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FIRENZE
The
MVSEI -
ENGLISH
Uffizi
THE OFFICIAL GUIDE
1 Archaeological Collection 27 Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino
2 Giotto and the 13th century 28 Titian and Sebastiano'del Piombo
3 Sienese Painting of the 14th 29 Dosso and Parmigianino
century 30 Cabinet of Emilian Painting of the
4 Florentine Painting of the 14th 16th century
century 31 Veronese
5-6 International Gothic 32 Bassano and Tintoretto
7 Early Renaissance 33 Corridor of the 16th century
8 Lippi 34 Lombard Painting of the 16th
9 Pollaiolo 10-14 Botticelli century
15 Leonardo 35 Barocci and the tuscan Counter-
16 Geographical Maps reformation
17 Hermaphrodite Room 36-37 Atrium Exit 38 Archaeological
18 Tribune Collection
19 Perugino and Signorelli 41 Rubens
20 Durer 42 Niobe Room
21 Giambellino and Giorgione 43 Caravaggio
22 Flemish and German Renaissance 44 Flemish Painting of the 17th
23 Mantegna and Correggio century
24 Cabinet of Miniatures 45 Painting of the 18th century
25 Michelangelo A Lorraine Atrium and ticket check B
26 Raphael and Andrea del Sarto Belvedere
C Loggia dei Lanzi Terrace
(S) Cafeteria
Second Corridor
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(§) Toilets
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Q Exit
Vasari Corridor
Entrance
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FIRENZE
MVSEI
The Uffizi
Gloria Fossi
Nil
GIUNTI
This book is dedicatedfirst of all to the victims of the bomb of 27 May 1993.
I would like to thank all the staff of the Uffizi Gallery and the Fine Arts and Historic
Works Commission of Florence, Pistoia and Prato for their collaboration in the
preparation of this guide. In particular, for their trust, advice and helpfulness, I would
like to thank thefollowing: Head of the Fine Arts and Historic Works Commission
Antonio Paolucci and his deputy Cristina Acidini Luchinat; Head of the Environmental
and Architectural Works Commission Mario A. Lolli Ghetti; the Director of the Uffizi
Gallery, Annamaria Petrioli Tofani; the Director of the Department of Paintings from
the Medieval to the Early Renaissance, Alessandro Cecchi; the Director of the
Department of Paintings from the Renaissance, Mannerism and Contemporary Art,
Antonio Natali; the Director of the Department of Paintingsfrom the Seventeenth to the
Nineteenth Century and of Tapestries, Cate- rina Caneva;the Curator of the
Archaeological Collections, Giovanni Ago sti; and the Director of Architecture at the
Uffizi Gallery, Antonio Godoli. From the Fine Arts and Historic Works Commission:
the Administrative Director Giovanni Lenza and the Secretary Pasquale Sassu together
with Marco Fossi. Also, Roberto Zanieri from the Secretariat of the Uffizi and all the
technical staff of the Gallery. In addition, for their help, Sara Rettinelli and Morgana
Clinto.
ONE OF THE WORLD’S most important museums, the Uffizi Gallery was one of the first in
Europe to emerge in accordance with the modem idea of a museum, that is to say as a
systematically organised exhibition space designed for public viewing. Two centuries
before it was officially opened in 1765, the Gallery was in fact open to visitors on
request: in 1591, a guide to Florence written by Francesco Bocchi describes it as:
“amongst the most supremely beautiful sights... in the World... filled with ancient
statues, with noble paintings and extremely precious objects”. It is worth remembering
that it was created in a city which had long since been the first to revisit the disused
term museum, which for the ancient Greeks signified a space dedicated to the Muses:
in Florence it was used to describe the collection of antique sculptures which Lorenzo
the Magnificent (1449-1492) established in the garden at San Marco. Artists such as
Leonardo and Michelangelo gathered here “for beauty, for work and for recreation”, as
Giorgio Vasari relates. This latter was not only the architect of the Uffizi but also the
author of the Lives of the Artists published in 1550 and in 1568, a work which will
frequently be referred to in this guide.
The origins of the Uffizi date back to 1560, when at the request of the Medici duke
Cosimo I (1519-1574), Vasari designed a grand palazzo with two wings, “along the
river, almost floating in the air”, which housed the Magistrature, or the administrative
and judicial offices - Uffizi - of the duchy of Tuscany. Five years later Vasari oversaw
in a few short months the building of the elevated gallery which, connecting the Uffizi
to the new Medici residence at Palazzo Pit- ti, runs to this day over the Ponte Vecchio
and the church of Santa Felicita, leading out into the Boboli gardens. In a unique urban
relationship, the Vasari Corridor unites the nerve centres of city: the river, the oldest
bridge and the seats of power, along a spectacular elevated walkway.
But it is to Cosimo’s son, Francesco I (1541-1587) that we owe the first real
nucleus of the Gallery. The introverted Grand Duke had already established a Studiolo
filled with paintings and precious objects in his residence in the Palazzo Vecchio,
which was later also joined to the Uffizi by an elevated passageway. Around 1581 he
transformed the top floor of the Uffizi into a gallery, a place for “walking, with
paintings, statues and other precious things”, and in 1586 gave the eclectic Bernardo
Buontalenti the task of creating the Medici Theatre. This provided a space for
memorable performances, and corresponded in height to the present first and second
floors of the museum, where we now find the col-
7
THE UFFIZI: ITS ORIGINS AND COLLECTIONS
lections of graphic works and other exhibition rooms. The Gallery was illuminated by
large windows, decorated by antique sculptures and by frescoes on the ceiling. But the
most creative idea was the Tribune: a symbolic, unusual, welcoming space, its
octagonal cupola encrusted with shells, filled with works of art and furnishings, all lit
from above. Near the Tribune is a terrace which was closed in by the Grand Duke
Ferdinand, brother of Francesco, in 1589, to create the Loggia of Geographical Maps
(Room 16). At the end of the other wing a hanging garden was created over Orcagna’s
Loggia, beyond the Foundry and other workshops.
Nowadays the Ufflzi Gallery boasts an incomparable artistic heritage: thousands of
pictures from the medieval to the modem age, ancient sculptures, miniatures,
tapestries; it holds an unrivalled position for its series of self-portraits which is
constantly growing through acquisitions and through donations by contemporary
artists, equalled only by its collection in the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints,
outstanding even for this city which traditionally prides itself on being “pre-eminent in
drawing”.
If the Ufflzi Gallery can rightly be called a museum par excellence, this is not just
because of its superb buildings and its works of art. Its unique quality also comes from
the origins of its collections, from its history which goes back more than four centuries
and which is so closely entwined with the events of Florentine civilisation. That the
Ufflzi is a byword for Florence and vice-versa is explained above all by the inborn
vocation for collecting of its governors, with the Medicis 8
THE UFFIZI: ITS ORIGINS AND COLLECTIONS
leading the way: the lords of Florence for three centuries, they were also passionate
patrons and collectors of antiquities from the time of Cosimo the Elder (1389-1464)
who was the patron of artists such as the transgressive Fra Filippo Lippi (Room 8), yet
also responsible for commissioning works with such strict moral and political
meanings as th e Battle of San Romano of Paolo Uccello (Room 7).
The first Medicean collections form, as mentioned earlier, the original nucleus of
the Gallery. However it is also true, as the reader of this guide will realise from the
provenances catalogued here, that many works of art destined for other locations
which eventually found their way to this great U-shaped building in the heart of the
city reflect the tastes and choices of public figures and private citizens, of merchants,
bankers and literati as well as of civic and religious institutions. One need only
mention, in connection with the early fifteenth century, the cultured and vastly
wealthy Palla Strozzi, who approached Gentile da Fabriano, a stranger in Florence, for
an Adoration for his chapel in Santa Trini- ta: a work which in its exotic magic is a
long way from the simple, essential world being evoked in those years by the Tuscan
artist Masaccio. This latter worked with Masolino for the powerful Felice Rrancacci,
and before that for the religious sisters of Sant’Ambrogio (Room 7). In the sixteenth
century one should at least mention Agnolo Doni, patron of Michelangelo (Room 25)
and also of Raphael, to whom he was as important a patron as Lorenzo Nasi (Room
26); and Bartolomeo Panciatichi, painted together with his extremely beautiful wife
by Bronzino (Tribune). The Florentine guilds were also important patrons during the
9
THE UFFIZI: ITS ORIGINS AND COLLECTIONS
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; amongst these were the Bankers Guild, who
commissioned a triptych from Orcagna for the pillar on its property in Orsan- michele,
the seat of the Arts (Room 4), and the Merchants’ Guild, who asked Piero Pollaiolo
and then Botticelli for a series of Virtues for its Tribunal (Room 9). Lastly, many
works now in the Gallery exist thanks to the patronage of the churches, confraternities
and monasteries in and around Florence, from which, furthermore, various artist-
monks emerged such as Fra Angelico, Lorenzo Monaco and Fra Bartolomeo (Rooms
5-6, 7,25).
There are other historical considerations which add to the unique nature of the
Uffizi’s collections: since the fourteenth century Florence has had a closely-woven
international network which has led, often through indirect routes, to fruitful exchange
with foreign artistic influences: the Portinari, agents of the Medici in Bruges, sent the
imposing Van der Goes triptych to the church of Sant’Egidio (Rooms 10-14), and had
themselves painted by the Flemish Mem- ling (Room 22). In addition, official visits
by dignitaries and high-ranking prelates almost always brought some artistic novelty
or other to the banks of the Arno: a chapel in San Miniato was dedicated to the
Cardinal of Portugal who died in Florence in 1459, and it was from this chapel that the
magnificent altarpiece of Pollaiolo (Room 9) came. For the marriage of Maria de’
Medici to Henri IV (1600), the Vicenzan Filippo Pigafetta (1533-1604) published a
description of the Gallery for strangers to the city and planned a room of military
architecture (Room 17). Diplomatic gifts, dowries and inheritances from international
marriages en- 10
THE UFFIZI: ITS ORIGINS AND COLLECTIONS
larged the collections of the grand dukes, who were developing more and more of a
taste for works from other Italian and foreign schools and contemporary, non-
Florentine artists. A few examples: Ferdinand I (1549-1609), who had already
acquired in Rome in 1583 the famous and only recently discovered antique sculptural
group of the Wrestlers (in the Tribune since 1677), received as a gift from Cardinal
del Monte the Medusa by Caravaggio (Room 43) and inherited miniatures and other
works from his wife Christine of Lorraine, granddaughter of Caterina de’ Medici.
Ferdinand II (1610-1670) inherited through his wife Vittoria della Rovere the Piero
della Francesca Diptych (Room 7) and Titian’s Venus ofUrbino (Room 28), amongst
other things, and acquired Nordic paintings through the artist Agostino Tassi, the
Medici’s first artistic intermediary. Cosimo II (1590-1621) was an admirer of the
Emilian Guercino as was his son, the erudite Cardinal Leopoldo (1617-1675), who
founded the Accademia della Crusca, and formed the first collections of self-portraits
and drawings. Cosimo III (1642-1723) bought foreign paintings, particularly Flemish
ones, such as the two great canvases of Rubens damaged by the 1993 bomb, now re-
stored. And finally the Grand Prince Ferdinand (1663-1713) invited artists like
Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Magnasco and the two Riccis to Florence. When the Medici
dynasty died out, the last heir Anna Maria Luisa (1667-1743) sanctioned the Gallery
as “public and inalienable property”, granting the Uffizi a new lease of life during the
Grand Duchy of Lorraine, especially under the enlightened figure of Pietro Leopoldo
(Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790),
11
THE UFFIZI: ITS ORIGINS AND COLLECTIONS
to whom we owe the entrance stairways, the vestibule and the Niobe Room. A
renewed taste for primitives led to the acquisition of earlier works, which often came
from suppressed convents and monasteries; the nucleus of French painting was
formed at that time and the first “scientific” guides were published (Ben- civenni
Pelli, 1779; Luigi Lanzi, 1782).
From the nineteenth century onwards, the growth of the picture gallery has
brought about new displays and new rooms, a process which, despite changing
circumstances, has been almost uninterrupted to this day, notwithstanding the bomb
of 1993. During the postwar period, various rearrangements and restorations have
been carried out by Roberto Salvini, Luisa Becherucci and Luciano Berti. Many other
high-profile interventions have taken place since 1987 under the current director
Annamaria Petrioli Tofani, who alongside the conservators Giovanni Agosti,
Caterina Caneva, Alessandro Cecchi, Antonio Natali, Piera Bocci Pacini and the
architect Antonio Godoli, has carried out the restoration of the Royal Postroom on the
ground floor, of various exhibition rooms and of the Loggia on the first floor; the
philological restoration of the Gallery’s three corridors and the reorganisation
following new criteria of many of the rooms (8 and 15 in the eastern wing and most
of the rooms in the west wing). Finally, the extension of the museum into the vast
areas beneath the Gallery is now at hand, which will include the creation of service
areas. Owing to an improved layout of tapestries, paintings and other works from the
museum’s deposits - with consequent changes and altered positions for works already
on display, particularly 12
THE UFFIZI: ITS ORIGINS AND COLLECTIONS
G. NASINI, Virtues of the Medici Grand Dukes, c. 1698. Ceiling of the Second Corridor
for the seventeenth and eighteenth century paintings which until now were cramped in
the last room of the third corridor - it will be possible to trace an ever-more
meaningful art-historical journey through schools and eras. The remarkable Contini
Bonacossi collection, previously in the Meridiana pavillion at Palazzo Pitti, has also
finally been given a definitive display; there is a temporary entrance from Via
Lambertesca but the collection will soon be linked directly to the rest of the museum.
In addition, the spectacular Loggia on the Arno (corresponding to the Gallery’s
Southern Corridor), which opened in December 1998, will become an integral part of
any visit to the new Uffizi.
NOTE
The Uffizi Gallery is undergoing a phase of large-scale enlargement and reorganisation. The
extension of the exhibition space on the two lower floors of the building may cause the temporary
closure of some rooms, and the repositioning of certain works, at times which it is not presently
possible to predict. The collections of paintings from the seventeenth and eighteenth century,
currently in Rooms 43-45 of the Third Corridor will be subject to extensive reorganisation; for
this reason we have referred to these works without a room number reference.
Measurements are given in centimetres unless otherwise indicated. The inventory numbers,
unless otherwise specified, refer to those taken from the Inventario generate delle Gallerie
fiorentine, known to scholars as Inventario 1890.
13
THE HALL OF SAN PIER SCHERAGGIO
Erected, over thefoundation of a century church and consecrated in 1068, the church
of San Pier Scheraggio was until 1313 the seat of the town councils and the site of
memorable public speeches by Dante and Boccaccio. Some of the arches of the left
nave, which was destroyed in 1410 to enlarge Via della Ninna, are still visible from
the exterior. Among the remaining medieval structures, incorporated into the ground
floor of the Lfftzi in 1560, the central nave still stands, which since 1971 has been
restored and converted into an impressive two-roomed exhibition space. Of note
amongst the works on display here, which include decorative fragments from the
Roman and Medieval ages, is Andrea del Castagno fs cycle of humanistic frescoes.
This work was recovered in 1847from Villa Car- ducci, later to become Villa
Pandolfini. In it the social status of characters from recent Florentine history r is
reflected by depicting them together with heroic figures from the Bible and antiquity.
In hisMemoriale of 1510,
Francesco Albertini
records that Andrea del
Castagno painted a “most
beautiful” loggia, with
“Sibyls and famous Flo-
rentine men”, for Gon-
falonier Carducci’s villa
in Legnaia, on the out-
skirts of Florence. The cy-
cle’s decorative fragments
include the Cumaean
Sibyl, the ancient heroines
Queens Esther and
Tomyris, and six famous
Florentines..The figures
are almost sculptural in
form - standing out
against feigned panels
they create an effect of
three-dimensional space
-M-VIUDICAVIT SE DEF1UO JETPATMAM
around them.
14
THE HALL OF SAN PIER SCHERAGGIO
16
ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
Discovered in Rome in
1671, this bust comes from
the collection of Cardinal
Leopoldo de’ Medici. Con-
sidered to be the last myth-
ical interpretation of Greek
Art, it represents an ide-
alised portrait of the young
Bithynian, favourite of the
Emperor Hadrian.
17
Boy Removing a Thorn Originally from the Villa known and copied several
from his Foot Medici in Rome, this an- times in Rome from the
cient marble sculpture was 12^1 century, began from
Roman copy, Augustan pe-
riod, from the Greek origi-
transferred from the Villa the fifteenth century on-
nal (modern head and other di Poggio Imperiale to the wards to interest Renais-
additions) Uffizi in 1772. The boy sance Florentine artists
Pentelic marble, h. 84 removing a thorn from his who copied and adapted it
Inv. no. 177
foot is an image which, for religious scenes.
18
CABLNET C H AP
A R OF E RINTS AL CD
O L O G I CAND O LRAWINGS
LECTIONS
19
CABINET OF PRINTS AND DRAWINGS
RAPHAEL Nude This was the preparatory this almost sculptural nude
Study drawing for the figure of show that he had studied
Adam in the fresco of the the work of Michelangelo
c. 1509
Disputation over the as well as antique
Charcoal and white chalk on
yellowed white paper mm
Sacrament in Raphael’s sculpture; it comes as little
357x210 Inv. G.D.S.U. no. Stanza della Segnatura surprise that in 1515
541 Er. (1509) in the Vatican. Raphael was named Head
An outstanding draftsman, of of Roman Antiquities by
the vigorous lines with the Medici pope, Leo X.
which he sketches
20
FIRST CORRIDOR FIRST CORRIDOR
After a restoration in 1996, the East Corridor (illustrated below) has largely recovered
its late 16^ century appearance, conceived by Francesco I, founder of the Gallery. The
restoration of the corridor and its display of statues and paintings is based amongst
other things upon the drawings of the Gallery carried out by Fra Benedetto de Greyss
between 1748 and 1765. Following the categories defined in 1597 by Filippo Pigafetta,
the older portraits from the Giovio Series, partly restored, have been placed under the
ceiling, which is decorated with grotesque motifs. The series depicts famous men from
every age and country, and was begun for Cosimo I by Cristofano delTAltissimo, who
in Como (1552-1589) copied the renowned collection by Paolo Giovio. They then
passed from the Pitti Palace to the Uffizi in 1587. After more than two centuries, the
large three-quarter-length portraits oftheAulic series are now set back in regular
spaces beneath the Giovio Series. Francesco I and his successors commissioned these
to extol their family; beginning with the founder, Giovanni diBicci. They were inspired
by older proto types, some of which are still in the Tribune. Ancient busts and
sculptures from the Medici collection alternate along the walls. The ceilings with
grotesque decoration were executed by a group of painters led by Alessandro Allori
(Antonio Tempesta, Ludovico Buti, Giovan Maria Butteri and Ludovico Cigoli, some of
whom were already active in the Studiolo of Palazzo Vecchio). The pavement in large
white and grey marble squares dates back to the Lorraine period (18 ^ century).
21
ALESSANDRO ALLORI The grotesque, a scapes, real and fabulous
Grotesque Decorations typical animals, monsters, masks
with Medicean Devices decoration and satyrs, weapons and
inspired by the
1581
Fresco with tempera friezes in
retouches imperial Roman
385x585 residences, takes
its name from the so-called
“grottoes” in Nero’s
DomusAu- rea in Rome.
Whilst by the end of the
fifteenth century grotesque
decorations began to
appear in the paintings of
artists such as Filippino
Lippi, Pin- turicchio and
Signorelli, they were most
fully developed in the
second half of the sixteenth
century, no accident
considering how well the
style adapted to the bizarre
late-Man- nerist taste of the
age of Francesco I.
Amongst the subjects of
the First Corridor are land-
22
FIRST CORRIDOR
23
ROOM 2 ♦ GIOTTO AND THE 13TH CENTURY
Rooms 2 to 9 are dedicated to medieval art, the early Renaissance, and the art of
Pollaiolo. Room 8 is an exception, having been restructured in 1997 together with
Room 15. The re-ordering of the rooms was carried out during the Fifties (architects
Gardella, Michelucci and Scarpa, director Salvini). The wide opening in the entering
wall allowedfor the entry of large-scale works (Cimabue’s Crucifixion was previously
hung here, and later returned to Santa Croce where it was damaged by the 1966flood).
Alongside some of the earliest examples of Tuscan painting, this first room with its
truss-framed ceiling reminiscent of a medieval church houses three imposing Maestas
by Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto. Their recent restorations have provided new,
important readings and confirm the great skill of Florentine carpenters in carrying out
the complex carpentry of
these three huge panels.
CIMABUE
Maesta
of Santa Trinita
Datable between 1280 and
1290
Tempera on wood, 425x243
Inv. no. 8343 In the Uffizi
since 1919 Restored: 1993
24
ROOM 2 ♦ GIOTTO AND THE 15TH CENTURY
25
ROOM 2 ♦ GIOTTO AND THE 15TH CENTURY
26
ROOM 2 ♦ GIOTTO AND THE 15TH CENTURY
27
ROOM 2 ♦ GIOTTO AND THE 15TH CENTURY
GIOTTO The
Ognissanti Madonna
(whole and details)
c. 1310
Tempera on wood
325x204
Inv. no. 8344
In the Uffizi since 1919
Restored: 1991
28
ROOM 2 ♦ GIOTTO
AND THE 1 5 T H
CENTURY
27
ROOM 5 ♦ SIENESE PAINTING OF THE 14TH CENTURY
resent tlie Incarnation (the
central tondo, now lost,
was to overhang the dove
of the Holy Spirit and rep-
resent God the Father).
Typically Sienese in its
fine use of gold and its
linearity accentuated by the
sinuous, timid withdrawal
of the Virgin, the work also
contains precious realistic
detail such as the var-
iegated marble paving, the
chequered cloak of the an-
gel, the sumptuous vase of
lilies, and finally the fore-
shortened, half-open book.
The writing across the
painting produces an al-
most theatrical effect, in-
dicating the greeting by the
angel to the Virgin.
28
ROOM 5 ♦ SIENESE PAINTING OF THE 14TH CENTURY
AMBROGIO LORENZETTI Four Stories from the Life of Saint Nicholas (Miracle of the
possessed child, of the grain, of the poor youth; Saint Nicholas consecrated as Bishop of Myra)
29
ROOM 5 ♦ SIENESE PAINTING OF THE 14TH CENTURY
Giotto-esque narrative
style, but also an artist at-
tentive to problems of
space.
A surprising vertical “fish-
bone” perspective is seen in
the picture of the saint
freeing the city of Myra
from famine: in this in-
novative marine landscape,
the eye of the viewer is
lifted up to the open sails
along the horizon; note also
the devices of portraying
the saint from behind, and
of the showing the clerks
emerging from behind
columns in the scene of the
Bishop’s consecration.
30
ROOM 5 ♦ SIENESE PAINTING OF THE 14TH CENTURY
AMBROGIO LORENZETTI Painted for the altar of San time. Its minute detail and
Presentation of the Virgin Crescenzio in Siena Cathe- the many descriptive and
in the Temple dral. The scene, with its symbolic inscriptions invite
Signed and dated on frame complex setting which our curiosity. The use of
1342: “Ambrosius Laurentii plays around the per- lacquer and costly lapis
de Senis fecit hos opus anno
domini MCCCXLII”
spective lines of the paving, lazuli for the blue tones
Tempera on wood, 257x168 is much more attractive confirms the importance of
Inv. no. 8346 In the Uffizi than the usual static figures the work, which was copied
since 1913 Restored: 1986 of saints characteristic of up until a century later by
altarpieces of the Sienese painters.
31
ROOM 5 ♦ SIENESE PAINTING OF THE 14TH CENTURY
Painted for the altar of the mark of the mature work of Negusanti, she was founder
Blessed Humility in the Pietro Lorenzetti, here of the Vallom- brosan
church of Saint John Evan- influenced by the quin- convent of San Giovanni
gelist in Florence, dis- tessential solidity of the delle Donne di Faen- za;
mantled into various parts school of Giotto, the work she died in 1310). At her
(located in Berlin and else- represents eleven charming feet, in the central panel, is
where), the painting was scenes from the miraculous perhaps St Margaret,
reassembled in 1954 on the life of the Blessed second abbess of the
basis of an eighteenth- Humility, as she professes monastery, who died in
century drawing. A bench- her humility (formerly 1330 (this work was
30 known as Rosanese dei probably commissioned
ROOM 5 ♦ SIENESE PAINTING OF THE 14TH CENTURY
31
ROOM 4 ♦ FLORENTINE PAINTINGS OF THE 14TH CENTURY
GlOTTINO
Pieta
(whole and detail) c.
1360-1365 Tempera on
wood 195x134 Inv. no.
454
In the Uffizi since 1851
33
ROOM 4 ♦ FLORENTINE PAINTINGS OF THE 14TH CENTURY
34
c.1420-1422 by Pope Martin V. There the body. Exotic devices
LORENZO MONACO stand out from
AND COSIMO ROSSELLI
Adoration of the Magi
Tempera on wood, 115x166 may well have been a pre-
Inv. no. 466 della, now lost, such as in
In the Academy since 1810,
in the Uffizi since 1844 the contemporary Ado-
Restored: 1995 ration of the Magi painted
The provenance of this by Gentile da Fabriano (see
panel painting is uncertain, catalogue below). Lorenzo
but it is probably the Monaco, also a fine
altarpiece painted for the miniaturist, represented the
church of Sant’Egidio by liveliest and most up-to-
Don Lorenzo, a Camal- date style of the age, and
dolese monk from Santa was the founder of a
Maria degli Angeli. It is stylistic reformation which,
also probable that the oc- starting from the
casion for this was the re- experiences of the Giotto
consecration of the church school, created lively
figures displaying
movement in every part of
35
ROOM 5-6 ♦ INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC
36
ROOM 5-6 ♦ INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC
GENTILE DA FABRIANO Palla Strozzi, a man
Adoration of the Magi ofleam- ing and great
(whole and detail) wealth, a rival of the
Signed and dated 1423
Right partition not from the Medici who was once
original predella Tempera on exiled to Padua, com-
wood halo and friezes missioned this sumptuous
stamped with iron 300x283 work for his family chapel
(total)
173x220 (panel) in the church of Santa
Inv. no. 8364 In the Uffizi Trini- ta, where he planned
since 1919 (Right predella the building of a public
panel in the Louvre since library with Greek and
1812)
Latin volumes. His
humanist education with
Byzantine influences is
reflected in this work by
Gentile da Fabriano, who,
originally from the
Marches, was by 1420
living in Florence as a ten-
ant of Palla Strozzi.
With its rich use of gold,
applied to the panel in relief
at certain points, the
painting was to represent
publicly the affluence and
culture of the client, and to
echo the words of Leonardo
Bruni, Chancellor of the
Republic: “The possession
of external wealth affords
the occasion to exercise
virtue.” The Adoration in
the centre of the panel is
simply the culminating
moment of the fabulous
procession of the Magi,
which winds its way down
from the top
37
ROOM 5-6 ♦ INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC
38
ROOM 5-6 ♦ INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC
of the panel, beneath a nature, to the small pillars, literary style typical of
night sky illuminated by to the fabrics woven with Greek humanism, the so-
the star of Bethlehem. The gold, and the harnesses of called ekphrasis, which
eye is drawn to many de- the horses. This analytical allows the minute, elabo-
tails: from the numerous intensity of detail would rate description of multiple
flowers, all drawn from seem to correspond to the elements.
39
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSAXNCE
40
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
41
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
PAOLO UCCELLO The Ba ttle Documents from 1492 would date the work, which
of San Romano (1432) placed this panel in the was probably inspired by
room of Lorenzo the Mag- the interest that Cosimo the
Variously dated between
c. 1435-1438
nificent on the ground floor Elder took in the moralism
and c. 1456-1460 of the Medici Palace, of Seneca, to around 1460,
Tempera on wood together with three lost after the Medici moved
182x323 paintings and two other from their first dwelling in
Inv. no. 479
panels showing phases of Via Larga (today Via
In the Uffizi since the second
half of the 18th century the battle (London, Na- Cavour) to the new palace
tional Gallery; Paris, Lou- designed by Michelozzo on
vre). This information the same
42
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
street. Other scholars, the Sienese, owed much to ing, with the discretion
however, consider that the Cosimo and his cousin typical of Cosimo, at the
series was commissioned Averardo, who were both Medici’s place in public
around 1435 by Cosimo the financial backers of the two life. The scene shown in the
Elder to commemorate the captains Nicolo da Uffizi, marked as the others
1432 battle shortly after it Tolentino and Michelet- to are by a sophisticated use
occurred. The Florentine da Cotignola. of perspective, shows the
victory at the tower of San The paintings by Paolo unsaddling of Bernardino
Romano in Valdelsa against Uccello would in this case della Ciarda, leader of the
the Duke of Milan, an ally already have hung in the enemy army.
of family’s firstpalazzo, hint
43
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
44
ROOM 7 4 THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
45
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
46
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
47
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
The precision of the fea- and Urbino, right down to nificent bird’s-eye view
tures, focusing even on the the south of Italy. Even the unites the perspective of the
less attractive details such tidy landscape in the two panels. The great
as Federigo’s nose, broken background, fading towards painter from Sansepolcro
during a tournament, is a the distant hills and the was also in fact the author
typical characteristic of horizon, possibly evoking of important theoretical
Flemish art and confirms the territory of Mon- treatises on perspective,
that Piero della Francesca tefeltro, the Duke’s land, is such as the De Prospecti-
(active in the court of treated with an almost va pingendi.
Urbino) was one of the miniaturistic technique.
most sensitive interpreters Without using the tradi-
of Nordic art, which was at tional expedient of a curtain
that time well-known and or window, the mag
popular
from Ferrara to Florence
48
ROOM 7 ♦ THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA The two scenes of alle- (Faith, Charity, Hope, and
Diptych of the Duke and gorical carriages, whose Modesty) and the cardinal
Duchess ofUrbino Rear figurative meanings during virtues for Federigo
panels with the Triumphs of
Battista Sforza and Federigo
this age of humanism were (Prudence, Temperance,
da Montefeltro derived from the 14^ Fortitude, and Justice).
c. 1467-1472 Tempera on
century poetical Triumphs Battista, reading intently,
wood 47x33 each Inv. nos. of Petrarch, serve to rides a carriage pulled by
1615, 3342 In the Uffizi since indicate the moral values of two unicorns, a symbol of
1773 Restored: 1986 the two subjects. Each purity and chastity, the
spouse is solemnly reins held by a small angel.
accompanied on the tri- The landscape in the
umphal carriage by four background is probably
Virtues: the theological that of Valdichiana.
Virtues for Battista Sforza Standing behind Federi-
49
ROOM 7 4 THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
go, Victory, symbolised as the long-awaited heir. That mouth, adorning with
an angel, is crowning him; the Duchess was already praise the exploits of her
the lake in the background dead when Piero della great husband.” Under the
can be identified as Lake Francesca depicted her on triumphal carriage of her
Trasimeno. Recent hy- the back of the panel would husband is a further
potheses suggest that two be confirmed by the tone of inscription: “A man pro-
paintings on the reverse the Latin inscription claimed worthy to hold the
were painted on a subse- inscribed on the classical- sceptre by the imperishable
quent occasion to the por- style marble beneath her fame of his virtues, a
traits on the front, that is to image: “The name of the renowned man equal to the
say after the death in woman who knew how to most celebrated con-
childbirth of Battista be moderate during dottieri, is carried in great
Sforza, who in July 1472 favourable times flies from triumph.”
gave birth to Guidubaldo, mouth to
50
ROOM 8 ♦ LIPPI
51
ROOM 8 ♦ LIPP
FILIPPO LIPPI This painting is today out from its frame wdth a
Madonna with Child and among the most admired in delicacy similar to the clas-
Two Angels the Gallery. The Madonna, sical-style reliefs of Dona-
her hair entwined with tello and Luca della Robbia
c. 1465
precious pearls, has an (the pose of the angel in the
Tempera on wood
95x63.5 enchanting profile, believed foreground is probably
Inv. no. 1598 to be that of Lucrezia Buti, derived from a putto on a
In the Uffizi since 1796 a nun with whom the classical sarcophagus). The
friar/painter was scan- background, a magnificent
dalously in love. The sa- painting-with- in-a-
cred group, which also in- painting, seems to
spired Botticelli, Lippi’s anticipate the expansive
assistant in Prato, stands landscapes of Leonardo.
52
ROOM 8 ♦ LIPPI
53
ROOM 8 * LIPPI
55
ROOM 8 ♦ LIPP
56
ROOM 8 ♦ LIPPI
FILIPPINO LIPPI AND place one which was never Lorenzo, Lord of Piombi-
ASSISTANCE Adoration of finished by Leonardo no, and Giovanni, who in
the Magi (Uffizi, inv. no. 1594); he 1496 was ambassador and
was probably helped by married Caterina Sforza, by
Signed and dated on the back
1496 other artists as indicated by whom he was to have
Tempera with oil on wood recent restoration. Among Lodovico, the future con-
258x243 the contemporary portraits dottiere Giovanni dalle
Frame lost and predella di-
vided between the Raleigh included in the sacred Bande Nere and father of
Museum (North Carolina) event, situated in a Cosimo I. The three char-
and private collection Inv. landscape of classical ruins acters portrayed are from
no. 1566 In the Uffizi since
1666 Restored: 1985 and castles, to the left are the Medici line which re-
the Medici “Po- polani”: linquished its power in fi-
In 1496 Filippino Lippi the old man kneeling with delity to the Republic of
painted this Adoration for the astrolabe, which alludes Savonarola: here the crown
the Augustinian convent of to the “astronomer” Wise is taken from Giovanni’s
San Donato in Scopeto Kings, is Pierfrancesco di head while his brother of-
(demolished 1529), to re Lorenzo; behind him are fers him a precious cup to
his sons present to the Child Jesus.
57
ROOM 9 ♦ POLLAIOLO
ANTONIO AND PIERO DEL This painting was for the usual oily priming, typical
POLLAIOLO St Jacob, St altar of the Cardinal of of Flemish art. The work
Vincent and St Eustace Portugal’s Chapel in San displays the fascination of
(Cardinal of Portugal's Miniato al Monte. It has the period for richly varied
Altarpiece) been replaced with a copy. compositions: it is
The chapel, on which the magnificent in its garments
1466-1468
maj or artists of that time studded with jewels, the
Oil on wood 172x179
Original frame, painted and
worked, is dedicated to landscape which one
gilded, attributed to Giuliano Jacob of Lusitania, Car- glimpses beyond the
da Maiano (In the centre, in dinal of Lisbon, who died balustrade, the variegated
enamelled brass, Cardinal’s in Florence in 1459, aged marble paving, and many
coat of arms by the Pollaiolo
25. The Pollaiolo brothers other fine details.
brothers)
Inv. no. 1617 ran a prolific Florentine The pilgrims’ shell can be
In the Ufflzi since 1800 workshop dealing in seen on the hat resting at
Restored: 1994 painting, sculpture and the feet of St Jacob of
goldsmithery. Their al- Compostela, the patron
tarpiece, made of oak, has saint of pilgrims.
been given an un
58
ROOM 9 ♦ POLLAIOLO
ANTONIO POLLAIOLO pendent, which shows an ing a large ruby. She is
Portrait of a Woman angel in relief overly wearing a head-dress typ-
ANTONIO POLLAIOLO
Hercules and Antaeus
Hercules and the Hydra
c. 1475
Oil tempera on wood
16x9e17x12 Inv. nos.
1478,8268 In the Uffizi since
1789, dispersed during World
War II, recovered in 1963,
returned to the Uffizi in 1975
Restored: 1991
Around 1460 Pollaiolo
painted three large can-
vasses of the Labours of
Hercules for the Palazzo
Medici. They were com-
missioned by Cosimo the
Elder or perhaps his son,
Piero (but not by the 11-
year-old Lorenzo de’
Medici, as some have
claimed). The paintings
may be part of a cycle on
defeated tyranny (the
character of Hercules, de-
fender of order and justice
and a legendary symbol of
Florence, does in fact
represent both political and
religious virtues). The two
panels from the Uffizi, with
a third piece in a private
collection on which
Antonio’s brother Piero
collaborated, are most
probably smaller copies,
also by Pollaiolo, of the lost
cycle. The sculptural,
dynamic tension of the
bodies is typical of Antonio
del Pollaiolo, who is
famous for his studies of
nude and anatomy.
60
ROOM 9 # POLLAIOLO
61
ROOM 9 ♦ POLLAIOLO
SANDRO BOTTICELLI First datable work of San- in their palazzo, which was
Fortitude dro Botticelli, Fortitude, near that of the Sig- noria.
1470
along with a Virtue which Other six Virtues from the
was never executed, was series (in this same room)
Tempera on wood
167x87 commissioned from the had already been requested
Inv. no. 1606 artist in 1470 by the Flo- from Piero del Pollaiolo,
In the Uffizi since 1861 rentine Merchants Guild to which it appears he was
Restored: 1998 decorate the banisters in late in delivering.
the Hall of Audiences
62
ROOM 10-14 ♦ BOTTICELLI
This room, created in 1943from the upper part of the Medici Theatre (the beams are
still visible), houses theforemost collection of Botticelli in the world. An initial layout
was created in the postwar period with the altarpieces of Filippino Lippi, Perugino and
Signorelli. In the fifties works by Botticelli began to be transferred here, and by 1978
the layout was more or less as we see it today, apartfrom one or two transfers at the
beginning of the ‘nineties (Filippino Lippi was relocated to Boom 8). Botticelli’s
formation as an artist is displayed here through both sacred and profane works: from
the early works which still show the influence of Filippo Lippi, Verrocchio
andPollaiolo, to those conceived in the intellectual circle of the Medici, to the mystic
paintings of his mature years. Other cultural tendencies of the age are represented in
this room by Ghirlandaio, an artist receptive to Flemish painting, which in turn is also
represented here by the large poliptych of Van der Goes.
SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Portrait of a Young
with a Medal
c. 1470-1475
Tempera on wood and gilded
gesso (medal)
56.5x44
Inv. no. 1488
In the Ufflzi since 1666
Restored: 1991
Previously owned by Car-
dinal Carlo de’ Medici. An
enigmatic youth stares out
at the spectator from a
Flemish-style landscape.
The medal, coined in 1464,
showing the profile of
Cosi- mo the Elder Pater
Patriae with the inscription
MAGNUS COSMUS MEDICES
PPP, supports the theory
that the sitter was either
linked to the Medici circle
or was Antonio Fil- ipepi,
goldsmith and medallist,
and brother of the artist.
63
ROOM 10-14 ♦ BOTTICELL
SANDRO BOTTICELLI but instead Cosmas and Now that many layers of
Sant’Ambrogio Altarpiece Damian, saints traditionally overpainting have been
(or of the Converted linked with the Medici, removed by delicate
Sisters) who kneel at the feet of the restoration, the original
c. 1467-1470
Madonna; also are Mary style of the work has re-
Magdalen, John the Baptist, emerged, to make it a def-
Tempera on wood
170x194 St Francis and St Catherine inite attribution and the first
Inv. no. 8657 of Alexandria. The known altarpiece by this
In the Uffizi since 1946 presence of St Francis of artist.
Restored: 1992 Assisi suggests that this The composition and the
might be the Botticelli pictorial ductus now show
This work was transferred panel seen by Vasari in the clear evidence of the in-
to the Gallery of the Ac- church of St Francis in fluence of Filippo Lippi,
cademia in 1808 from the Montevarchi, but this hy- whose pupil Botticelli was
Benedictine monastery7 of potheses has yet to be con- until the monk left for
Sant’Ambrogio, and it was firmed. However, the the- Spoleto in 1467. The in-
originally thought that the ory that the altarpiece orig- fluence of Verrocchio can
work had been there since inated in the convent of the also be seen in the almost
its completion. However, Converted Sisters, which metallic quality of the
neither Sant’Ambrogio nor for a long time gave its garments; he became
any of the Benedictine name to the painting, has Sandro Botticelli’s master
patron saints are portrayed, now been refuted. in that same year.
64
ROOM 10-14 t BOTTICELLI
MB • 1
V JJ9|
^ ' i if '- -C
II i ■In vWrm
iB
w
m
^ 65
ROOM 10-14 ♦ BOTTICELL
66
ROOM 10-14 ♦BOTTICELLI
DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO seen by Vasari. Against the Standing out against the
Madonna Enthroned with background of a crystal landscape are cypresses, a
Angels and Saints clear sky, a balustrade cov- hibiscus and an orange tree.
ered in jewels supports the Vasari praised the metallic
c. 1480
enthroned Virgin, sur- brilliance of the Archangel
Tempera on wood
191x200 rounded by four garlanded Michael’s armour, obtained
Inv. no. 881 angels - a composition not through the application
In the Uffizi since 1853 which had become well- of gold, but with pure
Restored: 1981 colour, an innovation first
established in Florence by
this period. The Child is attributable to this artist.
Originally on the altar of blessing San Giusto, the Ghirlandaio, also a fine
San Giusto deglilngesuati, a patron saint of the church, portraitist, was one of the
church which was de- who kneels at the front of main artists to take an
molished in 1530 during interest in the novelties of
the painting. The other
the siege of Florence, the Flemish art, the influences
figures are archangels
painting w as transferred to of which can be seen in his
Michael and Raphael,
San Giovanni Battista della landscapes and his special
standing, and St Zanobius,
Calza where it was 62 attention to decorative
patron saint of Florence,
detail.
kneeling on the right.
ROOM 10-14 ♦ BOTTICELLI
SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Calumny
(whole and detail) c.
1495
Tempera on wood 62x91
Inv. no. 1496
In the Ufflzi since 1773
Painted for Antonio Segni,
a Florentine banker who
was a friend of Leonardo,
the painting is a complex
allegory inspired by the
work which Apelles is said
to have painted to refute the
calumny spoken against
him to King Ptolemy
Filelfo by a rival. In it the
victim of the calumny is
dragged before King Midas
who is flanked by Sus-
picion and Ignorance. To
the left stands Thith, naked
as per tradition, next to
Repentance.
65
ROOM 10-14 ♦BOTTICELL
67
ROOM 10-14 ♦ BOTTICELLI
68
work are multifold. The
allegory of Spring, the sea-
son in which the invisible M
orld of Form descends to
mould and shape Matter,
may perhaps be celebrating
the marriage of the erudite
Lorenzo Pier- francesco de’
Medici, friend of Botticelli,
and Semiramide Appiani, a
female relative of Simon-
etta Vespucci, famous for
her beauty and for her pre-
sumed liaison with Giu-
liano de’ Medici.
A more recent interpre-
tation, however, sees the
painting as a metaphorical
celebration of the Liberal
Arts, to be read in a nuptial
key. Whatever the case, the
work remains one of the
highest expressions of the
cretius, and by certain collective imagination, ideal return to the golden
verses of Agnolo Poliziano representing the trans- age of Florence at the time
(1475), friend of the Medici formation of Chloris into of Lorenzo the Mag-
and of the artist, who de- Flora, the Latin goddess of nificent. The most probable
scribes a garden Math the Spring; the Moman in the date of the painting is
Three Graces garlanded centre is possibly Venus, around 1482, when the
with floMers and the and this is her garden. The artist returned home from
springtime wind Zephyrus three women on the left Rome. A detail to note: the
chasing after Flora. The entwined in a dance, flowers in the mead- OM^
Minged genie on the right derived from ancient number almost two
of the painting is indeed images of the Three hundred botanical species
generally thought to be Graces, may be the symbol copied from nature, many
Zephyrus M ho chased and of Liberality. Above is of which flower on the hills
possessed the nymph Cupid, the blindfolded god of Florence in the spring.
Chloris, and then married of love. Finally, the youth Botticelli has, hoMever,
her, giving her the ability to with a traveller’s hat, SM mixed reality and fantasy:
germinate BOM - ers (here ord and winged sandals is wild oranges do not, for
she has blooms falling from certainly Mercury, herald example, appear in nature
her mouth). Near to Chloris of Jove, who is perhaps at the same time as so many
is the smiling figure clothed here as an emblem of other flowers.
in fevers, fixed forever in knowledge.
the The interpretations of this
69
ROOM 10-14 ^BOTTICELLI
ROOM 10-14 ♦BOTTICELLI
SANDRO BOTTICELLI The Tempera on linen canvas The painting, whose ori-
Birth of Venus (whole 172.5x278.5 gins and patron are un-
and details on the Inv. no. 878
In the Uffizi since 1815 known, was by the mid- 16
following pages)
Restored: 1987 th century to be found
c. 1484
together with the Pri-
mavera in the villa at
70
ROOM 10-14 # BOTTICELLI
Castello, the former prop- famous, comes from the the painter Apelles made
erty of Lorenzo di Pier- last century, and is based famous in antiquity. In
francesco de’ Medici, who on a faulty interpretation of fact, Botticelli, inspired by
died in 1503. The title the subject as VenusAna- the writings of Homer and
which, unusually for that diomene (“arising from the Virgil and perhaps once
period, made the painting sea”), a subject which again by the verses of his
71
ROOM 10-14 # BOTTICELLI
friend
72
ROOM 10-14 ♦ BOTTICELL
in Naples but then in the the most serene and riage of Idea and Nature.
gem collection of Lorenzo graceful phase of Botti- Instead of the brilliant and
the Magnificent, the pose celli’s art, linked to the solid colours used for the
ofthe main figure is neo-Platonic atmosphere Primavera, it is painted
inspired by the antique of Lorenzo’s age: once with a mixture of diluted
sculptural type, the Chaste again we are shown the yolk and light tempera
Venus, well-known since fusion of Spirit and Matter, which give it an ap-
medieval times. Like the the harmonious mar pearance similar to that of
Primavera, this famous a fresco.
work is representative of
73
ROOM 10-14 ♦BOTTICELLI
HUGO VAN DER GOES The Portinari Triptych (whole and details)
74
ROOM 10-14 t BOTTICELLI
76
ROOM 15 ♦ LEONARDO
This room was restructured and the display reorganised in 1991. The works, lit from
above by a wide skylight, bear witness above all to the early phases of Leonardo's
Florentine activity, from his beginnings in Verrocchio's studio to his departure for
Milan in 1482. Also exhibited here are some recently restored panel paintings by the
graceful Perugino, an Umbrian artist who was active in Florence at the end of the
century, as well some works by the “eccentric” Piero di Cosimo, whose compositions
were unusually inventive. The works of these two artists form an ideal link with other
paintings carried out in Florence between the ljth and 16^ centuries now on display in
Room 19 (beyond the Tribune) and Room 25 (west wing).
ROOM 15 ♦ LEONARDO
77
ROOM 15 ♦ LEONARDO
78
ROOM 15 ♦ LEONARDO
79
ROOM 15 ♦ LEONARDO
80
ROOM 15 ♦ LEONARDO
81
ROOM 15 ♦ LEONARDO
PIETRO PERUGLNO Madonna throned between St John painting, the streaks down
and Child with Saints the Evangelist and St Se- the right-hand pilaster
bastian. The date is written behind St Sebastian are also
Signed and dated 1493
on the scroll painted onto more visible, and may
Oil tempera on wood
178x164 the base carved with evoke the idea of the col-
Inv. no. 1435 classical motifs. This was umn to which the saint was
In the Uffizi since 1784 the year when Perugino tied at his martyrdom
Restored: 1995 married the beautiful according to tradition. The
Chiara Fancelli, daughter of figure of the martyred saint
This painting, carried out the architect Luca (who was was repeatedly portrayed
for the chapel of Cornelia also to work at the court of by the painter, who, as
Martini in the church of Mantua). Since its Vasari says, often returned
San Domenico di Fiesole, restoration, which has to those “same things” with
shows a Madonna en restored the correct balance which he had most success.
of colours to the
82
ROOM 15 4 LEONARDO
83
ROOM 16 ♦ GEOGRAPHICAL MAPS
At the time of Francesco I, this room was a terrace open towards the East, with two
windows on another wall (later closed up) beside afresco showing the island of Elba.
Around 1589 the new Grand Duke Ferdinand ordered a glass window to close the
loggia, which was then frescoed by Ludovico Buti with geographical maps of Tuscany
following scientific surveys of the territory, drawn by the cartographer Stefano
Bonsignori.
In the enthusiasm for scientific progress, which had already been shown by the
Duke'sfather Co simo for reasons which included political prestige, the room was set
aside to house outstanding scientific instruments, such as the large wooden armillary
sphere made by Antonio Santucci delle Pomarance (1593), the globe attributed to
Ignazio Danti, and Galileo's telescope and astrolabe.
Still undergoing reorganisation, the room today includes some copies of these in-
struments which were transferred some time ago to the Museum of Science. The ceiling
is decorated with mythological canvases by Jacopo Zucchi, who painted them in
Bornefor Ferdinand de' Medici, who was then a Cardinal (c. 1512). They were later
inserted between the beams which were decorated with garlands of fruit and flowers by
Ludovico Buti.
84
ROOM 17 ♦ HERMAPHRODITE ROOM
This delightful little room, joined to the Tribune, dates back to the time of Ferdinand I,
when it was called ((The Mathematics Room”. Today it takes the name of the Sleeping
Hermaphrodite, a sculpture from antiquity famous for its ambiguous sensuality, which
has been on display here since 1669. The work, many variations of which exist in other
museums, is a copy in Parian marble from the bronze original of Polykies and was
acquired by Ferdinand IIfrom theLudovisi Collection in Rome.
The inspiration for the room and its decorations came from Filippo Pigafetta, following
his passion for geometry and mechanics. Around the year 1598, he suggested building
a room devoted to ”the study of military architecture”, with a display of mechanical
instruments, weight-lifting machines, “books, geographical maps and plans, and
models of fortresses”. Certain frescoes on the first ceiling (painted by Giulio Parigi, a
painter, architect, and Medicean engineer), hint at the ambitions of the Grand Duke for
expansion into foreign territories and nautical exploits. Others attest to the hydraulic
skills of Tuscan technicians and the mathematical competence of his men-at-arms, with
a celebration of the greatest historicalfigures in this field: Pythagorus, Ptolemy and
Archimedes, this last portrayed during the siege of Syracuse.
85
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
The octagonal Tribune was planned by Buontalenti in 1584, and with its cupola
encrusted with mother-of-pearl shells set into a background of scarlet lacquer; it was
for Francesco I the jewel in the Gallery's crown. Through windows made from Oriental
crystal, natural light falls softly upon the paintings, on the walls covered in red velvet,
on the sculptures and precious objects. The skirting board, now lost, painted by Jacopo
Ligozzi, had a frieze with fish, birds, streams and plants. The room symbolises the
cosmos and its elements: the lantern with its wind rose represents air; the shells, water;
the red walls, fire; the marble and the semiprecious stones of the pavement, earth. In
the centre, the octagonal jew el case (lost) encrusted with gold, gems, and rare stones,
and with boxes decorated by Giambologna, echoed the shape of the room. Over the
centuries the layout of the room has been rearranged many times, but the ancient
sculptures are still here, pride of the Tribune since the 17^ century, as is the table with
its mosaic of semi-precious stones from the Opificio of the Grand Duke (1633-1649),
and finally many paintings from 16^ century Florence. The date 1601 recently found on
the cupola indicates the
year when the room was
completed.
Medici Venus
Copy from an original
Greek of the 2nd century
BC.
Greek marble, h. 1.53 m.
Inv. no. 224
In the Uffizi since 1677
86
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
87
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
88
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
89
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
90
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
ANDREA DEL SARTO Woman This young woman is smil- ably Maria del Berrettaio,
with the Petrarchino’ ing mysteriously, perhaps bom in 1513 from del Sar-
to her beloved, pointing in to’s first marriage to his
c. 1528 Oil on
her book to the verses of adored wife Lucrezia. The
wood 87x69
Inv. no. 783 two love sonnets by Pe- chosen subj ect of a woman
In the Tribune since 1589 trarch: “Ite caldi sospiri with this book confirms the
Restored: 1986 alfreddo core” (“Go, warm great reputation in the
sighs, to the cold heart”; sixteenth century of this
CLIII), and “Le stelle, il fourteenth century poet,
cielo et gli elementi a pro- whose book of rhymes (the
va” (“The stars, the sky and so called “Petrarchino”)
the elements compete” appears in many other
CLIV). She is prob portraits of the time.
91
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
92
ROOM 18 4 TRIBUNE
93
ROOM 18 ♦ TRIBUNE
94
ROOM 18 4 TRIBUNE
CECCHINO SALVIATI There are two Charities by gem merchant Ridolfo Lan-
Charity Salviati recorded in Flo- di, or that documented in
rence. This gifted master the Uflicio della Decima.
c. 1543-1545
worked above all in Rome, Cecchino, who was much
Oil on wood
where he was the godson of praised during his own time
156x122
Inv. no. 2157 Cardinal Giovanni Salviati. but who fell out of favour
In the Uffizi since 1778 It is unsure whether this in the centuries which
allegory, with its rich followed, is now being
sculptural references found revalued as one of the most
in the Michelangelesque important members of the
pose and the j ewels adom- “bella maniera”, which
ing the figures, was the started with Michelangelo.
painting executed for the
95
ROOM 19 ♦ PERUGINO AND SIGNORELLI
LORENZO DI CREDI
Annunciation
c. 1480-1485
Oil on wood
88x71
Inv. no. 1597
In the Uffizi since 1798
96
ROOM 19 4 PERUGINO AND SIGNORELLI
PIETRO PERUGINO This wonderful portrait is cision of the features, the
Francesco delle Opere probably of Francesco delle position of the figure with
1494
Opere, as indicated on the its hand leaning on the
rear of the painting. This balustrade, and the
Inscription on the scroll: TIMETE
DEUM (Fear God)
Florentine artisan, who died landscape in the back-
Oil on wood 52x44 in Venice in 1516, was the ground, are clearly inspired
Inv. no. 1700 brother of a friend of the by Flemish art, particularly
In the Uffizi since 1833 painter, Giovanni delle by Mem- ling’s portraits
Corniole, a master gem which were already known
cutter. The “photographic” in Florence (Room 22).
pre
V'Ak
!*&
97
ROOM 19 ♦ PERUGINO AND SIGNORELLI
PIERO DI COSIMO Perseus painting precisely for its ures at the far edges of the
Liberating Andromeda completely original com- painting to the nordic wood
position. It narrates in great and straw huts on the
c. 1510-1513 Oil on wood
detail the myth of Perseus unlikely-looking hilltops in
70x123 Inv. no. 1536
In the Tribune since 1589 liberating Andromeda by the background. The
killing the sea monster. The musical instruments are
Initially exhibited in the central scene is dominated equally unlikely: they could
Tribune as a work in which by the dragon in its death- never be played as they are
Piero di Cosimo was throes, but the eye is also all missing a sound box or
following a drawing by drawn to the fascinating, strings. It has been
Leonardo, this is now the almost grotesque landscape, suggested that the scene in
artist’s most famous and to the detail in the this painting was inspired
painting - from the exotic by the Florentine carnival
turbaned fig of 1513 when the Medicis
returned to the city - sym-
bolised by the dried branch
with its new shoot, the
Medici “broncone”
emblem.
A recent study suggests that
the work, which according
to Vasari was painted for
one of the Strozzi family,
belonged to Filippo the
Younger, who in 1510 paid
Piero for a “work” for his
bedchamber.
98
ROOM 20 ♦ DURER
As in the previous room and the four that follow, the original fresco decoration was
carried out in 1588 by Ludovico Buti. The four views of Florentine spectacles on the
vault were however repainted during the middle of the 19^ century. Under the current
layout, the room houses masterpieces from the great German painters, Durer and
Cranach, and the Flemish painter Bruegel the Elder. Amongst the works of Durer (who
made two key trips to Italy in 1494 and 1505), the Portrait of the Artist’s Father (1490)
and the Madonna with Pear (1526) stand out, along with the Adoration discussed
below.
ALBRECHT DURER Adoration Painted just before Diir- nordic-style landscape with
of the Magi er’s second trip to Italy, the small figures in the
intense colors and use of distance. The careful study
Monogrammed
and dated 1504 perspective are both of plants and animals, so
Oil on wood reminiscent of Venetian rich in symbolism,
99x113,5 painting, particularly that of confirms Diirer’s practise
Inv. no. 1434 Mantegna and Giovanni of studying nature,
In the Uffizi since 1793
(side panels in Frankfurt, Bellini. characteristic of most of
Colonie, Munich) The classical ruins, typical this German master’s work.
of Italian painting, combine
well with the
99
ROOM 20 ♦ DURER
100
ROOM 20 ♦ DURER
101
ROOM 21 ♦ GIAMBELLINO AND GIORGIONE
As in the previous two rooms adjoining the Tribune and the two to follow, this room
was part of the space that Ferdinand I dedicated to his collection of armoury in 1588.
Ferdinand, who succeeded his brother Francesco as Grand Duke, took great interest in
the Gallery and in increasing his collections, amongst which that of weapons and
armour is particularly valuable. The frescoes on the ceiling, for Ludovico Buti is
principally responsible, represent battles and grotesque motifs showing Indians and
tropical fauna and flora, displaying the expansionist tendencies of the Medici towards
the New World, and particularly Mexico, from whence many pieces in their collection
came, formerly kept in what is now Room 24. Today, Room 21 contains various
masterpieces by artists active in the second half of the 15^ century and the early 16^
century: Venetians such as Giovanni Bellini and Giorgione, and artists from Ferrara
such as Cosme Turn.
102
ROOM 21 ♦ GIAMBELLINO AND GIORGIONE
GIOVANNI BELLINI
KNOWN AS GIAMBELLINO Allegory
Variously dated between disturbingly inexplicable”, his sword, and St Peter (or
1487 and 1501 it is difficult to date St Joseph). On the
Oil on wood 73x119 Inv. no.
903 precisely over the long
In the Uffizi since 1795 development of Bellini’s
career. On the terrace is a
Giovanni Bellini, one of the kind of hortus conclusus, or
most important Venetian sacred enclosure, where the
masters of the late 15^ Virgin is flanked by two
century, produced in this women. She is the only one
work one of the most fas- seated with the exception of
cinating enigmas in all of the Infant Jesus to whom a
western painting. Many child (perhaps the infant St
possible theories have been John) offers a fallen apple
advanced concerning the from a small tree (perhaps
symbolic meaning of this the Tree of Life) being
unusual Allegory. The shaken by another child in
painting is full of saints and the centre of the
animals including a composition, which is
centaur, set in a peaceful, dominated by a chequered
acquatic landscape, rich in pavement in a design which
interesting detail to be may allude to the Cross. To
noted and explored. the right are two saints,
Defined as “unique and Jerome (or Job) and Se-
bastian. At the balustrade is
St Paul driving away an
Asian man (a heretic?) with
103
ROOM 21 ♦ GIAMBELLINO AND GIORGIONE
104
ROOM 21 ♦ GIAMBELLINO AND GIORGIONE
105
ROOM 21 ♦ GIAMBELLINO AND GIORGIONE
105
ROOM 21 ♦ GIAMBELLINO AND GIORGIONE
105
ROOM 22 ♦ FLEMISH AND GERMAN RENAISSANCE
104
ROOM 22 ♦FLEMISH AND GERMAN RENAISSANCE
ALBRECHT ALTDORFER Painted by one of the most panel painting, the Leave-
Martyrdom of Saint important representatives taking of St Florian, is ex-
Florian ofthe 16^ century Danube hibited in this room).
school, this panel painting Under a cloudy sky, this
c. 1516-1525
is part of an altarpiece fragment showing a land-
Oil on wood
76.4x67.2 portraying episodes from scape is particularly ef-
Inv. Dep. no. 4 the life of the saint. For- fective, with its foreshort-
In the Uffizi since 1914 merly in the church of St ening from beneath a
Restored: 1980 John in Linz (Austria), it is wooden bridge upon which
now divided amongst the crowded scene of the
various museums (one martyrdom is taking place.
105
ROOM 2 2 ♦FLEMISH AND GERMAN RENAISSANCE
HANS HOLBEIN THE Requested as a gift in 1620 lous accuracy, and pauses
YOUNGER Portrait of by Cosimo de’ Medici II over every fold of his
Sir Richard Southwell from Thomas Howard, clothing. The original e-
Duke of Arundel, this work bony frame of this painting
Dated 1536
dates back to the mature is lost; beneath the painting
Oil on wood
47.5x38 phase of the great four silver medallions
Inv. no. 1087 portraitist from Augsburg, remain displaying the coats
In the Uffizi before 1638 who was active for a long of arms of the Medici, of
time at the English court. the Arundels, of Southwell,
Holbein investigates the and the name of the
man’s face with scrupu painter.
106
ROOM 25 ♦ MANTEGNA AND CORREGGIO
This is the end of the series of rooms parallel to the First Corridor and, like the
previous two, formed part of the original armoury decorated with frescoes by Ludovico
Buti (1588). On the ceiling are illustrations showing the manufacture of arms, of
particular interestfor the portrayal of the workshops of the period, with swords, lances
and breastplates being forged. Other sections show cannons, the making of
gunpowder, and the building of a fort. Today the room contains works by the Emilian
painter Correggio and the Paduan Andrea Mantegna; by the latter wefind the so-
called Triptych illustrated in these pages, and a tiny panel painting of the Madonna of
the Rocks (c.1489), which may have belonged to Francesco de’ Medici.
ANDREA MANTEGNA This panel showing the tych together with two
Adoration of the Magi Adoration of the Magi, other panels; these are
painted separately on a illustrated and described on
slightly concave surface, the following pages.
was inserted in 1827 into a
non-original frame to form
an arbitrary trip
c. 1462
Tempera on wood
77x75
Inv. no. 910
In the Uffizi since 1632
107
ROOM 25
♦MANTEGNA AND
CORREGGIO
108
ROOM 23 #■
MANTEGNA AND
CORREGGIO
109
ROOM 25
♦MANTEGNA AND
CORREGGIO
co in the famousTfoora of
the Bride and Groom.
By the middle of the 15^
century, the Mantuan
artistic scene was already
adopting a taste for the
classical, owing to the
presence of sculptors like
Pisanello, Donatello, and
architects such as Leon
Battista Alberti and Luca
Fancelli from Fiesole. It is
no coincidence that
Mantegna was invited to
take part, as amongst
northern Italian painters he
was one of the most
receptive to the classical
revival. This is especially
evident in the right- hand
panel, whose scene is set in
a sumptuous polychrome
marble interior with
classical-style reliefs, so
different from the
Ascension painting, which
is dominated by a rugged
and rocky landscape. In the
Adoration of the Magi, the
range of brilliant colours,
typical of the Lombard-
Venetian culture, is
combined with a powerfully
scenic composition. The
concave form of the panel’s
wooden support suggests
that the painting was
perhaps destined for the
rear wall of the chapel of
San Giorgio, creating a
niche over the altar. The
vertical panels may instead
have been inserted into gold
frames on the other walls of
the room.
110
ROOM 23 #■
MANTEGNA AND
CORREGGIO
111
ROOM 25
♦MANTEGNA AND
CORREGGIO
112
ROOM 24 ♦ CABINET OF MINIATURES
This small room contains more than 400 miniatures from the rich grand-ducal
collections. Originally named “The Chamber of Idols” with antique bronzes, Mexican
objects, and works in gold, the room was then given the name, “Madam's Chamber”,
and from 1589 contained the jewels of Christine of Lorraine, wife of FerdinandI. It then
housed theMedicean collection of classical gems and cameos which remained there
until 1928 (now at the Museo degli Argent!). Today the room has an oval form as
desired by the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo (1781). Zanobi del Rosso was the architect
responsible and Filippo Lucci painted the fresco, Allegory of Fame, on the vault. The
miniatures on display are small portraits from various eras and schools, subsequently
mounted into small composits. They comefrom a great number of collections constituted
between 1664 and 1675 by Cardinal Leopoldo de’Medici. The Cardinal was at the
same time increasing his collections of self-portraits and drawings. The miniatures
were in part purchased by Paolo del Sera, his agent in Venice, and by other
intermediaries all over Italy. Some of the pieces are heirlooms while others Pietro
Leopoldo had done by artists active in Florence. Hung above the pictures are six
noteworthy parchments, including reproductions of famous paintings by Raphael and
Titian which were once in the Medicean collection.
Ill
SECOND AND THIRD CORRIDORS
The rearrangement of the Second and Third Corridors was carried out at the same time
as the restoration of the First Corridor in 1996. With its large glass windows facing the
Uffizi Square and the Amo River; the South Corridor (illustrated, right) is famous for its
views. Among the sculptures exhibited are the head of the so-called Dying
Alexanderfrom the Hellenistic period and the Roman copy o/Cupid and Psyche. At the
intersection with the East Corridor; the ceilings are painted withfrescoes in the
grotesque style, dating back to Francesco I (15 81). Thosefacing west show the
glorification of the Medici family (Nasini and Tonelli) and date back to Cosimo III
(1670-1723). Above the windows facing the river are the later portraits of the Giovio
Series, which continue into the Third Corridor together with canvas paintings from the
17^ to the beginning of the 19^ century, spaced alternately with the larger paint-
ingsfrom the Aulic Series, many of which have been restored. On the side of the doors
of the Third Corridor hang 50 portraits of the Lorraine dynasty. Following the evidence
of an 18^ century drawing in the Album ofDe Greyss, thefamous RomanWild Boar has
been reinstalled at the end of the corridor towards the Loggia deiLanzi. This, along
with the small replica of a Famese Hercules, is placed beside the Lao- coon byBaccio
Bandinelli (1523), the first copyfrom the original of the Hellenistic group found in
Rome in 1506. All three sculptures were restored in 1994.
112
SECOND AND THIRD CORRIDORS
113
The trompe Foeil pergolas
are bordered with coats of
arms of the Medici family,
the House of Austria (the
first wife of Francesco I
was Je an of Austria), and
Bianca Cappello, lover and
then second wife of the
Grand Duke. The emblem
of Cappello, who was
disliked by the Medicis, The WildBoar
was previously covered but the house of P
later found during Rome, wher
restoration. documented in
ly esteemed fo
114
ROOM 25 ♦ MICHELANGELO
SECOND AND THIRD CORRIDORS
AND THE FLORENTINE
PAINTING
Room 25, dominated by a masterpiece by Michelangelo, is the first of eleven rooms now
dedicated to 16^ century painting. In what are now Rooms 25-33, the Grand Duke
Ferdinand I in 1588 established workshops for the Minor Guilds and a Foundry^for the
distillation of perfumes, poisons and antidotes. In the mid-18^1 centuryr, Rooms 25-26
exhibited medals and gems, and at the end of the century, Venetian paintings of the 15^
and the 16^ century. Dedicated to 16th century works after the Second World War, this
series of rooms has recently acquired a new, rigorously geographical layout which has
been helped by the restoration following the 1993 bombing.
115
116
ROOM 25 ^MICHELANGELO AND THE FLORENTINE PAINTING
117
ROOM 2 5 ♦MICHELANGELO AND THE FLORENTINE PAINTING
118
ROOM 25 ♦ MICHELANGELO AND THE FLORENTINE PAINTING
119
ROOM 2 5 ♦ MICHELANGELO AND THE FLORENTINE PAINTING
120
FRA B ARTOLOMEO These panels were painted, with its sculpture which is
Annunciation almost in miniature, for much older than the
(recto) Piero del Pugliese (1430- paintings themselves
Presentation at the Temple 1498), an important figure (which were later reduced
and Nativity (verso) in Florentine history. They in size to readapt the piece
were to serve as shutters subsequently deprived of
c. 1497
Oil on wood, 19.5x9; 18x9 enclosing a bas-relief of the its relief), confirms the
Inv. no. 1477 Madonna and Child by refined taste of the owner,
In the Tribune since 1589, Donatello (London, who was also a patron of
from the collection of Cosimo Victoria & Albert Museum, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi,
de’ Medici I (1568)
c. 1440). The unusual Piero di Cosimo, and
tabernacle, perhaps Pollaiolo.
121
OOM 26 ♦ RAPHAEL AND ANDREA DEL SARTO
ROOM 2 5 ♦ MICHELANGELO AND THE FLORENTINE PAINTING
R
RAFFAELLO SANZIO Painted for the perimented for the first
Madonna merchant Lorenzo time with a group of fig-
of the Goldfinch Nasi at the time of ures centred in the fore-
c. 1505-1506 ground, against a backdrop
Tempera on wood
his marriage to
107x77.2 Sandra Canigiani of a Leonardo-esque
Inv. no. 1447 (1505), the panel landscape. The Virgin is
In the Uffizi since 1666 was damaged in seated with a book in one
1547 when the house on hand and her Son between
Via de’ Bardi collapsed. her knees. He caresses the
The young Raphael, in goldfinch offered to him by
Florence from the year the infant St John.
1504 (he also worked later
for Nasi’s brother-in-law),
here ex
122
123
ROOM 26 ♦RAPHAEL AND ANDREA DEL SARTO
124
ROOM 26 ♦ RAPHAEL AND ANDREA DEL SARTO
125
ANDREA DEL SARTO The Begun in 1515 for the Sis- The work takes its name,
Madonna of the Harpies ters of San Francesco de’ following a mistake of
Macci, the painting was not Vasari’s, from the monsters
Signed and dated 1517
completed within the time (“Harpies”) in bas- relief
Tempera on wood 207x178
Inv. no. 1577 and manner required. on the base. It now appears
In the Tribune since 1785 Together with the St John that they are locusts,
Restored: 1984 the Evangelist, requested in according to the complex
the contract, a St Francis theological significance of
was added beside the the painting, alluding to the
Virgin and Child instead of ninth chapter of St John’s
St Bonaventure. Apocalypse.
126
ROOM 26 ♦ RAPHAEL AND ANDREA DEL SARTO
ROOM 27 ♦ PONTORMO AND ROSSO FIORENTINO
Rosso FIORENTINO In 1518 Leonardo Buo- for Rosso, who, in the end,
Madonna with Child and nafe, rector of the Santa “sweetened” the “bitter and
Saints (Madonna dello Maria Nuova hospital (the desperate expressions”
Spedalingo) “Spedalingo”), commis- painted in the oil sketches.
sioned an altarpiece for the The altarpiece with its very
1518
church of Ognissanti. unusual figures did not
Tempera on wood According to Vasari, the reach Ognissanti, and the
172x141
Inv. no. 3190 sketch of the painting was initial painting of
In the Uffizi since 1900 refused by Buonafe, be- Buonafe’s namesake St
Restored: 1995 cause the saints looked like Leonard was then
“devils”, customary substituted by a St Stephen.
127
ROOM 27 ♦PONTORMO AND ROSSO FIORENTINO
128
129
ROOM 2 7 ♦PONTORMO AND ROSSO FIORENTINO
BRONZINO Holy Family Painted for the Panciatichi original, whilst still re-
with the Infant Saint John family, as shown by their maining in line with his
(The Panciatichi Holy emblem on the flag flying role as portrait painter to
Family) on the tower to the top left the court and the cream of
c. 1540
of the painting, this is one Florentine society. The
of the most interesting patron of this work is prob-
Tempera on wood
117x93 compositions of Bronzino, ably Bartolomeo Panci-
Inv. no. 8377 a man of culture, an author atichi whose portrait,
In the Uffizi since 1919 of superb verses and a alongside that of his wife,
close friend of Pontormo. hangs in the Tribune.
His style is very
130
ROOM 28 ♦ TITIAN AND SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO
131
ROOM 28 ♦ TITI AN AND SEBASTIAN O DEL PIOMBO
on the window-sill. The ered Titian’s typical colour the painting was to serve as
little dog sleeping on the scheme, highlighting the an instructive “model” for
bed, symbolises fidelity, a detail of fabric, of flesh Giulia Varano, the Duke’s
tender and reassuring note tones, and even the small extremely young bride.
in the scene; this carries on pearl shining on the ear of
in the background, where the young bride. Awaited
two maid-servants are impatiently by Duke
looking for clothes in a rich Guidubaldo, who more
bridal chest, in a fading than once asked the Am-
sunset. The recent bassador of Urbino in
restoration has recov Venice for news about it,
127
ROOM 28 ♦TITIAN AND SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO
128
ROOM 2 9 ♦ D o s s o AND PARMIGIANINO
130
ROOM 29 tDOSSO AND PARMIGIANINO
131
ROOM 30 ♦ CABINET OF EMILIAN 16TH CENTURY PAINTING
132
ROOM 29 tDOSSO AND PARMIGIANINO
influenced by northern
painting, mainly that of
Diirer, a painter studied by
many Italian artists thanks
to the wide circulation of
his etchings. Mazzolino’s
style is however marked by
a “capricious” and bizarre
imagination that fitted in
well with the eclectic
culture of a city like
Ferrara.
In this small room, ded-
icated to Emilian 16^
century painters, are other
paintings by the same
master, all in the small
dimensions through which
Ludovico Mazzolino best
expressed his talent.
134
ROOM 31 ♦ VERONESE
PAOLO VERONESE The This canvas by Veronese lection of the Duke of De-
Martyrdom of Saint was formerly part of the vonshire). Veronese, who
Justine Canonici di Ferrara Col- in 1573 underwent a trial
c. 1570-1575 lection (1632), and later for taking too much liberty
Oil on canvas with his depiction of holy
103x113
belonged to Paolo Del
Inv. no. 946 Sera, an intermediary in themes, was a master at
In the Tribune in 1704 Venice for Cardinal creating spectacular scenes
Restored: 1988 Leopoldo de’ Medici who filled with light.
then bought it from him Further canvases of his
around 1654. displayed in this room
The subject of the painting come from Cardinal
is the same as that of a Leopoldo’s collections: an
great and more animated airy, monumentalHra-
altarpiece possibly nunciation (1556, inv. no.
executed by Paolo 899) and the Holy Family
Veronese together with his from Widman House (c.
brother for the Basilica of 1561, inv. no. 1433), a
Santa Giustina in Padua (c. painting dominated by the
1574), for which a imposing blonde figure of
preparatory drawing exists St Barbara.
(Chatsworth, Col
135
ROOM 52 ♦ BASSANO AND TINTORETTO
136
ROOM 33 ♦ CORRIDOR OF THE 16TH
CENTURY ing threateningly at a caged
duck, and a little dog who
is perhaps j eal- ous of a
swan), the painting shows
the mythical, sensual Leda,
dressed only in pearls,
caressing Jove, who has
transformed himself into a
swan to seduce her. The
restorations have clarified
that the presence of the
maidservant is not arbitrary
as far as its prototype (in
the Uffizi since 1989, inv.
no. 9946) is concerned.
This, now also restored, is
missing the figure because
of a cut in the canvas.
137
Perhaps originally in the foreground. Symbol of ge-
GIORGIO VASARI Tribune, this small cop- nius, he is chiselling a
Vulcan's Forge perplate, along with other shield showing Capricorn,
works in the enlarged and the astrological sign of
c. 1564 modernised corridor, Francesco I, and Aries, the
Oil on copper exemplifies Mannerist ascendant of his father,
38x28
painting of the European Cosimo, holding up the
Inv. no. 1558
In the Uffizi since 1589 Court in the second half of world. Above are the Three
the 16^ century. In the Graces, emblems of the Art
forge, Vulcan, god of sub- of Drawing, modelling for
terranean fires, is in the four nude artists.
138
ROOM 33 ♦ CORRIDOR OF THE 16TH
CENTURY
139
ROOM 5 5 ♦
CORRIDOR OF THE
16TH CENTURY
SCHOOL OF FONTAINEBLEAU
Two Women Bathing
Last quarter
of the 16^ century
Oil on wood
129x97
Inv. no. 9958
In the Uffizi since 1989
140
ROOM 34 ♦ LOMBARD PAINTING OF THE
16TH CENTURY
LORENZO LOTTO The A man of culture, a wan- hidden in the branches of a
Chastity of Susannah derer and a loner, Lotto tree spying on Susannah as
painted the biblical episode she walks to the bath. On
Signed and dated 1517
of Susannah being harassed didactic scrolls, as if in
Oil on wood 66x50
Inv. no. 9491 while bathing by two old anticipation of our modern
In the Uffizi since 1975 men whom she drives comic strips, Susannah
away. The scene, shown declares that she does not
from above to reveal an want to sin, while the old
apparently traditional back- men take their revenge by
drop beyond the wall, in- accusing her of adultery
stead shows two old men with a young man.
141
ROOM 54 ♦ LOMBARD PAINTING OF THE 16TH CENTURY
GIOYAN BATTISTA Known for the psycholog- ment and the window view.
MORONI ical realism of his portraits, On a base stands the burn-
Portrait Moroni, a painter from ing brazier, alluding to the
of Pietro Secco Suardo Bergamo, here portrays his family motto written be-
Signed “Io Bap. Moronus p.”
and dated 1563, under the countryman Suardo, low, taken from St Luke’s
writing: ET QUID VOLO NISI UT Ambassador ofVenice from Gospel (12:49): “Howl
ARDEAT
1545. A few precise brush wish it [the fire] were
Oil on canvas
183x104 Inv. strokes render the essential blazing already”. The Latin
no. 906 elements of this interior: words [NI]S[I] U[T] ARDE[AT]
In the Uffizi since 1797 the deformed shadow on conceal in acrostic the
the square pave horseman’s surname.
142
ROOM 55 ♦ BAROCCI AND THE TUSCAN COUNTER-REFORMATION
FEDERICO BAROCCI The Barocci did many prepara- The work, created in an
Madonna of the People tory drawings for this large environment of renewed
altarpiece painted for a spirituality, immediately
Signed and dated 1579
church in Arezzo. Christ, drew many admired
Oil on wood 359x272 Inv.
no. 751 through the intercession of Tuscan artists to the
In the Uffizi since 1787 the Virgin, is blessing the church; several of their
Restored: 1995 some of the populace, who paintings are in the new
are portrayed with lively display in this room (a-
detail as they bustle around mong them Cigoli, Em-
with their daily lives. poli, Santi di Tito, Ales-
sandro Allori).
143
ROOM 414 RUBENS
144
ROOM 4 1 ♦ RUBENS
DIEGO VELAZQUEZ This portrait, typical of the twenty-two years old, here
AND WORKSHOP Spanish court, was in the face is taken from a
Philip IV of Spain on Madrid in 1651, under the portrait by Velazquez
Horseback care of the Marquis Eliche (1645, nowin the New
c. 1645 Oil on canvas (he died in Naples in York Frick Collection).
338x267 Inv. no. 792 1687). It is partly taken The restored canvas reveals
In the Uffizi since 1753 from a Rubens painting (c. the hand of the Spanish
Restored: 1995 1628), known from a painter in the face of the
description, which was king, on the head of the
destroyed in Madrid in horse, and in the masterly
1734. Whilst in the original brushwork around the
the king was figures.
145
146
ROOM 4 1 ♦ RUBENS
ROOM 4 2 ♦ NIOBE ROOM
147
148
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
149
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
150
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
CARAVAGGIO
Medusa
Variously dated from 1592 to Medusa with her head of gift to Ferdinando de’
1600 Oil on wood covered snakes transformed anyone Medici. Astonishment is
with canvas diam. 55 Inv. no.
1351 In the Uffizi at least
who looked at her into
since 1631 stone: “Run, for if amaze-
In restoration (1998) ment draws your eyes, /she
will turn you into stone”.
Thus wrote Gaspare Mur-
tolain 1603, admiring the
Medusa with her “poiso-
nous hair/armed with a
thousand snakes”. It was
painted in Rome by the
“peintre maudit” for the
Cardinal Del Monte as a
151
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
152
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
153
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
154
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
155
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
GIAMBATTISTA TIEPOLO
Erection of a Statue to an
Emperor
c. 1735-1736
Oil on canvas
425x175
Inv. no. 3139
In the Uflizi since 1900
Restored: 1987
156
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
157
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
158
COLLECTIONS OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY
JEAN-BAPTISTE SIMEON Like the Boy Playing Cards ly interest of Russian col-
CHARDIN (inv. no. 9273), this paint- lectors in French painting.
ing was also acquired in Known for the family
Girl with a Shuttlecock c.
1951; it is a signed replica intimacy of his portraits
1741 of the one in the Rot- schild and for his refined pictorial
Oil on canvas 82x66 Collection in Paris (the technique, Jean-Baptiste
Inv. no. 9247 other is in Washington, Simeon Chardin here
In the Uffizi since 1951
National Gallery). At the portrays a young girl with a
end of the 181*1 century, porcelain complexion, and
the prototypes were in a thoughtful and distant
Russia, proving the ear expression.
159
VASARI CORRIDOR
The most spectacular and famous corridor of the world was created in 1565. Giorgio
Vasari, the architect of the court, had already been enlarging and restructuring the
new Medici residence at Palazzo Vecchio for some time, bringing to an end the great
Uffizi project. During the preparations for the magnificent royal wedding of Francesco
de’ Medici and Jean of Austria, the architect was commissioned by Cosimo I to
complete in record time, from March to September 1565, a corridor that was to lead
from the Uffizi to Palazzo Pitti, which had been bought in 1549 by Eleonora di Toledo,
wife of Cosimo. The Vasari Corridor starts from the west wing of the Uffizi, follows the
Arno in an astonishing raised path that passes over the shops of the left parapet of the
Ponte Vecchio, overlooks the interior of the church of Santa Felicita, (then the
Palatine Chapel), and finally reaches the Boboli Gardens, where works had been
going on for some time under the direction of many architects and sculptors. An
extraordinary and highly symbolic urban intervention in the ducal city, the Corridor,
almost a kilometre long with unique views from its windows and circular apertures,
was designed as an exclusive walkway for the Duke, the Princes, and high dignitaries
of the court. It was only openedfor public use in 1866 when Florence was capital of the
Republic. It was then that its real history as a museum began, interrupted for long
periods by the damage caused by World War II, the flood (1966), and the bomb (1993).
Now restored, the Corridor contains around 800 paintings; on the staircase and in
first stretch there are important works from the 17th and 18^ century, while on the
Ponte Vecchio the most famous collection of self-portraits in the world is displayed,
which was begun by Cardinal Leopoldo and is still growing.
160
VASARI CORRIDOR
GUIDO REM David with Standing rakishly in a red Caravaggio in this work
the Head of Goliath feathered cap, his figure from which the Emilian
c. 1605 illuminated by the moon- painter was to detach him-
light and scarcely covered self on his return from
Oil on canvas
222x147 by his rich, fur- trimmed Rome, in search of an ever
Inv. no. 3830 cloak, David leans against a more classical style. The
In the Uffizi since 1913 column and surveys the painting, damaged during
Restored: 1995
head of the slain gi^nt. the 1993 bombing, has
A variation of an earlier been restored and returned
painting in the Louvre, to the end of the staircase
there are still echoes of leading down to the Vasari
Corridor.
161
VASARI CORRIDOR
162
VASARI CORRIDOR
c. 1840
Oil on canvas, 66x54
Inv. no. 3914
In the Uffizi since 1912
163
CONTINI BONACOSSI COLLECTION
The collection, among the most important of this century' in Italy; formed by
Alessandro ContiniBonacossi (disappeared 1955), thanks in part to consultation by art
critics such as Roberto Longhi and Bernard Berenson. Officially acquired as a
donation by the State in 1969, the collection includes dozens of important works by
Italian andforeign artists. The dates of the works rangefrom the 13 th to the 18th
centuries with artists such as Sassetta and Veronese (illustrated here) as well as
Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Veneziano, Giovanni Bellini, Savoldo, and El Greco. Until
recently, the works were exhibited at the Meridiana pavilion in Palazzo Pitti, but they
now find a more appropriate home amongst the Uffizi display's, in specially arranged
rooms (temporary entrance from Via Lambert esca).
SASSETTA
Madonna of the Snow
Altarpiece
(detail of the predella)
164
CONTINI BONACOSSI COLLECTION
The altarpiece, of which a
detail from the predella is
illustrated here, represents
the Madonna and Child
enthroned with saints and
angels. In the predella,
composed of seven small
scenes, are the events
which led to the foundation
of the Basilica by Pope
Liberius. The simplicity of
the portrayal, close to the
frescoes of Masaccio and
Ma- solino in the Carmine,
is united with what has
been defined as “the most
radical experiment in real-
istic painting” of that time.
165
PAOLO VERONESE Giuseppe Together with this portrait Uffizi painting, the father
da Porto with his Son of himself with his son, and the son are caught in a
Adrian Giuseppe da Porto, a noble moment of affectionate
man of Vicenza, embrace in a doorway. The
c. 1552-1553
commissioned Veronese to child’s small hand is inter-
Oil on canvas
247x137 paint a similar portrait of twined with the large hand
Inv. Contini Bonacossi no. 16 his wife Livia Thiene with of the father, who for this
In the Uffizi since 1998 their daughter Porzia reason has taken off his
(Baltimore, Walters Art glove.
Gallery). In the
166
INDEX
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