Esploriamo a Firenze

September 16, 2018

Witten Explaining Art at the Uffizi

To say that today was a big one would be an understatement. We hit almost all of the “major” Florentine sights, starting with the Galleria degli Uffizi. Giorgio Vasari started construction of the Uffizi - at Cosimo I de’ Medici’s direction - in 1560. It was intended to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates. Construction was not completed until 1581, and the top floor was made into a gallery for the Medici family and their guests. The name “Uffizi” is fitting, even today, because the gallery is shaped like a giant “U.” One of the most interesting parts of the Uffizi is that it’s organized temporally, such that the first room begins with Giotto and medieval art, and then it continues sequentially until the end of the Renaissance.

On the Terrace of the Uffizi

It’s funny, because I forgot that Giotto was the very start of the Uffizi’s collection. Coincidentally, his central work there - Ognissanti Madonna - is also one of my favorite works of art of all time. You can simultaneously see how he drew from the Byzentines, and the origins of the Renaissance. Contrary to popular belief, the Renaissance were not the child of Florence’s immaculate conception. Rather, they bled over from Constantinople as the Byzantine empire fell into decline. (Serbia has some amazing examples of Renaissance-esque art that predates the Italian Renaissance). Plus the naturalism of the figures is just haunting. Other highlights of the Uffizi’s collection include Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera, da Vinci’s The Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi, Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch and Portrait of Leo X, and Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, not to mention some incredible works by Lippi, Titian, Parmigianino, and Caravaggio. It really is my favorite art museum in the world!

After the Uffizi, we stopped in at the hotel for a quick break before grabbing lunch at a nearby restaurant. It was incredible. Setting aside the huge beers we got, they had some fried zucchini flowers that were out of this world! Our plan following lunch was to go to the Duomo, but the line was absurdly long, so we called an audible and went to the Galleria dell’Accademia instead.

David

The Accademia is the second-most visited art museum in Italy (after the Uffizi). Overall, it’s significantly less impressive than the Uffizi, but it does house Michelangelo’s David. The paintings are somewhat lackluster after seeing the Uffizi, but the Museo degli Strumenti Musicali (the Museum of Musical Instruments) was truly awesome. They had a handful of Stradivarius instruments (including a Viola!) as well as the oldest stand-up piano in the world. Setting aside the David, that was the highlight of the Accademia. The David, of course, is without comparison. As everyone noted, it’s far bigger and more impressive than they originally thought (I felt the same the first time I saw it).

On our way back from the Accademia, we decided to complete the trifecta of Florentine museums and hit up the Palazzo Vecchio f/k/a the Palazzo della Signoria. It was originally built in 1299 as a palace worthy of Florence’s importance, and that would be more secure and defensible in times of turbulence. It’s where the ruling nobles of Florence - the signoria - would meet and meat out justice for centuries to come. The most impressive part of the Palazzo is the Salone dei Cinquecento, which Savonarola wanted as the seat for the 500 members of the Grand Council after Florence had exiled the Medici in the 1490s. It’s also the room where Robert Langdon famously shot someone who then fell through the ceiling in Inferno. The other highlight of the Palazzo was Dante’s death mask (also popularized by Dan Brown). Thought the current thought is that it was not a true death mask, it was still really cool.

We finished up the night with dinner at L’Osteria di Giovanni, which is a wonderful little Tuscan restaurant, specializing in local dishes, near the Arno. Everyone’s food was incredible, but I think that my dad won the night with the most tender suckling pig I’ve ever eaten in my life (accompanied by Ossobuco). After all of our shopping and museum perusing, we were all beat and turned in by around 9:30 p.m. (i.e., as soon as Witten fell asleep and it was safe for us to go back into our room).