Florence - Art

 or some of it anyway. 

The main pull of Florence for me was the art so it will be no surprise to anyone that we spent our first day in the Uffizi. The OH was inclined to the view that it wouldn't take us that long as it was 'only two floors' Ha! 

It was only two floors but they were both huge. Also the lift wasn't functioning so that was a lot of stairs to climb. The top of the Uffizi is a l-o-n-g way up. In fact it's so far up that at the top there is a notice advising you not to look down. 

It's very regimented. They call the Alhambra 'the factory' in Granada, but honestly that's  a lot more relaxed than this was. I forget how many times our tickets were checked but it was at least four,and we had our bags scanned as well. There is also a one way system so you can't just check out the bits you're interested in and then leave, or skip bits. We did rush past the sculpture. We know nothing about sculpture. And to be fair there are lots of seats so whenever we felt the need for a sit down and a breath catch, there was somewhere to sit. Full marks on that score. And of course the places was rammed with tourists. 

I feel to fully appreciate the paintings in Florence you really need at least an MA in Early Italian Religious Painting. Otherwise it's just a lot of Annunciations and Visits of the Magi and lives of saints that, if you';re not Catholic, you've probably never heard of. There are, I discovered, only so many annunciations and Visits of the Magi that I can cope with and the Uffizi reached that limit quite early on. 

However, a few highlights

This one does come from a series of a life of a saint of whom I had never heard and depicts his miraculous repair of a broken kitchen sieve. (I kid you not). Personally I cannot detect a kitchen sieve, broken or otherwise, in this picture, unless it's the rhomboid(?) on the floor near the right hand corner, bu anyway it tickled me. 

I was gobsmacked by the skill of whoever painted this picture of an open book 

Then there were the Botticellis , of course 

That birth of Venus photo is rubbish but as always with famous pictures there were crowds round it - and the Primavera of course - which is why it's sideways on. I'm not bothered because I bought a post card. For once a gallery shop actually stocked a postcard of a picture that I wanted. 

And there were just loads more; a beautiful Leonardo, some lovely Rafaels although not many, a few amazing portraits,  mainly by Flemish artists! 

The Leonardo

and if you looked at that angel and said Gosh, how Burne Jones is that? - well snap! 

The problem with galleries like this ( apart from the tourists) is overload. Ideally you would live next to one, and visit every day for  a year and just look at a very limited number of paintings each day, and then you could appreciate each of them more fully.  Counsel of perfection I know. So I shall just be grateful that I got the chance to go at all.