Limone

Day Five, building bonds

Never break ties

In this way I thrive

in my zone, like shots from baselines

I stop go, move through palazzos

Seeing feats that are oh so colossal

Chiseled from marble so 

screw Picasso

I'm on a sojourn 

asking for truth

Wonder why it burns?

In the glass is the proof

A la casa di Dante Alighieri

Killing tracks with the fruit of life

that's what I call a bury

Gotta boost my dairy, milk the beat

boost my fromaggio

Until I tap dance my feet to a stage

in the Bellagio

I'll make everything catchy,

from la-de-de to la-de-do

Until it shakes the city's crypt

that's what i call a body blow

Italian Soundtrack by C.A pt 5:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TErySTMbFlk

Today I have been awoken to the power of the Firenze card. When I purchased it a month back, I thought to myself:" Is this necessary? I'm sure I'll only visit the main museums." Now that I see the swathe of historical buildings, big and small, I realize that there is much more to a city than its highlights. 

 I managed to spend over 4 hours in the Galleria degli Uffizi. In hindsight that's impressive, particularly because at least 1/3 of the museum was being renovated and was closed to the public. I have to say that I fell in love with the works of Caravaggio(1571-1610) on display. He had a major influence on Rembrandt with his dramatic use of lighting and his realistic observation of the human state. My particular favorite was Caravaggio's "Bacchus."

This jpeg does a disservice to the sumptuousness and variance in tone across the piece. Bacchus is very often depicted as wild, almost maniacal with his mirth. This version depicts a somber Bacchus, established in his ways but by no means, out of control. He extends a shallow goblet of wine with his left hand, inviting the viewer to join him. Featuring the common, dark backdrop of Flemish painting, Caravaggio uses that base lack of light to play on the softness of the illumination, coming from the upper right corner. Seeing it in person ,several reflections are apparent, one being Bacchus' face in the wine and the other of the artist in the stem of the glass.

One of the other standouts, though similar was Gherardo Delle Notti's "Supper with Lute Player"

Again a jpeg pales in comparison to reality. Gherardo's real name was Gerrit van Honthorst-he earned the nick name "Gerard of the night scenes" due in part to the popularity of this work and others similarly dark. Another painter utilizing dramatic lighting, his use of chiaroscuro is a direct influence on Rembrandt. I love the little scenes Gherardo captured in the whole of the work.The sight of the man on the right eating a large glob of food with no hands, brings a smile to the old woman, a soft judgment from the woman and hilarity to the man in the foreground. However, over the shoulder of the ,man in the foreground is our title character: The Lute player. He is lost in the eyes of the lady sitting next to him, no doubt serenading her-oblivious to the world around them. It's quite a bright candle.

Finally, my third favorite was Guido Reni's-"David with Head of Goliath"

This is not only another example of my fondness for soft lighting in oil paintings, but a prime example of an artist conveying multiple messages.An androgynous-looking David, one breast bared as in many semi-nude paintings of women, leans against a column while contemplating Goliath's severed head. Why is he so calmly looking at his grisly handiwork? Here's why. David, as so often in poetic painting, is an alter ego of the artist who has just executed his painting. Keep a lookout for puns in art; they are very common. Indeed, here's another. The head (without the body) symbolizes not only David's painting but his masterpiece because, in Italian, masterpiece is capolavoro or literally head-work. David as the painter is contemplating his work of art.

To change up the pace, I'll showcase one of the all-time classics of western art, Boticelli's "Birth of Venus"

Botticelli depicts the mythical scene of the birth of the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Venus. Floating atop a cockleshell, recently borne from the foam of the sea, Venus is lead ashore to her sacred Cyprus by the breath of the wind goddess, Zephyrus, accompanied by his wife, the flower goddess, Chloris. Eagerly anticipating the goddess’s arrival, the nymph Pomona stands on the shore’s edge, ready to swath the newborn, more powerful goddess, cloak in hand. This painting shuns the trend at the time of assuming scintific realism in the work. Venus is the largest figure, even though she is not the closest, the trees are all the same width, the position of Chloris' knee is anatomically impossible. Botticelli adds to the mystical feel of the painting as he refuses to follow the scientifically correct rules of perception.