The snow is melting, and the temperature is consistently above freezing at last. The sun tried very hard to peek through the clouds, and there were patches of blue sky for a little while! Looking up and down the Arno on my walk to the Uffizi Gallery, there was a very thin, even fog over the whole city.

Photos were not allowed inside the gallery, but in the enormous Piazza della Signoria, adjacent to the museum and Palazzo Vecchio, there is an alcove with beautiful Roman statues, called Loggia dei Lanzi. It’s essentially an outdoor museum, and contains statues from Antiquity and the Renaissance.

The steps into the alcove are guarded by a pair of lions. I found this interesting because of their similarity to the Chinese guardian lions situated in pairs outside of temples and palaces, which also hold a sphere (or, in the case of the female of the pair, a cub) in the inside paw.

Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus.

Perseus with the head of Medusa.

I loved all of the statues here, even those not pictured. They are kinetic, dynamic, even as they stand still. Many of the statues showed their subjects in motion, as if captured in the midst of a dramatic struggle.

Piazzale degli Uffizi is lined with statues of important figures in Italian (especially Florentine) history. My favorite was of Niccolo Macchiavelli.

I love it because he looks so crafty.

The Uffizi Gallery was predominantly religious paintings and portraits of aristocracy, but also had a great array of Roman busts and sculptures. Paintings depicting Greek myth are, I think, my favorites, but there was a special exhibit of Artemisia Gentileschi, whose paintings were incredibly powerful and emotional–far more so than most of her male contemporaries.