THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

there is this guy and girl in Florence that draw these paintings in chalk in the street. they each do their own work, in other words, one drawing each. They are pretty big drawings. They start at about 10am and complete the drawing around 8pm. They work for the passersby tossed coins. After they are done the fill up water bottles and wash away the drawings. then they do it again the next day. *extra credit* name the original artist of this featured piece. It is titled "madonna and child" and I think her first name might be annabella, but i may be wrong about that. I will try to post a close up picture that they did of a Vermeer painting.

The Duomo of Florence, or the "main cathedral in Florence". The Dome was designed by Brunelleschi. HUGE!





Today's highlight was going to the Uffizi Gallery here in Florence. It is the 2nd most visited museum in all of Europe (the first being the Louvre, of course). I waited in line for over two hours to get in and once inside I spent about 5 hours looking at all the art. Among the most recognizable pieces that I saw were:
"The Birth of Venus"-Bottcelli
"Adoration of the Magi" -Leonardo Da Vinci
"The Holy Family with St. John" -Michelangelo
"Pope Julius II"- Raffael

for those of you who enjoy renaissance art I also saw:
El Greco
Crespi
Francisco Goya
Andrea del Sarto
Parmigianino *modonna w/ long neck
Caravaggio *Medusa *Sacrifice of Isaac *Bacchus

I piece that really struck me was Manfredi's "dispute with the doctors", and Bottecelli's "Primavera" (or "Spring")

My favorite sculptures were those by Giambologna. I'll try to post pictures later of those. They were intense!