I Cannot Escape Good Art

Photos taken by Asher Savel (Bowdoin College), Student Correspondent for CET Florence, Fall 2024

Trying to Eat My Own Art: Cooking Class

On a weary Monday night, I was starving from traveling to Naples. I was hungry, and I did not want to spend money. I needed to cook! Cooking is lovely, especially for someone who wants to learn and needs food. This describes me completely. I went to a local culinary school with my CET friends and was taught a fantastic pasta-making lesson.

Led by the kind, patient, and talented Jacopo, we learned how to make fettucine from scratch. This is the kind of pasta that you dream of. We started with some semolina and all-purpose flower, added an egg, and then kneaded it until we could start forming the beautiful folds of the fresh pasta. Jacopo helped cook a traditional ragu sauce right there, and as we sat down in the next room, we were treated to the freshest pasta and ragu in Italy. It truly reinvigorated my soul. Should I go home and miss the starving nights in Florence, I can make some fresh pasta to bring back good memories.

Leaving it to the masters: Scuola di Cuoio

I realized that I could not cook pasta as well as a seasoned Florentine chef could, so I gave up on my dreams of becoming a pasta chef. As soon as I was granted a tour of the legendary leather shop Scuola di Cuoio, I also abandoned my dream of molding Tuscan leather. Tuscan leather is one of the most famous materials in the world, and once you enter the Scuola, which is behind the oldest church in Florence, Santa Croce, you will see why.

The leather here is molded by artisans who are studying to work with leather at high-end fashion brands. Even the daughter of the founder of the school is still creating her unique designs for the Scuola using high-end leather. We watched as a technician, who had worked there for over twenty years, apply a beautiful pattern of gold leaf to a leather coaster. Truly stunning. The only issue with this place is the price, as a coaster could set you back twenty-five euros and a jacket over seven hundred!

Meeting the REAL masters: Cappellee Medicee

I wasn’t satisfied. I needed to be in further awe of Florentine culture. The Scuola was housed in a building financed initially by the Medici, so I visited them to understand true power. While it was in the context of my History of the Medici course, my visit was wonderful. I had not expected this funerary chapel to be so ornately beautiful as the main chapel had the tombs of each Medici member who held the title of “Grand Duke of Tuscany.” It was difficult to not look up.

We also saw a gift that Pope Leo X, or Giovanni di Lorenzo di Medici, had received during his papal duties. Towards the end, we saw the tomb of Cosimo the Elder, the patriarch of the family, whose tomb was built into a pillar of the San Lorenzo church. I felt like I understood true power and how art can transform lives everywhere. So, I set out on my final journey, finding art in the city and creating my own.

Finding my own art: A Weekend in Florence

I love photography. It gives you instant feedback, can create a completely other world just by using a frame, and can change your perspective on things you see every day. In Florence, always look up. There may be an amazing photo, statue, or fresco waiting to be seen. Walking the streets I came upon this gorgeous statue that I felt like I had passed time and time again, like the other people in the photo were doing. In fact, everyone was looking away from the statue. I felt like I had seen something forbidden.

Then, I went to where everyone looks at art–Palazzo Strozzi’s new exhibition on Helen Frankenthaler. I love her use of colors and her surreal patterns, and this exhibit did not disappoint. However, I grew tired of people. I needed solitude. I escaped to the Boboli Gardens, which I got into for free using my Uffizi Pass from CET. Then, I found this photo by the island fountain. I felt like I was intruding on a moment. I finally felt relaxed, inspired, and ready to open my eyes more to the world around me.