‘Designs by Michelangelo’

Mark Twain once said ‘the Creator made Italy from designs by Michelangelo’ and it’s hard to disagree, especially here in Florence where we’re surrounded by the work of the man who was himself described as ‘Il Divino‘.

We’ve been awestruck once more by the treasures on display in the museums and galleries of this city. Standing before them we’re filled with wonder at the mastery of the artists and the beauty of the works themselves.

But what of our experience of David this time around? Was he really as impressive as we remembered or had our imaginations somehow embellished his beauty?

Certainly we thought David might seem more ‘ordinary’ on this return visit, but Michelangelo’s masterpiece managed to stop us in our tracks yet again. Familiar and new all at once, David is surely one of the ‘Divine One’s’ greatest creations. And it seems there are many others who agree.

Michelangelo's David and his adoring fans

Created between 1501 and 1504, the masterpiece is more than 5 metres tall

David weathered the elements in Florence's Piazza della Signoria for more than 300 years before being brought indoors

Michelangelo's work can also be seen in the city's Medici Chapels

He designed the Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacresty) and created many of its sculptures including these, 'Dusk' and 'Dawn'

And 'Night' and 'Day'

The Chapels are a monument to the position and patronage of the Medici family

Florence's Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

And the interior of Brunelleschi's magnificent dome

The wonderful Uffizi Gallery was originally built to house the city's administrative offices

The Uffizi attracts more than 2 million visitors each year

Michelangelo's only easel painting, the 'Tondo Doni' (1506), is exhibited here

The three Graces from Botticelli's famous 'Primavera' (1482)

Silenus with the Young Bacchus, Jacopo del Duca (1571-1574)

From Gentile da Fabriano's 'Adoration of the Magi' (1423)

And almost 60 years later Leonardo Da Vinci began work on his 'Adoration of the Magi' (1481)

The unfinished work has provided insight into Da Vinci's style and technique

And Titan's 'Venus of Urbino' (1538)

These frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel date from the 1400s

In 1771 the tiny chapel somehow survived a fire that destroyed almost everything around it

The Palazzo Pitti's Palatine Gallery

The Palace was built in 1457 for the Pitti family and was later bought by the Medicis

Pietro da Cortona's 'Golden Age', from the 'Four Ages of Man' cycle of frescoes (1637- 1640)

And Giuseppe Collignon's 'Prometheus Steals Fire from Apollo's Sun Chariot' (1814)