The air of Renaissance
Florence is the birthplace of the European rebirth, the Renaissance. After about 500 years, I walked into this glorious city, which had had its utter brilliance over the 15th century. Inside the ciry, I felt the time had gone back: all the narrow stony roads, low birck houses and wall doodles were perfectly preserved. Carriages and horses were more common scenes than cars and trains, which made it a classic shelter in the already modernized world. I heard that the government proposed to add 5 new train/bus route in the city, but the wise and courageous citizens blocked 4 of them by voting. So they voted to choose the changes they wanted, not to profit; I heartily paid my respect.
This David in the picture above was not the original one Michelangelo once made; still it was a shock. What a perfect body! (Girls sighed) For the first time in the history, artists began to focus on the subject of humans ourselves, proportional and emotional. Art for art’s sake, instead of religion’s. The other sculptures around the plaza were all original ones. I could feel that the newly-born individualism, which gradually got away from the pure theological thinking and desired to express oneself as an independent man who alone had the power to choose and change. I think, This monumental progress in mind is the mark of modern thinking, in which the individualism had reached its peak (US people especially embraced it).
Standing under David and looked westward, I got a pretty good shot: from near to far, the Giovanni de’ Medici, the Piazza dil Duomo and La Puerta del Cielo. I admired Medici family for really a long time and when I stepped right before his face, I found out that after all, he was also a common people, no more than 7 feet high. Medici the first was a man on deeds: he ignored the church’s prohibitions and financed his enormous fortune for the whole changing world economy (and his descendants acquired their fame by spending his fortune), but anyway, he was a real mortal with real life, real job, real family, real emotions and real defects. So I didn’t want to deny any greatness of the great; yet I saw them fundamentally as people just like me. Some concluded that Leonardo da Vinci was the LAST human who could command nearly all realms of knowledge and Bill Gates was a unsurpassed legend of a never-back time, but who dare say now it is not a better time and a even more-better time shall not come? It is imperative not to allow this sentiment to become our reason to resign. Common people with uncommon struggle make the history and the rest of the matter is who stand in front and who back. Well, let’s go on. Piazza dil Duomo, specially made of three-color-stones, was the third largest cathedral in the world, but it certainly didn’t blow me that much. As my friend Y said, the cathedral should not be stylish. La Puerta del Cielo, or the Heaven’s Gate didn’t open its gate at usual time; still hundreds of people are having photos before it. My point is: heaven is truly a nice place to go, but I don’t really want to come to heaven this soon LoL.
"Geography is Destiny". Adam Smith once mentioned the Italian city states in 1450~1550, of which the Republic of Florence was the most properous. Geography was the main reason: 1. proximity to the sea, 2. gateway to east, 3. focus of the Roman crisis. These factors helped Forence to control the Euro trade and fostered the local marketing and manufactoring, which resulted in the huge economic power of the state. Money is meant to be spent. Wealth encouraged earthly enjoyment and diminished dedication to religious tradion; also wealth patronized the art, making the art-religion seperation possible. Anyway, secularism was born and money became the power. So the Renaissance in Florence had its inevitablity, the early development of capitalism, made possible by geographical advantage. Together with accidental great personalities like Medici family and Da Vinci, the dawn of modern world had taken place. Inevitability and occasionality together made sence; it was always the way history went.
Hurried was the way I went. Pitifully I couldn’t stay too much longer. Florence was a madam who had some mysteries beyond superfacial apperance and I thought her worth more days of staying. If I’d come back someday, I’d choose to walk outwards, to the country yards, small churchs, old benches, things like that, to trace the air of Renaissance. And I will.
Can i get a one small photo from your blog?
Have a nice day
Of course:)