Hall of Prometheus

The Hall of Prometheus (Sala di Prometeo), in the Medici era, was part of the private apartment of the Grand Duke.  Although intended for a public function, the meeting of the Council of the Grand Duchy was done here in the presence of the Grand Duke himself.

Ceiling fresco (Giuseppe Colignon)

From 1809 to 1814, it was redecorated with frescoes, by the Sienese artist Giuseppe Collignon, with stories of Prometheus (after whom the room is named), both in the large panel of the ceiling and in the monochrome frieze; at the corners the Four Seasons. Here, Prometheus is shown stealing sacred fire from the chariot of Apollo while being protected by Minerva

Tondo Bartolini (Filippo Lippi)

The room is dedicated to the oldest paintings in the collection from the Florentine Renaissance and, in particular, the 12 tondi, typical round-shaped paintings of private homes loved by Florentine patrons but which were inserted into square Neo-Classical frames in later periods.

Other tondi

The most famous of the tondi is the Madonna with the Child (ca. 1465-1470), a masterpiece by Filippo Lippi known as the Tondo Bartolini, of delicate harmony typical of the artist’s maturity.  There are also the two portraits done  by Sandro Botticelli and his shop including the Bella Simonetta.

St. Francis in Ecstasy (Jusepe de Ribera, 1643)

Here is also the Holy Family with a Saint (ca. 1490-1495), a tondo by Luca Signorelli. The first Tuscan Mannerism is represented by the Adoration of the Magi (1523 ) and by the Ten Thousand Martyrs (ca. 1529-1530) by Jacopo Pontormo.

Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Earthly Paradise (Andrea del Minga and Baccio Bandinelli, ca. 1560)

Other works in the Hall of Prometheus include:

• Allegorical Scene (Emilian school of the sixteenth century)
• Portrait of a Woman (Florentine school of the sixteenth century, ca. 1520)
• Portrait of Piero de ‘Medici known as il Gottoso (Bronzino’s workshop)
• Portrait of Cosimo I de ‘Medici (Bronzino’s workshop)
• Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Earthly Paradise (Andrea del Minga and Baccio Bandinelli, ca. 1560)
• Female portrait (attributed to Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio)
• Madonna with Child and San Giovannino (Biagio Pupini)
• Saint Francis in Ecstasy (Jusepe de Ribera, 1643)
• Madonna of the Lizard (attributed to Girolamo Siciolante of Sermoneta)
• Allegory of Patience (Giorgio Vasari)
• Male Portrait (attributed to Francesco Salviati, ca. 1550)
• Creation of Eve (Andrea del Minga and Baccio Bandinelli, ca. 1560)
• Rebecca at the Well (Giacinto Gimignani)
• Madonna with Child and San Giovannino (Biagio Pupini, ca. 1509-1512)
• Adoration of the Child (Mariotto Albertinelli, ca. 1498)
• Santa Maria Maddalena (Bacchiacca, ca. 1530)
• Portrait of Don Giovanni de ‘Medici (Santi di Tito, ca. 1590)
• Male portrait (Friulian friend of Dosso)
• Madonna and Child (copy by Bartolomeo Schedoni)
• Adoration of the Magi (Master of the Borghese Tondo)
• Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and the Little Lamb Between Seraphim (Domenico Beccafumi, ca. 1521-1522)
• Female Portrait (Piero di Cosimo, ca. 1500-1505)
• Adoration of the Child (Cosimo Rosselli, ca. 1490)
• Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist (attributed to the Master of the Madonna Naumburg)
• Madonna and Child between Saints Benedict and Andrew (Ferrarese schoolof the sixteenth century)
• Ecce Homo (Fra Bartolomeo)
• Christ at the Column (Giovanni Battista Bertucci, ca. 1500-1505)
• Portrait of a Young Man (Sandro Botticelli , ca. 1470)
• Portrait of a young woman (Sandro Botticelli, ca. 1485)
• Madonna and Child with St. John (Sandro Botticelli, ca.1495)
• Madonna and Child, Saint John the Baptist and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Sandro Botticelli workshop), ca. 1485)
• Calumny of Apelles (Franciabigio, ca. 1513)
• Madonna with Child, San Giovannino and Two Angels (Pseudo-Granacci)
• Male portrait(Cristofano Allori, ca. 1600-1605)
• Holy Family (Jacopo de Boateri)
• Saint Mary Magdalene Carried to Heaven by Angels (Valerio Marucelli, 1615)
• Bacchus as a Child (attributed to Guido Reni)
• Male portrait (Mirabello Cavalori)
• Holy Family with St. John (Francesco Granacci, ca. 1520)
• Adoration of the Magi (attributed to Friend Aspertini, ca. 1497-1498)
• Madonna Adoring the Child with Saint John the Baptist and Five Angels(Francesco Botticini, ca. 1490)
• Female portrait (French school of the sixteenth century)
• Female portrait (Florentine school of the seventeenth century)
• Tobias and the Archangel Raphael (copy by Andrea del Sarto)
• Male portrait – “Antonio Carracci” (Venetian school of the sixteenth century)
• Madonna of Humility (Andrea del Sarto, ca. 1513-1514)
• Peter and St. Paul (attributed to Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, 1503)
• Madonna and Child (Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio)
• Adoration of the Child with San Giovannino (Jacopo del Sellaio, ca. 1490)
• Apollo and the Muses (Baldassarre Peruzzi)
• Colossal vase (Sèvres manufacture, 1844)
• Table (Pietro Stoppioni)
• Table top (Lamberto Cristiano Gori and Giuseppe Colzi, 1768)
• Table base (Paolo Sani, 1818)
• Table (Grand Ducal Workshops, ca. 1716)
• Table of Roman manufacture (?), ca. 1780-1790

Colossal Vase (Sèvres manufacture, 1844)

Hall of Prometheus: First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00).

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.