The Uffizi Gallery

 

First day waking up in the city and something tells me I'm going to like this place.  Today...the Uffizi Gallery - Disney Word to an Art major.

The Uffizi Gallery is on the other side of the Arno from our apartment, just a few blocks away. So after a stop at pastry/coffee bar, we were off to meet our docent, Patricia for the day.  My aunt and uncle hire docents for the "important stuff".  Our docent had several advanced degrees in Renaissance art and history and definitely encouraged us to get in discussions with her about the art.  I was excited when we would go around a corner and right in front of me was an original masterpiece I studied at school. 

The Uffizi Gallery, one of the most important museums in the world for works from the 13th to 18th century, has multiple masterpieces from Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinici, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio...and the list goes on and on.  Different people are drawn to different artist, my Aunt is a Botticelli fan - her favorite piece is the one shown below, The Birth of Venus.  In the Uffizi, Botticelli has a whole ROOM devoted to his work.

I'm a Caravaggio fan.  One of his pieces we stopped to discuss was his Medusa.  Medusa, with her hair turned to snakes.  However, if you look closely at this painting of Medusa, which he painted on a shield, you will see the face is that of a man, not a woman.  A self-portrait of Caravaggio.

After exploring as many masterpieces with Patti as possible, it was off down the tiny stone streets of Florence to find a meal. 

Then, back to our great view of watching Florence from our windows...with our nightly search of the best gelato after the sun goes down of course.  Bella!