The world’s most famous statue after Lady Liberty, Michelangelo’s David has suffered some hard knocks since it was completed in 1504.  The artist worked over thirty months for a mere 400 florins (roughly $50,000 today), and when the official committee couldn’t agree where to erect it, Michelangelo suggested it be placed in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in the Signoria Square, with full public access.  It was an admirably democratic gesture, but Michelangelo hadn’t taken into account the violence of Florentine politics, let alone the effects of wild Italian weather.

As Il Gigante, The Giant, was being moved into position in 1504 – it took three weeks to shift the monolith, using a purpose-built scaffold on wheels – angry demonstrators pelted it with stones.  The affront was not an act of art criticism; the triumphant David was seen to symbolize the recent victory of the Florentine Republic over the deposed Medici family, so pro-Medici factions decide to make a rowdy statement.

Then, in 1512, lightning struck the base.  In 1527, during another of Florence’s many riots, a wooden bench tossed from a window of the Palace hit the statue and broke off David’s lower left arm.  A couple of young art students gathered up the pieces for safe keeping, which were eventually replaced. David stood exposed but unmolested for the next three centuries, until in 1873 it was apparent that the elements were taking their toll on the statue’s surface.

The city finally decided to move David to a purpose-built gallery within the Accademia delle Belle Arti, the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts, where it now stands, suffused by warm light.  A recent cleaning has even restored its 16th century marble sheen.  (A splendid marble replica today stands on the original spot in the Piazza della Signoria, causing bottlenecks of snapshot-taking tourists moving between the square and the Uffizi). But even the move to the Accademia did not protect David against the lunatic fringe: In 1991, a crazed Italian artist, protesting Florence’s excessive reverence for the past, smuggled a hammer into the building and attacked the statue, managing to shatter a big toe before he was apprehended.

Everyone was a critic in Renaissance Florence.  While citizens agreed in 1504 that Michelangelo’s David was a masterpiece, a few local artists carped that there were flaws in the statue – the right hand was a touch too big, the neck a little bit long, the left shin over-sized and something about the left buttock was not quite right.

A story from the time recounts that Piero Soderino, the head of the powerful Florentine Republic, even told the famously irascible Michelangelo that David’s nose was much too large.  Michelangelo then hid some marble dust in his hand, climbed back up his ladder and pretended to do some more “chiseling” on the offending proboscis.  While he did so, he let some marble dust fall from his hand.  The pompous Soderino was fooled – he examined the unchanged nose and announced it was much improved and far more “life-like.” Curiously, nose stories play a big part in Michelangelo’s life.

When he was a 16-year-old student in the Medici Palace, his brusque, rude manner offended a certain Pietro Torrigiano.  Torrigiano punched Michelangelo square on the nose: “I felt bone and cartilage go down like biscuit beneath my knuckles,” Torrigiano gloated, “and this mark of mine he will carry to the grave.” Indeed, for the rest of his life, Michelangelo’s nose was disfigured at the bridge, making his notoriously unkempt, grizzled face look even more wild and unappealing than ever.

The historian Paul Barosky adds a curious footnote to these nose sagas.  In Florentine slang, the nose is often used as a euphemism for another prominent part of the male anatomy.  Thus, in the famous 1504 dispute, Soderino might not have ordered Michelangelo to reduce the size of David’s nose but this other organ, which the storyteller was too polite to directly name.   Indeed, some early viewers of David were so offended by the statue’s casual nudity that the city council commissioned a gold fig leaf to make it more modest; but after a few years, it was quietly removed.

Benvenuta, or welcome, to our second series of posts on Florence, Italy. Over the next two weeks, we will once again travel to the capital city of Tuscany to explore the history and culture of this great region.

As you escape everyday life with our posts we will expose the secrets of the Ponte Vecchio and discover the truth behind the statue of David having two noses.  During your whirlwind trip we will also travel west to spend the day in Pisa.

So, grab a cup of caffè, or espresso as we call it in the States, and settle in as we begin our Italian vacation.

Elegant piazzas, glistening waterways, famous art and stunning cathedrals awaits on your Italy Honeymoon.

Take a romantic gondola ride through Venice‘s canals; gaze into one another’s eyes over a plate of pasta while sipping Chianti in one of Rome‘s many piazzas—now that’s Amore!

Happily ever after begins with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fun, romance and quality time with your new spouse.

The rest of this month we vow to provide you with the essential information to plan the perfect honeymoon and highlight some of the most romantic honeymoon destinations in the world.

Over the next few weeks stroll the white-sand beaches of Hawaii, indulge in a wood-fired Neapolitan pizza in Italy or enjoy romantic views atop the Eiffel Tower in France.

Get ready to say “I Do,” the honeymoon vacation is just beginning…

Rome is one of the most filmed cities on earth, with its signature set location being the Fontana di Trevi, or Trevi Fountain, a romantic, 85-foot-high baroque masterpiece depicting the god of the sea, Neptune, and his Tritons.

In the Hollywood classic Three Coins in a Fountain (1954), three American women toss coins into its picturesque waters and make wishes for love; soon afterwards, all three become involved in passionate romances, to the Oscar-winning title song immortalized by Frank Sinatra.

In the equally-iconic Roman Holiday (1953), a princess traveling incognito (Audrey Hepburn), slips into a hairdresser in front of the Trevi Fountain to get a more fashionable, short haircut, tailed by her freewheeling guide-for-the-day, Gregory Peck.  In a not-so-Hollywood ending, Hepburn must return to her official life as a princess in the final scene, which is shot near the fountain, in the Palazzo Colonnaa.

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If reading about the Eternal City has you fascinated, you may enjoy serving up an appetizing meal inspired by this region.

Try this delicious Italian entree recipe and bring the culinary diversity of Rome into your home.

CHICKEN WITH BLACK OLIVES – Yields 4 servings

One 3 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3/4 C white wine
3/4 C chicken broth
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 t minced fresh rosemary
2 t minced fresh oregano
2 t minced fresh thyme
1 C black olives, Gaeta, or nicoise, rinsed
1. Season chicken with half the salt & pepper. Heat oil in large skillet or Dutch oven. Brown chicken over high heat, skin side down, about 5 minutes.

2. When chicken is golden brown, turn it over, pour wine & chicken broth into pan, scatter garlic, herbs & olives over chicken; add remaining salt & pepper. Shake pan to distribute olives & herbs evenly. Reduce heat & braise chicken over medium-low heat, 25-30 minutes, basting with pan juices while cooking.

3. Heat broiler. When chicken is done, transfer it to an oven-proof platter & cook under broiler for 1-2 minutes to crisp skin. Raise heat under braising pan & simmer juices for 2 minutes to thicken. Spoon olives & juices over chicken & serve.

For more Italian recipes, visit http://www.globusjourneys.com/Burt-Wolf-Signature-Recipes/

Hollywood movies depict Imperial Rome as a city of gleaming marble and gold.  But by the first century AD, more than one million inhabitants were squeezed into the city – a density of population that would not be equaled until 19th century Manhattan.  Poor areas like the Subura district, only a stone’s throw from the Forum, were simply slums of crumbling tenements.  The alleys were no more than 10 feet wide – muddy arteries where walking was a diabolical obstacle course of mule dung, rotting vegetables and falling bricks.  Pedestrians had to dodge tradesmen hawking their wares, jugs of wine hanging overhead from tavern doors, the jabs of fellow pedestrians, even barbers shaving in the middle of the street.  No wonder Romans hung out at the Forum.

All over Rome today, inventive blends of ancient and modern architecture are bringing the public back into once-empty ruins.  The three-story Markets of Trajan, attached to Trajan’s Forum, are a prime example.  Created for the ancients as the world’s first shopping mall, they have been cleverly recast as a gallery for contemporary art.  Visitors peruse the maze of vaulted arcades with their tiny stalls and narrow shops, where vendors once hawked Arabian spices and pearls from Bahrein.  Roman shoppers could even buy fresh fish, kept in tanks full of salt water that was pumped 10 miles from the coast.  Today, the same halls delight the artistic senses with sleek modern sculpture, video installations and glamorous mannequins in the latest Italian designer fashions.

Continuing our post from Thursday, here are 6 more Roman hot spots to make your Rome, Italy vacation more memorable.

Full-Day Excursion to Pompeii

A scenic drive along the Highway of the Sun takes you past the famous Abbey of Montecassino and Naples for a guided visit of POMPEII, both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Roman Highlights

A guided walking tour takes you to some of the most famous monuments. Admire the Spanish Steps, Via Condotti, Piazza Navona, Parliament, and Pantheon.

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