Florence Study Abroad Part VI: Class Visits

Of course I can't forget about the actual class I was taking while in Italy. I took a class on the Italian Renaissance, which covered art, history, literature, and architecture. I was lucky enough to study this subject right in the cradle of the Renaissance, with priceless historical artwork everywhere. Part of my class included trips to three different churches and museums.

First was Santa Croce.

This was a Franciscan church, which is why it's so plain compared to the intricate pattern of Santa Maria del Fiore. Some pretty famous people are buried in this church, including Galileo, Machiavelli, Rossini, and Michelangelo. We took a tour of some Giotto frescoes on the inside of the church. There was some water damage to the church during the flood of the Arno in 1966, so a lot of the artworks have been damaged.

 Michelangelo's tomb

Our second class trip was to the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi was originally the offices under the Medici family (uffizi means offices). It houses some of the most amazing artwork in the world, including the Tribuna, an octagonal room where there is art covering nearly every surface. This used to be where the most prized art and antiquities of the Medici family were displayed. You can't go in this room, but you can look at it from the outside. 

 Annunciation by Simone Martini

 The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

 Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci

Our last class trip was to the Galleria dell'Accademia. The only truly important artwork at the Accademia was Michelangelo's David and his unfinished Prisoners. 

One of Michelangelo's Prisoners

Michelangelo believed that sculptures were imprisoned in marble and that he as the artist was charged with helping them escape and manifest in true form. These unfinished sculptures really embody his artistic method and his goal of perfection in all his work. But they don't even come close to the perfection of David.

There truly is no way to describe how beautiful this sculpture is. I just stood and stared at it for a good while. And then I took this picture:

Because I'm super lame and needed to do a tourist thing. (Yeah, I know I'm not doing it right, but it's hard when 3,000 other people also want to take this picture!)

And that's just a taste of some of the priceless artworks I got to see in person! My class trips were a great way to view a lot of art and to see the amazing quantity of first-class art in the city of Florence.