Michele, Davide, e Galileo

He's starting to let himself go...

So my apologies. Apparently there are five of you that read my little stories - 6 if I include my mother. That's just judging by yesterday's comments and such. Google analytics keeps telling me that there are roughly 15-30 people who visit every day, depending on what I write about/how often I write. But I think it's just lying to me so I don't feel bad.

Regardless! I've been trying to soak up the last bits of Florence while I'm here. I went to La Galleria dell'Academia on Friday, and started off by perusing some old religious panels. I quickly got bored. If it's not Byzantine, I'm not really impressed, and even then I can only take so many Madonnas with Child before it becomes monotonous. So I wandered into the next gallery for something completely different: Robert Maplethorpe. I know people think his photos are distasteful and pornographic, but when you look at them in the context of what he was trying to accomplish, it's completely different. (Click here to see selections) It was all about form, and displaying real human bodies that can live up to the standard set forth in sculpture and other forms of art. It was about all of us being able to be just as beautiful as the David - without photoshopping him into obesity, like above. Anyway, I really enjoyed the exhibit.

As soon as I left the Maplethorpe exhibit, I ran right into the David. It took my breath away. It's SO life-like. I don't even know how to describe it, except to say that I kept waiting for him to reach out and pick me up in the palm of his hand, that's how alive he seemed.

Yesterday, in keeping with my goal of marinading myself in Florence, I went to La Basilica della Santa Croce. I just went because everyone told me that I should. They all failed to mention that Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Rossini, and Marconi are all entombed there. Go figure. Not exactly religious icons - in fact Galileo was convicted of heresy and put under house arrest by the Pope (unjustly, but still). It was odd to see all these cultural icons in the church. Awesome, but odd. Especially since I've walked past the church a hundred times and had no idea until yesterday that it housed some of the greatest individuals in Italian history.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Sculpted di Dio" Yazge