Michael and David

The first outing today is to see arguably the most famous statue in the world, Michelangelo’s David.

In 1501, 26 year old Michelangelo was commissioned to make a statue of David, the biblical figure that defeated the giant Goliath and helped save the Israelites. What makes this statue so impressive is that it was carved from one single block of marble that had been rejected by several other more experienced sculptors as they thought it was no good. It was also the first time a sculptor had made a statute so lifelike. It is certainly impressive. David, the Renaissance Man, became the pride of the city, and the dome that he stands under today was designed especially for him.

The statute is in the Accademia Museum. We had pre-booked an entry time, which was a win as the line was massive when we arrived (finally learning something, booking ahead is good!). The museum is quite small and there is a limit on the amount of people that can enter at one time. David is the centre piece of the museum, and the

hallway leads to him, stood under his glass dome. He is impressive and definitely the best part of the museum. There are also some other statutes of Michelangelo’s in various states of completeness, called the Prisoners. These are incredibly interesting to compare and contrast with David to see how the marble was carved. There was also a musical instrument display that had the first ever piano. Looked a lot different to the ones of today.

A café and a snack to fuel us for the next tour. We had downloaded a walking tour for Florence that went into the history of the place and the Renaissance era beginning in Piazza del Duomo. The Renaissance was a cultural movement starting in Florence in about the 1530s. It was seen as society going back to the art, learning and democracies of the Greeks and Romans after centuries of the Dark Ages where life was really depressing and oppressive. We went around the Duomo and the Baptistry learning about the decorative art and architecture before heading down the street past a little church that used to be a grain store and had statues in 14 niches on the exterior walls. These feature both Donnatello’s St Mark and St George. Next was the mighty impressive Piazza della Signoria featuring Loggia dei Lanzi (the old public forum now filled with fantastic statues), and the Palazzo Vecchio (once a palace, now a museum). As if there wasn’t enough art jam packed into this area, another corner houses the Uffizi Gallery, a gallery considered the greatest collection of Renaissance art. The courtyard outside the building contains statues of the greatest figures from the period including Michelangelo, Donatello, De Vinci, and Amerigo (a cartographer who the American continents were named after). From here it was on to the Ponte Vecchio bridge to end the walk. The Ponte Vecchio is lucky to still be standing as it was the only bridge not to be completely destroyed when the Nazis were retreating from Italy. Adolf had ordered all of the bridges blown so to stop the Allies

advance, however one of the Nazis must have quite liked the look of it as he made it impassable, but left it standing.

After something to eat and another café espresso, we headed to the Galileo Science Museum, which has a massive sundial outside that also shows the months and the zodiac signs. The ruling Medici family embraced the Renaissance and had a large collection of scientific objects that were originally kept on display in the Uffizi Gallery across the road, but it was moved to its current spot for a more permeant display. There are a lot of objects in here, organised in chronological order from the earliest to the latest, and a helpful app you can download that explains each room and what you are looking at. Helpful as most of it would have gone over our heads without explanations and videos. The highlights would have to be the early globes with the representation of the universe from the 15th century, with earth flat and in the middle, and Galileo’s room that has his telescopes, inventions and some of his fingers and teeth.

In the evening we headed up to Plaza Michelangelo, they really do love this guy, to watch the sunset over the city. Turns out we were not

the only ones with this idea as there were thousands of people up the top. Well worth the hike up though as the view over the city and the sunset itself were stunning. A great end to a great day which was capped off by some local craft beers and pizza. Crom does not recommend grappa…