The Thrills of Florence

Although the weekend seems so distant ago, I think it is important to comment on the last weekend Mom was in Italy. This is the weekend we all went to Florence. Last year, I was lucky enough to spend a significant amount of time in Florence. Mike and Lourdes rented a palazzo apartment on the Arno River and I visited them two or three times during their stay. Their apartment always provided for a home base for me in Florence. For this reason, I came to adore the city in spite of its artistic thrills. I saw a different side of Florence than the typical American study abroad student may experience. Mike had become good friends with a designer in Florence, Fillippo. It was nonetheless interesting to watch a virile American man and an effeminate Italian man become friends. Fillippo influenced Mike in such a way that Mike became enthralled with the sophisticated style that commonly characterizes this ancient Italian city. I’ll never forget the day he dressed me in clothes which were marked with an unforgiving price tag and handed me a Roberto Cavalli bag. Mike telephoned my mom and told her that I was on the shopping spree of a life time and to wire over the money. She could not be convinced that I need such luxurious items. Without a doubt she is right, but it would have been pleasant to walk around Florence with my Roberto Cavalli purse this year!
However, Florence was much different for me this year. I was just the average American tourist (which there is not a lack of in this city). While speaking with an Italian man in the market, who was impressed that I could actually manage a sentence in Italian, I asked him if the American students in Florence spoke Italian. He said that they do not even try and are usually given the reputation of heavy drinkers. I apologized for this impression and informed him that this was not always the case. I am proud to be and have been a part of a study abroad program that holds higher academic values. Naturally, I was still saddened by the representation Americans students, in general, have established in Italy. This is the first time in my life I would rather be called a “book worm” than a “night owl”. I found myself hoping that my Italian friends do not have a negative impression of me. This is something to be explored at a later date.
Since there is more art in Florence than owned by the United States, I was presented the challenge of giving Mom a 48 hour tumultuous tour of some of the world’s greatest treasures. I have come to understand that under these circumstances, one has to make a choice. You may not get to see everything, but you have to decide what is most important. In this case I decided to be a little selfish. I left Italy last year without seeing Michelangelo’s” David” and I did not want to do that again this year. So Saturday, we went to the Academia to pay tribute to David. I think that most people hold the same preconceived notions of “The David” as I do- Michelangelo’s David is small, strapping, and fervent. Let me just take a moment to shatter all of your fixed ideas. In reality, David is huge, disproportional, and still fervent. I was amazed at the size of his hands, which are as large as his thighs. Michelangelo must have been more concerned with capturing the anatomical facet rather than proportional representation. While we were standing around this statue, it occurred to Mom and Mary-Susan that they did not know the significance of “The David”. It was amusing when they realized that they knew him from the very popular Bible story, David and Goliath. But I was surprised to find out that even my fellow students were unaware. I thought that everyone knew the significance of “The David”! Do not be the next person to come to come to Italy ignorant of David’s true identity. You have now been informed.
Shamefully more fascinating to me than “The David” in the Academia was Robert Mapplethorpe’s exhibition. I was intrigued by this graphic and contemporary art. Mapplethorpe, similar to Michelangelo, was absorbed in depicting the human body. He photographed Lisa Lyon, the first female body builder, in many nude and sometimes appalling photos. Mary Susan was a horrified that Mapplethorpe’s work would be placed next to Michelangelo’s. But because it is controversial, I am engrossed. Placing the new with the old always creates a contentious flare. I can think of many contemporaries that would object Mapplethorpe’s work, but still recognize it as mesmerizing. The work is bursting with action, yet it is so motionless. It speaks to the essence of implicit human nature. You have to see this work for yourself; it is worth investigating the feelings that Mapplethorpe’s provokes. Here is the website: http://www.mapplethorpe.org/