April 22nd 2011 – Florence Day 2

  Up bright and early to beat the queue into Gallerie d’Academia to see among other things the statue of David. He stands 5.16m tall, weighs 19 tonnes and is absolutely amazing.  We walked into the gallery and there he was at the end. A truly magnificent sight.  The rest of that gallery housed the unfinished St Matthew and also the four Prigioni (prisoners).  Plus throughout the academia there are incredible works of art and religious icons.  In another room there was a copy of Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine women. Another amazing piece of work.  There were no photos allowed although Rod managed to sneak one in although he did get a growl from a very bossy woman who was kept very busy chasing people sneaking photos.  Two hours in that place and we then wandered the streets until we came to the Piazza Della Signoria  which is an open air square with many other priceless statues are on display including the copy of David and Neptune Fountain by Ammannati and the original of  Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine women and also Persius.  All of which are pretty gruesome. Being Good Friday, the Piazza was packed and also the hawkers, cartoonists and statue impersonators were out.  I managed to get a photo with one and Rod got one with cupid.  Very cute.  From there we walked towards the river and over the bridge where the streets were dedicated solely to jewelry shops.  Every shop seemed to sparkle more than the last.  There was so many beautiful pieces and displays.Rod purchased 3 charms for my charm bracelet. 



Mona Beverley!!
One of the great treasures???



Archimedes Screw by Leonardo Da'Vinci

The tower of Pisa, The bridge of sighs and statue of David.  A wonderful momento. We then visited Medici’s Mausoleum.  The Medici family were very supportive of the Renaissance arts and sponsored artists such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael etc (yes Phillip all the Ninja turtles) They were also very proud of their wealth and certainly show it by the amount of churches, palaces and the size of the mausoleum and family crypt.  They are truly a sight to see.  Such huge buildings adorned with marble, fine arts and precious gold and jewels.  It is reputed that they were the richest family in all of Europe but the line died out in 1493 as there were no heirs to continue the family line due to barren woman, depraved men who liked little boys and early death due to corruption and conspiracy.   The family wealth ended up being gifted to Florence, hence the wealth of beautiful art and buildings today for all to enjoy.  We decided to call it a day early and head back to the hotel.  As we neared our hotel we came across a doorway that said Leonardo’s Magnificent Inventions.    We decided to take a quick look and 2 ½ hours later we had had a really good look at Da Vinci’s inventions.  There were working models and films of his life and work.  A fascinating place.  If you want to see more go to www.macchinedileonardo.com That is spelt correctly with 2 c’s.  A lovely dinner of Italian food and back home to rest the weary feet.  




David-the stolen photo