
Early February in Florence greeted me with calm weather, which augured well for a fine spring. I was to spend my semester immersed in art at Florence’srenowned Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Michelangelo and Bronzino, Cellini and Giambologna belonged to the revered institution, and Artemisia Gentileschi became the first female member), where I would also finish my university degree by completing graduate courses in Italian cinema and sociolinguistics.
Spring was approaching. During my long walks to downtown Florence from the Fiesole Hills where I was staying (legend has it that Leonardo tested his flying machines in the same hills five centuries earlier), as I grew more and more familiar with local sights, scents and sounds, I began visualizing a distinct series of images, woven around themes linking the Renaissance to our time.