Transcendent Moments Brad Slavin Ten Sites List

1. The of “ and the Centaur” and “Rape of a Sabine” were two works that stood out when we were studying back in IAT 391. I couldn’t remem- ber the exact location of them and it was on the first night in Florence when I first saw the loggia. The “Hercules and the Centaur” still remains one of my favor- ites due to the extreme poses. The folds in the centaurs back and the details in the arms and hands are amazing. I’ve been back a few times since the first night.

2. Museo dell' Opera del Duomo: 's Pieta This was one of the sites that Simon and I had researched back in IAT 391, and Michelangelo's “Pieta” was what I remembered most. I really enjoyed seeing the prototypes of the cathedral’s facade, but when I came to the Pieta, I was stunned. I Loggia dei Lanzi wasn’t expecting it and it sort of just hit me. I sat and drew it for a couple hours and was really shocked at the number of tourists that walked up the stairs, stood in front of the , turned their back to it, took a photo and then walked away.

3. Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi was a site that Yoshi and I studied in IAT 391 and was something I really wanted to go see. The Maesta’s in the first room were more spectacular than I had anticipated, and the way the room was setup allowed me to compare the three styles. The unfinished “Adoration of the Magy” was another work that I was looking forward to, as well as Leonardo’s “”. It was actually quite interesting to Michelangelo’s “Pieta” see the variety of interpretations of the Annunciation throughout the Uffizi. Del Sarto’s “Madonna of the Harpies” and ’s “Supper at Emmaus” were two of my favorites. I’ve really enjoyed seeing how great the Florentine artists are at using colour.

4. Fettucini Alfredo Dinner Ever since we were in , I’ve been wanting to try some authentic Italian fettucini Uffizi: Leonardo’s Annunciation alfredo. A few of us went and checked out Alfredo’s in Rome, but it was quite expen- sive. Every restaurant we've gone to since then hasn’t had alfredo sauce on their menu. I was about to give up hope until we stumbled upon a restaurant called Alfredo’s just east of . The next night, twelve of us went and had dinner there, most of us enjoying a plate of fettucini alfredo. I have to admit that it was worth the wait!

6. I woke up early to go see Santa Maria Novella, mainly for ’s “The Trinity”. Fettucini Alfredo Dinner The bike ride was nice and cool in the early morning and I arrived at the church just before it opened. A few people were already in the lineup, but I was the fifth one through the door. Once in the church, I was blown away by the height of it. I think the scrolls on the facade make the height of the building appear shorter from the outside . I saw The Trinity, but there was some awful light coming through a window that was hitting the painting, so I decided I’d come back in a few minutes. I walked around the church and really enjoyed the paintings in the Strozzi Chapel. Upon returning to The Trinity, I located the correct viewing position and stood admiring the excellent use of . This almost made my Top 3 Transcendent Moments. Santa Maria Novella

1 Transcendent Moments Brad Slavin Ten Sites List

6. San Lorenzo Market I’ve found that it’s easy to get lost in Florence. I’m trying not to rely on my map too much, but sometimes I end up back at the same spot I was a few minutes before. I went looking for the di San Lorenzo one morning and couldn’t find it. But I found the San Lorenzo Market. I made my way through the busy streets and went through the Mercato Centrale, which reminded me of the market on Granville Island in Vancouver. Back on the street, I ended up catching a glimpse of the Basilica di San Lorenzo through the crowd and made my way over to it. After going to the church, I came back and spent more time in the market. It’s a very exciting environ- ment, full of complexity. San Lorenzo Market

7. & al Monte I made the trek to twice in the span of six hours. The first time was around 2:00pm and I hiked up the hill by myself. The Piazzale Michelangelo provided an excellent view of the city and the mountains surrounding it. I noticed San Miniato up on the hill and proceeded in that direction. The church was practi- cally empty; there were only two other people in it when I entered. It was dark except for the light coming through the front door. I sat in a pew at the back for a while with my iPod and was able to think quite clearly. I think that was partly due to the fact that I was in a secluded area away from the chaos of the city, but also because the San Miniato al Monte church was so quiet and calm and seemed like a reflective space. Later that night, a few of us biked back up the hill and watched the sunset over the city from the small piazza outside San Miniato.

8. What I really like about the Orsanmichele is how anyone can sit on the street and look at fourteen awesome statues, including some by , Ghiberti and Brunelleschi. My experience involved some snacks, a few hours and lot of sketch- ing. It was nice and simple and definitely memorable. Orsanmichele: St Luke 9. Campanile Sunset The first day in Florence, I learned that ’s Campanile was opened until 10:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays. I missed it the first night, so I decided that I would make sure I go the following week. Derek and Morgan came along and we made it up there for sunset, where we also ran into Rob, Murray and Kiks.

10. ’s Cenacolo The first stop on our “Last Supper Tour” was just around the corner from our apart- ment. It was Andrea Del Sarto’s Cenacolo and out of the four we saw that day, it is Campanile Sunset my favorite. Del Sarto has become one of my favorite renaissance painters. I espe- cially like his use of color, the way he paints fabric, and how a lot of his figures have angular lines incorporated into their forms.

Del Sarto’s Cenacolo 2 Transcendent Moments Brad Slavin Orsanmichele

I remembered from back in IAT 391 that there was a building that had a bunch of statues around the outside, including some from Donatello and Ghiberti. However, I couldn’t remember the name of the building. I scoured my map to see if anything rang a bell, but nothing did. I decided I would just head towards the Duomo and start biking around until I found it.

Around 7:00pm, I made my way to the Duomo, admiring how much emptier the area was in the evening. I took a series of smaller roads on a confusing path towards Piazza Republicca. I went down the streets surrounding the piazza, but again couldn’t locate the building. I then continued over to Piazza della Signoria where I listened to the same guitarist playing the same Simon and Garfunkle covers from the St. Mark night before.

This area was packed with tourists and well-dressed Italians. It felt very superficial. People were all “made-up” for the night in a manner than just seemed fake and not genuine. I wanted to leave the area, so started my way down Via dei Calzaiuoli. Not fifteen seconds after leaving the piazza, I noticed a building up ahead with a statue near the corner. Then I noticed a couple more statues. I had found the place!

It turned out to be the Orsanmichele, a grain market from the 13th century with fourteen statues around the exterior of the building. I found a spot off the main road St. John the Baptist and plunked down in front of Donatello’s statue of St. Mark. I ate a small snack while admiring the sculpture, meanwhile noticing how very few passerby’s even looked at the building. It was really amazing to see how such remarkable works of can go unnoticed.

I decided that although I didn’t have proper supplies, I needed to do some drawing, which I haven’t done for quite a while. I sketched St. Mark for about an hour, then circled the building admiring the other statues. I ended up back on the main road in front of a statue of St. Luke that I really like.

St. Mark sketch I sat and drew him for over an hour, trying to capture him in different styles. His form seems much more natural than the St. Mark statue, but at the same time it has these straight, rigid lines that seems to run through the form. After about half an hour, an older gentleman approached and stood looking over my shoulder at my drawing. We talked for a couple minutes, but one thing he said stood out. “Drawing is much better than taking a photograph because you actually SEE something. It's good to see.”

I completely agree with this. When I was drawing, I was noticing smaller details that I wouldn’t normally have seen just by looking at it. Drawing allowed me to become involved with the sculpture and be immersed in the form. Drawing fabric has always St. Luke sketch been especially challenging for me, but I found that taking my time and just looking closely at the subject really helps to understand and enjoy the form better.

3 Transcendent Moments Brad Slavin Campanile Sunset

I had been waiting for a week for the chance to see the Florentine sunset from atop Giotto’s Campanile. I’m really glad that we have to opportunity to do so, seeing as how the late night admission to the tower seems to be a reasonably new activity. As Friday approached, I began making plans for going to the other sites I wanted to see, but I made sure that I had Friday night off for the Campanile.

My plans during the day on Friday didn’t go too well and I thought I would have to postpone the Campanile until Saturday night. But I figured that if something happens on Saturday, then I’ve lost my chance. When mentioning my plan around Sunset over Florence the apartment, Morgan and Derek said that they wanted to take part in this too. I checked online what time sunset was supposed to be: 9:01pm. Just to be safe, we planned to leave just before 8:30.

Well 8:30 rolled around and we were still getting ready to leave. As we made our way outside to retrieve our bikes, we noticed that the sunlight was already a shade of orange. We began to ride towards the centro as the sky was turning a deeper shade of red. Pedaling as fast as we could, we made it to the base of the tower in just over ten minutes. We locked our bikes, paid the admission and got ready to climb.

I put my iPod on and began the ascent two steps at a time. After the second storey, Tallest Person in Florence I had to slow down a bit. I was already exhausted from the bike ride, but the sprint up the tower had made it worse. On every floor, we would take a break and check the status of the sun. By the third floor, it was already a sliver on the horizon. I summoned my last bit of energy and began taking the stairs two steps at a time. I had to make it up to see the sunset!

We emerged at the top of the tower and ran to the northwest corner. Within ten seconds, the sun disappeared behind a distant mountain. Looking at my iPod, I was able to determine that we made the climb in 4:45. That’s 1.46 steps per second. As exhausting as it was, it was still worth it. The clouds above the city lit up into an Morgan is excited, too amazing shade of red that was reflected on every building in the city.

Looking over at the Duomo’s cupola, which was closed to visitors at this time, I remembered something I had done at St. Peter’s in Rome and the Torre del Mangia in Siena. I climbed up onto the inner ledge and pressed my head up against the cage above the tower. At that moment, I was the tallest person in Florence! Out of the thousands of people in Florence, I was at the highest elevation at that moment. I can imagine that the people that climb Mount Everest have a similar feeling, but on a greater scale. Those sorts of moments really put the vastness of the world into perspective and I would like to experience more moments like that.

We remained on the top of the Campanile for about an hour and the sky continued to glow red for most of that time.

Cupola del Duomo 4 Transcendent Moments Brad Slavin Andrea Del Sarto’s Cenacolo

Ever since studying the Uffizi Gallery in IAT 391, I have been a fan of Andrea Del Sarto. I admire his use of colour and the style in which he paints faces. He also paints fabric in a manner similar to Pontormo, but slightly more angular. When we did our “Last Supper Tour,” I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Del Sarto Cenacolo was a thirty second walk from our apartment.

Our first encounter with the painting was quite short, but I still managed to sketch out one of the apostles’ faces before leaving. Throughout the rest of the day, I had Del Sarto on my mind. When we saw the three other Cenacolos, I would compare them to the Del Sarto version. His still remains my favorite. Me with the Last Supper

A few days later, after viewing more of Del Sarto’s work in the Uffizi, I rode my bike back home and made my way over to . I had about two hours before the place closed and wanted to make the most of it. I entered the building and made my way to the room with the Cenacolo in it. There was nobody in the room. I was alone with the Last Supper.

I sat down for a while and just looked at it closely, scanning the painting from person to person, looking at the details in the face and hands. Even the feet under the table were incredibly detailed. The light and shadows in the robes also drew my attention and with my newly purchased pastels, I attempted to replicate the shading used in Judas and Jesus detail the fabric.

During the entire time I was with the painting, I didn’t hear a single noise other than the faint sound of children playing in the nearby park. It wasn’t until the attendant came and told me that they were closing that it really hit me how lucky we are to be in a place where we can spend two hours ALONE with a piece of amazing renais- sance art. That is so cool!

There were no distractions. Just me, the Cenacolo and my pencils. I want to go back a couple more times before we leave Florence to try to familiarize myself with Apostle sketch the painting a bit more. And to have the opportunity to closely study a work of art that is almost 500 years old is an amazing experience that I can’t help but take advantage of.

Judas sketch

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