Art, Fashion, and Children

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Ciao!

The past two days we have been exploring the inner workings and history of Florence. We have toured the Uffizi Museum which houses works by Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Leonardo Da Vinci, among other well known artists. We attended an art exhibition and fashion show last night which showed off newer men's fashions. And today we toured the Innocenti Museum, which was the first ever established orphanage.

At the Uffizi, we saw works such as The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, The Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo Da Vinci, the Doni Madonna by Michelangelo, and Madonna with Two Angels by Filippo Lippi while being led on tour by Antonio, the study abroad director here. I loved getting to walk through the halls of the Uffizi and hearing the different tales behind the paintings and sculptures. We saw and learned much about the pieces during our two hour session there. For instance, Botticelli created a sister painting to The Birth of Venus. This one he named Primavera, which is italian for the word Spring. Antonio walked us through the conversation that was going on throughout the picture and it was more than I could have ever thought to have been going on in one picture. I guess a picture really is one thousand words! The painting contains the three graces, who were thought to control the seasons, taking part in a dance off to the side of the painting. Cupid, the only roman god to be portrayed as a child, is flying above in the trees and is shooting everyone with his arrows. The roman goddess, Venus, stands in the middle of her garden. Frosta, the nymph of Winter and Spring, changing into Primavera while a woman is being pursued by a roman wind god. I would have never known about this painting if we had not visited the Uffizi and I find that really shocking. Everyone knows about Botticelli's Birth of Venus painting, but it is rare to find the Primavera painting, within the U.S. at least. I think if I had to choose one of the paintings to bring back with me, I would bring back the Madonna with Two Angels by Filippo Lippi. While I found the story about Botticelli's Primavera interesting, I think it would be too much back home. I feel like home needs something simple, such as the work by Filippo Lippi. Plus, I feel like my mom would really appreciate that painting.

What do you think of when you hear the words: Fashion Show? To me, I think about bright lights on a runway in an enclosed space with pop music and wearable clothing. Maybe also a little bit of Hilary Duff when she was in the Lizzie McGuire Movie where she goes to Italy and is on that stage. I guess I am still in the 2000's era of fashion because I did not understand what was going on at any point in the show. First, we wait in this long line for about half an hour to 45 minutes in the cold that practically wraps around the building. We get in, are handed a flashlight and this weird gel pack, and are almost shoved to get to a spot. Well of course in that crowd the whole group gets separated, but thankfully Dr. Gannoe and I were able to stick together! Second thing to point out was the music and the lights. I am just going to say that if it were not for all of those people there, I would have felt like I was in a horror movie. The starting music was going on as we made our way to find spots and it was just a steady drum beat that kept picking up pace. The drum beat kept accelerating until it was a constant repeating banging. There were no lights except for the ones in the middle of the square and the flashlights in our hands. So that part was pretty cool, accept the fact that people would shine them in others' eyes or press the strobe option. Let's just say I would not recommend anyone with epilepsy, have a sensitivity to bright lights, or those who are easily stimulated to attend.Third thing to mention were the outfits. This was honestly what I was probably most confused about. I personally have no background in fashion and have no clue what is in, but let me just say the models, who I will give all the props to for having to model clothing outside in the cold, were dressed similar to how my cousin, Evelyn (age 3), would dress herself if given the opportunity. I guess I am just not educated enough on fashion, but I think I am going to start paying more attention and take more notes when my cousins want to dress themselves so I can take their advice!

All I have to say about visiting the orphanage is just...wow. We were told about the history there and how Botticelli was the main architect on building this while also working on another building for the Medici Family this afternoon and it is just amazing. When you think about building something, you need to have something to base it off of, almost some form of guidelines as to what the building needs to have. Blueprints come after planning out the purpose of the building and for Botticelli to have to design and build something that had never been created before, it is amazing how the building turned out. While we were waiting on our tickets to enter the museum, Antonio told us about a turntable that would have been at an open window where people could drop off their young, typically newborn, children to become part of the orphanage. It just really makes you wonder what that would take for parents to be able to do that, but it also makes me glad that the orphanage was in place. Without the orphanage, the children would have just been turned out into the street. But with the orphanage, they were given another start. The museum still holds archives of the children who passed through their walls during the long period it was open, some of which have mementos from when they were dropped off as children. The museum highlighted how they introduced a little bit of reading, writing, painting, sculpting, and religion into the children's lives in order to prepare them for the world outside the orphanage. They also had a gallery of art pieces created by those who attended the orphanage and all of the pieces were wonderfully done. The one thing I wish we would have gotten to see would be the bedchambers and nurseries where the children stayed, but I do not know if those were even kept up with.

As we come to a close at the end of our first full week in Italy, I just look back at everything we have already done and look forward to everything yet to come!



Current Steps Since January 3rd, 2019: 119,297 steps

Ciao a tutti!

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