Italy through the eyes and words of others (Part II)

The Duomo in Florence dominates the city from Piazzale
Michelangelo  (wikipedia)

ITALY – No destination in the world has a more immediate impact on travelers than Italy. It is a country that thrives on organized chaos and incongruity inspiring more artists, poets, writers and musicians than other place on earth. Anything anyone writes or says about the most famous "boot" in the world is almost certainly going to be redundant.

From the moment you are washed in its glorious sunshine that reflects the earth tones of centuries of creativity amid spectacular gardens, landscaping and sensual breezes, you know that Italy is one of a kind.

Stunning Amalfi Coast
(wikipedia)

As such, it seems appropriate to revisit some of the classic reflections of others regarding this hedonistic peninsula that civilized the world not once but twice in its history.

(Click on this link to read other quotes about Italy)

For those who have had the joy of traveling to Italy at least once, savor the thoughts of others and reflect upon them as you acknowledge their wisdom.

Rugged coastline toward Positano where Hotel San Pietro is
almost invisible  (wikipedia)

“Italians think reiteration is a form of argument, of logic, even.”

-- Barbara Grizzuti Harrison – Italian Days

“Italians have an astonishing ability to cope with disaster, which is equaled only by their complete inability to deal with success.”

-- Gore Vidal

The Colosseum  in Rome
(wikipedia)

 “What do we find in Italy that can be found nowhere else?  I believe it is a certain permission to be human that other countries lost long ago.” 

-- Erica Jong

“The seven deadly sins seem somewhat less deadly in Italy; the Ten Commandments slightly more malleable.  This is a country that not only accepts contradictions; it positively encourages them.” 

-- Erica Jong

Ancient streets of Pompeii remind us of a glorious past (Taylor)

“Being in Italy is rather like being in love.  So what if people have been in love before?  So what if Italy has been a tourist trap for at least a thousand years?   So what if everything you say in criticism – or praise – of Italy has already been said?  Writers and travelers yet unborn will say it all again, blissfully unaware that anyone has uttered the same thoughts before.”

-- Erica Jong

Ravello is like peering down from heaven  (wikipedia)

“Italy is the opposite of Russia.  In Moscow nothing is known yet everything is clear.  In Rome everything is public, there are no secrets, everybody talks, things are at time flamboyantly enacted, yet one understands nothing.”

-- Luigi Barzini – The Italians

“Painters have sons and painter’s sons have fathers, and in Italy genius runs in the blood.”

-- Barbara Grizzuti Harrison – Italian Days

"The Wedding Cake" (Taylor)

“Reliance on symbols and spectacles must be clearly grasped if one wants to understand Italy, Italian history, manners, civilization, habits and to foresee the future.  It is fundamental to the national character.  It is one of the reasons why the Italians have always excelled in all activities in which the appearance is predominant: architecture, decoration, landscape gardening, the figurative arts, pageantry, fireworks, ceremonies, opera, and now industrial design, stage jewelry, fashions and the cinema.  Italian medieval armor was the most beautiful in Europe: it was highly decorated, elegantly shaped, well-designed, but too light and thin to be used in combat.  In war the Italians themselves preferred the German armor, which was ugly but practical.  It was safer.”

-- Luigi Barzini – The Italians

The great Roman baths of Caracalla  (Taylor)

“Romans are attuned to beauty, to art, to culture.  They are convinced that the way to a satisfied soul, to a life worth living, is through the expression of creativity.  Romans are convinced that beauty is the best investment you can make in life.”

-- Alan Epstein –As The Romans Do

And finally, who better to quote than one of the greatest artists in history, Michelangelo. When he was in his early 20s Michelangelo sculpted "The Pieta" followed in the next five years by "The David."

The Grand Canal beckons amid the charms of Venice  (Taylor)

At the age of 33, he reluctantly painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The project took four years to complete. Oddly enough, when Japan paid for the restoration of the ceiling, it took 12 years to clean it.

When Michelangelo was in his 80s, he designed the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica using the architectural concepts of Filippo Brunelleschi who had solved the same structural impossibilities while creating the Duomo in Florence, Michelangelo's home city.

Sunset at the Colosseum in Rome  (wikipedia)

In tribute to the genius of Italy, its artists and art, we close with the words of Michelangelo who wrote:

“Nowhere does God, in His space, reveal himself to me more clearly than in some lovely human form, which I love solely because it is a mirrored image of himself.”