Jul 1
The monthly ArtSmart Roundtable brings together some of the best art-focused travel blogs to post on a common theme. This month we are discussing great sculpture! You can find links below for the group’s posts this month. The summer heat has got me thinking about Sicily and so I’m going to introduce you to a phenomenal, ancient piece that I happened to stumbled across on a secluded island (really!).
Michelangelo’s David-Apollo on display at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC on loan from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence (Photo: adapted from NGA publicity materials)
I personally love artworks with a little mystery and what could be better than an unfinished sculpture by Michelangelo? His David-Apollo is currently on display at the National Gallery of Art in DC until March 3rd, on loan from the Museo del Bargello in Florence. The sculpture is so named because there is no real consensus on whom it depicts. In 1530, Michelangelo started a small marble of David. It has been speculated that he abandoned this symbol of Florence and tried to adapt it to a classical Apollo but ultimately left the piece unfinished. To me, there is no evidence to suggest that this figure was ever meant to be an Apollo. More likely, it was a victim of Michelangelo’s legendary perfectionism. The beauty of unfinished pieces is that one can walk around them, examine the carvings and try to understand the master’s thought process up close.
Procession around the Florence Cathedral and Baptistry during the 18th century
Apparently circling the Duomo in Florence as part of the Feast of Corpus Christi procession earns you a plenary indulgence. I didn’t so much choose to participate as I was swept up into the crowd. If anything, our triumphant entrance underneath the gleaming mosaics of the Baptistry was reward enough. But the nuns at the convent where I was renting a room insisted I had earned some spiritual extra credit by taking this walk, so it must be true. Looks like travel really is good for the soul! Here’s how it happened.
It is traditional in Spain, Italy and other Catholic countries to stage elaborate religious procession on Good Friday and Easter. While in Erice, a village on the Western tip of Sicily, I found a Museum of church objects that had a series of statue used to commemorate the Passion story of Jesus on Good Friday.
Mar 26
Seminarians in Siena (Photo: Daydream Tourist)
This is a picture from my 2005 trip to Italy. In Siena, we came across two seminarians in black cassocks trying to read a map. They were so perfectly framed by the medieval street. I keep coming back to this image as one of my favorite from the trip. Besides taking the photo quickly while their backs were turned, my friends and I chatted with these guys and gave them directions. Turns out they were actually from Minnesota. They and some other classmates were exploring Tuscany before heading to Rome for theological studies.
Daydream Tourist 