Category Archives: Museums

Palazzo Pitti – Boboli Gardens (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by

Boboli Gardens

From the Pitti Palace (the main seat of the Medici grand dukes), we crossed the Cortile dell’Ammannati (the palace courtyard) and proceeded to the historical Boboli Gardens (Giardini di Boboli) via a staircase that lead to the Artichoke Fountain whose large octagonal basin, decorated with numerous statues of Tritons and Nereids, is crowned by a bronze lily. Begun in 1639 and installed between 1641 and 1642, the fountain is the work of Florentine sculptor Giovan Francesco Susini and his collaborators.

Looking out into the garden from the Artichoke Fountain

From here, the sight opened up on to the large “amphitheater” of the Boboli Gardens, a park and real outdoor museum behind the palace and the “green lung” of Florence.  Opened to the public in 1766, it is home to some of the first and most familiar formal 16th-century Italian gardens, hosting centuries-old oak trees plus a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries (with some Roman antiquities).

Jandy, Grace, Cheska and Kyle making their way to the garden

Representing one of the first and most important examples of the Italian garden, it later served as a prototype and inspiration for many European royal gardens (in particular, Versailles). Just a year before our visit, in 2015, the garden underwent restoration work.

Check out “Versailles Palace”

Cheska, Kyle and Grace with Palazzo Pitti in the background

Developed in the mid-16th-century garden style, it incorporated longer axial developments, wide gravel avenues and a considerable “built” element of stone. Lavishly employing statuary and fountains, its proliferation of detail was coordinated in semi-private and public spaces that were informed by Classical accents such as grottos, nympheums, garden temples and the like. Unconventional for its time, the garden, with it expansive view of the city, was very lavish, considering that no access was allowed (outside of the immediate Medici family) and no entertainment or parties ever took place in the gardens.

The name of the gardens is a corruption of “Borgoli,” the name of the family who laid out the original fields and gardens behind Santa Felicita in the Oltrarno. In 1418, Luca Pitti bought the land from them and, in 1549, the property was purchased by Eleonora di Toledo (the wife of Cosimo I de’ Medici). The land was greatly enlarged to become the Medici family‘s new city residence.

The first stage was scarcely begun by Medici court artist Niccolò Tribolo who drew the original plan before he died the next year in 1550.  Under the reign of Francesco I, who succeeded his father Cosimo I, it was continued by Bartolomeo Ammanati, Giorgio Vasari (who contributed in the planning and the laying out of the grottos from 1598 to 1561) and, in the sculpture, by the artist, architect and sculptor Bernardo Buontalenti who was also responsible for the elaborate architecture of the splendid Buontalenti grotto, built between 1536 and 1608, in the courtyard that separates the palace from its garden.

The Kaffeehaus. One of the most interesting buildings inside the Boboli Gardens, it is also one of the works carried out at the wishes of Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine, between 1774 and 1785. An airy pavilion, it is circular in shape and has an onion-shaped dome on the top. Designed by Zanobi Del Rosso, its interiors were done by Giuseppe del Moro, Giuliano Traballesi and Pasquale Micheli.

Lacking a natural water source to water the plants in the garden, a conduit was built from the nearby Arno River to feed water into an elaborate irrigation system. Passing through several stages of enlargement and restructuring work, the gardens were enlarged in the 17th century to their present extent of 45,000 sq. m. (111 acres).

The Amphitheater

In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the Medici and the Lorraine families continued to enrich and enlarge the garden, generating an outdoor museum and a scenic setting to exhibit both Roman and 16th and 17th century Renaissance statues. In the 18th century, the Lorraine family made further additions including the green Kaffeehaus (a multiple-tiered garden coffeehouse constructed from 1774 to 1785), with its glazed dome, and the “Lemon House,” both designed by Zanobi del Rosso.

Jandy, Grace, Cheska and Kyle at the Amphitheater

Centered on the rear façade of the Pitti Palace, the primary axis rises on Boboli Hill from a deep amphitheater, behind the corps de logis of the palazzo, that is reminiscent, in its shape, of one half of a classical hippodrome or racecourse. In the first phase of building, the amphitheater was excavated in the hillside behind the palace, initially formed with clipped edges and greens and, later, formalized by rebuilding in stone decorated with statues based on Roman myths.

In 1476, the play Andria by Terence was performed there for the amusement of the cultivated Medici court. Later, it followed by many classically inspired plays, featuring elaborate sets designed by the court architect Baldassarre Lanci, of Florentine playwrights such as Giovan Battista Cini.  .

The author and Jandy with the Egyptian obelisk in the background. This obelisk is suspected to have been first erected in the city of Heliopolis during the reign of Ramesses II. In the first century AD, it was moved to Rome by Domitian and placed in the Temple of Isis in the Campus Martius, along with three other obelisks still in Rome. In the sixteenth century, Cardinal Ferdinand I de’ Medici bought the 6 m. high obelisk in Rome and placed it in the gardens of the Villa Medici.

The ancient Egyptian Boboli obelisk, brought here in 1789 from the Villa Medici (in turn, brought there from Luxor) at Rome, is at the center of the amphitheater and is rather dwarfed by its position.

Neptune Fountain

This primary axis terminates in the Neptune Fountain known, to the irreverent Florentines, as the “Fountain of the Fork” for Neptune’s large trident.  As we climbed further up the slope, at the very top of the hill, we found the large statue of Abundance, by Giambologna  (which featured the likeness of Giovanna of Austria, Francesco I’s wife) visible against the skyline.

Abundance by Giambologna

The steep, sloping Cyprus Road (or Viottolone, “large avenue”), the long secondary axis a right angle to the primary axis, was laid out by Giulio Parigi.  This road, which led up through a series of terraces, tunnels and water features (the main one being the Isolotto complex, with the bosquets on either side), is flanked by cypresses and statuettes and heads back down the hill toward at Porta Romana (Roman Gate), one of the main gates of the walled city. The Grotto of Vulcan (Grotticina di Vulcano), also along this axis, was constructed in 1617 by Parigi.

Check out “Porta Romana“

The oval shaped isolotto, an island in a large, tree-enclosed pond nearly at the end of the alternative Viottolone axis, was laid out around 1618 by Giulio and Alfonso Parigi.  It has another fountain of Neptune (here as god of the oceans), known as the Fountain of the Ocean in the center, a replica of the original sculpted by Giambologna which is now in the Bargello Museum. It is surrounded by three sculptures representing the great rivers of the Nile, Ganges and Euphrates.

Strolling along one of the alleys of the gardens

All around are other statues based on Classic and popular subjects, belonging to the 17th and 18th centuries,  like those that shows groups of children playing traditional games. Emerging from the moat surrounding the island are the marble groups, by Giambologna and his pupil, of Perseus on horseback and of Andromeda, whose ankles are chained to the rock.

Check out “Bargello Museum”

The double staircase

Then, we climbed a double staircase, designed in 1793, by Giuseppe del Rosso.  It curves around a cylindrical structure topped with a circular terrace, at either side of which stood two statues of the Muses.

Cheska and Kyle at the terrace of the double staircase

Upon reaching the top, we visited the beautiful Knight’s Garden (Giardino del Cavaliere) which stands on an eponymous rampart (Bastione del Cavaliere)  built by Michelangelo in 1529.

Giardino del Cavaliere with the Neo-Classical-style Knight’s Building (now housing the Porcelain Museum) on the left

Beside this garden is the Neo-Classical-style Knight’s Building (Palazzina del Cavaliere)  housing the Porcelain Museum of the Pitti Palace.  Underneath the building is the Trout Reservoir (Conserva delle Trote), a large water storage area, built in 1614, from which the pipes that supply water to the entire garden lead off.

View from the Giardino del Cavaliere.  On the top of the hill is the Torre al Gallo

From this colorful garden rich with blossoming roses, we enjoyed a wonderful view of the Torre al Gallo as well as elegant private Florentine manors nearly hidden inside the lavish vegetation of the hills.

Check out “Palazzo Pitti – Porcelain Museum”

View from Giardino del Cavaliere

The Large Grotto, decorated internally and externally with stalactites and originally equipped with waterworks and luxuriant vegetation, is divided into three main sections decorated with remarkable examples of Mannerist sculptures. The first one, frescoed to create the illusion of a natural grotto, is a natural refuge for shepherds to protect themselves from wild animals.

It originally housed The Prisoners of Michelangelo, statues that were first intended for the tomb of the Pope Julius II and are now in the Gallerie dell’ Accademia. They are now replaced by copies. The third and furthest hall in the grotto contains the famous Bathing Venus of Giambologna and the second section contains Paris Abducts Helen, an 18th-century group by Vincenzo de’ Rossi. These last two chambers were created as the perfect setting for the secretive, amorous meetings of the Duke Francesco I de’ Medici.

Check out “Gallerie dell’ Accademia”

Boboli Gardens:  Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, 50125  Florence, Italy.  Open from 8:15 AM to 6:30 PM (May, September and October) and 8:15 AM to 7:30 PM (July and August).  It is closed the first and last Monday of the month.  Admission: €10.

Palazzo Pitti – Palatine Chapel (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Palatine Chapel

The Palatine Chapel, completed in 1575, was originally a large environment forming part of the suites used as dining rooms that Bartolomeo Ammannati created on the ground floor of the Pitti Palace. Later, it was used firstly as a reception room and enhanced by precious vestments.   In 1658, it was used as a lounge for the foreign princes and, in 1661, when Cosimo III married Marguerite Louise d’Orléans, the suite was renovated and used as a residence for the “Wedded Royals.”

For this occasion, Jacopo Chiavistelli decorated the rooms with frescoes featuring subjects and architectures we can only imagine today.  According to the descriptions of the time, they portrayed Cosimo’s challenge and Apollo’s cart, among allegories of Day and Night on the vault, the months of the year and the Zodiac signs, alternating with backgrounds of architecture on the main walls and, on the smaller walls, the weapons of the Medici and the Orleans family.

In 1765, following the arrival of Grand Duke Leopold II of Lorraine in Florence, the area was radically transformed. Deciding to convert the hall into a new palace chapel, Leopold II assigned the renovation project to architects Ruggeri and Paoletti.  They created stages for the court and musicians, opened up the great arched window that replaced the original ones and added choirs to the opposite side.

To the right of the altar, a small choir for the rulers was built while, on the wall behind the altar, a space for hosting ladies was carved out. Finally, the iconographic content of Chiavistelli’s frescoes was changed, with a few retouches, by painter Vincenzo Meucci who transformed it from the profane to sacred.

Ceiling fresco

Initially, in 1766, work commenced on three wooden altars designed for the Chapel. In 1785, the three wooden altars were replaced by a new large single altar designed by painter Santi Pacini and made using parts of the altar, commissioned by Ferdinando I de’ Medici in the 16th century and destined for the Cappella dei Principi in San Lorenzo, which was never finished (the altar, over time, became a true mine of precious material to use for new works). They included two very interesting panels in bas-relief, attributed to Ludovico Cigoli, which were created using the semi-precious stone mosaic technique that dates to the early 17th century.

The first one, constituting the door of the ciborium above, represents “The Adoration of the Magi.” The second one, depicting “The Last Supper,” is positioned in the center of the frontal with allegories of Faith and Charity at the sides. It is flanked by full-relief figures, in niches, of the saints Athanasius and Giovanni Grisostomo. Both panels, set in splendid frames of white marble and golden bronze, feature jaspers, pearls, chalcedonies, quartz, amethysts and lapis lazuli.  The precious ivory Crucifix with the figure of Magdalene at the feet of Christ, a masterpiece of Baroque eburnean sculpture, was left at the top of the new altar.  Today, Lorenz Rues is credited with carving it and Antonio Raggi with creating the figure of Magdalene.

The altar of the chapel

The altar, one of the most precious treasures contained in the Pitti Palace, was definitely created under the direction of Cosimo Siriès (then Superintendent of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure), who was also an artist. He further decorated the altar with holy ornaments in silver (a so-called “residence” with a cross, statues of saints and candlesticks). Unfortunately, all traces of the holy silver elements were lost during the French dominion. However, to this day, the silver and gold wooden ‘baldachin,’ added in 1793, still stands in the same spot.

The choirs were enhanced by adding two columns of alabaster from Montalcino.  The two central doors of the main walls were closed to make space for the new fresco decorations created by Luigi Ademollo.  Ademollo also painted the frescoes on the vault and the decorations on the choirs and small choirs, portraying “various events in the life of Jesus Christ’s” with strikingly scenographic characteristics (the “Crucifixion” on the wall to the right of the altar and “Palm Sunday” on the wall to the left). When Ferdinand III returned to Florence, Ademollo completed the decoration of the Chapel by decorating the left-hand choir in the chapel, built in 1823.

Palm Sunday (Luigi Ademollo)

Between 1791 and 1792, Ferdinand III (who succeeded Leopold II) completely changed the decorative layout of the chapel in an operation that endowed the chapel with its current shapes, based on the design by Bernardo Fallani.

Although dating back to the mid 19th century, the ensemble picks up on the designs and motifs in use in the previous century, establishing a seamless dialog with the articulate decorations in white stucco and gold (carried out between 1685 and 1687 from designs by Giovan Battista Foggini), with scrolls and mottoes referring to Ferdinando and his wife, Violante di Baviera.

The Crucifixion (Luigi Ademollo)

Palatine Chapel: Ground Floor, 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.

Palazzo Pitti – Gallery of Modern Art (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Gallery of Modern Art

The Gallery of Modern Art, housing one of the most important and complete collections of early and late 19th century and early 20th century Italian paintings, occupies an impressive 30 rooms on the second floor (opened to public viewing since 1924) of the Palazzo Pitti once inhabited by the Habsburg-Lorraine family from which there is a magnificent view over Florence and the Boboli Gardens.  It extends as far as the rooms and the facade used by the for the palace library and the side wings used for children and retainers.

Founded in 1914, it initially comprised the Grand Ducal paintings of modern art, complemented by further modern works of art in the ownership of both the state and the municipality of Florence, brought in from the Academy of Fine Arts. The sumptuous rooms, furnished in the first half of the 19th century with frescoes, stuccoes, and period furnishings, constitute a perfect setting for the works.

Recently, these rooms have been reorganized, according to chronological criteria that trace a wide chronological arc. Though the rooms on the second floor have been restored, the decoration, upholstering and furniture of the Lorraine period have been maintained. Great informative materials are available in each room.

To some, the title “Gallery of Modern Art” may sound incorrect, as the art in the gallery covers the period of time going from Neo-Classicism (the age of Peter Leopold) up to the First World War to the 1920’s and no examples of later art are included in the collection.   In Italy, “modern art” refers to the period before World War II.  What follows is generally known as “contemporary art” (arte contemporanea) which, in Tuscany, can be found at the Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci at Prato, a city about 15 kms. (9 mi.) from Florence.

The tour of its current large collection, still being added to through donations and purchases, is arranged in multiple, overlapping rows and organized in chronological order and by historical-topical category.  It attempts to furnish visitors with a clear view of the history of the various core collections, enabling a correct reading of the diverse atmospheres, marked as they are by the personal tastes of the royal families alternating in their reigns.  Today, due to a convention signed by the Italian State and the Municipal Administration of Florence, it has a very special juridical nature.

Entry of Charles VIII into Florence (Giuseppe Bezzuoli)

Our chronological journey began with the movements of the early 1800s, with artworks from the Neo-Classical (like the Oath of the Saxons to Napoleon by Pietro Benvenuti), to Purism and the Romantic (like the grandiose Entry of Charles VIII into Florence by Giuseppe Bezzuoli or The Two Foscari  by Francesco Hayez).

The Expulsion from Florence of the Duke of Athens (Stefano Ussi, 1861)

Also included is a vast assortment of paintings of modern Italian schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, based on historical subjects that document one of most significant aspects of the first half of the 19th century culture. These comprise works by Luigi Sabatelli, Enrico Pollastrini or by Stefano Ussi with his famous The Expulsion from Florence of the Duke of Athens.

The 19th-century itinerary concludes with works of Symbolist and Divionist movements. Among the various works on display include many paintings of views and interior scenes by the delicate Silvestro Lega and the vigorous landscape painter Telemaco Signorini, a series of his rapid and elegant portraits by Giovanni Boldini, plus other works by Giorgio Morandi, Francesco Hayez, Camille Pissarro, Filippo de Pisis, Carlo Carra, Giorgio de Chirico, M. Rosso and Plinio Nomellini and futurist avant-garde works.

In addition to the above-mentioned collections, the Gallery also displays a lavish collection of 19th century works arranged in the so-called Mezzanine of the Eyes (Mezzanino degli Occhi, the “eyes” being windows in the shape of a circle).

However, the paintings that most characterize the Gallery are those of the Macchiaioli movement (starting at Room 17), a school of famous Tuscan artists of the mid-19th century, led by Giovanni Fattori, who are early pioneers and the founders of the Impressionist movement that set out the premise for a wide-scale innovation at a national level. Many of the works of these artists displayed in the Gallery belong to the collection of Diego Martelli, a critic, gallery owner (who went back and forth between Florence and Impressionist Paris) and friend of the Macchiaioli who left their paintings to the museum at the end of the last century.

Italian Camp at the Battle of Magenta (Giovanni Fattori)

This section comprises important works by Giovanni Fattori such as the small and beautiful panel Rotonda at Palmieri, the Italian Camp at the Battle of Magenta, and the Lo Staffato plus a rich series of landscapes and scenes of life in the Maremma such as the Market San Godenzo in Maremma (1887), the Ox Cart in the Tuscan Maremma, and the Sheep’s Jump (Il Salto delle Pecore, 1887).

The Sheep’s Jump (Giovanni Fattori, 1887)

Within the same period are many fine sculptures such as the Calliope of Antonio Canova, Psyché by Pietro Tenerani and the famous Abel Defeated by Giovanni Dupré.

Abel Defeated (Giovanni Dupre)

The sculptures of Adriano Cecioni, lucidly translated and experimented with the tonal ideas prevalent to whom the touch was so important. You can also visit the apartments of the Duchess of Aosta, with the original furnishings that belonged to the Savoia family.

Apartment of the Duchess of Aosta

Gallery of Modern Art: Second Floor, Palazzo Pitti, Piazza de’ Pitti 1, 50125 Florence, Italy.  Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 8.15 AM to 6.50 PM. Closed: Mondays, New Year’s Day, May 1 and Christmas Day. Admission: € 8.50 (full price), € 4.25 (reduced).  Free admission: children under 6 years old, disabled people and their helpers, authorized tour guides and leaders, teachers accompanying school groups. The ticket is also valid for the entrance to the Palatine Gallery. The ticket office closes at 6.05 PM and closing operations begin 6.30 PM.

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

Palazzo Pitti – Costume Gallery (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Costume Gallery

Costume Gallery

The Costume Gallery (Galleria del Costume), the only National Museum in Italy exclusively dedicated to the history of fashion, is housed in a small southern building wing of the Meridiana (Palazzina della Meridiana),  a suite of 14 rooms (completed in 1858) of the Pitti Palace.

DSC03075

Founded in 1983 (one of the newer collections to the palazzo) by Kirsten Aschengreen Piacenti, it is home to more than 6,000 pieces, including clothing and fashion accessories from the eighteenth century to the present day.  They include a group of about 90 theatrical costumes belonging to the Sartoria Tirelli, gathered by Umberto Tirelli, founder of an important tailoring, and a collection of fashion jewelry of the twentieth century (dating from the 16th century until the present).

DSC03078

The semi-permanent exhibition of the Lorraine/Savoy rooms display pieces from the museum collection of historical clothes and accessories, previously stored in the palace´s warehouses. They include court and gala gowns (including clothes from Sicilian aristocratic Donna Franca Florio, one of the most famous European personalities during the Belle Epoque), haute couture dresses; ready-to-wear clothes, custom-made Florentine and Neapolitan bridal gowns from the early 1900s; as well as Italian cinematic, theatrical and music divas costumes (including dresses of Eleonora Duse, one of the most famous Italian theater actresses), all organized in chronological and thematic paths.

Donna Franca Florio cape

Donna Franca Florio cape

The collections also feature whole clothes collections of celebrities, also of great historical and documentary value, creations of the most famous designers of the twentieth century – Lucile, Versace, Valentino, Loris Azzaro, Armani, Renato Balestra, Missoni, Roberto Cavalli, Ken Scott, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Gucci, and Prada.

DSC03089

Some of the exhibits are unique to the Palazzo Pitti. Composed of clothes once belonging to members of the Medici family who ruled Florence during the Renaissance, they include the fine, recently restored 16th-century funeral clothes of Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, and Eleonora of Toledo and her son Don Garzia, both of whom died 15 years before from malaria, worn while they were being displayed in state (they were reclad in plainer attire before interment).

 

Cosimo I de' Medici funeral clothes

Cosimo I de’ Medici funeral clothes

Don Garzia funeral clothes

Don Garzia funeral clothes

The richly-decorated galleries of the museum, equipped with air-conditioned display stands, display dresses on mannequins with female body structure (constricting structures such as corsets often changed the body) typical of the period in which the dress was made. The dancing hall, among other rooms, is used for temporary exhibitions of great interest.

DSC03092

For didactic purposes and in order to represent the evolution of fashion, the exhibits are updated regularly every two or three years with different selections of clothes, a decision that originates from the need of guaranteeing their preservation.  It also offers the opportunity of displaying the patrimony preserved in the depository, mostly from public and private donations. Visitors can browse the story of costume, from the Renaissance to present day, through an extensive set of dresses and accessories, combined with contextual images and description panels.

DSC03097

The gallery’s heritage is enriched by an archive paper with drawings, sketches and patterns of important figures such as Thayaht, Cesare Guidi, Simonetta Colonna di Cesaro and Alberto Fabiani. The gallery also exhibits a collection of mid-20th century costume jewellery and accessories. The Meridiana building, close to the gallery, is also the seat of a fabric restoration laboratory which is essential for the maintenance of clothing and accessories.

DSC03091

Costume Gallery: Palazzo Pitti, Piazza de’ Pitti, 50125 Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 238 8611. Amission: € 7.00. Open daily, 8:15 AM – 4:30 PM (November to February), 8:15 AM – 5:30 PM (March, winter time, October winter time), 8:15 AM – 6:30 PM (March, summer time, April, May, September, October, summer time), 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM (June to August). Closed on the first and last Monday of each month, May 1 and Christmas.

Palazzo Pitti – Imperial and Royal Apartments (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

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 19th 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.

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of Venus (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

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:

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.

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of Apollo (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

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:

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.

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of Mars (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

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:

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.

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of Saturn (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

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:

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.

Palazzo Pitti – Room of the Stove (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

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)

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.