Cultural Heritage Week in Florence, Italy

Cari Amici,
I must apologize for being a bit dull today. Today was just one of those days in which too much sadness just punched me full-on. It did not help that it was raining this morning. While I normally am enchanted by rain, today was one of my potentially last days to work as a madonnara, or street painter. And earning income is one of my largest weaknesses.

However, it stopped raining around 1:30 this afternoon and I looked out over Via Ghibellina to see if the streets were becoming dry enough to draw on. I decided to take a chance and at least try to earn back my permit fee for today. I include a photo here to show you how far I got before the loud thunder strike and more rain hit Florence. I had only just begun the face of the Madonna and her child.

I am not sure if I was just feeling desperate or blue. Or perhaps I felt optimistic that this would just blow over, but at some point, I pulled out my umbrella (after having put all of my belongings under a plastic bag) and kept trying to make some kind of beauty out of chalk that was quickly acting like mud. A few people dropped coins into my little buckets. I vacillated between feeling grateful for the generosity of strangers and feeling pathetic. I mean: I am a 43-year-old broke artist working in the street in the rain to make art for a living. Is this really what I wanted for myself?

At some point, I just stopped. The other artist had given up minutes before and washed away his quickly drawn face. Another madonnaro (not working that day) came up and spoke to me a bit. A wee bit later, I decided that the rains were not going away and took my broom to scrub my drawing off of the street. I noticed that each raindrop turned white as it hit the stone. Whaaaaa??? I looked at the sleeve of my jean jacket and realized that it was snowing! Fantastic, but mamma mia, I was not dressed for this.

Anyway, I packed up and arrived home soaked and decided to try to paint something. But the depression felt too great and so, I began to read to get my mind in a more positive frame.

The good news is that Cultural Heritage Week starts tomorrow and runs through 31 March. Translation: All state- and city-run museums, galleries, and archaeological sites in Florence, Italy, are free to enter on these days, including lectures and guided tours. For more information, visit: www.beniculturali.it or call 06/67232635.

And thank you for reading.