Day 6

Howdy!

Today is Mother's Day, so I'd like to begin this post by wishing my mother and every other mother a wonderful and happy day! I love you Mom and I wish you could be enjoying this experience with me!

(Katia and I ended up not going out again last night.)

Today I slept in until 10, got up, made eggs for breakfast, and left to return to the Uffizi. When the six of us got there it was super crowded and we happened to find Dr. Zaho among the mass of people. When the others arrived we finally made it to the door to get in. Rather than letting us all in, the man at the door said he would let in 5 of us every 15 minutes. Ridiculous. Dr. Zaho, Emily, Brittany, Katia, and I went in first. We got our tickets, went through the x-ray machine, and stood in a line to get our tickets scanned for at least 7 minutes. When we finally got through, we took our time walking up the multiple flights of stairs and kind of dilly-dallied in the first hallway. Dr. Zaho led us into the first room, but as we were walking I looked down the hallway where we entered and spotted Geoff over a crowd of people. So I stopped, pointed them out to Katia, and the two of us waited for them to come through. We found Zaho, Emily, and Brittany again and pretty much just hung around in the first few rooms for almost 45 minutes until the remaining three found us.

We saw all the art we saw yesterday then made our way into the first Botticelli room. The biggest piece in it was a wall covered by portraits of the 7 virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude). Dr. Zaho asked us to identify the one that didn't belong, kind of like a Sesame Street game. I'm proud to saw that I correctly identified the one that stood apart from the others as a Botticelli painting as opposed to Pollaiolo. From there we went into the big Botticelli room, which houses the famous Birth of Venus, Primavera, and other fantastic works by the man. Seeing the two of those specific pieces in person was mind-blowing. I had other things on my mind when we walked around the large room, but as soon as I was in front of Birth of Venus my worries all disappeared. The colors, the content, the beauty in the Venus' face made my problems melt away. The thing that really got me was the gold detailing that you can't see in a flat picture. There are gold accents on the roses that are blowing in the wind from the left, in the wings of the angel, in the hair of all the figures, and a few other key places. It was so mind-numbing to see and experience this famous work of art fill my field of vision. Primavera was just as incredible to see. The symbolism in Botticelli's work goes so deep. I love it.

The next room, though, held something I've been waiting my whole life to see. Of all the artists of the Renaissance, I have always been drawn to Leonardo da Vinci. Always. So today I was beyond thrilled to peek into the next room and see da Vinci's Annunciation in there. When the whole group moved into that room, I went straight for it. I stood there, soaking in every single detail, looking at the raised sections of paint and imagining the artist applying it. Needless to say, I got the chills. Then I returned to the group and looked at Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ, a piece that da Vinci worked on while he was being taught and working in Verrocchio's workshop. There are two angels in the piece, one of which was done by da Vinci. Legend has it that Verrocchio was so embarrassed that his understudy did a better job than him that he stopped painting and committed the rest of his life to sculpture.

As we continued through the Uffizi, we saw the Doni Tondo by Michelangelo, an image of the Holy family within a gorgeous round frame that he designed himself. The color in this painting is simply brilliant, as is the design and execution of the wooden frame that circles it. There are five portraits that peek out from the frame with a lot of symbolism hidden in the spaces between them. After seeing that, we walked through the halls, trying to find a painting that we heard was in restoration. It was, unfortunately. So we left the Uffizi and went into the rain to walk to the grocery store and then home.

Once we got back home we hung out, watched a little Italian TV, and ate a bunch of cookies that I bought. Then the other girls came over for Geoff and Rosie to make dinner for everyone. They cooked angel hair pasta with a garlic, onion, and tomato sauce. It was scrumptious! Then Krista dished out some schiaciatta bread and then it was perfect. Then we all sat around and read the articles we need to know for tomorrow. We took turns reading out loud and paraphrasing, just like in middle school. Tonight ruled and we should be prepared for our trip to the Bargello tomorrow!

Ciao!