The Uffizi Museum from Florence comes to Doylestown

Here I am approaching the Michener Museum in Doylestown, PA, from the parking lot. I was sure I knew how to get there - but I took the wrong road. I always get Route 232 and Route 611 confused, but I got there early, so I could avoid the crowds.

I liked these shapes from their Sculpture Garden. It reminded me of the sculptures of David Smith. Such a simple name - David Smith - yet so memorable, from this artist who died tragically at 59 from injuries sustained in a car accident in Bennington, VT, where he lived and worked.

Since you weren't allowed to take pix, I snapped these from the catalog. Above is one of thousands of paintings of The Annunciation, the angels notifying Mary she'll bear Christ.

The Michener exhibit features 45 master works from the 15th through 17th centuries from the the UFFIZI Museum in Florence, Italy, one of the great museums of the world, second only to the Ruth Deming museum pictured below:

Scott just came to the screen door and yelled, Hurray up! C'mon out here.

 A mother woodchuck was leading six babies across his back lawn. (foto from the Internet) This is why we have a compost heap. It's anathema to me to throw food in the trash.

Ach! We're going far afield from Florence.

Madonna and Child by Botticelli. His real name was Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, which I never knew either and shall soon forget. Bott's most famous painting is BIRTH OF VENUS. 

The Last Supper. Many versions were painted. The above shows Judas, who will betray Christ, on the outside of the table. How does this supper compare with Machiavelli's below?

If I were gonna have my own last supper, in keeping w the Jewish tradition, I'd have nova lox with cream cheese, cucumber, tomato, and onion on a pumpernickel bagel. And a large bowl of my mom's knedlach soup (matzoh ball).

I liked this one a lot. Christ, with the sparkles around his head, has been resurrected. By whom? How does that work? Is it possible to do dis today?


Anyhoo, he's appearing before two of his disciples, telling them he's come back. 


The exhibit is superbly curated. We're given an audio box on which we listen to interesting commentary about selected works, including two tapestries. 


A well-dressed Michener employee stays in each of the five rooms of the exhibit to make sure no one touches or steals the paintings.


I talk to Kathleen and ask about the arrival of the paintings. It's pretty much hush-hush so she doesn't know all that much, BUT when the exhibit arrives from Florence, it's accompanied by ARMED GUARDS sent by the director of that august museum.


I ask Kathleen to step into a tiny room with me that features six small paintings.


I point to a small rectangular painting with prominent orange hues.

What's to keep someone from stealing this? I ask, while looking to see how it's affixed on the wall.


An alarm will go off, she says, plus there's only one exit in the museum.


BUZZZ  ... BEEEP .... BUZZZ .... HONK.....SHORT CAUCASIAN FEMALE .....