Stone Lions and Other Art (Photo/Theme: 20 November 09)

Amorella here at the Museo dell’ Opificio della Pietre Dure (Museum of Precious Stones) with remnants of the Medici workshop from 1588.

Carol found this museum after a last minute perusing of Rick Steve’s Florence Thursday night and we decided on relaxing Friday as we were leaving really early Saturday morning – an Air France flight to Paris to catch a late morning Delta flight to Cincinnati.

Carol found the ceramics wonderful, but again you discovered you were not to take photos with flash. You did though, so here is one more that captures some of what Carol loved about the place.

Again, there is an elegance of sort, not like the Greek architecture and design in Pompeii, but still elegance with a Florentine flourish.

The point is that this is art created by a human being with money donated by the Medici family. Art and beauty go together with the weaving of mind, eyes and hands in this case. Pompeii and Florence were produced by different cultures in different times but human beings today and tomorrow are still built to appreciate the value of art and science.

People, some, say the soul is seen in the human eye, but I say it is a reflection of the heart not the soul. The human soul is seen in the humanities and the sciences that express dignity surrounded by reason.

You the Living don’t have to agree, of course, but in here, in the books, the Dead agree not because they are directed to do so, but because they, as reasoning creatures, have no choice but to agree.

This is the line of thinking that leads to the rebellion of the first ten thousand in the Place of the Dead. They have Free Choice, but by Necessity it is reduced to walking in one direction. Fate has nothing to do with it.

This is a little too much, Amorella. Too heavy. You are forgetting to mention the dark humor between the lines. The ten thousand are fully conscious of their situation. Shoot, the Dead are more conscious of it than the Living. Such is the humor. What do the Dead have to fear? Nothing. This is a concept I would really like to get a grasp on.

You are wrong, orndorff. What the Dead have to fear is the lack of Reason and the lack of Dignity, that’s the way it will play out in the next three books. It is as simple as that. – Amorella.

Obviously, this is not resolved. However, the trip to Italy is nearly over and the last bit of Florentine art I have and Amorella has chosen to be shown is one more door, in this case, an interior one.

I chose this door because, to me, it is symbolic of a door into the human mind. One that is presently closed, just as this reflection of the trip has come to a close. Another week has gone by. It is Saturday night, and a week ago the Orndorff’s arrived home about seven hours ago. Just like that, the recent trip to Italy is over, on the other side of the door and another week has passed by.