DAY 3 IN FIRENZE!

Today was our first actual day of classes. We started off with breakfast at the Instituto Gould then headed over to the JMU Piazza. Today’s subject was about Historical Context in Medici Florence. Sean and Andrew did a presentation on Lorenzo il Magnifico and the Fall of the Republic. We took a quick break and then discussed even more of the historical context.

For Lunch Kelsey, Billy, Jae, Cassandra, Cassie, and I went to L’Osteria di Giovanni. I had a delicious plate of fresh spaghetti with a garlic, olive oil and chili pepper sauce. It was very refreshing and filling!

This afternoon we went to the Santa Maria Novella and Santa Maria del Carmine. I enjoyed Capella Strozzi di Mantova’s piece in Santa Maria Novella. Strozzi’s Last Judgement, Paradise, and Inferno based on Dante’s Divine Comedy had an immense amount of specificity in storytelling and artistry. The Last Judgment made great use of facial expression for those waiting to be judged as well as contrast in color of those in Heaven and those waiting to enter Heaven. I personally loved the Inferno piece because of its specificity. I’m fairly familiar with the various circles of hell as outlined by Dante, so it was intriguing to be able to point them out one by one in this piece of artwork. The importance of religion is so clearly evident in every aspect of the churches and infrastructure in Florence. That is the foundation on which we are building each aspect and idea upon in order to fully understand the Florentines of the 15^th century.

After our outings I got a few more of the readings done for class then decided to take a nap. Kelsey and I got amazing paninis from Gusta Panini for dinner. We then ran in to a few people from our study abroad group and got Gelato. I tried the Lemon and Pink Grapefruit. I will definitely be going back to get that again! It was fantastic. I also felt like I was in the Lizzie McGuire movie while eating gelato. :P

We finished off the night by heading to the Duomo. It was even more stunning and beautiful all lit up! Tomorrow we will be heading to the Ufitzi gallery then to the only Mexican restaurant in Florence.

-Court