Michelangelo's David at the Galleria, Florence
The Academia Gallery in Florence. From this academy were born the greatest artists of the Renaissance all the way through the 16th or 17th century. It also houses Michaelangelo's famous David. During our brief couple of days in World Thought and Culture, we learned about this statue, and I thought to myself, This is a piece of art I wouldn't mind spending money to see. And we were actually going to see it. The statue of David represents Florence as the underdog Italian city that it once was, and how it would rise up and slay its enemies (the other Italian cities). It is a beautiful sculpture, with every muscle, vein, eyelid, and hair created in perfect detail. His stance and the expression on his face gives the resounding message of confidence, almost cockiness.
The David was carved from a single, massive block of marble that was rejected by artists long before Michaelangelo was born, simply because of its sheer size. The danger that it offered to those whose job it was to move it was enormous.
There were other great works there, such as the The Rape of the Sabine Women and numerous paintings and sculptures. We are touring Italy as a part of our Art History class, so our professor lectures on significant works of art and styles of art so that we understood the significance of what we were seeing. The coolest thing is that we are learning about all of these things on sight. So cool!
The AMBEX Girls with a view of Florence at the top of the Duomo
Chris holding a paper airplane the students sailed off of the top of the Duomo
Lisa looking down from the Duomo in Florence
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