The Art of Man: Florence

It was the best of lines, it was the worst of lines.

It was the line for the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy.

For one week each year, Florence museums are free to all - certainly a positive - but that means long lines, too.

As the line of people sprawled back several hundred feet, the architectural lines struck me.

The sides of the Uffizi, which is u-shaped in design, deceptively narrowed toward each other as sunlight peaked through the windows of one side of the building, stopping short of the shadow cast by the other side of the imposing structure.

I saw that picture of intersecting skylines in my head before I saw it on film. The Florence I was visiting was a Florence of design and intellectual patterns and colors. It was a perfectly artful city.

Whereas Rome traced man's history in ancient ruins, Florence is a testament to man's accomplishment in color and design. It's a city where the intellectual journey to the soul of mankind is made through vibrance and skylines.

The Ponte Vecchio

The best way to appreciate the Ponte Vecchio bridge, which was built in 1345, is to stand far away from it. While crossing it is the stuff of lore and pictures, the beauty of Florence can be seen through that bridge from a half-kilometer away.

The skyline of uneven buildings pressed against the water's edge leading to the bridge is a reminder of how people once lived in Europe. It's an idea striking because of preservation that has allowed people to still live where their ancestors first set their eyes on the river flowing beneath the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

The Ponte Vecchio Bridge is the main throwback to Roman times in the city northwest of where the Empire once stood. It was the last in a series of bridges and roads to be constructed during the twilight of the Roman Empire.

Peacefully colored in pale shades of yellow, the bridge was originally avoided by many who saw the blacksmiths and tanners, who used the river for waste, as disgusting and vile.

In 1593, Duke Ferdinando I replaced the bridge occupants with jewelers and goldsmiths, thus raising the rents and attracting a new scene of merchants.

During World War II, the bridge was the city's only route for escaping destruction.

Today, the very bridge that was reviled by the elite and the subject of so many jokes is now a place of beauty; a tourist attraction. Golden-lined window cases greet the bridge's visitors, as travelers struggle for room to take pictures of themselves with the water in the background.

The Accademia

Michelangelo's David is certainly the most spectacular part of any tour through Florence.

The famed sculptor and painter magnificently grants us a glimpse into the simultaneous determination and confusion of the young man whose destiny was to become famous stories of inspiring faith and folklore.

More than that, though, Michelangelo's David presents us with a look at perfection created by man. More than a million people annually make a trip - resembling a pilgrimage - to the statue of David, hardly noticing the other works in the building.

They are drawn by the terribilita look in David's eyes as he stands poised after victory, a biblical figure depicted in the tradition of mythological Greek heroes.

The history of man can be seen in this statue. A perfect creation, yet unmoved, looking toward the future, but firmly grounded in the past, David is a reflection of the art of man...of the history of man.

Well Worth It

The lines were long, but free, and well worth it. To see an art that reflects human history is worth a half hour in line, where the skylines and bridges outside are just as striking as what's inside the museums.