At heart, I am an observer. I am always picking up on little details and commenting on things that others may not notice. This has only heightened here in Florence.

One of the courses that I’m taking right now is called Museums of Florence, where we visit museums and churches to understand the evolution of art from the Medieval Times through the Renaissance in Florence. By the late Renaissance, artists began to incorporate hand gestures into their paintings. These gestures carry meaning and emotion, adding a new layer of sophistication to paintings.

For example, in Botticelli’s “Primavera” painting, which can be found in the Uffizi Gallery, we see many gestures carried out by each character. Venus, the character in the center with red drapery, is using her hand to create an inviting gesture.

My professor later advised my class to look around and observe how Italians use their hands to speak today. I took this prompt and began paying attention to conversations in restaurants, coffee shops, and around the city. While I don’t understand Italian, I can typically make out the tone of a conversation along with small details because of hand gestures. The classic pinched fingers gesture means “what do you want?” or “what are you saying?” Other gestures represent disbelief, sadness, fear, and much more.

Back at home and in Pittsburgh, gestures are not a critical part of our language. While some people speak with their hands to add drama, their gestures usually lack meaning. In the U.S., there is more of an emphasis on how you articulate your ideas and tone, but in Italy, gestures carry almost as much weight as words.

As an outsider, I perceive hand gestures to strengthen Italians’ conversations and make them more personable. This way of communicating is very different from what I am used to, but I admire how expression is not only delivered through the voice. I was shocked to see how much power the hand can hold in conversations.