I want to go back there!

I have been writing for a while about Florence. This was one of the best holidays I have had, most educating at least. I already wrote about living in a palazzo, about Santo Spirito, about Florentine men and values of Florentines (each time I write the word an image of biscuits comes to mind).

I will make Florentines on my return to Sydney

I have been impressed by so many things about Florence and now thinking, reading and learning about the place and its treasures I just realised that I need to go back there. I had been like many tourists unaware of what actually one can see there, even if I knew about Uffizi, The Doumo and Academia.  About Giotto, Fillippo Lippi, Donatello and Michael Angelo. Even about Brunelleschi.  I knew  that Florence is the place for Renaissance art. I heard that 3-4 days is enough to see the place. I, myself thought that two weeks will be plenty. And it was in some ways. It was enough to get the taste of the place. To get confused, enchanted, spellbound and fall in love with the place.

I have been a fan of galleries for many, many years but I thought that Italian Renaissance was not my cup of tea. I love Impressionists and Dutch XVII century paintings with Vermeer my absolute favourite. I was not all that keen on religious scenes of earlier paintings and I would say Florence is mostly about that. At the same time I wanted to see it, not expecting that I will develop a deeper interest. I was wrong. Coming back to my Polish home, impressed by what I had seen, I started to read books about Italian art and Florence in particular. And I realised that would so much like to go back there and see it all again.

Andrea della Robbia - ceramic sculpture in Santa Croce

Many things made an unexpectedly big impression on me and some I expected to take my breath away did not do it. So, what was the biggest joy for me to see? Very difficult to think of only one. San Lorenzo, Santa Croce, Boboli Gardens, Brancacci Chapel, Niobe room in the Uffizi (number 42) with marble sculptures of  scared Niobe’s children being chased to their death, Della Robbia pottery sculptures among others.

Brancacci Chapel 

I know that the seventeen sculptures in the room 42 are not the most notable pieces in the gallery but the atmosphere in the room made me shiver with fright as if I was myself chased by jealous gods. The Venus and Primavera of Botticelli  made me merely think – pretty. Everybody is, of course entitled to their own impressions and they are a function of the mood we are in. I also think that inflated expectations may be a cause of some disappointment. On reflection, I think that the most important thing for me is what is actually happening in the room. Making my way through pushy crowds makes it very difficult for me to appreciate art. Typically the rooms with the most famous pieces of art are very crowded and this is not the best environment for art appreciation. This strongly coloured my perception. By the way, the room 42 was, perhaps understandably, not full of people so I could take in the mood of the sculptures.

This only small example of sculptures form room 42

                 

I know that one of the things I want to put on my bucket list is another visit to Florence. Maybe another two weeks? This time I will know exactly what I want to see.  I already have a list which will grow no doubt.