A Back-alley Masterpiece

This morning began with a monsoon. Trudging through pouring rain and 40 mph wind gusts, I pushed my way through umbrella-rearing pedestrians, somehow managing to keep my eye balls in their sockets, all the way to the Zambra train station. With the weather, the train was even more packed than usual, which made for a very comfortable ride for someone my size.
However, once we arrived in Florence, the rain had tapered slightly and the wind (thanks to huge buildings everywhere) had completely died. Not bad weather conditions at all for a walk across the city.

The first stop this morning was the Bargello National Museum, home to Renaissance Italy's finest sculpture, including several works by Donatello, both the artist and the Hero in the Half Shell (turtle power!). After viewing Bruneleschi and Ghiberti's famous 1401 competition pieces, I stopped at Donatello's famous "San Giorgio," the sculpture of St. George the Dragon Slayer. On Valentine's Day 16-17 years ago, my Mom gave me a cartoon book called "St. George Slays Dragons." Seeing this statue instantly brought that childhood story to mind. Noted for his intense gaze and heroic posture, St. George's expression would highly influence Michaelangelo when he was sculpting his David years later.



Other statues at the Bargello this morning included a Donatello sculpture of David- wherein he appears to be wearing a woman's kentucky derby style hat. Very strange.

Following the Bargello, it was off to the Brancacci Chapel. This chapel, painted in the 1420s by Massolino and Masaccio, is one of the most influential works of Renaissance painting due to its highly intricate naturalism and use of three dimensional perspectable space (linear perspective).

This chapel, for all its historical significance, is hardly noticeable on the street. Blanketed by aging scaffolding that gives it the feel of an abandoned building, the chapel lies at the end of a long passage of ugly, unadorned cooridors. Yet strangely, once you emerge at the end of the tunnel, you are standing amidst artistic greatness in one of Florence's most beautiful chapels, within one of Florence's most beautiful churches. Were it not for the very strict guards forcing groups out after a mere fifteen minutes, this hidden chapel would perhaps be my favorite place in Florence. Nevertheless, still worth a visit on a rainy Thursday morning.






To Arezzo and Assisi tomorrow!