Exploring Florence: The David

David - the symbol of the Renaissance when Europe stepped out of medieval darkness into the modern world.

     We left Naples a bit exhausted, but eager now to prepare for our trip to Livorno where we would take the "Best of Florence" excursion.  It was the only one listed with a viewing of the real David, and we did not want to miss it.  We also wanted to see the paintings in the Uffizi Gallery, but it was clear that we would have to do it on our own.  We borrowed a cellphone from the excursion office and called the Uffizi ticket office from the ship and got reservations for 1:15 entrance.  If we had to wait in line for an hour, we would not have made it.  So we were lucky to get this window of opportunity.  We were told that we would have to let our guides know our plan, so we would not miss our bus four our return trip.
    

     We docked in Livorno at dawn.  The port is on the western coast of Tuscany and was first built to protect Pisa. Then between 1404 to 1421 it belonged to Genoa, another large trading center.  Finally, in August of 1421 it was sold to Florence.  The Grand Duke Cosimo I of the Medici dynasty,  made R improvements by rebuilding the Old Fort and added towers and fortresses leading to the town center.   It was declared a free port by Fedinando I of Tuscany.  The Medici dynasty made a great deal of money in trade and they set up laws regulating the market, protecting merchant activities from crime and racketeering and instituting laws regarding international trade.  They also instituted laws that offered freedom of religion and amnesty from persons having to gain penance given by clergy in order to conduct civil business. The Grand Duke attracted numerous Jewish immigrants who were expelled from Spain and Portugal extending them rights and privileges. The Jews contributed to the mercantile wealth and scholarship in the city. Livorno is now the main port of Tuscany.
      In the morning we again got room service for 6:30 so we would have time to eat and get ready to go down to the Liquid Lounge by 7:45.  The line of buses were strung all the way down the dock and we were lucky to be called first and found our number one bus waiting for us.  When everyone was seated, our guide, Francesca, said that we would be driving for an hour and a half to Florence.  She spoke English with a heavy accent and gave us some narration on the way, but it was difficult to understand what she said.  So most of us looked out the window at the lovely agricultural scenes that passed by as we made some serious time driving on to Florence.
     We arrived at the Plazza San Marco near the Accademia  and we were introduced to our second guide, Bianca, who would take us on our walk through the city.  She lifted her lollipop with a #1 which matched our #1 stickers we had on our shirts.  She gave us our ear phones and receptors and after some testing for sound, we were set to go.

Our tour guides: Bianca and Francesca

     Bianca lead us down Via Georgio la Pira, a narrow street where people were selling paintings that were laid in the street.  Bianca told us not to buy any because it was against the law to buy from these peddlers.  We saw the line of people getting ready to buy tickets to get in to the museum.  We went right to the entrance as the tour had made previous arrangements for us.

 We had to wait at the entrance until Francesca secured our tickets before going into see the David.

    The Academia was founded in 1563 by Cosimo 1 de' Medici under the influence of Giorgio Vasari.  It was a Guild for working artists and a place to display their works.  Now we were planning to see some unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo and of course the David statue.
     We entered into the hall and saw the various unfinished works on both sides of the long corridor and saw the David at the far end of the hall under a lighted dome.

      We begin our tour by looking at the bust of Michelangelo done by one of his pupils,  Danielli de Bolterra in 1564 at age 89.  He was born in Florence to a poor family and was raised near Santa Croce Church. He showed artistic talent as a young child, but his father did not think being an artist was a good profession.  Fortunately, the age of 13 he was taken into the Medici home by Lorenzo the Magnificent.  He was raised with his son and attended art classes to increase his ability as an artist.  Michelangelo showed his feisty temperament as teenager when he got in a fight with another artist. He got his nose broken which did not add to his less than handsome appearance. 
       We followed Bianca as she pointed with her lollipop to each of the unfinished Michelangelo samples, called "the prisoners or slaves"sculpted in 1516 -1534.  Michelangelo believed that sculpting was the act of releasing what was already in the marble stone.  The first unfinished work is the "Awakening Prisoner." He seems to be waking up for a nap with his arm in a stretching pose.  In the small amount that we see of him, we see the muscles clearly depicted as he contracts. Being this close to these figures, it is amazing to see how the stone needs to be chiseled to so perfectly depict the essence of the human body. Unlike many sculptors who worked from a model form,  Michelangelo worked freehand starting from the front of the figure then working to the back. These statues were commissioned for Pope Julius II, but he died before they were finished and Michelangelo may have gone on to other projects or gave them to his students to finish.
   

     Finally, we arrive at the awesome figure of David.  He stands seventeen feet high as a symbol of the Renaissance defending the civil liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic. This is the emerging age of Classicism, Galileo, Columbus, Gutenberg, and Leonardo Da Vince.  New ideas were flourishing in spite of the constraints by the Catholic church. In Michelangelo's David we see David contemplating the giant and thinking how he can conquer with just a sling shot, much like the little Florentine Republic standing against Rome.
   The commission to carve David actually began in 1464 and was begun by a Florentine sculptor Agostino.  He got as far as working on the legs and feet and part of the torso.  He then stopped and another sculptor by the name of Rossellino took up the work but stopped soon after he began. The huger block of marble called The Giant was neglected for twenty-five years.  In 1500 it was brought to Florence and raised on its feet from a supine position.  Artists including Leonardo Da Vinci were consulted to see who could finish it.  Michelangelo was also considered after he had great success with the finished Piata.  Michelangelo at the age of 26 was given the commission on August 16, 1501. Two years later the David was done.  It weighed weighed six tons and it became clear that it could not be put on top the the church where it was intended.  After much discussion it was decided that the statue be put in the under the roof of the Loggia dei Lanzi on the Piazza della Signoria by the city's town hall.  It stayed there until 1873 when it was moved to the Accademia Gallery to protect it from damage.  A replica was put in the Piazza della Signoria in 1910.  The addition of plexiglass was put around the lower part of the statue after a deranged man attacked the statue in the Academia by pounding the left foot with a hammer.
     We all came up close the see the sculpture looking up, up,  up and marveling at the precision and the detail of the veins and muscles.  Now days it would take many days in the gym working out to arrive at a body like this without an inch of fat! It was true that the right hand was a bit larger for the body as Bianca pointed out.  However, since this was his working hand and he was holding a good size stone, it deserves to be big and strong.  The crowning glory is the face with the determination in his eyes that makes him almost come alive. Imagine the courage it must take for a young shepherd boy defending his tribe with only his God given talent of body, brain, and soul. It is no wonder that he personifies the Renaissance Man.
       Our reverie was broken by Bianca who told us it was time to go, so we left still admiring the David as we took one last look at this wondrous statue.