FLORENCE & PISA SCRAPBOOK

#italyissue

I’d always wanted to go to Florence, for as long as I could remember…

I had such high expectations and as sometimes happens, when you expect too much, you can be disappointed. Well, let’s find out?!

If I could pick my two favorite artists in the world, past and present, it would be Michelangelo and Caravaggio.

Caravaggio’s magical contrasting light, as if someone is holding a candle in the far corner of the picture. His protagonists’ dirty feet, the almost invisible halos of the Saints, they always make me want to come back for more and explore his masterpieces over and over again, hoping to find yet another story within the picture. I guess his trouble making character is also what I’m intrigued by.

This is a little geeky (so sorry!), but if you’re heading to Rome as well, I have to tell you that my secret shrine is the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, where Caravaggio’s ‘The Calling of St Matthew’ hangs on the wall, beside two other of his pieces. There are never crowds like at the galleries, so it gives you an opportunity to absorb them in peace and quite?

Now, Florence’s Ufizzi has a whole hall dedicated to Caravaggio, so of course, I was more than ready to start exploring it, in my museum sneakers.
Don’t get me wrong, I admire Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, but I find his genius to be in sculpture, so did he. Vatican’s Pieta is one piece of rock, yet it feels so light and delicate. He tried to express himself through carving BEAUTY. Up until visiting Florence, I had seen millions of pictures of Michelangelo’s David, but seriously, could he have been this big and impressive?

“It was about time to find out, Florence!”