Art in Italy

In the course of my communications classes at university, I vaguely remember a theory that says media is making original art less impactful, because we have such easy access to high definition images. Not being an expert in art by any stretch of the imagination, I gave the theory little thought After visiting several galleries in Italy, it is clear- to me- that even a non-expert can appreciate an original more than a digital copy.

ROME

View from within the Vatican Museum

In this famous ancient city, I visited the Vatican museums (Note: Prebook online and go EARLY for this one, even in February). Like any good museum/history nut, I had read about the gallery of maps, seen countless pictures of the Sistine Chapel, and knew the basics of interpreting medieval and renaissance paintings. I’d seen the images in high definition with the help of the internet and guess what? In my humble opinion, pixels organised to replicate an image do not lessen it’s original impact.

 

Nothing can capture the feeling of walking into a room filled with intricately hand-drawn maps or lined with massive tapestries, with the lighting adjusted at the perfect level, so as to bring out the richness of the colours and depth of the scene. Then there’s the gallery rooms themselves (pieces of art in their own right): the way the sunlight changes the illumination of the rooms or the way the tapestries muffle the sound of your footsteps walking through the gallery.

 

Being able to see each line, each brush stroke or thread pulled together to create something beautiful brings a sense of awe that digital, in your pajamas with a tablet, could never bring. It’s like comparing a microwaved meal to a gourmet restaurant- it might be the same dish, but only in name!

My favourites in the Vatican Museum were definitely the gallery of maps, the tapestries, and the Sistine Chapel. Each captured something completely different, but all were evocative and beautiful.

FLORENCE

So I must confess, I’m a bit of an irritating person to go to museums with if you are someone who likes to spend an hour and move on. Case in point, I spent around five hours in the Vatican Museum, about four Ufizi art museum in Florence and only left both because the crowds were starting to block everything. If you are ever in Florence, the Ufizi was definitely one of my favourite places, and I was lucky enough to have some space to myself to enjoy most of its iconic works.

My favourites? The Birth of Venus and Primavera, both by Botticelli, and the amazing capture of light of shadows in the paintings by Caravaggio:

 

One of the aspects of the museum that I really enjoyed was being able to trace how artistic styles changed over the many decades of art displayed in the galleries. It was fascinating to compare the brilliant colours and cherubine faces of Botticelli’s Renaissamce with harsher angles and a more prominent use of darkness and shadows in later years.

The gallery also held some works by Leonardo Da Vinci, many of them portraits. I was surprised to find that I didn’t like them as much as society suggests one should. To be quite honest, I found works by other artists captured the humanism and expression of the subjects beyond the facade of the skin. However, that being said, the exhibit for Da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi was one of my favourite parts of the whole museum, for the story it tells.

The painting had only just returned to the Ufizi after being away for restoration for six years. What they found during those six years is incredible.

Originally, the painting was displayed with a monochromatic colour scheme of shades of brown. Many people thought this was a statement on religion by Da Vinci. As it turns out, the monochromatic scheme was the result of years of varnish and dirt build up. Underneath it all, the restoration team discovered an unfinished painting that gives a unique insight into Da Vinci’s artistic process, as well as hand marks and fingerprints of the artist himself. As the French say, c’était cool!

Da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi

Outside of the Ufizi, my stay in Florence came with sunny/cloudy weather. The remarkable thing I noticed, as I stood on various bridges and high ledges, was that I could see Michelangelo’s inspiration for the stylized clouds he displayed in several of his works, including the Sistine Chapel!

So overall, despite the fact that I seem to have written a fair number of them (if you’ve made it this far, thanks for getting through my rambling!) the art in Italy almost eclipses most words. I’ve included some of my own pictures, but as I found, it’s absolutely worth it to see them for yourself.

Thanks for reading!

XO,

Shannon