11/10/06 Today we went to the Accademia. It is small compared to all the art galleries I have drug Chris through in Europe so far, but it houses one of the most notable sculptures in the world, DAVID. Yes, THE David. Michelangelo sculpted him in 1501. He was originally supposed to be on top of the Duomo (cathedral), but everyone in Florence liked him so much that they put him outside of the Palazzo Vecchio (He was eventually moved inside the Accademia to get him out of the polluted air). Because of the fact that he is not on top of the Duomo though, his proportions are a bit off, as he was originally created to be looked at from far below. From a lowly piece of marble, that all the other sculptors had dismissed as too tall, shallow & flawed, he was born. I mean can you believe that? Michelangelo created a masterpiece from a hand-me-down? For you that don’t know the biblical story, David was a simple shepherd boy of the Israelites who took down the mighty giant Goliath with only his sling and a rock. To find him, you have to go through the first smaller part of the gallery and then you wind around to this second hallway, where there are several other unfinished sculptures called The Prisoners by Michelangelo, but at the end is this HUGE rotunda in which he stands. He is huge. I did not know it but he stands 14 feet tall, not including the huge pedestal. You can walk all around him and this was the first time in my life that I got to see his “behind”. It is quite nice and perfect, almost pinchable if I do say so. LOL It was a NO PHOTO ZONE, but Chris managed to sneak a few snapshots of his backside for me. For those of you that want a better photo op, there is an exact duplicate of him in the Palazzo Vecchio where he used to stand. Chris of course tried to recreate his contrapposto stance, where the person’s weight is centered on only one half of the body, while the other half is relaxed. I think to truly compare though, he should have been naked with a sling shot.

Today we also went to Vivoli’s. Vivoli’s is the BEST gelato that I have ever eaten. We shared a medium size but had them mix chocolate and banana together. I would have liked more banana instead of the super rich chocolate though. Chocolate is Chris’ favorite flavor, not mine. Next time, if ever I go back, I get my own serving, NO MATTER WHAT, and he can’t share! Silly Chris trying to cheat me out of gelato. What was he thinking? Is he insane? What’s wrong with him? Doesn’t he know by now that I am a gelato connoisseur?

Tags: Accademia,David,Florence,gelato,Michelangelo,the prisoner's,vivoli's
Categories: Becky Blogs, Italy
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