As a person who once lived a fairy-tale year in Florence, Italy, I love to hear news from that city. It feels like news from home.

So when the Associated Press reported that perhaps the hunt has ended for DaVinci’s unfinished mural titled “Battle of Anghiari,” my heart raced. The beauty I experienced in Florence was a lovely mix of art, passion, culture and youth. An intoxicating mix I shared with 90 other Gonzaga students. We fell in love with Dante, Petrarch, Michelangelo, DaVinci and each other.

DaVinci started the mural in 1505 to commemorate the 15th-century victory by Florence over Milan at the medieval Tuscan town of Anghiari. He left Florence in 1506, leaving the work unfinished.

The Renaissance holds many secrets. Was it the artist Vasari who wrote “cerca, trova” (seek, find) on his own work to suggest that DaVinci’s work rested underneath? The National Geographic Society and the University of California in partnership with the city of Florence may uncover DaVinci’s creative masterpiece in Florence.  

 As for our Gonzaga-in-Florence Renaissance secrets? They belong to the artists alone.

(S-R archives photo: A couple kiss each other during a snowfall in Florence, Italy)

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