Orto de Medici

Hotel Orto de Medici

This photo does not do justice to the hotel but I could not leave it out. This was the most efficient, most gracious hotel staff I have EVER worked with. I highly recommend this hotel if you ever go to Florence, Italy. It is down the street from the Accademia and a short walk to just about anything you might want to enjoy. (See link below)

But the awesome thing about this hotel is that it was once a palace....ever heard of the Medici's? (They were the ruling family who pretty much funded the start of the Renaissance) Good ole Lorenzo "The Magificent" resided here and had a fascination for Roman statues. He felt that painters were 'a dime a dozen' but sculptors were rare indeed. So.....patron of the arts that he was...he opened up his home to young people with artistic talent. They came in and drew the statues and eventually learned to sculpt their own statues as well.  In hind site....this actually became known as the first art gallery and art school.  I guess you can only imagine how very cool this was for me!

This building is of course, VERY old, so it was surprising at best that there was an elevator. It held a suitcase and a person. Or maybe two people and no suitcases, but it did beat climbing 50 stairs or more to your room! The ground floor is "0" and the next floor is "1" etc. It is a European thing, this ground floor numbering. Fun, yes? They provide ONE room key which must be deposited at the front desk every time you go in and out...but you do not want to carry it anyway. Those are HEAVY keys and rings....and they work upside down from ours. The rooms were just as quaint as their web site shows.

The best part, I left out....we had devotions one evening in one of the parlors. It did lose a bit in the transition to modern times because of the 54" flat screen tv, but hey...look at the ceilings and it will take you back centuries!  Did I mention that one of the students in this art school was none other than the fabulously talented Michelangelo? YES! We resided in the same place where Michelangelo studied as a lad of thirteen. Seems that he did not fit in with the other kids, was bullied a bit, and found refuge here, with his great tutors who developed the amazing God-given talent he had been entrusted with.

So...if you think you don't fit in....if you walk to the beat of a different drummer....trust God for direction in your life. Only He knows what potential there is within you, but if you trust Him.....there is no telling where He will lead you and what you will be able to accomplish in his power. Can you imagine the world today if Michelangelo had just run to his room and pouted? As crazy as some of those Medici's were, I surely am thankful that they were patrons of the arts because the world has some great art because of their interests. See....you don't have to BE an artist in order to be a part of the art world!

www.ortodeimedici.it

Statues

I will start adding photos for your 'Trip in Review"

Statues....

We saw a LOT of statues. Michelangelo's work was of course by far the most impressive. Photos were not allowed of "David" but we saw Moses in Rome and so many more. Remember that Florence was the heart of the Renaissance and the Renaissance brought the re-discovery of the beauty and power of the human form. Therefore....fashion was not important for the majority of the statues. Therefore, few were TMA appropriate.
Creativity was important on the trip, so this creative group of students found a way to show you the statues and a part of Medici palaces and still be TMA appropriate. We had some funny shots and a lot of fun on that rainy day in Florence.
Remember also...and it was neat to explain this to students when they asked about the obsession with nudity. There is a great difference between the nudity seen in Florence and in what they are exposed to today. Today it is all about erotic nudity which is pornography.....that is what our society is exposed to in movies, tv, and all kinds of visual advertising.  In the Renaissance it was about the rediscovery of the human form and the power and beauty of what God created. When you think about how the sculptors were able to form out of marble, and that it still stands today, shows how very important humans were, and still are, in God's creation. If people only valued themselves and others as so special and valuable, I wonder what kind of society we would have today. As we were in Florence enjoying the beauty of life....in only a few days we would find the horror that was taking place in America by a gunman who had no value at all for life.

I hope the students came away with a greater value of themselves and how precious they are to God, their Creator. I hope they never let someone take that from them.