SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
One of the cities we stopped in was Florence. I actually believe Florence is my favorite of all the Italian cities we toured. I can’t even explain that – it just is.
The architecture in Florence is different from Rome and other Italian cities. In some respects, I really like it, and others, well, not so much.
For instance, here is a picture of one of the older buildings in Florence – with a clock tower – the Palazzo Vecchio.
It houses some of Michelangelo’s best sculptures, such as David. Here is the original of David.
While I had known of Michelangelo’s David, I had never really studied the piece, especially to see the frown on his face. It is the moment he saw and heard the giant (Goliath) tormenting the Hebrews and their God. It made him mad! That’s the look you see on David’s face. Wonderful!
You will notice that he already has his sling over his left shoulder, ready to use. And his right hand holds the five smooth stones. He’s ready to fight! Amazing.
I’ve read that Michelangelo, when faced with a large chunk of marble, would see the object “inside” the chunk, and then worked to get it out. What an amazing way to look at sculpture. And look at how smooth the piece is! How did he get it that way, with hammer and chisel? And the veins in David’s hands. Michelangelo was truly gifted.
Here is a picture of the outside of that building – Palazzo Vecchio – with replicas of Michelangelo’s works. They are enormous! There is Neptune on the left, David in the middle, and far right is Hercules and Cacus.
Perhaps seeing those statues inspired us to purchase a few for ourselves – not in that size, however! We did purchase the Discus Thrower, and a Moses. (There was store in Pisa that had all kinds of “composition” figurines as well as marble. We purchased our “tumbling angels” and marble lampstands there, as well as the discus thrower and Moses)
There is a lot of controversy about Moses – he has horns! From all we’ve been able to glean, there was a “mistranslation” of a scripture, and so Moses is seen with horns. Interesting! Someone suggested that Michelangelo effectively captures the rage of disapproval coursing through Moses body (credit timelessitaly).
There is another “type” of architecture in Florence that I really am not fond of. It belongs to Santa Maria Novella (St. Mary’s cathedral). I guess I just like the older type of architecture more. But this is beautiful, in its way. Here I am by the obelisk in front of St. Mary’s.
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~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Old Things R New 
Well done!
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