Another breathtaking week in Florence! This week has been particularly exciting as I finally was able to see some of the artworks I have studied in my courses at RIC. For my Genius of Michelangelo course, we went to the Casa Buonnarroti, where Michelangelo lived and worked!! I had no idea that I would have the opportunity to see this. Inside we got to see some original works of Michelangelo, including the plan for the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo, The Battle of the Centaurs, and some small studies for marble sculpture.
I loved the level of detail even in this small model that was proposed for the San Lorenzo.
I turned a corner and was left completely speechless at the sight of this painting among many others lining the ceiling of the dining room. It is the Allegoria dell'Inclinazione, by Artemisia Gentileschi. She is my absolute favorite artist, and to see one of her works in person was an experience I can't even begin to describe. She has another work, the Judith Slaying Holofernes in the Uffizi that I plan on seeing at least once; hopefully I will be able to see a lot more of her work throughout my time in Italy. I was amazed at how well this work, as well as many others, have been preserved over centuries.
I got to visit a few more museums this week, including the Museo Marino Marini, as in my Florence sketchbook course I was asked to go there and draw sketches from his sculptures. Admittedly I didn't find his work all that interesting at first, however upon taking more time to really observe I found that each of the sculptures had their own story to tell, and captured a particular moment or emotion.
Over the weekend I went with two friends to Siena, and went to the Museo Civico there. I got to see the Allegory of Good and Bad Government murals by Ambriogio Lorenzetti. These two murals cover the Council room of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. In the same museum is the Simone Martini mural, the Maesta. These are all paintings that I have studied back at home, so it was great to see the real thing. They each cover an entire wall in size so the pages in my textbooks can't do them justice.
Maesta, Simone Martini
**I should mention photography is not allowed in many of the museums so some images are pulled offline.
Also in Siena we went to the Duomo, and saw some Duccio and Donatello works! Walking through the interior of this cathedral was overwhelming to say the least, it's much smaller than the one in Pisa and has many roped off areas because of mosaics on the floor. I took pictures of some of them as this was truly unique to Siena's cathedral, so far anyway. So here is the exterior and interior of the cathedral, and one of the mosaics.
The absolute best part of Siena was climbing the tower of the Palazzo Pubblico. It was kind of scary, but well worth it! The view was just gorgeous.
This image overlooks the piazza or center of town that is home to the Palio, or horse race in the square (They run through the gray areas). Twice each year a horse represents each of the city wards and it can often get dangerous as there are very tight turns in the track. (Seriously, check it out on youtube). The races are not held while we're here but the center is lined with restaurants and gelato shops.
Overall another great week in Italy! A friend of mine from home is in Italy visiting family, so she came to see me in Firenze on fashion night, of all nights! It was the night all of the big brand stores show off their fall collections, so it was hectic downtown but an awesome night to visit. She and I are planning a weekend trip to Capri!!! Capri is one of the major places I wanted to see so it will be exciting to get to share the experience with a friend from home. Ciao!
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