Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

The museum behind the duomo in Florence holds a variety of art and sculptures that were originally created and placed in the nearby Cathedral, Tower, and Baptistery. Many of the pieces come from the well known Donatello (the artist, not the ninja turtle, who while martially artistic does not, to my knowledge, have any artwork displayed in Florence). While each piece in the museum deserves it's own story, I was most interested in one. Michelangelo is credited with two sculptures known as the Pieta. His second piece with this title is housed in the Duomo's Museum and is special for a couple reasons. First, it was intended to be placed within Michelangelo's own tomb. It was started when he was very late in life and the work was never finished (it also never adorned Michelangelo's funerary). Second, you'll notice in the picture that the sculpture is fractured in a couple places, most notably Christ's left arm. This allegedly occured after Michelangelo attempted to destroy the statue in a fit of rage after finding an impurity in the stone. It was later repaired by one of Michelangelo's students, who also died before completing it. Third, and perhaps most interesting is that Michelangelo is believed to have carved his own likeness into the face of Nicodemus (the man holding Christ). Nicodemus was one of the people that is said to have helped bury Christ and was also apparently referenced in some texts as being an artist and sculptor. Michelangelo is said to have identified with Nicodemus in both the artistic sense as well as in a spiritual sense as both men allegedly were "born" into their faith in their later years. Michelangelo's Pieta and Donatello's sculpture of Mary Magdalene (seen below) just seemed to give off a different vibe (to me) than the other sculptures, but there were so many amazing pieces in the museum. The last pieces I'll mention are Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise." These ten bronze reliefs depict the stories of the old testament and they adorned the southern door of the Baptistery (copies of the pieces now hold that place -- see the pictures below). The doors were dubbed "The Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Interestingly the area between a baptistery and a cathedral, which these doors faced, was (is?) apparently often referred to as "paradise." The original works are now encased in nitrogen to maintain their appearance. All in all, I was most impressed with the museum. It was much larger than I expected and housed a fairly vast collection of pieces. A return visit might be necessary. :)