The Uffizi
On the
last week of our course we visited the Uffizi for a third time. On the way to
the first room we were to visit, we momentarily passed 'La Tribuna'. This
room is considered the successor of the Medici 'Studiolo' and therefore houses
one of their most treasured possessions - Venus de' Medici. As previously
touched upon, the Venus de'Medici was sculpted in approximately the 1st century
BC and is one of the classical 'Venus Pudica' statuettes. Its influence on the
return to naturalistic sculpture during the Renaissance is undeniable across
painting and sculpture.
- Sala di Perugino e Signorelli: Perugino and Signorelli room.
Madonna and Child, Luca Signorelli, 1419. A composition consisting of three
rounds. The one in the middle is the largest while the two above are
considerably smaller. The most interesting thing about this painting is the
sophisticated portrayal of time. This is present in the middle, larger round.
The background depicts the Pagan religion before the birth of Christ, the
middle ground shows the Madonna and Child at the time of his birth whilst the
foreground foreshadows the death of Jesus Christ (this is shown by the plants
at the bottom that signify passion and pain).
- Sala di
Mantegna e Corregio: Mantegna and Corregio room.
This room contains the works of the
pupils of Leonardo Da' Vinci. His influence can be seen across the room in
examples by Luini and Boltraffo of whom have painted to the same 'smokey'
effect that Leonardo was renowned for. Furthermore, if you were to analyse the
faces painted by the two, you would realise they are almost identical. This has
much to do with how Leonardo approached training the apprentices in his
academy, he would have them learn techniques parrot-fashion; and the
similarities in the faces are no doubt the consequence of being told to copy
from a workshop book.
A painting we focused on was Leda
& the Swan by Francesco Melzi. It is believed the two (Melzi and
Leonardo) shared a relationship. The subject matter here revolves around the
story of the nymph Leda- she was pursued by Zeus but denied him on the grounds
that she only loves nature and animals. Therefore, Zeus turns into a swan to
make love with her.
- Sala di
Leonardo: Leonardo room.
Annunciation, Leonardo da' Vinci, 1472.
The Annunciation by Leonardo is in a
peculiar shape in comparison to the paintings that surround it. It is
rectangular (pictured below); and this is so that it is perceived correctly by
the viewer. If you look at the painting from the right hand side, it looks
perfectly in proportion as the space extends down the rectangular canvas.
However, if you stand at the opposite end, Mary's arm is far too long. It is
clear that wherever the painting was meant to be placed only offered a fixed
point of view from the right. This is called anamorphosis.
Baptism of Jesus Christ, Leonardo and Verrochio, 1470.
Verrochio was Leonardo's teacher and
this collaboration was supposedly where Verrochio noticed just how skilful his
pupil was when he asked him to paint an angel at Jesus' side. Leonardo's angel
shows three dimensionality so convincingly that it is widely claimed that
Verrochio vowed to never touch a painting of Leonardo's ever again, in order to
not tarnish it and undermine his skill. It is interesting that there is
mirrored glass on the underside and outer side of the robe that his angel is
holding. Furthermore, the painting was executed during the years that Verrochio
took on the commission for the statue of the doubting Thomas for the
Orsanmichele church in Florence. By consequence, his depiction of John the
Baptist has a likeness to the statue - he drew influence for both figures from
the same place. As you can imagine, the painting is full of iconography. Most
notably there is an interesting allusion to the trinity above Christ's head -
this consists of the hands of God with divine light shining down, a dove and
the plate of John the Baptist. Other features include a palm tree (meaning
sacrifice) and a bird of prey fleeing the divine light coming from above
(foreshadowing the death of Christ). Lastly, the medium was Tempera and Oil on
Panel which is typical of Leonardo.
- Sala di Michelangelo e dei Fiorentini: Michelangelo and Florentine room.
Along with works from Michelangelo
himself, the room also houses works from the likes of Granacci. Granacci was
the man who recommended Michelangelo to the workshop of Ghirlandaio. In this
particular room, he is responsible for the depiction of Joseph Presents
his Father and Brothers to the Pharaoh (pictured below). It is executed in the same
shape as Leonardo's Annunciation to which it also serves the
same purpose. This time however, the fixed point of view is to the left.
Also in this room is Michelangelo's Doni
Tondo (1506) (pictured right). It was commissioned by the Doni family
upon the arrival of a Doni - Strozzi baby (hence the subject matter of Madonna
and Child). The piece was moved back and forth from the ownership of the
commissioner as he initially refused to pay the price that Michelangelo had
asked for. As hinted by the word 'Tondo' (round), it is a piece comprising of a
number of smaller rounds circling the much larger round in the center. The
rounds that surround the main composition are decorated with either a)the
evangelists or b) the four doctors of the church; which of the one either one
is remains unclear as there are no attributes depicted. The uppermost round
contains the face of an adult Jesus Christ. The main part of the composition
includes time representation through the background/middle ground/foreground as
I discussed in other paintings previously. The allusion to time is constructed
in the following way: Naked, seemingly Pagan people in the background, a baby
John the Baptist in the middle-ground and the Madonna and Child in the
foreground. John the Baptist is significant in that he is often seen as the
figure who connects the Old and New Testaments. One last note on this piece is
that it shows evidence of 'Colori Cangianti' which essentially means vibrant
colours; it is often believed Michelangelo's usage of such new, innovative
colours paved the way for the mannerists to follow.
- Sala di
Raphael e Andrea del Sarto: Raphael and Andrea del Sarto room.
The last room we visited was the one
containing the Uffizi's collection of Raphael Sanzio's work. First we saw the Madonna
and Child (1505) that uses a 'pyramid composition' of the figures
present in the painting to allude to the holy trinity. This was commissioned
for Lorenzo Nasi and was kept in his household for a long time. So much so, it
was kept in the basement of his house for such a long time that it was only
re-discovered once damaged when unearthing the contents of the area after an
earthquake had hit.
The other painting I found
interesting is the portrait of Julius II dating 1510. The original is currently
in London's National Gallery and has since influenced the likes of Titian and
Francis Bacon to portray their very own 'Julius II'. The pope is
depicted with fine and expensive looking rings on his finger, with a precious
rock from each continent - this portrays Christianity as the religion of the
world. His expression is often read as an allusion to his wanting to take
control of the entire world, he seems slightly irritated and stubborn. However,
Raphael was the master of giving things dual meanings. While the approach of most
art historians towards his expression is plausible, the simple matter of fact
is that Julius II was toothless! Therefore, Raphael aimed to hide that.
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