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Posts Tagged ‘Uffizi Gallery’

Full of Art is Not that Bad!

Posted in Expat in Italy, Italian Culture, Italy, Living abroad, Living in Italy, Orvieto, Travel, Umbria, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2012| 18 Comments »

You’ve probably heard of the Stendhal syndrome, named for the famous French author who detailed his experience of being overcome with emotion by the immense beauty of Florentine art.   In 1979 an Italian psychiatrist finally gave the syndrome its official name after reporting nearly 100 tourists at the Galleria degli Uffizi had fainted – some sent to hospital when their heads hit the hard marble floor. Personally I have never actually swooned from viewing a painting, but I do get a bit light-headed at the sight of Michelangelo’s David.

Art: The Good, the Bad and….

Unfortunately there won’t be any swooning happening here. You see, at the base of the rock that I live on, in front of the town’s train station sits a sculpture in a fountain. This “work of art” makes a very strong first impression to visitors arriving by rail on their way up to town. It is my understanding (I did some asking around) that the artist is internationally renowned and important enough that the City commissioned not one, but two of his works for installation.   I don’t get it.  I can’t even describe the fountain to you without using terms that would make a 9 year old boy collapse in a heap of laughter at my “potty” humor.  Fortunately no one really cares what I think about the fountain, and why should they?  Who the hell am I to judge the merits of a piece of art?  What I know about art couldn’t fill an espresso cup.  Art, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder.  Enough said.


by Toni DeBella

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