Love Affair with Michelangelo

Florence - the birthplace of the Renaissance! I was so excited when I went to London last Spring Break because I got to see a copy of Michelangelo's David at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I never thought I would get to see the real thing in person! Florence is a must on any stop to Italy. The first day there we went to the Academia to see David. Unless you want to wait in line for hours, call ahead and get a reservation for a time to go to the museum. I saw several amazing statues, espically the "Rape of Sabine". It absolutely amazes me how someone can take a block of stone, have enough vision to see what it can be, and then actually create a work of art from that piece of stone.

The main attraction at the Accademia is of course Michelangelo's "David". It did not disappoint at all. Truly he is the optime of a Renaissance man. It's huge, completely fills the area it is in. It stands out for some many reasons. Michelanglo helped make nudes popular again, after the Greek style. It also shows David before he fights Goliath, when all others show him after he fights Goliath.

Here I am with Michelangelo outside the Uffizi Gallery, which houses several Boticello ("Birth of Venus" - AMAZING). In Rome we went to the Vatican. There I was able to see the Sistine Chapel. You can't take pictures inside most of the museums. The Sistine Chapel is breathtaking. Just another example of Michelangelo's genius. He was supposed to be just a sculptor, but he proved them all wrong with the Sistine Chapel. Now all my students know I also love Raphel. Seeing the "School of Athens" (one of my all time favorite paintings) was definitely one of the top moments of my life. It's getting hard to rank them, there are so many!

*Up next...Rome!