SONO FIRENZE
T
HE GREAT CITY OF FIRENZE IS A
Renaissance city. All the great
masters lived, loved, or visited that place. It is a city that was once deeply loved by the artists who’s work has survived nature and war. This legacy is all we have to parcel out what such devotion to a place looks like. What do these works say about their beloved city?
D
ONATELLO’S DAVID IS THE
depiction of David as person-
ification of Florence. He is sculpted like an adolescent, true to the Bible story, but this soft looking figure is actually a visual metaphor for fledgling Florence. David is triumphant, but he triumphs through his intellect, a virtue that the growing, young Firenze could solidly identify with.
D
AV I D
WA S
S TAT I O N E D
IN
the Palazzo Medici Riccardi for
a short five decades before being promptly extracted and moved to the courtyard of the Pallazzo della Signoria following the Medici’s exile in 1494. An inscription might have explained the political significance of the statue, but any documents referencing it are unreliable at best.
M
I C H E L A N G E LO ’ S DAV I D I S
one of the most well known
sculptures in Florence. This David is shown at a different moment in time than Donatello’s. For this David, the action has not yet taken place. He is confident in his abilities, but he is not cocky. His expression is one of intense focus. Firenze knew he would succeed, but he stands in ignorance.
T
HE REAL DAVID STATUE BY
Michelangelo does not sit high
above the city today, but a bronze copy that approximates the masterpiece. He was originally planned to be on a niche 80 meters off the ground on top of the Duomo, but was eventually placed in the Piazza della Signoria, an appropriate place for a symbol of such political import.
H
ERCULES AND THE NEMEAN
lion was adopted as a symbol
of Florence in the 13th century by the Medici. They chose this pagan hero to represent Firenze triumphing over injustice. This also cemented the legend that they inherited the greatness of the Romans. With the ancients as their guides, they would slay any enemy of their beloved city.
R
ENAISSANCE ARTISTS MUST
have had a special relationship
with their desire to express themselves and their patrons desire to express their vision of themselves as powerful. It is fascinating to wonder how that relationship played out with their love of Florence itself, wether it was intrinisic to their loyalty to the Medici, or other powers.
M
ODERN FIRENZE IS GROWING
inbetween the cracks of its
old self. Contemporary Florentine art has taken a more subversive role, but that does not mean the love of the city has vanished from these types of works. It is an evolved kind of love, that, like our inabiliaty to understand that Renaissance love, would be unfathomable to old Firenze.
PHOTO CREDITS PG.6 Cantara Ali PG.9 Jennifer Nyman PG.10 Found materials PG.13 Cantara Ali PG.14 Found materials PG.17 Cantara Ali PG.18 Found materials PG.21 Cantara Ali
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