Art and the Non-Artist (Friday, October 14, 2011)

One day does not acquaint you with a city, but it can give you just enough taste of it to make you want more. Today we had an appetizer plate full of Florence, and we can’t help but want to go back again. But before our taste of Florence, we had a taste of French toast left outside the door of our room by Isabela Manfredini, the female half of the proprietorship of our bed and breakfast. Yum.

Staying out in the countryside, we needed to drive our car to a nearby city, park it in a public parking lot and get on the tram service to Florence. This worked well, and soon we were deposited in Florence, near the train station. Nothing pretty is ever right near the train station, as far as we’ve experienced, but we went to Tourist Information for the free map and headed out. And really, it’s a very walkable place.

More vinegar anyone?

We walked first to central market, where you can find a dizzying variety of pastas, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, vinegars, oils and wines. Also, you can find hog’s heads, pig’s feet, cow noses and cow intestines—pieces of the animals that were never meant to be consumed, or seen separately, for that matter.

Meandering through the different stalls of purses, belts and souvenirs on the street outside, we went next to the Cathedral (di Santa maria del Fiore), which is where the Duomo is, an incredible painted dome that probably should not exist. It was the first dome built in the Renaissance age, and the cathedral was built with an empty space where the dome should be. No one knew how to put a dome on it, but they knew they could figure it out. And they did. The outside of the cathedral is just as amazing as the inside, very different from other, gothic cathedrals. The line was approximately 10 miles long, so we decided to try again later. We headed instead to the Accademia, which is the museum where Michelangelo’s “David” is displayed. This line was even longer. Humph.

Instead, we went to a square to eat our sandwiches. Nothing too exciting to report, but the pigeons seem to be endlessly entertaining. A nearby dog was getting pouncy whenever the pigeons came near, and we couldn’t help wondering how long our friend and neighbor Melisa Hubka would be able to hold on to her dog Leila (Layla?) in that square. Leila loves birds, and squirrels and anything else that moves, and we would have to start a pool on how many minutes Melisa could stay standing upright with the leash in her hand.

Dogs are everywhere here, by the way. Brian and I went out briefly in Venice while the kids read in bed, and there were 3 dogs in the tiny restaurant. One barked the entire time, which everyone found endearing. We wondered what people would think if a child were there yelling the entire time. Lisa Schra said that the people of Vienna definitely seem to prefer dogs over children. While there are moments that I can understand this, it seems a tad unfair to our progeny, since we were once there ourselves!

Back to Florence. We went  back to the Accademia and got in line. Well, Brian got in line while we looked for a public bathroom. Bless McDonald’s. Much as I hate seeing the golden arches scattered around every European city, you can pretty much count on a decent, free bathroom. Then back to the line.

Not always happy about lines or what she finds in them.

This line was long, and moved in large sections as they let in a certain number of people periodically. As we were a captive audience, a few vendors took advantage of the situation and set up their carts full of souvenirs right next to us. One sold a uniquely tourist-y selection of aprons, boxer shorts and postcards all adorned with the more private aspects of David’s anatomy. Allison found them, in her repeated words, “disturbing.” But she just couldn’t turn away. Particularly disturbing was the postcard that displayed those portions mounted with a pair of sunglasses. It’s hard not to laugh at 8 year old outrage, and beware the person who is caught doing so.

We were in line next to another American, John Aaron, who was originally from Ann Arbor and now lives in California, and he is an artist by vocation. He has been in Florence several times, and he has never wanted to spend the time in line to see the “David” sculpture, even though he spent a lot of time studying it as part of his art training.

John told us what little our simple art minds could absorb—the chunk of marble Michelangelo used had been discarded because of an enormous flaw. All the other sculptors told him there was no way to use it. He studied it for months, and eventually came up with a posture for David that made it possible. And the graceful posture is one of the reasons the sculpture is such a masterpiece.

We went in armed with that knowledge, expecting to see the sculpture of a naked man that we knew it to be. We were blown away. It is beautiful, and it’s amazing that a person could polish that out of a piece of marble. We were grateful to meet John to get some background on it before we saw it. He explained the unusual proportions, and Allison, who seemed to have forgotten her concern about David’s nether regions, noticed how the knees go slightly backward, just like our legs. John took a seat in the gallery and just drank it in. He was mesmerized, and he said it was well worth the wait!

Allison took up another of her ongoing concerns, the crucifix. In Split, we’d seen some gory versions of it—the broken body of Christ on the cross. We’ve had some interesting conversations about the gift of both the cross and resurrection—both give us hope in their own ways, and you can’t really have either of them without the other. In this museum, the figures of Christ remain dead, usually recently removed from the cross, but with no apparent negative impact—the body remains a beautiful specimen. Allison was completely frustrated with this, and the fact that the crown of thorns was usually on the ground, not on his head. It’s going to be interesting to see where she goes with all of this.

Also in that museum was a museum of the history of musical instruments. Lyn Hoeksema, you would have been proud to see these three kids studying the hands-on demonstration of the mechanics of playing a harpsichord versus a piano.

Back to the cathedral, where we waited now in a minimal line to wander inside. Natalie is becoming an aficionado of cathedrals, and we explored the beauty of the interior. The gorgeous mosaic floors were smooth and straight, unlike the cathedral in Venice where the sinking ground made waves in the floor.

Then a quick walk to Ponte Vecchio, a bridge full of stores and apartments—we’re not sure if they are actually inhabited. The third level of the bridge was created as a private passageway for the big wigs and officials of the time.

We barely glimpsed the Palazzo Pitti, and completely missed the Uffizi Gallery and all things Medici. I guess we have plenty to look forward to should we ever return.

We have no feel for the soul of Florence, but we certainly found the beauty.