26th Sept - 1st Oct - Florence, Italy Part 3

Galleria dell’ Accademia

Early Saturday morning, Bel and I head out to the Accademia gallery. At the turn of the corner, we already see a line building up, waiting. We joined in the queue. Similarly, there are 2 queues, one for independent tourists while another for group tourists / those with pre-booked ticket (of course this is unnecessary this weekend). We were released into the gallery in batches and we almost made it to be in the first batch. We were second in line for the next batch, in front of us is an elderly couple who had been to Florence many times before. Then I notice the scribbles on the wall and realized that was written by tourists recording how long they have waited in line, 50 mins, 4 hours… well consider ourselves lucky as our wait was merely 20mins.

Walking into the gallery, immediately David comes into sight, huge and magnificent. I never thought it would be so huge. I stopped in the middle of the hall way. Admiring. There weren’t many tourists yet, hence I can get a perfect view of him. I inched near slowly. I could not resist taking a photo of him although it was forbidden to take photos inside. I surveyed the area and position myself so I would be covered behind the high poles, hidden from the security officer’s vision and quickly took a snap just in time when the officers started asking people not to take photos. I happily put my camera away and continue on admiring David. This is the original David by Michelangelo since 1873. The sculpture was allegedly brought to the Accademia for reasons of conservation, although other factors were involved in its move from its previous outdoor location on Piazza della Signoria.

Next to the statue is a computer displaying David in 3D view. You can use the mouse to rotate the statue in any direction and also add in the element of light from several directions imitating what David would look like at different timing of the day, while he was located outdoors. Also in this gallery are Michelangelo's four unfinished Prisoners, intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II.