Greek Acropolis

Greek Acropolis

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Florence, Italy




        I cannot think to do a good job of describing the importance of Florence to the Renaissance. Once the capital of Italy, Florence now acts as the capital of Tuscany, or a region in Northern Italy. " It was in Florence that Michelangelo, Leonardo da vinci and a bunch of other brillant 14th to 16th century Tuscan masters carved out art history. Brunelleschi's dome did wonders to the course of architecture, while Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio penned parchments to plant the seeds for a unified Italian language." (lonelyplanet.com/italy/tuscany)
          Florence acted as a home of the Italian renaisance, and as such is rich with magical artwork and marvelous architecture. It seems impossible to talk about Florence without mentioning the Medici or Michelangelo. "The Medici, Michelangelo, and the art of the late Renaissance Florence provide a detailed survey of the art and culture of 16th century Florence, the crucible of the Italian Renaissance. Between 1537 and 1631, the first four Medici grand dukes- Cosimo I: his sons, Francesco I and Ferdinando I; and his grandson, Cosimo II- presided over a spectalur flowering of the arts and sciences, exemplified by the pioneering achievements and dominant legacy of Michelangelo. Celebrated during his lifetime for his extraordinary talent as a sculptor, architect, painter, draftsman, and poet, Michelangelo inspired subsequent Florentine artists and attracted the city's most powerful patrons- notable the Medici grand dukes. Their extensive and enlightened patronage allowed art in all media to flourish. In addition to commissioning portraits and decorative objects for private and public display, the Medici family ordered the reconstruction or renovation of numerous civic buildings and private residences and established several major institutions, including Europe's first artists' academy." 

       I cannot think of a better way to appreciate the art that blossomed out of Florence that through art itself. This poem by William Leighton puts to words that which is Florence.

 Through these  old streets i wander dreamily;
Around me Florence sweeps her busy tide
Of life; quaint palaces on every side
Here, where I pass, perchance in former day
Petrarch hath waled, composing poetry
To oft-sung charms of Laura. here hath hied
Dante, of Florence now the greatest pride,
But whom, in life, she fiercely drove away, 
To write in gloom his epic. Here, beneath
This loggia, Boccaccio hath told
His laughing tales, to comrades, merrily
What wondrous memories these scenes bequeath
What artist, sculptors, painters, here of old
Fashioned this lovely gem of Italy!
            -From Florentine Sonnets




Thursday, March 8, 2012

Beautiful Beautiful Rome

IT'S OFFICIAL!!! I bought my tickets for the flight today! Some of the places I am going include Rome, Florence, Naples, Paris, Athens, Berlin, and London, with a few more stops in between!!!! I am beyond excited about this. First stop Rome!



O Rome, Rome! I have dreamt of thee
In my fondest dreams. I have longed to see
Thy towers amid the halo rise
Of sweet Italia's sunlit skies,
And wafted by the fav'ring breeze
Of fortune cross intervening seas,
Now where the Cæsars stood, I stand,
Self-exiled from my native land.
 
To one whose life hath all been cast
In a country without a past,
Thy broken walls and towers seem
Prophetic in the sunlight's gleam;
Though now the march of empire rolls
Triumphant with its myriad souls,
And could not by a foreign force
Be crushed, still might, like thee, perforce,
By a Brutus' or a Cassius' thrust
Be left to mingle with the dust;
And fewer monuments would leave
Than thou its glory to retrieve.
 
Thy relics are sublime, O Rome!
Are rich in lore; and now I come
To wander through thy corridors,
And tread thy old mosaic floors,
To build thy palaces again,
And people all the vacant plain
And barren hills where thou didst stand
Supreme in power, triumphant, grand.
 
When I wander alone at night
Beneath the moon's subduing light,
And thy diminished streets I tread,
And ponder o'er thy grandeur fled,
I wonder how it all could be
Such apathy should come o'er thee.
Yon bloody circus now might hold
The remnant left of thee, twice told.

                    -Rome, Italy
                    -Watie W. Swanzy 
Rome holds so many opportunities and relics that I have dreamed about seeing since I was little. I cannot wait to "wander through [the] corridors" of Rome and sense the history held within the city!
         

Saturday, March 3, 2012

The place of dreams


I'm going to Europe!!!! I can hardly believe it myself! I'm starting this blog as a sort of journal for my whole experience of the trip, from the planning stage, onto the actual travel and sight seeing! I have wanted to go to Europe since I was really little, something about it has just fascinated me. Its full of history and there is a Romantic air about it. (romantic in the literary sense). I've wanted to experience first hand what Percy Shelly was trying to describe when he wrote about Mont Blanc. I want to see with my own eyes the remains of the once great Roman Civilization. I want to see the cities and locations that inspired poets like Lord Byron, playwrights like Shakespeare, and novelists such as Mary Shelly. I am excited to see the place of peoples dreams and the inspiration to so many ideas and stories. As I plan and learn more about the places I will be going, I will share and post. I cannot wait to get planning!!! 




(the picture above is of Chamonix, Mont Blanc, in France)