The Artists of Florence

Today’s focus was on art. Michelangelo was born in a small town in Tuscany, but the family was based in Florence. After his mother died at an early age, he was raised by a nanny and her husband, who was a stone cutter. It was from him that he discovered his passion for stone and stone cutting. His father and the rest of his family disapproved of this manual work – working with his hands, rather than traditional banking, was deemed as lower class. Da Vinci, also based in Florence, and Michelangelo were acquainted with each other, and rivals at times. Da Vinci was about twenty years older. Michelangelo’s first major sculpture, the Pieta, was created while he was in Rome, when he was only 23 years old. The Pieta, which means ‘suffering,’ presents Mary holding Jesus’s lifeless body after he was brought down from the cross. It is currently located in the Vatican, so we hope to see it during our Vatican tour. Shortly after finishing this project, Michelangelo moved back to Florence with the hope that his Pieta in Rome would give him instant credibility and patronage for other projects. It did not. His family still rejected him because he insisted on being a ‘stone cutter’ – even though he gave every bit of money he earned to his family. The single large stone that would eventually become the David, was actually initially assigned to DaVinci. Michelangelo convinced the city council to re-assign it to him… they did. The life and history of Michelangelo is fascinating, but this is not the place to go into that depth, so I suggest you read any of the hundreds of books and articles that have been written.

Since our goal is to see the works of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and others that emerged during the Renaissance and Mannerism periods, we retained a guide, Ana, who specializes in art, to take us on a tour. Our first stop was the Galleria Dell’Accademia, the home of Michelangelo’s “David.” As we entered the main hall, we could see “David” in the distance, but the path leading up to the centerpiece was lined with several other Michelangelo sculptures that had even more impact on me.

Pope Julius had commissioned Michelangelo to produce 30 sculptures. The Pope’s death, reduced funding, and Michelangelo’s lack of enthusiasm, caused him to drag out the work such that only six where ultimately produced, and these were deemed ‘unfinished’ by many critics. Two of the six are in the Louvre in Paris, while the other four are here in the Galleria Dell’Accademai, lining the path to David, and are referred to as the ‘Unfinished Slaves’ sculptures. According to Ana, Michelangelo considered these ‘Unfinished’ sculptures as finished. They are not smooth nor polished. They are as Michelangelo intended them to be. See and feel the rough chisel marks – raw, powerful. One can hear the sounds of the hammer striking the chisel.

The Awakening Slave

The first sculpture in this set of Unfinished Slave sculptures, “Awakening Slave,” looks like the figure of a man straining and struggling to free himself from the imprisoning stone. It captures that instant in time, when one’s soul escapes the worldly body and enters into some enlightened state or other-life. It is also consistent with Michelangelo’s strong belief that each stone contains a sculpture. It just needs to be freed. He would ask the stone to show him and release the figure within. So the piece is a metaphor of his approach to stone.

The Young Slave

The second in the Unfinished Slave set is named the “Young Slave.” It depicts a young man, passive, accepting, and without struggle, as if he was ready to be liberated from the stone – a birth.

The Atlas Slave

The third is named “Atlas Slave.” He is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. You can feel the battle of the entire world pressing down him, and his struggle to push it up. All the energy is consumed by these opposing forces, such little is left for the face to emerge and show itself.

The Bearded Slave

The last piece, the “Bearded Slave,” is the most complete, having almost broken free from the stone, with just the hands and part of his arm not fully formed. He is moving from one form of bondage to another: the bondage of the stone, to the bondage of a slave bound by straps.

This set of Unfinished Slave sculptures had a deep impact on me. It touched my soul. It has stayed with me. It found its way into my nightly dreams. While not taking anything away from David, the Awaking Slave is very powerful…to me.

Finally, we reach the centerpiece of the hall: David. What more can I say – the work is magnificent. So lets just see and admire it.

David in all his glory

The detail of David’s veins in his arm.

The details of his toe nails of his right foot.

A Bronze replica of David on a hill overlooking Florence.

A replica of David in the Piazza della Signoria

After leaving David, we moved to the Uffizi Gallery, Florence’s main gallery, which contains the greatest collection of Italian Renaissance art in the world. Originally a government office building constructed in 1580, it now houses the Medici family’s art collection. The collection was bequeathed to Florence under one condition: the collection may never leave the city. Needless to say, the collection is vast, with works by some of Italy’s best artists – Raphael, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Piero della Francesco, to name just a few. Ana guided us through the gallery, focusing to see only a strategic few. She is very enthusiastic about the art and has a depth of knowledge, so much so that our three-hour tour, readily expanded to four and a half hours. She was easily distracted by yet another ‘shiny object’ that deserved a look and explanation. It is overwhelming, and frankly, after about two hours, I was saturated. Time to call it a day to return many times to see other ‘selections.’