An array of Medici portraits at the Blue Room (Salotto Celeste)

From the Palatine Gallery, our visit continued to the monumental Imperial and Royal Apartments.  Taking up 14 magnificent ceremonial rooms (now differentiated from the Palatine Gallery) at the right wing of the main floor of the Palazzo Pitti, it opened out along the south side of the Palazzo Pitti façade. Over three subsequent historical periods, they have been an important record of the history of the palace. The three different styles, corresponding to three different historical periods, are harmoniously balanced in that gives us an idea of its appearance before its transfer to the State in 1914.

Though their decoration has been changed to Empire style by the House of Savoy, there are still some rooms that maintain decorations and furniture from the age of the Medici. In 1911, restoration and general reorganization of the inventory of the paintings and furniture of the Pitti Palace was performed. After the recent refurbishing of the Apartments, started in 1987, these precious rooms were reopened to the public in 1993.

Parrot Room (Sala dei Pappagalli)

In contrast to the great salons of the Palatine Gallery, some of these rooms, while still grand and gilded, are much smaller, more intimate and are more suited to day-to-day living requirements with period furnishings including four-poster beds and other necessary furnishings not found elsewhere in the palazzo.  From the 17th century onwards, these majestic rooms were the residence of the Grand Ducal Medici family (until their extinction in 1734), then of the Lorraine (Lorenese) family and, finally, of the Savoys (when, from 1866-1870, Florence became the second capital of unified Italy and Vittoria Emanuele II chose to make the Pitti the royal residence).

Bearing traces of the changing dynasties, these rooms were sumptuously furnished with pieces from the collections of the Medici, Habsburg-Lorraine and House of Savoy such as tables with semi-precious stone inlays, consoles and mirrors, furnishings and silk tapestries on the walls.  These striking mixture of styles reflect the daily life and taste of the different periods and inhabitants.

Chapel

The apartments still retain the layout given by the Grand Prince Ferdinando dei Medici, the son of Cosimo III. The few treasures from the Medici period that remain include the precious 17th century ebony and semi-precious stone cabinet that belonged to the Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere (the wife of Ferdinando II) and the chapel.  The prevailing appearance of the Royal Apartments, as seen today, is that given them, in the fourth and fifth decades of the 19th century, by the Neo-Classical taste of the Lorraine-Hapsburgs.  These rooms were given its final character by the Savoys who left a strongly eclectic and distinctive stamp of their taste on the general appearance of the Royal and Imperial Apartments, which is still visible today.

The Grand Dukes of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine altered, restored and re-furnished the apartments, between the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, according to the changing taste of the period, decorating the ceilings with stucco and Neo-Classical subjects and the Oval Room (known as the Queen’s Dressing Room) with light hand-embroidered silk panels to the designs of Ignacio Pellegrini, and the ceiling with colored Rococo stucco.

Green Room

From 1865, during the time of the sovereigns of the House of Savoy, some rooms (notably the chapel) were also entirely refurnished and carpeted, between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, according to the Empire style of the period.

The Green Room (Salone Verde), frescoed by Giuseppe Castagnoli in early 19th century, exhibits an Intarsia Cabinet from the 17th century and a collection of gilded bronzes. The name of the room comes from the green color of the wall coverings, curtains and the upholstery on some of the furniture (which are all in silk – textured or plain) fitted, between 1854 and 1855, by Florentine manufacturers.

Green Room (Sala Verde)

In that period, the room was completely redecorated, like the Blue Room and the Throne Room that follow it, earning the name of Fabric District (Quartiere delle Stoffe).  Since the last Grand Duke, Leopold II of Lorraine had chosen the new Palazzina della Meridiana as his home, it was used first as a reception room.

Also from the same period are the carpet (made by the prestigious Royal Works of Tournai, in northern France, and decorated with late imperial motifs), a pair of lamps, the brackets for the candle holders, the fire guard and the fireplace mirror (carved in imitation of the two placed above the slightly older consoles).  Coming from different periods are the rest of the furnishings and paintings (starting with the canvas on the ceiling, the Allegory of Peace between Florence and Siena, painted by Luca Giordano in 1682 for Cosimo III.

Stipo Cabinet

The Stipo cabinet, belonging to Vittoria della Rovere, is definitely the most important piece of furniture.  This monumental work of art, from the ducal workshops of the 17th century, emulated, on a small scale,  the Historicist style of the side table from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (delivered to the Pitti Palace in 1852 and subsequently placed in the room), with the Savoy period typical nonchalant style and tone.

The Throne Room (Sala del Trono), decorated for King Vittoria Emanuele II  of Savoy, was used for official audiences as well as to hang some of the paintings from his famous collection.  The throne is under a canopy. The royal setting is emphasized by the large mirrors on the walls (to multiply the images of the king) as well as by the sumptuous mid 19th century Baroque red damask silk lampas ensemble on the walls.

Throne Room

The throne area was set out later, for the arrival of the Savoy monarch, and then, after 1871, changed again when the balustrade and audience chair were added with the emblem of the Savoys.  On the ceiling arch are the triumphant decorations by Giuseppe Castagnoli (1754-1832) while the image of Jupiter enthroned is framed with monochrome decorations.

A clock flanked by Oriental vases and candelabras

The room has been further enhanced by a richly inlaid, gilded lamp while inlaid and gilded console tables are decorated with candelabras and imposing 17th-18th century Oriental Japanese and Chinese porcelain vases.

Like the Green Room and the Throne Room, the Blue Room (Salotto Celeste) was also renewed between 1854 and 1855 when this suite was known as the new Fabric District (Quartiere delle Stoffe). The room stands out for the Neo-Baroque decorative style, updated to the fashions of Paris and London in the mid-19th century. After the addition of new wallpaper (in this case, a shade of blue), the room was also given a carpet made by French weavers in Tournai. Furnishings include a small round table, with a pietre dure top on a base in porphyry, and the four candle holders.

Blue Room (Salotto Celeste)

The Blue Room pays homage to some members of the Medici family or those who were joined to it by marriage (except Cardinal Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphili) who, during the course of their lives, had spent time in these spaces.  Hung on the walls are 10 of a series of 12 portraits painted between 1621 and 1645 by court painter Giusto Sustermans (1597–1681), all identical in size and given new frames in the 1720s on the wishes of Grand Duke Cosimo III.  They include a full-length portrait of Christina of Lorraine, her daughter Claudia and husband Leopold of Austria, Cosimo II’s children, Francesco and Mattias, painted a few years later, Grand Duke Ferdinand II and Cardinal Carlo de’ Medici.

One of the Medici portraits

The large chandelier, the oldest (dating back to the 17th century) still in the palace, was carved by Vittorio Crosten.  The white stucco and gold ceiling dates back to the period of Peter Leopold of Lorraine.  The “eagle” fireplace was done by Francis Harwood, an Englishman (who moved to Florence, where he ended his days in 1783) who worked as a portrait painter and copyist of Roman antiquities for travelers on the Grand Tour.  He was employed by the Grand Duke to restore the sculptures in the palace and the Boboli Gardens.

Parrot Room

The Parrot Room (Sala dei Pappagalli), named for the bird (actually imperial eagles) motif in the beautiful silk lampas wall coverings (which have a green background and were made in the manufactory of Lyon in France and brought by Grand Duke Ferdinando III from Vienna in 1814), divides the King’s Apartment (extending along the internal courtyard) from the Queen’s Apartment, which follows the southern axis.  The Lorraine family installed the large stove.  The carpet and crystal chandelier both date from the 19^th century.

Portrait of Giulia Varano, Duchess of Urbino (Titian)

In these public and private rooms, the Savoyard Period’s (1860-1919) eclectic taste (as described in the 1911 inventory) is particularly evident.  The clock, with its chased and gilded bronze shelf and black marble base, was made in 1812 by Pierre Philippe Thomire, a famous Parisian bronze maker.

The “recycling” of works of art, typical of the Restoration (c. 1815), includes the original bust of Napoleon being replaced with the bust of Ferdinando III and the imperial eagle with the allegorical figure of Tuscany.  The table cover, of silk and gilded silver, is in Louis XV style.  Impruneta Fair, by Filippo Napoletano, is a depiction of the famous fair held near Florence every October 18th.

Chapel

The Chapel, intended by Grand Prince Ferdinando de’Medici (who lived there until his death in 1713) to be an alcove, or rather, an official bedroom (the real bedroom for sleeping was two doors further on) designed to receive a small group of people, shows the most obvious traces of the Medici story in the palace.

However, the echoes of the Medici style were cushioned during the Savoy rule when, with the aim of providing a seamless sequence of representation rooms, the furnishings were updated, including the table, mirror, vases and clock, and the accents that were probably considered too severe.

In the bed compartment, there is still a door that leads, by way of a spiral staircase, into a small library, closed by panels and cornices in different types of wood, decorated with plant motifs by French inlayer Riccardo Lebrun.

Mainly Late Baroque in style, the area is enhanced by a crimson silk damask ensemble which, although dating back to the mid 19th century, picks up on the designs and motifs in use in the previous century, establishing a seamless dialog with its, late 17th century character still evident in the articulate white stucco and gold decoration and in the gilded inlaid work by Giovan Battista Foggini (1652-1725), carried out between 1685 and 1687, with scrolls and mottoes referring to Ferdinando and his wife, Violante of Baviera. With the arrival of the Grand Dukes of Lorraine, the alcove was converted to a chapel.

Today, this area contains a mix of holy paintings and other highly crafted pieces.  The Virgin and Child, painted in 1675 by Carlo Dolci (1616-1686) for Vittoria della Rovere (widow of Ferdinando II de’ Medici), has a sumptuous and precious pietre dure frame, probably created from designs by Foggini on the occasion of the wedding of Prince Gian Gastone in 1697.

Other holy paintings shown here include two round works from the school of Sandro Botticelli and a 17th-century copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin on the Rocks (noted, above all, for its Baroque frame).

Royal Apartments: First Floor, South Wing, Pitti 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.

Hall of Venus (Sala di Venere)

The Hall of Venus (Sala di Venere) starts the series of elegant rooms in the winter apartment on the first floor of Palazzo Pitti. This famous great hall, in Medici times, was the general antechamber where, before being received by the Grand Duke, the common public waited to be admitted.

On his return to Florence in 1641, Pietro da Cortona, commissioned by Ferdinando II de’ Medici (who wanted to show that he has aligned himself with the new Baroque decorative style), decorated the hall with frescoes and stuccoes from 1641 to 1642, the first of the series of so-called Planetary Rooms to which he put his hand (for this reason, it is entirely autographed).

Ceiling fresco (Pietro de Cortona)

The iconographic Medici residence celebration programme, aimed at exalting the figure of the prince and the process of preparing him to govern well, featured a decorative theme proposed by Francesco Rondinelli (the grand duke’s librarian).

Two lunettes and a tondi

It involved the constant presence of all three key players in the rooms – the prince, Hercules (a symbol of the virtues of the prince and protector of the Medici family) and the gods of Olympus (Venus, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn representing the Ptolemaic planets) to which the room is dedicated.The lively fresco in the ceiling vault depicts, in the center, Minerva tearing the young adolescent prince from the arms of Venus (a symbol of pleasure) and then handing him over to Hercules (a symbol of virtue), his new tutor.

A lunette

Stories from antiquity, linked by the theme of the virtuous behavior of illustrious men in front of beautiful women, are frescoed at the eight lunettes, all bearing explanatory inscriptions in Latin.  Behind the lunette with the Story of Antiochus and Stratonice is a small window inserted between the stuccoes so that the Grand Duke can spy on and listen to what happened or was said in the room below.

Tondi

Standing out, from the very rich white stucco ovals (tondi), are portraits of the most illustrious of the most important members of the grand duchy, as well as the two popes of the House of Medici (Leo X and Clement VII). Their personal emblems are found at the segments of the pendentives.

Tondi

With respect to the Renaissance construction, the change of spatial organization is felt less. Although softened by the presence of the gilt stucco telamons and the white stucco medallions, the pattern of the lunettes, of the rib vaults and pendentives follow a pattern that still reflects the order of the Renaissance interior.

Venere Italica (Antonio Canova, 1810)

Standing at the center of the room, placed well after the room had taken its name, is the famous statue of the Venere Italica (Italic Venus, 1804-1811) by Antonio Canova, a compensation to Florence for the transfer of the Medici Venus (a work that was later returned) to the Louvre by Napoleon.

La Bella (Titian, 1536)

On display are four masterpieces by Titian.   Concerto (ca. 1506-1507) is an early work.  The Portrait of Julius II is a copy of the original by Raphael (now at the National Gallery in London ) but different in the results, especially linked to the masterful use of the typical color of Titian. La Bella (a painting for the Duke of Urbino, 1536 ) and the Portrait of Pietro Aretino  (1545) fully manifests the chromatic richness and stylistic complexity of the works of the master’s maturity, for example with the contrast between the reds of the beard and the blue of the robe that exhales the figure and a disturbing nuance to the character, shot shyly in profile.

Vocation of Peter and Andrew (Il Cigoli, 1607)

The Return of the Peasants from the Fields (ca. 1627) and Ulysses on the Island of the Phaeacians (ca. 1635), two grandiose and solemn landscapes, are a reference to Pieter Paul Rubens (the ideal teacher of Pietro da Cortona and the Flemish equivalent of Titian).

Marina del Faro with Vessels and Galleys (Salvator Rosa, ca. 1641)

Finally, Marina del Faro with Vessels and Galleys (ca. 1641) and Marina del Porto at Sunset (ca. 1641), two large marinas painted by the famous Neapolitan landscape painter Salvator Rosa, are noteworthy.

Other works in the Hall of Venus include:

• Portrait of Antonio Martelli (Caravaggio, 1608–1609)
• Portrait of Giacinto Calducci (follower of Justus Suttermans)
• Male Portrait (16th century Emilian school)
• Santa Martina Refuses to WorshipIidols (Pietro da Cortona)
• Portrait of Hunters of the Medici Court  (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1637)
• Sacred Conversation with Constantine, Saint Helena and Saint John  (Bonifacio Veronese, ca. 1510)
• Triumph of David  (Matteo Rosselli, ca. 1620)
• Roger at the Court of Alcina  Rutilio Manetti, 1624)
• Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria  (Francesco Bassano, ca. 1590)
• Apollo and Marsyas (attributed to Giovanni Bilivert)
• Apollo and Marsyas  (Guercino, ca. 1618)
• Portrait of Baccio Valori  (Sebastiano del Piombo, ca. 1531)
• Venus, Cupid and Vulcan  (Tintoretto, ca. 1550-1555)
• Portrait of Pietro Francavilla (17th century Flemish school, ca. 1610)
• Allegory of Lies  (Salvator Rosa, ca. 1649)
• Male Portrait  (Bartolomeo Passerotti, ca. 1570)
• Portrait of an Artist (Justus Suttermans)
• Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere as Saint Ursula (attributed to Justus Suttermans, ca. 1637)
• Portrait of a Child  (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1631)
• Portrait of Alessandro Farnese  Justus Suttermans, 1639-1640)
• Ecce Homo (attributed to Titian)
• San Giuseppe (Guercino, ca. 1660)
• Adoration of the Child (workshop of Titian)
• Vocation of Peter and Andrew  (Il Cigoli, 1607)
• Sant’Isidoro Agricola  (Giovanni Bilivert, ca. 1612-1615)
• Saint Joseph  (Guido Reni, ca. 1639-1640)
• Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena (Sienese school of the seventeenth century from Francesco Vanni)
• Narcissus at the Source  (Francesco Curradi, ca. 1622)
• Death of Saint Mary Magdalene (Rutilio Manetti, ca. 1618-1620)
• Table (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, 1785-1791)
• Table (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, ca. 1789)
• Table (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, 1785-1791) 

Return of the Peasants from the Fields (Pieter Paul Rubens, ca. 1627)

Hall of Venus: First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Pitti 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.

Hall of Apollo (Sala di Apollo)

During the period of the Medici court, the Hall of Apollo (Sala di Apollo) was formerly the antechamber of the “ordinary nobility,” used by gentlemen who were waiting to be received by the Grand Duke inside the Throne Room.  It is dominated by a large altarpiece with the Sacred Conversation by Rosso Fiorentino (1522), the most important Florentine artist of early Mannerism together with Jacopo Pontormo, whose canvas was enlarged in the Baroque period to be adapted to the frame.

On the center of the ceiling vault is the fresco Medici Prince Brought before Apollo by Fame by Pietro da Cortona who provided the complete project (including the stuccos) and started the central figures in 1647 not long before the artist left Florence to return to Rome, delegating the rest of the assignment to his loyal pupil Ciro Ferri,

Ferri completed the decorations in the room 15 years later, between 1659-1661, after being appointed to do so by the Grand Duke, adding the frescos in the lunettes and the superb stucco cornice (a model that was then copied throughout Europe), based on the designs and cartoons left by his teacher Cortona.

The theme alludes to the ideal path of the political and moral education of the young prince, illuminated by Apollo and then guided along the path of knowledge by the laws governing the cosmos as evoked by Hercules holding the celestial globe, an obvious reference to Galileo Galilei’s recent discoveries and a symbol of the weight of the responsibilities of the future sovereign.

Ceiling fresco

Ovals and plumes, in the stucco, are examples of great ancient rulers who resorted to poetry and culture.  The stucco medallions below, showing some of the best-known feats of the Greek god, warns the future sovereign of the weight of responsibility from government and the need to be educated for the task by the Arts and by study.

Fresco of Augustus listening to the reading of the Aeneid,

The square frames show the emperors, including Augustus, intent upon listening to the reading of the Aeneid, or Alexander the Great receiving the poems of Homer, and condottieri from antiquity who favored the development of culture.  In the corbels are the Muses, Apollo’s companions.

Deposition from the Cross (Il Cigoli, 1600-1608)

The pictorial cycle and the articulated group of white stucco and gilt figures that disrupt the Renaissance style of the architectural setting, introduces a significant new element, animating the ceiling with an illusion of male sculptures holding up the heavy festoons and satyrs wrapped in vine tendrils.

Holy Family Bracci  (Andrea del Sarto, ca. 1523)

Also in the room are three works by Andrea del Sarto – the majestic and balanced Pietà di Luco (1523-1524), Holy Family Bracci  (ca. 1523) and the Holy Family Medici (1529), one of his last works.   Exhibited nearby are two other works by Titian – the Man with Glaucous Eyes  (ca. 1525) and the famous  Penitent Magdalene (ca. 1530), much copied by the artists who were able to admire her.

Portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain in the dress of a Clarissa  (Pieter Paul Rubens)

There are also other important works of the Venetian school here such as the Portrait of Vincenzo Zeno (ca. 1565) by Tintoretto and the Nymph and the Satyr (1508-1512) by Dosso Dossi (actually the traditional title is incorrect because it is a scene inspired by Orlando Furioso). The Hospitality of San Giuliano (ca. 1612-1618) exemplifies the monumental style of the Florentine Alessandro Allori while Saint Peter Resurrects Tabita (ca. 1618) by the young Guercino and Cleopatra (1640), a mature work of Guido Reni, shows the grandeur of the Bolognese school of the seventeenth century.

Supper at Emmaus  (Jacopo Pistoia, ca. 1570-1572)

Flemish art is also well represented here by the famous double Portrait of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of England by the school of Anton van Dyck,  Portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain in the dress of a Clarissa  (ca. 1625) by Pieter Paul Rubens and the Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere as the Vestal Tuccia (ca. 1640) by Justus Suttermans.

Pieta di Luco (Andrea del Sarto)

Other works in the Hall of Apollo include:

• Portrait of Francesco Maria de ‘Medici (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1663)
• Portrait of Baccio Bandinelli  (copy from Andrea del Sarto)
• Madonna della Misericordia (workshop of Titian, ca. 1573)
• Augustus and the Sibyl (workshop of Garofalo, post 1537)
• Christ and the Adulteress (Ludovico Mazzolino, ca. 1526)
• Holy Family with St John (Caspar de Crayer, ca. 1650)
• Sant’Andrea (Simone Cantarini, ca. 1640-1650)
• San Giovanni Battista (Dosso Dossi)
• Portrait of Leopoldo de ‘Medici in the Cradle (Tiberio Titi, 1617)
• Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Mary Magdalene (attributed to Girolamo Denti, ca. 1550)
• Deposition from the Cross (Il Cigoli, 1600-1608)
• Diogenes (Carlo Dolci, 1640-1649)
• Portrait of Federico Ubaldo della Rovere in the Cradle ( Alessandro Vitali)
• Portrait of an Alemannic Soldier (Niccolò Cassana, 1691)
• Male Portrait (Sebastiano Mazzoni?) (Giovanni Battista Langetti)
• Male Portrait (Cristofano Allori, ca. 1600-1605)
• Portrait of Kaspar Stoppe  (Pieter Paul Rubens, ca. 1606-1607)
• Supper at Emmaus  (Jacopo Pistoia, ca. 1570-1572)
• Judith and Holofernes  (Jacopo Ligozzi, 1602)
• Saint John the Evangelist  (Carlo Dolci, ca. 1671)
• Female Portrait  (Cornelis de Vos, ca. 1624)
• Ecce Homo (copy from Sebastiano del Piombo)
• San Filippo Neri has the vision of the Madonna and Child (Carlo Maratta, ca. 1670)
• San Casimiro (Carlo Dolci, 1670-1671)
• Portrait of Olimpia Aldobrandini  Jacob Ferdinand Voet, ca. 1665-1670)
• Portrait of Cavalier Brandolini (?) (Justus Suttermans, Ca. 1640 – 1650)
• Table with top depicting Etruscan Vases (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, 1784)

Hall of Apollo: 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.

Hall of Mars (Sala di Marte)

The Hall of Mars (Sala di Marte) was, at the time of the Medici, the antechamber of the throne room where the chamberlain introduced the nobles, ambassadors and visitors in the presence of the Grand Duke. Dedicated to Mars, it forms part of the cycle of works of the so-called Planet rooms carried out in the 1640s by Pietro da Cortona.

The ceiling vault, frescoed on the theme of war by Cortona between 1643 and 1647, features the Medici coat of arms in the center, held aloft by a cluster of cherubs and topped with a crown inscribed with the name of Ferdinando II de’ Medici who commissioned the impressive decorative work.

Ceiling vault fresco

An allegorical representation of the education of the young prince, Hercules (the young prince’s alter-ego and patron god of the Medici family) is depicted in a naval battle which rages along the perimeter, watched over by Mars, the god of War, who bestows strength to the young man by lighting him with his star.

Medici coat-of-arms

With the enemy weapons spoils given to him by the Dark Gods, Hercules makes a trophy (panoply) while a parade of prisoners, their weapons discarded in the hope of a lasting peace, advances towards the female figures of Victory, Plenty and Peace, crowned with laurel. Rotating on himself, he receives the gladius of victory from Castor and Pollux, to be added to the trophy.

Victory, Plenty and Peace

More than any other room in the Pitti Palace, the Hall of Mars, perhaps due to the theatrical composition and the lively arrangement of characters on the ceiling, reaches the level of Baroque illusionism found in the famous vault in Palazzo Barberini (where Cortona had just completed his Triumph of Divine Providence fresco) in Rome.

Four Philosophers (Peter Paul Rubens, 1612)

In this room there are two Pieter Paul Rubens masterpieces. The monumental  Consequences of the War (1638 ), a grandiose allegory in harmony with the theme of Pietro da Cortona’s frescoes on the ceiling, shows Venus vainly entreating Mars not to go to war. The Four Philosophers (ca. 1612), of great intensity, has a self-portrait at the top left. Both canvases are rich in literary and philosophical citations and often figures from classical mythology appear.

Madonna and Child (Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, ca. 1650-1655)

San Sebastiano (Guercino’s Workshop)

The room is also accompanied by a series of portraits, among which the most important are by Anton van Dyck (Portrait of Cardinal Bentivoglio, 1622-1623), Titian (Portrait of Ippolito de ‘Medici, 1532), Tintoretto (Portrait of Alvise Cornaro, ca. 1665) and Paolo Veronese (Portrait of a Gentleman in Fur, ca. 1550-1560).

Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (Pieter van Mol)

Other works in the Hall of Mars include:

• Saint Mary Magdalene Penitent(Il Cigoli, ca. 1600)
• San Sebastiano (Guercino’sWorkshop)
• Annunciation with Saints Michael the Archangel and Godenzo (Andrea del Sarto, ca. 1515)
• Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (Pieter van Mol)
• Madonna and Child  (Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, ca. 1650-1655)
• Holy Family with St. Elizabeth and St. John  (Ventura Salimbeni, 1608)
• Copy of the Madonna and Child, St. Elizabeth and St. John of Rubens (Jan van den Hoecke)
• Madonna of the Rosary  (Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, ca. 1648-1650)
• Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth (Fra Bartolomeo, ca. 1516)
• Stories from the Childhood of Joseph (Andrea del Sarto, ca. 1515-1516)
• Giuseppe Interprets the Pharaoh’s Dream (Andrea del Sarto, ca. 1515-1516)
• Madonna and Child with St. John  (Domenico Puligo, ca. 1512-1515)
• Baptism of Christ  (Giovan Battista Foggini, 1723)
• Sacrifice of Isaac (Il Cigoli, ca. 1606-1607)
• Portrait of Andrea Vesalius (?) (workshop of Titian, ca. 1545)
• Portrait of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough  (Adriaen van der Werff, 1705)
• Peter in Tears (From Guido Reni)
• Saint Mary Magdalene Carried to Heaven by Angels  (Guido Cagnacci, ca. 1650-1658)
• Portrait of a Woman as Saint Margaret  (Carlo Dolci, 1664)
• A Copy of The Fortune Teller by Simon Vouet (attributed to Antiveduto of Gramatica, ca. 1617)
• Portrait of Luca Martini  (Bronzino, ca. 1554-1556)
• Immaculate Madonna  (Luca Giordano, ca. 1689)
• Rebecca at the Well  (Giovanni Andrea Sirani, ca. 1640)
• Table (Paolo Monaccorb, 1697)
• Three Tables (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, ca. 1790) 

St. Peter in Tears (From Guido Reni

Hall of Mars: 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.

Hall of Saturn (Sala dei Saterno)

The Hall of Saturn (Sala di Saturno), the last in the series of the Planet Rooms, once marked the beginning of the grand duke’s private apartment (it was also known as the Audience Chamber as he held audience here). The ceiling vault was richly painted, in 1663-65, by Ciro Ferri , the best pupil of Pietro da Cortona, who used the master’s drawings.

It represents the conclusion of the cycle of the Planets and the parable of the prince’s earthly life (now close to an end), having completed the journey of identification with Hercules, the Medici hero.  The now immortal old Prince/Hercules is now conducted into the Empyrean, accompanied by Prudence and Mars.

Ceiling fresco

Here, awaited by Saturn/Kronos (the divinity that represents Time), he wins the crown back from Fame and Eternity and then, now perfect, sets out to go up to the stake to conclude his glorious life in the heavens and eternity. At the four corners are many examples of senile wisdom, with episodes from the lives of Cyrus the Great, Lycurgus, Scipio the African and Sulla.

Lunette

In the center of the room is a marble masterpiece statue of Victory (1859) by the modern sculptor Vincenzo Consani. The most consistent nucleus of Raphael‘s anthology of works are located here, allowing you to retrace different periods and styles of his activity.

La Vittoria (Vincenzo Consani)

The Madonna of the Grand Duke (ca. 1506), still linked to the artistic events of Pietro Perugino and Leonardo, celebrates the strength of the first hug, the maternal one, a universal gesture that simultaneously expresses powerful protection and infinite tenderness.

Madonna of the Chair (Raphael, ca. 1513 – 1514)

The Madonna of the Baldacchino (1507 – 1508), on the other hand, is unfinished. Works of full stylistic maturity include the Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami (ca. 1510) and the famous Madonna of the Chair (ca. 1513 – 1514) of great tenderness and sublime in the drafting of the painting, monumental and at the same time sweet familiar scene.

Annunciation della Scala (Andrea del Sarto, 1528)

The exceptional series is completed the Vision of Ezekiel, a later work of 1518, with a very strong monumental composition, according to the Roman style of the painter who will greatly influence the subsequent artists linked to the schools of Classicism and Baroque.

San Sebastiano (Guercino , 1652)

Other important works in the room are the Lamentation over the Dead Christ (1495) by Pietro Perugino, master of Raphael, the Salvator Mundi With the Four Evangelists  (1516) by Fra Bartolomeo and two large paintings by Andrea del Sarto : the Dispute on the Trinity (ca. 1517) and the Annunciation Della Scala (1528).

Other works in the Hall of Saturn include:

• Male Portrait (Federico Barocci workshop)
• Adam and Eve  (Jacopo Bassano, ca. 1560)
• Parable of the Sower of Darnel (Jacopo Bassano shop, second half of the 16th century)
• Male Head (Annibale Carracci, ca. 1590-1592)
• Putto (from Correggio)
• Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere (Carlo Dolci, ca. 1680)
• Saint Rose of Lima (Carlo Dolci, 1668)
• Sleep of San Giovannino (Carlo Dolci, ca. 1670-1674)
• Portrait of Giovan Battista Gambetti (Empoli, 1594)
• Female Portrait (Orlando Flacco)
• Madonna and Child  (Giovanni da San Giovannicircle, first half of the 17th century)
• San Sebastiano (Guercino, 1652)
• San Sebastiano (Guercino workshop, mid-17th century)
• Peter in Tears (Guercino workshop, mid-17th century)
• Laurel Poet (Pier Francesco Mola)
• Female Portrait (Francesco Montemezzano)
• Portrait of Pope Leo XI (attributed to Giovanni Antonio Paracca known as Valsoldo, ca. 1605)
• Madonna and Child with Two Saints (Pietro Perugino workshop, ca. 1490-1500)
• Holy Family with St. John (Domenico Puligo, ca. 1525)
• Portrait of Agnolo Doni (Raphael, ca. 1506)
• Portrait of Maddalena Doni (Raphael towards Deucalione and Pirra, ca. 1506)
• Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena (Raphael, ca. 1516)
• Female Portrait  (Florentine school of the 16th century, ca. 1580-1590)
• Portrait of an Artist (Florentine school of the seventeenth century)
• Martyrdom of Saint Agatha (Sebastiano del Piombo, 1520)
• Cain and Abel (Andrea Schiavone,  ca. 1542)
• Ecce Homo (Sodoma workshop, mid-16th century)
• Portrait of Canon Pandolfo Ricasoli  (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1630)
• Madonna (Justus Suttermans)
• Adam and Eve Mourn Abel who Died (Alessandro Tiarini, ca. 1630-1640)
• Moses Saved from the Waters (Bonifacio Veronese, ca. 1540)
• Consul (Giuseppe Colzi and Paolo Sani, 1818)
• Two Tables Giuseppe Colzi and Paolo Sani, 1818)
• Bust of Leopold II of Lorraine (Ottaviano Giovannozzi)
• Bust of Ferdinand III of Lorraine (Ottaviano Giovannozzi) 

Martyrdom of Saint Agatha (Sebastiano del Piombo, 1520)

Hall of Saturn: Room 24, First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Pitti 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.

Room of the Stove (Sala della Stufa) with the wall fresco The Age of Bronze by Pietro de Cortuna

Located next door to the  Grand Duke’s bedroom, the Room of the Stove (Sala della Stufa) was, in the past, an open loggia or gallery that was later closed off in the seventeenth century and restructured as a “stove,” a bathroom heated using the same techniques as the Roman baths and intended for private use by the Grand Duke. It still contains the pipes of the heating system.

Ceiling fresco

Its decoration, commissioned by Grand Duke Ferdinando II de’ Medici, was done in three phases. Between 1625 and 1627, the Grand Duke employed various Florentine masters including Michelangelo Cinganelli , Matteo Rosselli and Ottavio Vannini to decorate the vaults and lunettes with images of the great monarchies of antiquity and allegorical figures.  The stuccoes were instead made by Antonio Novelli and Sebastiano Pettirossi.

Wall fresco with the Age of Iron(Pietro de Cortuna)

Later, in 1637, Pietro da Cortona was then entrusted to decorate the walls with a depiction of The Four Ages of Man  (a theme inspired by Ovid‘s Metamorphoses and most likely conceived by Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger), painting the Golden Age (which alludes to the happy reign of Ferdinand II de ‘Medici and his union with Vittoria della Rovere) and Silver Age (which dates back to the painter’s first stay in Florence in 1637) diptych.

The Age of Gold (Pietro de Cortuna)

In the Golden Age painting, farmers, children and animals coexist in harmony in the imaginary Arcadia, evoking the peaceful and happy rule of Grand Duke Ferdinand II de ‘Medici, whose reign further flourished following his marriage, in 1637, to Vittoria della Rovere.  This joyous event is alluded to by the painter in his portrayal of a young couple courting below the majestic oak, the heraldic emblem of the Rovere family, and the heraldic Marzocco lion, symbol of Florence and the Medici house.

The Age of Silver Pietro de Cortuna)

In 1641, Pietro followed this up with the scenes of the Bronze Age and Iron Age on the basis of a prior plan, paintings which were more agitated and Rubenesque in nature, painted some years apart and which contrast images of a civilized society with the violent events of war, another example of an erudite iconographic technique.

These frescoes, representing a fundamental work of the Baroque in the city, gave new impetus to the Florentine school of painting. The birth of the great Baroque murals, it marked the arrival of a new style in Florence which introduced a lighter lexicon and narrative inspired by the Venetian paintings of Paolo Veronese and the Roman frescoes of Annibale Carracci.

The floor, covered in 1627 with majolica tiles from the Montelupo factory, was almost completely and faithfully restored, copying the ancient design (based on cartoon by Giulio Parigi), and carried out in the early twentieth century by the Cantagalli Manufacture.  In the center of the floor stands the Triumph of the Monarchy, the only original part. Other fragments of the original floor, found in a cellar, are now in display in the adjacent vestibule of the Del Moro staircase.

Works in the Stove Room include:

Frescoes (vault)

• Fama (Michelangelo Cinganelli, 1625-27)
• Fortress (Michelangelo Cinganelli, 1625-27)
• Fortuna (Ottavio Vannini, 1625-27)
• Justice (Michelangelo Cinganelli, 1625-27)
• Prudence  Matteo Rosselli, 1625-27)
• Roman Monarchy (Ottavio Vannini, 1625-27)
• Monarchy of the Saracens (Ottavio Vannini, 1625-27)
• Monarchy of the Turks (Michelangelo Cinganelli, 1625-27
• Monarchy of Austria (Matteo Rosselli, 1625-27)
• Monarchy of the Assyrians (Matteo Rosselli, 1625-27)
• Monarchy of the Persians (Michelangelo Cinganelli, 1625-27)
• Macedonian Monarchy (Michelangelo Cinganelli, 1625-27)

Frescoes (walls)

• Golden Age (Pietro da Cortona, 1637)
• Silver Age (Pietro da Cortona, 1637)
• Bronze Age (Pietro da Cortona, 1641)
• Iron Age (Pietro da Cortona, 1641)
• Allegory of Commerce (unknown author, 17th century)
• Allegory of Justice (unknown author, 17th century)
• Vase (Sèvres manufacture, 19th century)
• Cloaked female figure with veiled head  (Roman art, 2nd century AD)
• Female figure with patella and flute  (Roman art, 2nd century AD)
• Female figure with cornucopia (Cybele?) (Roman art, Imperial age)
• Vibia Aurelia Sabina  (Roman art, imperial age)

Room of the Stove: Pitti 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.

During the Medici era, trucco (“trick, a form of ground billiards) was played here and, in 1689, Cosimo III de Medici made it his own private room, equipped with a chapel. The original decoration, by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini, dates back to that period with the Novissimi, four very large religious canvases that represented the last four moments of life – Death, Justice, the Inferno and Paradise.

Hall of the Iliad (Sala dell’Iliade)

In 1795, the Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany, of the House of  Habsburg-Lorraine, had the religious canvases removed and incorporated the room in the sequence that would constitute a major part into the path of the Palatine Gallery.

Hall of the Iliad (Sala dell’Iliade)

He wanted to have it redecorated with a mythological theme but this program was only realized in 1815, after his return from Napoleonic exile, when he entrusted the enterprise to Luigi Sabatelli  who, from 1819 to 1825, worked on it with the use of aid.

Assembly of the Gods presided over by Jupiter

The fresco is a representation of the events prior to the Trojan War (taken from Book XV of Homer’s Iliad).  At the center is the Council of the Gods where Jove (Jupiter) orders the assembled gods to refrain from interfering or trying to influence the outcome of the Trojan War.

Lunettes depicting Juno, who despised the Trojans, using various initiatives to distract Jove with her seductions.

The lunettes, on the other hand, depict Juno, who despised the Trojans, using various initiatives to distract Jove with her seductions.

Statue of Charity (Lorenzo Bartolini)

On display is La Gravida (ca. 1506), a work by Raphael, whose brilliant colors are enhanced by the black background, typical of contemporary Flemish painting.

Baptism of Christ (Paolo Veronese , ca. 1580)

Each wall has a large altarpiece in the center which, as a whole, exemplifies the various currents of the early sixteenth century in Florence.

Assunta Panciatichi (Andrea del Sarto, ca. 1522-1523)

Two, in rigorous symmetry, are by Andrea del Sarto – the Assunta Passerini (1526) and the Assunta Panciatichi (ca. 1522-1523).  Another, the Pala Pitti (1512), is by Fra Bartolomeo, while the Pala Dei (1522) is by Rosso Fiorentino.

Christ in Glory and Saints (Annibale Carracci, ca. 1597-1598)

Other works in the Hall of the Iliad include:

• Parable of the Sower of Darnel (Workshop of Jacopo Bassano)
• Battle of Montemurlo (Battista Franco, ca. 1537)
• Ascent to Calvary (Frans Francken II)
• Christ in Glory and Saints (Annibale Carracci, ca. 1597-1598)
• Portrait of Henrietta Maria of France  (Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1612)
• Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga (Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1603)
• Male Portrait  (Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen, ca. 1530)
• Portrait of Christina of France (Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1612)
• Male Portrait as a Warrior Saint (16th Century Northern Italian School)
• Portrait of Domenico Cresti known as il Passignano (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1635)
• Female Portrait  (Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, 1509)
• Madonna and Child Enthroned, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Eustace (Niccolò Soggi, ca. 1510)
• Saint John the Evangelist (Carlo Dolci, 1671)
• Portrait of Onofrio Bartolini Salimbeni (Girolamo da Carpi, ca. 1524)
• Portrait of Mattias de ‘Medici (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1660)
• Portrait of Paul III (copy from Titian, 16th century)
• Male Portrait (Titian, ca. 1540-1550)
• Copy of the Madonna of San Girolamo by Correggio (attributed to Federico Barocci)
• Portrait of a Woman (Scipione Pulzone, ca. 1595)
• Female Portrait (Scipione Pulzone, ca. 1570)
• Portrait of Emperor Ferdinand II (Justus Suttermans, 1623)
• Moses (Carlo Dolci, ca. 1645)
• Portrait of Francesco I de ‘Medici (Cristofano dell’Altissimo, ca. 1562)
• Female Portrait (Scipione Pulzone, ca. 1595)
• Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga  (Justus Suttermans, 1623)
• Goldsmith (Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, ca. 1515-1517)
• Archangel Raphael Refusing Tobias’s Gifts (Giovanni Bilivert, 1612)
• Conversion of the Magdalene (Artemisia Gentileschi, 1615-1616)
• Portrait of Philip II of Spain (Titian and workshop, ca. 1550)
• Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (Workshop of Jacopo and Francesco Bassano)
• Portrait of Leopoldo de ‘Medici (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1660)
• Giuditta with her handmaid (Artemisia Gentileschi, 1618-1619)
• Saint Benedict and Saints (Paolo Veronese and workshop, 1572)
• Male Portrait (attributed to Venetian school)
• Portrait of Maria de ‘Medici (attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1610)
• Madonna and Child (Andrea del Sarto, 1528-1530)
• Portrait of Scipione Nerchi Mutolo (Emilian school of the seventeenth century)
• Portrait of Eleonora de ‘Medici (Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1600-1609)
• Portrait of Valdemaro Cristiano (Justus Suttermans, 1638-1639)
• Baptism of Christ (Paolo Veronese, ca. 1580)
• Prayer in the Garden  (Francesco Bassano, ca. 1580-1590)
• Portrait of Ferdinand II de ‘Medici (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1635)
• Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV of Spain (attributed Diego Velázquez)
• Tarquinio and Lucrezia ( Simone Pignoni)
• Equestrian Portrait of the Elector Palatine (Jan Frans van Douven, 1707)
• Portrait of Queen Elizabeth of England (School of Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, ca. 1592-1603)
• Tarquinio and Lucrezia (attributed to Onorio Marinari)
• Bacchus and Ariadne (copy from Titian)
• Saint Mary Magdalene (Domenichino, ca. 1620-1630)
• Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Paolo Veronese)
• Ruggero and Alcina (Rutilio Manetti)
• Charity  (Lorenzo Bartolini, ca. 1817-1835)
• Four vases with handles formed by a swan with a putto (Massimiliano Soldani Benzi, 1689-1693)
• Two Tables (Florentine manufacture of the beginning of the century. XIX)
• Table (Lorenzo Dolci, 1788)
• Table (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, 1785) 

Madonna and Child Enthroned, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Eustace (Niccolò Soggi, ca. 1510)

Hall of the Iliad:First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Pitti 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.

Hall of Ulysses (Sala di Ulisse)

At the time of the Medici, the Hall of Ulysses (Sala di Ulisse) was the grand duke’s bedroom. From about 1775, when the Hapsburg-Lorraines succeeded as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the room was part of the apartment of Maria Theresa of Habsburg-Lorraine (eldest daughter of Pietro Leopoldo) and, after the Napoleonic interlude, was used, with the nearby rooms, as part of the Palatine Gallery.

In this period, after 1814, Grand Duke Ferdinando III of Hapsburg-Lorraine commissioned Gaspare Martellini to paint on the ceiling the Return of Ulysses to Ithaca (alluding to the return of the Grand Duke after the exile in the Napoleonic period), with a frieze decorated at the corners below with allegories of Loyalty, of Fortress, of Hercules and Apollo. In this room, Il Cigoli‘s Ecce Homo (1607) was selected, during the Napoleonic looting, to be sent to Paris along with the other works of art.

Ceiling fresco

In our museum itinerary, the first painting we encountered was the Madonna dell’Impvecchia (Madonna of the Implanted, ca. 1514), a noteworthy work by Raphael which was made during the artist’s stay in Rome. The Virgin and Child in Glory with Six Saints (1527-1528) is the first work of Andrea del Sarto‘s gallery.

Virgin and Child in Glory with Six Saints (Andrea del Sarto, 1527-28)

Also interesting is the Death of Lucrezia (ca. 1475), one of the gallery’s rare fifteenth-century works and an early painting by Filippino Lippi who decorated a pair of wedding chests made perhaps in collaboration with Botticelli.

Love the Winner (Orazio Riminaldi, ca. 1624)

Other works in the Hall of Ulysses include:

• Male Portrait (Workshop of Tintoretto, late 16th century)
• Faith (Francesco Furini, ca. 1633-1640)
• Landscape with Bathers (Agostino Carracci)
• Temptations of Saint Anthony the Abbot  (Salvator Rosa, ca. 1645)
• Male Portrait (Bernardino Licinio, 1537)
• Portrait of Claudia Felicita as Galla Placidia (Carlo Dolci, 1675)
• Male Portrait (Cristofano Allori , ca. 1605)
• Charity (Guido Reni, ca. 1605)
• Female Portrait (School of Anthonis Mor, late 16th century)
• Male Portrait (Giulio Campi, ca. 1525-1530)
• Portrait of a Clergyman (Tintoretto)
• Temptations of St. Jerome (Giorgio Vasari, 1541)
• Saint John the Baptist in the Desert (Cristofano Allori, ca. 1612-1615)
• Portrait of Simone by Marco Moroni (Giovan Battista Moroni, ca. 1570)
• Christ Led Out of the Praetorium (Pietro Ciafferi)
• Diana and Atteone (Agostino Tassi, ca. 1640)
• Nymph with Satyr (copy from Annibale Carracci, 17th century)
• Love the Winner (Orazio Riminaldi, ca. 1624)
• Female Portrait (Giovan Battista Moroni, ca. 1560)
• Sermon of St. John the Baptist Alessandro Allori, 1604)
• Santa Lucia (School of Carlo Dolci, 17th century)
• San Paolo (Bartolomeo Schedoni, ca. 1610)
• Holy Family (Workshop of Domenico Puligo, third decade of the 16th century)
• Male Portrait (Bergamo school of the 16th century)
• Madonna and Child (Carlo Dolci, ca. 1680)
• Vision of Saint John the Evangelist in Patmos (Carlo Dolci, ca. 1550)
• Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Francesco Curradi)
• Supper at Emmaus (Cristofano Allori, ca. 1610)
• Ecce Homo (Carlo Dolci, ca. 1670)
• Portrait of the Prelate Marco by Giovanni Moroni (Giovan Battista Moroni, ca. 1570)
• Madonna of the Conception (Tintoretto, ca. 1570)
• Male Portrait (Gregorio Pagani, ca. 1600)
• Portrait of a Young Man (Florentine school of the seventeenth century)
• Portrait of Andrea Frizier (Tintoretto, ca. 1575)
• Portrait of the Bishop Giuliano Argentino (Venetian school (?) of the 16th century, ca. 1537-1549)
• Self-portrait  (Hans von Aachen, ca. 1585-1595)
• Male Portrait  (Frans Pourbus the Younger, ca. 1595)
• Male Portrait  (attributed to Antonio del Ceraiolo, ca. 1520-1530)
• Table (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, 1792)
• Table (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, 1792)
• Mirror (Florentine manufacture of the century XVIII, 1790-1800) 

Saint John the Baptist in the Desert (Cristofano Allori, ca. 1612-1615)

Hall of Ulysses: First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Pitti 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.

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.

Poccetti Gallery (Galleria del Poccetti)

The next room, between the apartments of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, was the Poccetti Gallery (Galleria del Poccetti), also called Poccetti’s Corridor (Corridorio del Poccetti).

Ceiling vault

During the 17th century, this room was once a barrel-vaulted loggia referred to as the “loggetta made into a gallery,” a passageway open to the garden and an interior courtyard that connected the private apartment of the Grand Duke with the apartment of the Grand Duchess.

Allegory of Justice (Mateo Rosselli)

This corridor owes its traditional name to the erroneous attribution of the frescoes on the vault, once believed to be by Florentine artist  Bernardino Poccetti (Bernardino Barbatelli) and, instead, made after his death, at the time of Cosimo II.

It was based on a project by his pupil Michelangelo Cinganelli who executed the pictorial decoration with the help of Filippo Tarchiani, Matteo Rosselli and Ottavio Vannini (1620-25).  In 1813, the logetta was closed off and became a part of the new Palatine Gallery.

Lunette with fresco of Siena with the She-wolf

Lunette with fresco of Florence with the Marzocco

In keeping with the typical taste at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, the ceiling vault is subdivided into squares, cartouches, panels and folders built into the architecture, with allegorical figures such as Faith, Justice and Fortress; in the lunettes the allegories of Florence (with the marzocco) and of Siena (with the she-wolf). The whole is enriched with grotesques and stuccos.  In the center of the hall is a table (1716) commissioned by Cosimo III and done by Giovan Battista Foggini.

Ila and the Nymphs (Francesco Furini, 1630-1633)

Other works in the Poccetti Gallery include:

• Portrait of the Jesuit Father Giovan Pietro Pinamonti (Andrea Pozzo)
• Santa Giuliana (Domenico Fetti)
• Man in Black in Profile(Rosso Fiorentino, ca. 1520-1522)
• Saint Jerome in the Study  Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, ca. 1617)
• Portrait of Cardinal Ferdinando de ‘Medici (workshop of Pulzone Scipione, ca. 1603-1608)
• Portrait of Monsignor Francesco Prospero Urbani (Federico Barocci)
• Portrait of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (copy by Pieter Paul Rubens)
• Female Portrait (copy by Pieter Paul Rubens)
• Three Young Jews led into the Furnace (Lorenzo Lippi, ca. 1635)
• River Landscape (Gaspard Dughet)
• Landscape with Faun and Nymphs (Gaspard Dughet)
• Landscape with Shepherds and Herds (Gaspard Dughet)
• Landscape with Ruins and Figures (Gaspard Dughet)
• Ila and the Nymphs (Francesco Furini, 1630-1633)
• Parable of the Unfaithful Farmer (workshop of Domenico Fetti)
• Parable of the Lost Drachma (workshop of Domenico Fetti)
• Sermon of St. John the Baptist (Jacob Pynas)
• Male Portrait (Niccolò Cassana)
• Portrait of Oliver Cromwell (workshop of Peter Lely)
• Adoration of the Shepherds (Andrea Schiavone)
• Portrait of General Grifoni (Justus Suttermans, ca. 1650)
• Portrait of a Painter (Niccolò Cassana)
• Saint Francis of Assisi receives the Stigmata (Jan van Scorel)
• Bust of Cosimo II  (Mattias Ferrucci, 1621)
• Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew (Jusepe de Ribera)

Bust of Cosimo II (Mattias Ferrucci, 1621)

Poccetti Gallery: Pitti 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.