It’s no fun fighting for space in an art gallery to view the pictures, but by the time we got down to the first floor of the Uffizi today, the crowds had thinned out, and we began to enjoy ourselves. The majority of visitors wear themselves out trying to look at every picture on the walls, then suddenly find they can’t take any more, and leave. The pity is that they then miss out on the Caravaggios. Not that I’m complaining.
I will never be able to understand what people are prepared to do in the name of religion, or belief. I feel sorry for the goat – he clearly doesn’t know what’s coming next.
We have decided that the way to go about the Uffizi is to research a few pictures, go and see them, trying not to get distracted by too many others, then move on and do something else.
No, this one is not by Caravaggio, but by the daughter of one of his followers. To be a successful female artist was rare in the seventeenth century, let alone to paint a grisly subject in such a gruesome way. Apparently, due to the violence in the picture, it was kept in a dark corner in the Pitti Palace for many years.
On our way out we noticed the entrance to the Antony Gormley exhibition ‘Being’ (‘Essere’ in Italian) which according to all the posters, had finished.
The theme of the exhibition is the human form and the space, negative or positive, that it takes up. One glory of the exhibition was that there was nobody else there (apart from Elton John who was leaving as we arrived – I kid you not. He was in a wheelchair as he apparently has an ankle injury. I hope he recovers in time for his frenetic European tour which is starting on May 1.)
I don’t know if it’s obvious, but someone is lying down in a foetal position.
It was great being able to walk around the exhibits and view from different angles.
The weather forecast being for rain, we had decided against a picnic today, and instead to return to the cafe at the Oblate library and grab a sandwich. To our surprise, they also have a lunch time menu, which means no one has to cook tonight. It’s very reasonable, too. For one dish of ravioli with tomato sauce (Mark) and one plate of cold cuts, cheeses, chutney and er …. whole uncooked beans (they were actually nice) plus a large bottle of fizzy water, we paid €18.50.
We had just got back to the apartment, and it absolutely poured. We were very lucky.
Tortoise Travel 