Michelangelo's David and Botticelli's toes

Florence is rightly referred to as the birthplace of the renaissance. Florence, a wealthy merchant city, also flourished as the cultural center of Europe from the 14th through the 16th centuries. This rich artistic legacy has been preserved in several of the city's museums, most notably the Uffizi Galleries and the Galleria dell Accademia. Walking through the galleries of early renaissance altar pieces, featuring images of the Madonna col bambino, and the annunciation, all radiant in gold leaf, I am reminded of a particular college art history class on the renaissance. Professor Lord, a short stout chain smoker with a slide projector remote in hand, held my attention with her detailed knowledge and insight. (Yes chain smoking in the lecture hall, it was the 70's) To this day, names of masters like Fra Filippo Lippi just roll off my tongue.

The showpiece of the Galleria dell Accademia is, without a doubt, Michelangelo’s monumental sculpture of David. We have all seen images of this sculpture, however you cannot appreciate the scale of this work until you stand beneath this masterpiece. Now I understand what all the fuss is about.

One of the primary attractions of the Uffizi Gallery is Sandro Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus” emerging from the sea on a shell with the breath of the wind god Zephyr blowing her to shore. This is another iconic image which we have all seen many times, but upon close inspection, I could not help but be amused by the feet and toes. A bit cartoony I think Signor Botticelli.