I Love Field Trips.

Last week was full of field trippies. Naturally, I loved it!

Monday, my Renaissance Architecture in Florence class went up to Piazzale Michelangelo. This piazza is on the top of a hill and overlooks all of Florence. You can also see the old city walls which have been rebuilt three times, the last in the 16th century. Kaitlin and I stopped to take a picture before we went down the endless stairs...

the hike and the city wall

View of the Duomo (Cathedral) and The Cemetery

We looked at the San Miniato al Monte Church. This church's facade was built in 1090. It was by far the most interesting church I have visited yet. You could easily tell that it was a lot older than all of the other churches in Florence and had the abandoned feeling. Regardless, it was beautiful inside and I am glad our teacher dragged us up there to see it.

Ancient Facade, Byzantine Cross, Stunning Architecture, Intricate Flooring, Unique Frescos.

(Michelangelo, Alberti, Da Vinci and Cosimo outside the Uffizi)

Wednesday, my Italian Renaissance Art in Florence teacher took us to the Uffizi museum. We got these museum cards for 30 euro that let us have unlimited access to all of the museums in Florence. I am so glad I have this because each museum is ten euro and there are lines that wrap around buildings to get in... Neither do I have to pay nor wait in line with this amazing card. And I can come back whenever I want. The Uffizi was built in 1458 by the powerful and wealthy Medici family. The word means "office" and they built it to house government buildings. Later they added all their artwork and let the public pay and come in. The building was connected by a passageway across the Ponte Vecchio bridge on the Arno River to their family palace, Pilazzi Piti.

The Bridge today with jewelry galore.

The Medici family only let jewelry shops inhabit this bridge because they did not want to see or smell food or meat stores on their way to the office. Today there are still jewelry stores covering the bridge.

Anywho, on this day I looked at Byzantine and Gothic artwork and learned how to tell the different between them. Byzantine Jesus on the cross is super rigid, doesn't look realistic, has a long nose and oriental eyes, looks tortured. . . Western Jesus looks life like, peaceful and sleeping, Western European.

We also looked at the progression of Mary and Baby Jesus throughout the years. That was super interesting to see them become more life like, more gentle, lighter, and blonder over the years. They become a lot more human looking and less supernatural I guess you could say.... Baby Jesus looks like a miniature muscular man for a few centuries before the humanization in the Renaissance. Notice in the second picture by Raphael, he actually looks like a baby!

After our class was over, my two friends and I proceeded to look at the special Carvaggio exhibit the museum was having. That was weird. Caravaggio murdered someone in a duel and fled. His work was dark and scary...

Thursday, Lindsay and I made our own field trip to Pilazzi Piti, The Pitti Palace. My teacher recommended it the day before because it was the Medici family's palace that they had connected to the Uffizi with the Ponte Vecchio. We decided to check it out and I got to get in free with my museum card so I was happy. It was unbelievable!!!!!!! The palace was built into the side of the hill and had another breathtaking view of Florence.

The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 from Luca Pitti, another Florentine banker and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Dutchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions. In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a power base by Napoleon, and later served for a brief period as the principal royal palace of the newly united Italy. The palace and its contents were donated to the Italian people by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1919, and its doors were opened to the public as one of Florence's largest art galleries.

Lindsay and I looked at the Medici's endless painting and sculpture collections which inhabited multiple floors of the palace. We also saw bedrooms of various family members throughout the centuries. Of course we could not take pictures, but just imagine elaborately furnished rooms with frescos all over the walls and Sistine Chapel ceilings, with extravagantly carved furniture and embroidered silk everywhere. Very beautiful. We then went outside into their gardens, of course these people have a rinky dink tiny backyard.... Not! Of course there was grass and levels of fountains with statues all around. The backyard is called the Boboli Gardens.

but of course some weirdness?



And a coral shed?









And to finish off the day.....