Today we went to Florence; it was a 30 minute train ride from Bologna. In Florence, we met our guide named Lior (he is an art history major and is from Israel). He took us to an old house built in the 13th century (1200s); we saw where the noble people slept. It was a basic home with a bed and drawers but the bathtub and toilets were different than today. The toilet was a hole in the floor and the bathtub was a tin pan! The gates of the house were open so there was always the trouble of how to stop intruders. To stop intruders from coming into the house, there were trap doors where rocks, boiling oil and other nasty surprises could be dumped down on the intruders. After the tour of this house, we set off to see “The David” – a very famous statue carved by Michelangelo.
The David was the first statue in a very long time to be carved without clothes so when it was put on display, the public was not very happy. They threw rocks that chipped the statue and David’s left arm was broken off. The arm was glued back on. A few years ago, some lunatic was looking at the statue and decided to take a hammer to the toes on David’s right foot; these toes are now chipped. Now, because of this, there is a plexiglass wall around The David so you can’t get as close to the statue.
In the museum, there were a lot of other statues not finished but on display – it seemed like the statues were emerging from the marble. After seeing The David, we went to a café for some lunch with Lior and then headed home.
No comments:
Post a Comment