she is so beautiful

Sandro Boticelli's, La nascita di Venere, 1484.

It was raining the day we decided to explore the historical city of Florence, Italy. In her younger days she was quite the mecca of the arts. Many artists would come to her so they could experience her nurturing, passionate embrace. We stood in awe at the end of the day when a familiar drama unfolded before us. The sun was setting and a few rays of light managed to escape the clutches of the clouds, their stretched fingers reached out to touch the sacred Duomo in the center of the city, it was reminiscent of the Michelangelo ceiling in the Sistine Chapel we had just visited in Rome, we were speechless and feeling a moment of private spirituality.

As an art history major, my visit to the Uffizi was undeniably one of the highlights of my trip to Italy. Besides the unforgettable hazelnut, chocolate, Baci (a yummy Italian candy) kissed gelato in Assisi (which is another story), my walk through the Uffizi was my favorite and cherished memory. Though I was with my family entirely throughout the museum, I somehow managed to walk the museum alone which was lovely in itself. One of the paintings that stuck out in my mind was Boticelli's Venus. She is quite the ambassador of beauty as she sits upon the wall in her quiet, stately room. I noticed nothing else. The four walls held four different large paintings but only Venus invited me to linger and stare. There was just one tufted bench to await for your moment when you could have a private viewing with her. Her soft curves and delicate features strike up an imagined love affair the artist must have had with his model. For a moment, I am jealous. I hate to walk away.