Costumes/Bardini

This week we visited the Costume Gallery at the Pitti Palace and the  Bardini Gardens. The Costume Gallery was pretty cool to see, of course we had to walk up millions of stairs to get to it, but it was worth it. I liked seeing the time progression in the dresses, because the styles changed dramatically and even more so today. I don’t know how the women back then wore such crazy dresses during the day. My favorite part was the clothes that were taken off of the Medicis after they were buried, although it was really creepy.

I was absent the day the class went the the Bardini Gardens, but my mom is visiting right now, so I took her there because I had heard it was really pretty. The gardens were amazing, I like them better than the Boboli Gardens. My favorite part at Bardini was the tunnel covered in Wisteria, it reminded me of my house, because the whole front entryway is covered in Wisteria.

Pop Art

Whenever I think of Pop Art I automatically think of Andy Warhol or comic books. Pop art originated in England in the 1950s and then moved over to the United States, and every time I see pop art it reminds me of when I was in London and New York, I saw it everywhere in both cities. I feel like I can relate more to the artists who are creating pop art more than other artists, because they get their inspiration and even materials from things I see and use everyday.

CHOCOLATE!!

I have been drooling over all of the Easter candy as I walk through the city, so it was really nice to go on a walking tour just to look at all the chocolate and Easter treats. We went to the Roberto Cavalli Cafe, Caffe Giacosa, and saw the animal print chocolate eggs, they are so cool, I wish I could have gotten one, but they were all about 60 Euro. Then we went on to visit other candy stores in the city and saw tons of huge chocolate eggs. The tour made me even more excited for Easter and made me wish that I lived here when I was a kid to get all that Easter candy from my parents.

Americani a Firenze

Visiting the “Americani a Firenze” (Americans in Florence) exhibit in the Palazzo Strozzi revived my interest in art in Florence. I have been getting tired of seeing all the Renaissance art in the museums like the Ufizzi and also hearing non-stop about the Medici family. My favorite part about the exhibit were the paintings by John Singer Sargent. I have heard about him, but I have never seen his works, and I really love them. My favorite painting was “Henry James” by John Singer Sargent. It looks so realistic, almost like he is photoshopped, or like it is just a photograph. I also really enjoyed seeing the Impressionist paintings, Impressionism has been my favorite movement that we have learned about, so I always like seeing those works. 

Woodcuts- Ufizzi Gallery

We went to the woodcuts room in the Ufizzi, and I didn’t even know it existed. Woodcut is a printing technique, an image is carved into a surface of a block of wood, the printing parts remain level, the areas to show white are cut away, leaving the images in black. I think woodcuts are pretty amazing, because it seems like it would be impossible to get such perfect detail from cutting wood. We were told to choose our favorite, which was pretty difficult, but I decided that my favorite is by Angelo Falconetto and it is “The Virgin and Child With St. Margaret and Saints”. I think it was my favorite, because it is so intricate and detailed. (I couldn’t find a picture of this woodcut).