FLORENCE to ROME – a day with Michelangelo
Friday – today we travel to the Eternal City – Rome. It’s hard to realise that half our European Adventure has gone but on the good side we still have some exciting places yet to visit.
Time to pack our bags but before leaving Firenze we must pay homage to David. Yesterday the lovely lady at the head office of our apartment made a booking for us to visit the Accademia where David resides. Before we make this visit however we have to finalize our check out and as we are not leaving the city until this afternoon we are permitted to store our luggage and then collect it on the way to the station.
Breakfast at our usual place where, sad to say, they still do not have fresh pastries and the varieties are getting quite limited – but it is our last breakfast in this marvellous city and we are not going to let that spoil the day so we enjoy the strong Florentine coffee, the friendliness of the people and preview what we will be doing today.
First stop – the wonderful Galleria dell’Accademia – home to some of Michelangelo’s sculptures including one of the best – David.
Entering the Accademia – I realise that it is not a very big building. Through the necessary scanning machines and we are greeted by signs stating that no photography is allowed – OK. Time to be inventive once again.
Turning right into a long hallway there are many other sculptures by Michelangelo. These are called “The Prisoners’ but at the end of the hallway is the one and only David – so we will see him first and then walk back.
HISTORY LESSON : David was commissioned in 1501 by the Cathedral Works Committee (Opera Del Duomo). At the age of 26, Michelangelo was given a leftover block of marble that came from the mountains of Carrara, one which had previously been worked on by various other artists.
The piece was intended as a monumental work, a testimony to the city’s republican pride, not one for close confinement, but was moved to the Accademia in 1873 (from outside the Palazzo Vecchio, where a replica now stands ) to protect it from the ravages of time and the weather.
It is an incredible piece of work and to be able to walk right around it so that you can appreciate the artistry is amazing and to actually look into the defiant eyes that say ‘I can beat any guy’ is a thrill in itself. Of course there are the ever present tourists who begin snapping away but they are soon told by the photo police ‘no photos, no photos’. They must realise that there are always going to be people who want photos – but some of those idiots continue to use flash – not me.
There are seats at the back of the alcove where David stands so I have a little rest and appreciate the tautness of his rear quarters! As there are many other Michelangelo sculptures here – including ‘The Prisoners’ it is time to move on.
These statues symbolise the prisoners taken during wars of conquest against other city states and were conceived for the tomb of Pope Julius II, a work which was later reduced in size and decoration.
‘The Prisoners’ are examples of Michelangelo’s unfinished works. Michelangelo thought that each block of marble harboured a statue just fighting to get out, a prisoner of the stone so to speak, and looking at these it is easy to understand how their spirits are fighting to free themselves and, if you apply your imagination (mine is always in overdrive) you can see how the completed sculptures would have looked.
Another noteworthy example of an unfinished work is the Pietà, (left) named the Palestrina Pietà after the city of Lazio where it was kept until 1940.
There are also many large paintings and a museum of musical instruments of the Renaissance – but we must say farewell to David and The Prisoners as we still have other places to see and time is getting away from us.
When we investigated Florence on the net Kylie came across the Farmaceutica Di Santa Maria Novella.
This is situated not far from the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella.
The Basilica is a Gothic church built by the Dominicans from 1279 to 1357. Unfortunately we cannot visit inside so it’s on to our last sightseeing stop in Firenze.
Not far from the Basilica and across the square is the Farmaceutica – one of the world’s oldest pharmacies.
The Dominican Friars arrived here in 1221 and began to dispense their wares. Even during the great plagues of Europe, potions were distributed that would hopefully ward off the evil spirits.
On entering, the air that is heavy with centuries of aromas grabs you around the throat – it’s just like breathing history – but this history comes at an exorbitant price I might add. After about fifteen minutes inside of being overpowered and starting to get a headache and realising that I cannot afford any of these heady aromas, it is time for me to escape outside and breathe some fresh air.
We decide that we may as well head back to collect our bags and then proceed to the station to see if we can get on an earlier train. Reason being, that will then give us time to get to the apartment in Rome and relax a bit before setting off on our night adventure – the Vatican Museums Under The Stars.
Florence Railway Station is always on the move no matter what time of day. Tourists and locals coming and going, lots of food stalls, lots of tourist areas all make it a pretty busy place. We get on the train and head south to Rome, about an hour and a half journey.
Our comfortable first class seats entitle us to a complimentary small drink and some snacks – no expense is spared. We arrive in Rome and decide to find a taxi to take us to our apartment – Appartamento Sant’Anna.
So many things to see on the way – we just try to take stock and remember where everything is. It is a rather long taxi drive to the apartment and no sooner are we out of the cab than Kylie discovers that her bag full of treasured souvenirs has been left in the back seat. We check in and explain our situation to the apartment manager who gives us the phone number of the lost property office at the station.
We decide to go back to the station and pray like crazy that we can find the missing bag. Our mood has turned sombre BUT after visiting so many basilicas and religious monuments on our journey, someone up there must like us and Kylie is lucky to find the same taxi driver – who has the bag of goodies. We must remember to light some candles in thanks. Our mood has soared and even though the crook did go through the belongings and discard some of the packing everything is there. Now back to the apartment to prepare for our Vatican Museums by night.
A quick shower, a quick rest and then we find a cab to take us to the Vatican Museums. We discovered these museums are open on certain Friday nights in Summer and we jiggled the itinerary around so that we could fit this in. Even though they are called Tours, it really is walking around by ourselves at our own pace – no guide to hurry us along.
The Museums are also not in the main building that you think of when you think of The Vatican. I know when I think of The Vatican, St Peter’s is the building that comes to mind. It is not St Peter’s where the Museums are situated, it is a separate entrance that leads to other buildings including the one that houses the Sistine Chapel which is included in this walk. Pictured here is the main dome of St Peter’s taken from a small outdoor area before we actually go into the Museums so you can see that the entrance to the Museums is quite a distance from St Peter’s.
We are excited that we will see many ancient statues and works of art but we are also a bit disappointed that there are so many tourist groups. Somehow I thought that it would be a more intimate affair seeing that the days here are packed but there are groups all over the place. Still, undaunted we press on and I must admit that there is plenty of time to see everything. The good thing is that photography is permitted – but NO FLASH. Needless to say the three of us start snapping away.
On the left is the entrance steps to the Museums – grand to say the least. Once up these stairs there are many long hallways full of statues and elaborately painted ceilings.
The Vatican Museums are amongst the greatest museums in the world and it is hard to imagine the monumental task of acquiring all of these treasures over the centuries.
I could put so many photos here but then it would be so hard to choose. Let’s suffice to say that you can research all the Museums on line and google lots and lots of photos.
The walk through the Museums culminates in the most famous of all frescoes – Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. This is the only place that the ‘no photo’ signs are everywhere along with the Vatican staff. But there is always a way. Click!
Even though I have read that the Chapel is only small, I didn’t realise how small. There are so many people and there are guards ‘shooshing’ people when the noise gets too high.
There are a few benches that line the walls of the chapel. Here you can sit with your back against the wall and gaze up at the ceiling and wonder how on earth Michelangelo managed to do this. After the tourists have been shooshed, it is very quiet and then a short while later the whispers grow again ‘click’ and the ‘shooshers’ shoosh again.
This is the great Sistine Chapel. Photo on the left is the Last Judgement wall – on the right the famous scenes from the Old Testament including God holding out his arm creating Adam.
Truly an incredible honour to stand underneath this ceiling but we must move on.
We leave the Sistine Chapel and move on through to the end of our walk. It is getting close to closing time and the guards are starting to shut the windows and lock up for the night. With smiling faces and gracious manners they gently move the tourists along and we are glad to oblige.
These are the last two hallways we go through – they are just as magnificent as when we started and I wonder how much glorious art can be in one place.
Having had great teachers, even though it was a public school education, I am beholden to those who taught me what went on in the world in these early times before the education political correctness police set upon us like the plague. I wonder if the Farmaceutica in Florence has a remedy for that?
It has been an incredible experience and also it has been a very busy day full of emotions of all descriptions. We have loads to see in Rome – that’s no surprise – and after exiting the Museums we get a taxi back to the apartment. There is a small ristorante up the street from the apartment and as we are a tad hungry we get a four cheese pizza.
Fall into bed and get ready for the Roman Expedition tomorrow.
Highlight of the day : all the works of Michelangelo from David to the Sistine Chapel