. Images were flat, and the background lacked a clear focal point. The painting below is one of the first to show perspective in the background and some dimension in the people. It's called Dance at a Wedding Party by Giovanni di Ser Giovanni, 1450.

Just 10 years later, look at the depth of characters in the "Annunciation" depicting the moment the angel told Mary she was with child, 1460-1475 by Domenico Di Zanobie and Filippino Lippi. The painting on the right is another by Lippi.

We moved on to the musical section. The Medici were lovers of music and collected string instruments, many of which were donated to the Galleria. Sweet Aniko is showing us two paintings from 1685 of the Grand Prince Ferdinando Medici and his Musicians. Medici is the figure in blue, 2nd from the right, in both paintings.

These are some of the string instruments in the Medici collection. The violin on the left is a replica from 1988, originally made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 for the Medici family.

The upright piano, by Bartoloeo Cristofori in 1739, was an attempt to build a piano that was able to fit in a smaller space than a grand piano.

The Medici did not collect any instruments besides strings, but there are examples of other instruments from the time period in the Museum.

Our first glimpse of David!

Lining the sides of the "Hall of Prisoners" are four of Michelangelo's unfinished sculptures. These massive marble figures were designed for the tomb of Pope Julius II, but were gifted to the Medici. Michelangelo tended to express his agony and torment through the twisting and turning of the bodies as he sculpted.

The Awakening Slave

Young Slave

Atlas Slave

Bearded Slave

The running joke of the time was, if you commissioned Michelangelo to create a sculpture, would it ever get finished? He left many unfinished due to time constraints, lack of funding and his own high standards. He was very particular about the materials he used, even going to the Carrara marble quarry to personally pick out the blocks of marble for each sculpture.

Of course, one of his most popular finished works is David. I can't tell you the number of times I've had my breath catch in my throat when I first see a building, an altar, a sculpture, a painting. This was one of those times. David is absolutely incredible. For starters, its sheer size demands attention. It stands 17 feet high and was carved from a single piece of marble between 1501 and 1504. Michelangelo was only 26 when he began sculpting David. It is actually King David as a boy, just before his battle with Goliath. I'm embarrased to say, I never realized this sculpture was of David from the Bible! Michelangelo focused on the concentration in David's face before the fight, representing the triumph of intelligence over brute force. It was placed outside the Palazzo Vecchio in 1504, but was then moved into the Accademia Gallery in 1873 to protect it from damage.

Aniko had us walk all the way around the statue, pointing out little details we would have missed. From this side, you can see that he's holding the sling that's thrown over his left shoulder. Look at the details in his ribs, the muscles in his arms, the details in his knee.

We are also able to see the details in his face much better from this perspective.

Sadly, a few years ago, an Italian citizen believed he was Michelangelo and walked right up to the statue with a hammer and began striking the toes of David's left foot!

Now we have moved to the back of the statue Where we can see more of the sling along with muscle definition and detail in the back of the knee. If you look closely you can also see the rock in David's right hand.

Michelangelo has David standing in a counterbalanced position to show muscle tension and veins in his arms and hands. Aniko told us Michelangelo was friends with a priest who let him study and dissect newly dead bodies to get the details correct.

Michelangelo died in 1564, at 88 years old, in Rome. His doctor wrote to Duke Cosimo Medici saying, "This afternoon, that most excellent and true miracle of nature, Messer Michelangelo Buonarroti passed from this to a better life.” Rome grieved deeply, and his funeral was attended by the entire artistic community. He was buried in the church of the Santi Apostoli. However, before his death, he expressed his wish to be buried in Florence, not Rome. The Medici helped Michelangelo's nephew exhume his body two weeks after his Roman burial and bring it back to Florence, where he now rests.