Thursday, November 13, 2025
A photograph of a great work of art is a mere memory. In no way can it have the same impact as an in-person encounter with the original artwork. I experienced this when we visited the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy. I had seen the reproductions of Michelangelo’s marble statue of David but was clueless about how I would react to that masterpiece. A kilometer from the museum, in the Piazza della Signoria, stands a statue of David that I mistook to be the original. The resemblance was uncanny. I looked at it from all sides, appreciating the work, but I did not feel its power – the youthful beauty or the vigor written about in essays that I had read for its preparation. Then we entered the museum where we were magnetized by many works of Michelangelo....
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