The main repository of Italian Renaissance art is in Florence. By FAR. The Uffizi, while not as large as the Louvre, is still massive by any measure. The longest passage way is about a kilometer in length. After visiting several museums in Paris and several in Florence it is the Uffizi and not the Louvre that stands out in our memory. We saw quite a few French Renaissance paintings in the Louvre. They are pathetic compared to Italian Renaissance works. I say that as a person who is half French and not the slightest bit Italian. The ceiling alone is worth the price of admission into the Uffizi.
Brunelleschi’s Duomo which sits atop the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore is an architectural and engineering marvel. It is bigger than the Dome of St. Peter’s. My suggestion: Visit Florence. Visit the Uffizi. Take a sandwich and a bottle of wine to the square at the top of the hill of Michelangelo which overlooks the city.
All that said, we did love the Impressionist art in Paris and the rest of the Contemporary and Modern art. Very much. I expected to be stunned by the Gauguin work, and I was stunned by it. And the Matisse paintings. Original art beats the pants off prints, even expensive ones. You really just have to view original art in order to understand its value, whether that be paintings or sculptures or architecture. Standing in front of a modern art painting years ago I told my sister I did not understand this art. It s showed no skill, since it did not look like a photograph of something. She said “Jim, your problem is that you are viewing art with your brain and not your heart. Art’s value is in how it makes you feel when you view it.” Art was never the same for me after that day. Thank you, Sis.
The Louvre’s only Vermeer was on loan to another museum.
I REALLY want to see a Vermeer. Only 36 Vermeer paintings are known to exist. Again, you really have to see an original painting in order to experience it. Prints give you an idea what it looks like, but they are not the same as when you see the original.
Matisse:
