contemporary art in an old palace

so one of the art history classes i'm taking is called art collecting & museology and for our last class we met at the palazzo vecchio for a tour of the former medici residence.  i expected our wonderful british italian professoressa would be leading the tour, but since part of the class is evaluating the ways museums educate the public, we had a museum tour guide who turned out to be an italian man dressed in renaissance garb who told us that when he put on his special necklace we would be transported back to the 16th century. after donning said necklace, he proceeded to introduce himself as giorgio vasari (16th century artist and art historian responsible for the 'modernization' of the palace).  upon learning that we were from "the new world," he called us indians and asked why we weren't wearing feathers (italians aren't big on political correctness, but i'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was adopting the attitudes of the time for authenticity).  i think if i had been on the tour with my family in vacation mode i would have appreciated the time-travel game more, but in with a university group it became rather tedious when he expressed his shock over women who went to school.

the palazzo itself is quite magnificent. i'm becoming a big fan of grotesque decorations on ceilings. the fantastical flora and fauna in rich hues on a yellowed white background are just kind of fabulous.

the other part of the visit which i really loved was the damien hirst exhibit that's currently at the palazzo vecchio. the exhibit is only one piece but i think it's a perfect example of how to combine old and new art.  the piece is called for the love of God and it's a platinum cast of an 18th century skull covered with 8,601 diamonds (in total over 1000 karats).  visually, it's absolutely stunning. even more so because it's displayed in a dark room and light seems to radiate from the sparkly diamonds.

it's actually quite fitting that this piece is on display in the palazzo vecchio because it's displayed in a room right next to francesco i's studiolo. A studiolo or wunderkammer "room of wonders" was a small room used to display objects of all sorts - art, nature, scientific devices, antiquities, and other curiosities.  i think damien hirst's skull would have been right at home in a renaissance studiolo because it's a combination of art and science - a natural object transformed into art.