Marvelling at the Masters - and beholden to the Medici

Sunshine lit my Renaissance route today, following Florentine magic from the Uffizi to the Pitti Palace. For all that is written about the Medici - the good and the bad - I am forever grateful for their investment in the arts. Helping enable some of the Masters to pursue their craft and realise their creative genius has turned out to be both a global and eternal investment, as artists continue to learn from their work and be inspired centuries after.

As I walked across medieval steps and the flagstone paths they trod, I wondered at how that moment in time held the perfect and rare combination of favourable factors, the exact circumstances for such a cultural and artistic melting pot to bubble and grow. We will never see the like again. I wonder if they realised the magic of the time while they were living within it?

A perusal of old and new friends in the museums with new found respect and admiration for some pieces that fell under the radar on previous visits, and fresh eyes on firm favourites. Funny how it is only when attempting to copy the Masters that you fully realise the degree of their mastery.