Accademia

Laura and I visited the Accademia, which is where the famous David is housed. We went in the morning, and we were glad that we only had to wait in line 30 minutes. (We should have made a reservation before we went, but I didn't get around to it. So 30 minutes was no problem, since I've heard of people waiting for hours to get in!)

We were not supposed to take any pictures inside, so we didn't at first. Then we saw lots of other people taking pictures, so Laura snapped some quick photos. They didn't all turn out great, but I'm glad we have some pictures from our time inside!

Michelangelo's David, which is definitely the highlight of the Accademia, is 14 feet high, and it's a beautiful white statue that symbolizes the Renaissance. Click here to see some good pictures of David. (You'll have to scroll down and select the front view, the back view, or the close-up of his hand). In 1501, Michelangelo was commissioned to make a work for the top of the Duomo, and David is what he made. David's head looks a bit out of proportion because Michelangelo wanted him to look proportional from the street when it was up on top of the dome of the Duomo, but David never made it up there. Michelangelo was given a block of marble that others had claimed was too shallow and too tall to use. He, however, created a Renaissance masterpiece from it. Here you can see David in the special dome that was built specifically for him.

David is the David from the story of David and Goliath, and this is probably David before he slayed Goliath, not after. His sling is over his shoulder, he has a stone in his right hand, and he is in the famous contraposto pose. He looks pretty calm, as if he knows he'll have divine help to complete the task. You can see some raised veins in his right hand, which are really neat. He spent 350 years outside, (remember?), and he was finally brought inside the Accademia in 1873.

Also in the hall with David, there are other, unfinished statues by Michelangelo, called The Prisoners. I really enjoyed comparing the unfinished Prisoners to the finished David. The difference was remarkable. It was very interesting to see the unfinished surfaces of the Prisoners and the finished, smooth, refined surface of David. The Prisoners were intended to be for the tomb of Pope Julius II, but that didn't work out. Here's a picture of one of them.



Also in the Accademia, there was a GREAT portion dedicated to early musical instruments!!! I LOVED IT!!! Once again, we weren't supposed to take pictures, but Laura did take some. (I'm so glad!) Click here to see the main hall of these instruments. We saw early cellos, dulcimers, violins, and harpsichords in one room. In a smaller room, there were many keyboard instruments. At first, you couldn't go in the room - because someone was playing one of the instruments!!!! A lady was sitting at this harpsichord of sorts and was playing it! It was fabulous!!!!! It was very, very nice to hear this instrument being played! It was sooooo cool!

Here are some other instruments in the room. - The lady finished playing, so we were able to go inside once she left.




And here is my favorite instrument of all! It's one of the first ever upright pianos!!!! It took up less space in a room than a grand piano. It's so tall because the strings go up, obviously, instead of out like they do in a grand piano. And they hadn't come up with the modern-day upright piano design yet. I think it is VERY cool! And I REALLY enjoyed seeing it!!!!