When I heard about the new art installation in Florence’s beautiful Piazza della Signoria, I headed down to have a look.  I was a day early and the exhibit was not yet ready, but what I saw brought back a flood of memories of our sabbatical two years ago.  It was in the south of France, on that solid gold peninsula called Cap Ferrat, that we came upon a very strange vision on a morning walk along the promenade.  There was a shiny, golden, enormous sculpture of a man astride a giant turtle peeking over a garden wall.  It was too bizzare for words…..we couldn’t conjure any explanation for the thing; who was the man, why the turtle, why so big, why so shiny……so we did the next best thing—-we took a couple of photos.

Man on Turtle, Cap Ferrat, France, February 2014                                                        

Shiny Turtle & Man Sculpture, Cap Ferrat, France, February, 2014                                               

So when I saw that unmistakable shape rising above all the privacy screens surrounding it, I knew what Florence was in store for…..

Art Installation in Progress, Florence, April 2016

A very big surprise.

“Searching for Utopia” by Jon Fabre, Florence, Italy, April 2016

I finally got answers to all of our two year old questions.  The city of Florence is sponsoring an exhibition of the multidiscipline works of the Belgian artist, Jon Fabre.  The exhibition is called “Spiritual Guards” and will include displays of his work in various points around the city.  This is one of the larger works, called “Searching for Utopia” with the artist himself portrayed as the voyager astride the turtle.

“Searching for Utopia”, otherwise known as a very big bronze turtle with rider, Florence Italy, April 2016

The sheer magnitude of the sculpture nearly dwarfs the fountain and statue of Neptune who commanded centre stage before this interloper showed up.  I don’t blame him for turning away.  As you can imagine, the installation is creating quite a buzz among the locals.  Florentines tend to like their art just the way it has always been….classic.  But like it or not, the future is here…….

“Searching for Utopia” , Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, April 2016                

The Piazza della Signoria is a wonderful quad of ancient buildings, exquisite sculptures, cafes and restaurants overlooking it all……so why not inject some controversy once in a while?  It is certainly giving us all something to talk about!