Busy days!

As I approach the end of my almost-six-week-long trip, I'm scrambling to make sure that I see everything that I need to see before I go. It's not nearly everything that I WANT to see, but that wouldn't be possible.




Yesterday turned in to a day about Michelangelo. I started out at the house that he bought here in Florence. They are having an exhibit entitled "The Face of Michelangelo", which includes many romanticized pictures of him, as well as those from his time. It is a beautiful exhibit. You can read about it here:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/21/michelangelo-portraits.html

The house also has treasures of his, both of works that he created and items that were collected while he lived there. There are also works of art commissioned by his family in later years, including an entire room painted with scenes from his life. It's definitely a beautiful museum!

After that, I went to the Medici chapel again to see the tombs that Michelangelo built for Lorenzo and Giulio di Medici. (Thank goodness I bought this "Friends of the Uffizi" pass - I can go see anything I want as many times as I want!) I'm glad I went back, because there was a new exhibit in the main chapel: items that had been taken out of the coffin of the last Medici grand duke, including his crown and his baptismal medallion. To read more about why they're exhuming the Medicis, go here:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2206238
(warning: lots of technical jargon for scientific types like my mom)

Then I headed to the Uffizi to see the Doni Tondo, the only known preserved panel picture by Michelangelo. It's said that it's very easy to see that Michelangelo was a sculptor by looking at his painting: look at Mary's arms, in particular, as well as the way their robes drape around them.



Since I was at the Uffizi, I looked at a few more paintings, including the Rembrandts and the works by Caravaggio, including his Medusa, which is SO much more powerful in person:




(Melissa, you HAVE to see this work!)

Then it was back to 4 Leoni for dinner, where I had a nice chat with the waiter who remembered me from all the times I've been there. I decided it was time to try some beef, but I couldn't possibly eat an entire Bistecca Fiorentina, so I just had this plate of beef:

Good thing, too, because this was hard to finish! But yum, so delicious!