Up To Our Eyeballs In Art

Day 3, and things continue to go well.  Yesterday the students were introduced to the Renaissance in style -- a tour of the Uffizi gallery, followed by a visit to the Accademia, home to Michelangelo's David.

Many of the students were pretty overwhelmed by the sheer amount of art in the Uffizi -- it's hard to know what to see.  The crowds didn't help.  There are some amazing things in there, though.  As one student pointed out today, a trip through the Uffizi is like a trip through time -- you watch as artistic styles change from medieval to Renaissance to early modern.  It's great stuff.

The Accademia, though smaller, has some great art as well.  Of course, the reason most people go is to see the David.  We've all seen pictures of it, but none of them can really capture the moment when you round a corner and see it towering up ahead.  It's a phenomenal piece of art.  What makes it even more rewarding is that, thanks to the work they did before we left the States, the students understand why Michelangelo created it: as a commentary on the victory of the small man over the tyrant, a message aimed squarely at his patrons, the Medici.  I think knowing that helped the students appreciate the David on a different level.

Speaking of the Medici, today was all about them: we visited the Palazzo Vecchio, where they once lived and ruled, and then saw the incredible chapel they built to house their tombs.  It was an illuminating glimpse into how they existed and thought about themselves. 

Sadly, I don't have many pictures at all -- most places don't allow photos (though the students haven't let that stop them!).  I have a few, though.

A random shot of the buildings and hills across the Arno.  A very Tuscan scene!

Cellini's statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa, with the Palazzo Vecchio as backdrop.

No photos of the real David, but this was standing in a courtyard outside.  I think Michelangelo would approve.

Gelato break!


It's more palaces and art for us tomorrow, followed by a visit to the Boboli Gardens.  Finally -- grass!  Flowers!  I can't wait.

Ciao for now.

Day 1!

Well, we all made it.  I haven't actually seen any of the students yet (we're meeting up this afternoon), but I've been told that they're here and settling in.  Excellent.  I'm settling in as well -- my apartment is small but comfortable, in a building with its own little courtyard.   Santa Croce, where Galileo is buried, is just around the corner, which seems appropriate. 

I'm looking forward to seeing my students and getting our class started -- I think it might be a little tough for some of them to switch gears so quickly from tourist-mode to class-mode, but that's what we're here to do.

In the meantime....pictures!

The Palazzo Vecchio

Brunelleschi's famous dome on the Duomo -- still the largest brick dome in the world.

Spedale degli Innocenti -- once an orphanage and also designed by Brunelleschi, it's known today as the first genuine example of Renaissance architecture.


Ciao for now!

Here We Go...

Two cities.  Four weeks.  Fifteen students.  This is going to be great!

In a couple of days I'm heading to Italy, leading my first study abroad course.  We're following in the footsteps of Galileo Galilei, the mathematician and astronomer whose clash with the Catholic Church remains one of the best-known events in the history of Western science.  We start in Florence, where Galileo lived for many years and also where, well over a century before him, the Renaissance first took shape.  We'll visit the house where Galileo was confined following his trial in front of the Inquisition, and his ornate tomb in the church of Santa Croce; we'll see one of his fingers, preserved in a reliquary, next to the telescope lens through which he became the first person to observe the moons of Jupiter; and we'll visit the palaces and gardens of the powerful Medici family, who helped to shape the Renaissance and who later became Galileo's patrons and protectors. 

Traveling to Rome, we'll have a chance to consider why Galileo clashed with the Church, and what exactly was at stake in his claims that the Earth moved around the sun.  We'll visit the very spot in Rome where he first demonstrated his telescope to a collection of cardinals and virtuosi, as well as the observatory at the Collegio Romano where Jesuit priests tried either to prove or refute Galileo's heretical claims.  Later, we'll see the actual recantation that Galileo signed in 1633 after his trial came to a close, and we'll retrace the route taken by Dan Brown's characters in his Angels and Demons as we consider why the mythology of Galileo remains so powerful today.

It's going to be a whirlwind, but I can't wait to introduce my students to this history as well as to everything Italy has to offer.  When I can, I'll post updates and photos here.  Stay tuned!