Visit to Italy

We just recently returned from a two week trip to Florence.  When I visit a place, I want to stay in that place.  The "7 cities in 10 days" kind of tour has no appeal to me.  I would rather get to know one place.  As do most visitors to this beautiful city, we went to the Uffizzi.  The Renaissance began in Florence, and the huge Uffizi Gallery is a must for those who love the art of that time and place.  To walk into a room and not know which incredible masterpiece to look at first!  Most tourists recognize the names Da Vinci and Michelangelo.  Whether or not they know Botticelli's name, they almost certainly recognize his Birth of Venus.  But, the number of other unbelievable artists is astounding!  We stayed for 7 hours, at which point I had totally burned out.  My brain was gorged with beauty. Yes, even artists can get sick of looking at art.  It's like being at one of those 7 course gourmet dinners.  Better pace yourself, or you will be throwing up that night.  Oh, and speaking of food, if you go to the Uffizi, be warned that the food in the restaurant is awful -- the only bad food I ate in Italy! -- and a Coke costs 5 euros.

Before my brain became completely exhausted, I learned just how much I love the work of Bronzino.  Agnolo di Cosimo, known as Bronzino, lived from 1503-1572.  His style, from the Late Renaissance, is labeled "Mannerism," but that's another discussion.  Just take a look at two works:

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Above, see Eleonora de Toledo, with her son.  Check out the fabric of that dress!  Observe how gracefully her long fingers rest upon her dress and on her sons shoulder.  Below, in this portrait of Lucretzia Panchiatichi, we see how improbably looooooong the neck is, how elongated the fingers, so typical of the Mannerist artists.  

I have fallen in love with the luscious elegance of his style.  Oh, I should write more, but I am still jet-lagged.  Perhaps tomorrow.

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