Exemplar: Florence
The National Museum recently exhibited 'Florence and the Renaissance: Masterpieces Exhibition'. CCTV caused controversy by censoring the private parts of David Apollo in its report. However, through the exhibition introduction, I recalled my trip to Florence.
Located in the central Apennine Peninsula, the capital of top-tier wines, with numerous World Heritage sites, opera, art galleries, blue skies and white clouds under the sun, brightly colored walls, dark green shutters, deep red roofs, and Bocelli's Tuscan night—these were my original motivations to go to Florence. But once there, I gained far more than that.
This place possesses the most profound humanistic history in the world, to the extent that Marxist historians consider the boundary between the feudal era and the capitalist era to have originated here. The Renaissance, which began in Florence—an ideological and cultural movement in the name of science and art—ushered in the prelude to modern European history.
That was at the end of the 13th century. Now let us revisit it: First, humanism, valuing human worth, opposing the suppression of humanity by theology; second, asserting human reason, opposing the theological belittlement of reason; third, advocating the harmony of spirit and flesh, pursuing spiritual fulfillment in earthly life, opposing theology's opposition of spirit and flesh and its denial of earthly life in favor of heavenly life. These ideas, condensed in the dazzling sculptures on the streets of Florence, are so precious for Chinese tourists. Undoubtedly, this is the world capital of art, the cultural center of Europe, and a holy land for cultural tourism.
Leonardo da Vinci, Dante, Galileo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and many other outstanding artists and thinkers created numerous buildings, sculptures, and paintings here that radiate the light of humanistic thought.
Chinese tourists in Florence usually visit two places: the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Piazzale Michelangelo. The people of Tuscany spent over 150 years building the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which is clad in pink, green, and cream-white marble. Its famous dome is a model of Renaissance dome architecture. The museum behind the cathedral houses many artworks. You can also climb the cathedral to the Giotto's Campanile. Opposite the cathedral, the Baptistery of San Giovanni is a representative of Romanesque architecture, with three bronze door reliefs: the south bronze door at the entrance has 28 panels telling the story of John the Baptist; the east door, praised by Michelangelo as the 'Gates of Paradise,' has ten panels depicting Adam and Eve and subjects from the Old Testament; the north bronze door also has 28 panels, themed on the life of Christ and the deeds of his twelve disciples.
Dazzling, simply dazzling.
Piazzale Michelangelo is a place to see sculptures. It has a replica of Michelangelo's David, Michelangelo's famous 'Victory,' the equestrian statue of Cosimo I de' Medici, the 'Father of the Fatherland,' and many ancient and Renaissance marble figurative statues. In the words of German aesthetician Lessing, these sculptures embody motion in stillness, selecting the most suggestive moment of an object in motion, allowing viewers to imagine the object's past and future states from the completed character and its features. At the same time, we cannot see where Lessing's criticized classicist view of 'noble simplicity and silent grandeur' is wrong. Perhaps this is the reason why we Chinese cannot move from the realm of viewing to the free field of thought (in Goethe's words), and also why we still cannot break free from the superstitious theological thinking to pursue happiness in real life.
Engels, once on the altar of modern China, highly praised the progressive role of the Renaissance in history: 'It was the greatest progressive revolution that mankind had so far experienced, a time which called for giants and produced giants—giants in power of thought, passion, and character, in versatility and learning.' Overemphasizing the value of the individual inevitably leads to the swelling of personal desires, material enjoyment, extravagance, corruption, and polarization. Fortunately, Europe also had giants in institutional design and thought. Two important ideas were proposed and implemented: first, everyone's freedom is premised on not hindering others' freedom, so rules must be made to protect people's freedom—this is the basic concept of modern legal systems. Abiding by rules means respecting others' freedom as well as one's own. Second, the sole purpose of government is to protect people's freedom to create wealth and enjoy happiness. Government power is granted by voters. When people's freedom is not protected, government power should be revoked. To prevent government from harming people's rights, government power must be caged. Unfortunately, the Chinese have learned 'ideological liberation' and 'individual freedom' but not these two crucial points. China has giants of reform and opening up, but no giants of ideological enlightenment, no 'giants in power of thought, passion, and character, in versatility and learning.'
The Bargello National Museum, the Accademia Gallery, the Uffizi Gallery, the Ponte Vecchio—there are countless exquisite artworks and countless romantic stories. Florence's lampredotto sandwich, authentic pasta, macaroni, gelato, Italian pizza, Chianti wine with the black rooster logo... all have stories, all have culture.
