Day 60
The big adventure today was that my friend took me to her high school. That doesn't sound that cool. Let me explain: she goes to Istituto Statale d'Arte, the State Art High School, which used to be the royal stables for the Medici at Palazzo Pitti (it's right next to Boboli Gardens) and now houses a "gipsoteca" where the plaster casts of all famous works of art are stored as backups in case something happens to the original. If you've read Inferno by Dan Brown, you know what I'm talking about. Once, when a crazy person damaged the hand of the real David, the replica kept at ISA was used to fix it!
The outside of the school is impressive, even on a rainy day in winter like today. It's an impressively large yellow building and when everything comes alive in spring and summer, the road leading up to it is flanked by a row of trees.
I didn't really know what to expect, so my initial impression was just kind of like "Wowww." 
There were a lot of copies of the most famous statues all in one place inside this big room. Today it looked like it was ready for a meeting or conference because it had red chairs set up. In the middle of the floor was a wooden walkway that led straight to the David. I slowly made my way past the Baptistry doors and the lion statues that live in the Loggia dei Lanzi outside Palazzo Vecchio. 
David's pedestal was shorter here so I had a different perspective. It was strange to stand in front of him without all the tourists around pushing for their turn to take a picture. 
It was cool to find this hidden gem that's not on the main circuit of tourist attractions and it was really nice of my friend to take me!
No comments:
Post a Comment