Yes, I made it to Italy! It wasn't without problems--I did end up leaving half of my possessions in the Valencia airport thanks to RyanAir luggage regulations (which are not very clear online), but despite this profound loss, I've enjoyed the PUC Honors Beauty course here so far. It's still possible, after all, to have the luggage rescued.
Every day here is packed, and that is why I haven't written yet. The school, Villa Aurora, is on its own a work of art, the dorm being the villa of a cousin of one of the Medicis. Even though a historical building can be frustrating to live in (no air conditioning), it is still really cool to get up in the morning, look at the other tower, and go, "Wow, I'm in Florence." Unlike Sagunto, there is lovely vegetation everywhere, plenty of grass and flowers everywhere.
The first day of class had us in a drawing workshop, the first of two we've already had. This was very helpful, as we went to the Galleria dell Accademia that very afternoon, where Michelangelo's David is. None of the photos or art discussions really prepare the viewer for the sheer proportions of the David. He is over three times my height! Sketching is a requirement for every museum we visit, so I went looking for something else in the museum to sketch. I enjoyed their musical instrument, triptic, and plaster cast collections, but none of it really captivate the eye quite like the tall, powerful David. I spent some time sketching him, spellbound by the near perfection of the sculpting.
Our next day was already our first all-day excursion to a lovely set of five towns on the coast called Cinque Terre. Between the first two of the five towns, Riomaggiore and Manarola, there is a beautiful walk dedicated to love. People have left libraries worth of graffiti on the walls to profess their love, and others have left padlocks on the fences to represent how long and unbreakable their love is. There is also a cliff there called the Mother-in-Law Cliff, because no one would survive the drop, but I find this to be a very horrible thing to do to a mother-in-law.
I kept walking, all the way to the next town of Comiglia, enjoying the scenery and the company of my classmates. Daunted by the staircases, I skipped it and took the train to the town of Vernazza, which I explored on my own. The warm colors of the buildings were so lovely that I attempted to sketch it in color, but that was a bit of a disaster, ha. I put aside my childish attempt and trained over to the last one, Monterosso al Mare, where I found my friends again. One of them had been stung by a jellyfish, poor girl. We explored the town at length. There was a man sculpted out of one of the cliffs, some wonderfully cheap gelato, a long tunnel with wave designs on the wall, stores framed by flowers, and even a peculiar church with a somewhat frightening number of skulls inside.
For a rest, we took the next day off to have 6 hours of class instead, three in drawing workshop and the other three in normal class. Then, Friday, we hit another museum, the Bargello, which used to be a jail. It's famous for Donatello and Verrochio's David sculptures. It was also interesting to see panels used in the contest of who would get to sculpt what are now Ghiberti's Doors of Paradise across from Brunelleschi's massive dome. Did I sketch any of these? No; there was a sculpture of a Dying Adonis I liked too much, and did horribly at sketching.
Even Sabbath, we had an excursion. This one was optional, but it was still a bit of a hike. It was to the Villa della Petraia, which overlooks the city of Florence, making Brunelleschi's dome look like a child's toy. It was owned by the Medicis first, during which many splendid frescoes were painted in the courtyard. Also, a king lived there with his lover at one point; her room was a peaceful silken blue that I admired very much. After taking in all of these lovely rooms full of history, we walked back for our Fourth of July party at the school. There was barbecue, gelato, watermelon, and even some fun little fireworks. A group of us gathered around the fire and sang until it even annoyed me enough to leave.
The next morning we actually saw Ghiberti's Doors of Paradise, then visited the museum nearby, where the real panels (not the copies outside) are kept. They are truly amazing works of art, though I spent more time with Donatello's Magdalena carved out of wood. Her roughly carved features would inspire pity in the hardest of hearts.
Monday morning's excursion (yes, yet another!) was to the Capella Brancacci and Santa Maria Novella. The first was small, yet lovely. I fell in love with a self-portrait of one of the artists, who just happened to have a very pretty face. My sketching in Santa Maria Novella was not so successful, sadly, thanks to how dark it was in there. The frescoes behind the altar are truly amazing, though. What amused me were all the women having to wear funny-looking blue robe thingies to cover up their bare shoulders.
What really took the strength out of my brain, though, was the Uffizi Gallery, where we spent the whole day yesterday. This is one of the oldest art galleries in the world, designed by the art historian Vasari, whose book we just finished in class. There were great wonders within, beautiful works by the likes of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Caravaggio. I went through the entire museum as a start, pausing in front of Botticelli's Primavera and Birth of Venus for the full emotional satisfaction of seeing them in person after spending a ridiculous amount of time researching them Winter quarter. The very few Greco and Goya paintings there made me feel right at home. The most impressive piece to me, though, was a shield by Caravaggio with the head of Medusa painted on it--it looked like it would leap out and come alive.
Then, I went back to sketch. The crowds in front of the Birth of Venus intimidated me, so I sketched one of Botticelli's madonnas instead. He used the same model, Simonetta Vespucci, after all. After an hour, I felt like I finally had the folds of her veil right, which were a real headache. I stuffed myself with some lunch, then went downstairs in hopes of sketching the shield, but once again, there were too many people in front of it. So, I found a painting of the Annunciation with a candle in the center of it, and wound up spending over an hour and a half working on the candle and the folds of Mary's robe behind it--in color. By the time I finished, I was basically staggering. I did one more halfhearted sketch of a sculpture before leaving and collapsing, exhausted, in the portico next to the main square.
We were given this morning off, and with reason. Let's be honest--how many of you have made it this far just reading about it? Add to that massive reading assignments for each day, and you have the size and shape of the program. Tomorrow, very early, we depart for Rome. I'm excited, for two reasons. First, I've always wanted to see the Vatican. Secondly, that's two days free of reading assignments to hopefully get ahead. Thank you for your patience in making it to the end of this, if you have; I appreciate it. I hope you're having a wonderful summer, full of great experiences.
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