Florence's Golden Boy - David

 Day 6 (9 May 2025)

 

Today, we made our way from Rome to Florence on the fast train. This was our first time taking the train in Italy so we got to the station early. But we realised that it didn't make an ounce of difference cos the boards only reveal the platform of the train about 10mins before it departs, which makes it a little nerve-wracking, especially if the platform is far from where you're waiting. Crowds of people mingle around the big signboards, then when platform numbers come on, you see them moving around hurriedly.

 

 

 

The journey took only about 1.5 hrs and the ride was smooth. Contrary to popular belief, the Italian trains are very clean and mostly on time.

Our itinerary in Florence today was only one item - to see Michelangelo's David at Galleria dell'Accademia. I'm sure we've all seen it in photos but let me say this, no photo can do justice to this masterpiece. Towering at more than 5 metres tall, David is jaw-dropping in person. 

 

Michelangelo was commissioned to create David for the cathedral of Florence. He was only 26 years old then but already recognised as a genius in his own right. He was one of the rare artists to have enjoyed patronage and support from both the guild of Rome and the Pope during his lifetime. Michelangelo reused a 5-ton block of marble that was discarded 40 years before because other artists felt the green veining and imperfections in the marble made it unusable. 

 

He took only 18 months and it was universally regarded as revolutionary. First, he was nude. Also, up to that point, depictions of David were typically of his victory after slaying Goliath. Nobody had ever showed David before the battle, looking tense but confident. Michelangelo created the head and the hands to be larger in proportion as the statue was intended to be placed 80m on top of the cathedral, so when looking upwards, the perspective would be realistic. However, when the statue was unveiled, the church felt that it was so extraordinary they decided to place the statue outside at Piazza della Signoria instead of in the cathedral so that more people could view it. (Today, the statue has been moved to the Accademia and a replica stands at the piazza).

 

In typical Michelangelo fashion, David is muscular (even his depictions of female characters like Mary are muscular). Michelangelo was deeply familiar with the human anatomy. He carved the jugular vein at the neck bulging, which accurately depicts someone who is tense. The amazing thing is that Michelangelo already knew this but medical science wouldn't discover this until 124 years later! Andre marvelled at the veins on the arms and legs. He said even CGI struggles with making them realistic!

Andre: "He was my age when he created this? What am I doing with my life..."

 

The Accademia even built a domed ceiling of glass to specially have light flood in for the statue.

 

There's another Michelangelo sculpture at the Accademia - one of the three Pietas he did. This one is incomplete. He saw each marble block as having a prisoner within and his job was just to extract it. 💜

 

The Accademia is basically an academy where students worked and studied, and this room contained all the student work. There are so many busts, I guess it's what they had to practise doing. I think it must have been very demoralising studying at the Accademia amidst so many greats during the Renaissance. For students, most of the sculptures are done using plaster, not marble which is expensive. 

 

Andre and I were very tickled by this placard - studio exam! Imagine an invigilator going, "Ok, you have 2 days to create a statue, the topic is faun and panther. Your time starts now." And we thought our exams are hard!

 

There's also a music gallery which showed the instruments collected by the Medici family, including violins and violas by the famous Stradivari. Interesting fact: the piano was invented in Florence. 

 

 

Lunch was at Trattoria Mario, a very local place. We're notice that the restaurants in Rome and Florence are deceptively small. The front of the restaurant and doorway tend to be narrow. Then when they lead you in, often through a labyrinth passing through rooms with different themes and decors, you realise it goes so deep in. Sometimes upstairs or downstairs into a dungeon! I've been known to have trouble finding my way back to my table if I use the toilet 😂 

 

 

 

 

The service here is brusque but by chance, we ordered a beef fillet that was relatively affordable (E22) and one of the best steaks we've ever had 😋 Florence is known for their beef. When you order steaks or fillets here, it only comes with the meat. You need to order sides like potatoes or vegetables separately. We also ordered a bean stew and a pasta but I'm starting to find their pastas tasting very similar and cloying after a while. It feels like the only seasoning they know are cheese and salt.

 

We checked into San Giuliano Inn in Florence which is so luxe and centrally located (a 4-min walk from Accademia!) This was the best hotel we stayed at in Italy. There's even a shared kitchenette and living area!

 

 

 

What we found is that in Italy, if the hotel doesn't provide breakfast, they tend to still provide an assortment of teas, coffees and pastries. In this kitchenette, we get croissants in the morning. Something I learned to love is their rusks with Nutella. This is the land of Nutella - it's available everywhere! Coffee is via a Nespresso-type machine with pods provided, and we can take all the water and juice from the fridge as we like. 

The lift is quite unusual though, with double manual doors that you have to pull open to enter and exit.

 

We walked by a Korean minimart and I never thought I'd be one of those Singaporeans who pack instant noodles but after all that pasta, suddenly, the cup noodles looked so enticing! Caved and had it for dinner. Andre was quite disapproving 😆