Getting to the gallery was quite easy for us. All we had to do was get on a bus, about the size of a little shuttle bus and then get off at the Ponte Vecchio. ... I'll just drop that name and let it resonate around the room for a while!
Then after you have walked up a short street of designer label stores you get to one of Florence's main squares. It is then you KNOW you are in Florence. In the square proper are two big statues one of Neptune and one of Cosimo Medici who you will hear more about later.
To one side of the square is the open air museum of huge classical sculptures. The one front right with the three figures, is The Rape Of The Sabine Women. Behind that is Hercules performing one of his twelve labours, and the rest I have forgetten but all just as impressive nonetheless.
Once inside the big courtyard there are more huge status of Florence's great men. Michelangelo, Boccacio the writer, Machiavelli the diplomat and political schemer, and Donatello, the sculpture not the Ninja Turtle!
Because Uffizi is the Italian word for office, this massive building is set out like an old style office building. There are long corridors and rooms coming off of rooms. In fact the first thing you see when you enter the building is a long corridor of classical sculptures.
The whole Uffizi gallery is basically a collection of religious paintings and classical sculptures. So if looking at hundreds and hundreds of Maddonas, crucifixions, assorted saints doing good deeds, paetas, and perfectly formed naked Greek classical bodies isn't your thing, you would be better off going somewhere else if you are not concerned about the 'been there done that" factor. But like all galleries with an international reputation, the Uffizi gets very crowded very quickly, and you end up tripping over, and/or pushing and shoving hundreds of other tourists to get to see what our favourite art historian calls "The Blockbusters!' paintings that are known the whole world over. One of this gallery's is Boticelli's "The Birth Of Venus."
We even have our own Aussie version.
After a while all this artistic splendour became a bit too much and there was a need for a coffee break. How about this for a view whilst having coffee!
Did you notice that my gorgeous Oz/Parisian/Roman wife could easily be mistaken for a Florentine in such surroundings?
After the break it was time to go back to the collection. After all this sanctity, piety, and divine retribution I was really in need of wanting to see something else. The photo below is called The Fortune Teller. As our art critic observed, how could anyone not believe all that rubbish, with such an attractive young lady spinning the spell.
Also below is a photo of one of the rare female painters of the day and one of her works. The true story is that the painter was raped by another artists and what was even rarer still in those days, she complained to the authorities. Of course, nothing was done. Consequently it is believed that the terrible violence and shock she suffered is shown in her paintings.
A timely reminder that there is often more to a painting than meets the eye.
Yet despite all these artistic splendours there was one thing that really appealed to the crowd, me included, just look at the view from the gallery windows!
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