La mia lista dei musei

The details of my trip to Italy are fading, :-( so I'm scouring through the many ticket stubs and receipts I brought home with me, and the little book I used to take notes of what I was seeing...because, you know, I couldn't use my camera. It's fun to look at the silly notes and little line drawings. Here is a list of the museums I visited while in Italy.

Galleria dell 'Accademia- There is so much in this museum...David in all his glory, plus the plaster gallery with wonderful plaster 'sketches' by Lorenzo Bartolli, room after room of icons and Michelangelo's 'slaves"... There was also an exhibition of the work of Robert Mapplethorpe. Of course no picture taking was allowed, so below is what my cohorts and I lovingly referred to as The Fake David. The Fake David stands in front of the Palazzo Vecchio and he became our meeting point in Florence. "I'll meet you by The Fake David at 10 am, sharp!"

Museo del Bargello - I ended up visiting this museum twice. The first time I didn't realize there was an 'upstairs' so I went back to see a wonderful collection of ivory carvings, and other assorted doo-dads, plus Donatello's David and delicate, cameo-like work of Lucca della Robbia. Below is a photo of one of those exquisite ivory carvings I lifted from the web...Adam naming the animals.

The Uffizi - Long lines and lots of tour groups scurrying from one masterpiece to another. Thank goodness the docents now use 'technology' to educate and not bull horns. (Although I have eavesdropped on many a guided tour in my lifetime and enjoyed it.) My little notebook tells me I really liked the work of Angnolo Bronzino, a painter of many di Medicis and a great little painting entitled Allegory of St. Felicity, and also Lukas Cranach (what a great name). And I guess those Botticelli's were pretty nice too.

Palazzo Strozzi - A special exhibit here entitled Galileo, Images of the Universe from Antiquity to the Telescope. In my notebook I have a little quote I jotted down..."heavens speak to men, (a-hem, people) as much as men speak to the heavens." I really enjoyed this exhibit, as it was a great survey of how humans looked at and made sense of the heavens through the ages. I especially loved the books with moving parts, sort of a precursor to the peek-a-boo books I used to look at with my children. And the clocks and navigational instruments...if I had a smidgen of a drop of a percentage of that intelligence, oh what wonderous things I might do.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi - the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave. An exhibit of Medici attire fashioned from paper. So clever.

Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Venice - In my notebook I made a list of the paintings/artists I loved at the Peggy Guggenheim..."...Leger, as always...Jean Metzinger, At the Velodrome...Theo van Doesburg, Counter-Composition XIII..." Of course some of my notes are illegible and I can't find a reference to "movement of a blue ball" at the website. A noticable lack of women artists.

Casa Buonarroti - Here I saw an exhibit of drawings from the Louvre...my favorites were the beautiful architectual drawings, each one had a bird. Below is a scan of the advertising flyer.

Opificio Pietre Dure - a museum that displays semi-precious inlaid stones. The photo below...yes, the piece is made entirely of inlaid stones.

Ferragamo Shoe Museum - Pictures of movie stars, moulds of their famous little feet, and a collection of fabulous shoes. Who could ask for more! My nose print is all over this place. The man was a GENIUS!! And you don't even have to travel to Florence to get a glimpse of this museum, you can see it here!