Ma Bell

The telephone
is by Michelangelo

& is sculpted from
the Carrera marble

that he loved so
much. Is displayed

on top of a basalt
plinth with a bronze

plaque on the topside
corner that details

its provenance. No-
one else around in

the Uffici when it
rings so I pick it up.

"Hello," I say in a
somewhat hesitant

voice. Silence. Then
a response. "Ma dove

sono le nevi di un tempo?"