The Uffizi Gallery

        We were walking pretty fast following Francesca's map when we saw the Pinocchio display at a shop selling children's toys.  John could not resist putting his face in the Pinocchio puppet chair.  It cracked me up, and I had to take a picture!

The Uffizi is in a horseshoe pattern.

       We arrived at the Uffizi entrance in plenty of time and noticed the long line of people waiting to get in.   Since we still had time, we looked around at all the statues of famous people in the alcoves of the Uffizi.  It was like the Renaissance Hall of Fame!

Lorenzo de Magnificent - Art patron and power broker of the Medici family.

Giotto - First great modern painter, architect - designed the Duomo Bell Tower

Donatello - worked in bas-relief - sculptor, carved the statues in Bell Tower

Jean Battiste Alberti - Wrote On Painting mathematics of perspective

Leonardo Da Vinci - Scientist, engineer, musician, painter

Michelangelo - sculptor, painter, poet, architect

Dante - Father of Italian language, wrote Devine Comedy in Florentine dialect

Petrach - Father of humanism, Poet, sonnets became model for lyrical poetry

Boccaccio - Wrote Decameron  read widely during the bubonic plague

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Macchiavelli - Historian, politician, diplomat wrote The Prince  -  End justifies the means

Americo Vespucci - Rep. of Medici Bank, map maker, explorer, game name to the Americas

Galileo- Invented Telescope, established that Earth revolves around Sun, Discovered moons of Jupiter

        When the time came for our appointment, we entered and paid for out ticket. We had planned to use Rick Steve's download on our IPad, and it stated the tour on the 4th floor.  So we hiked up the steps to begin.  John usually does not like museums and would be just as happy to sit outside while I venture forth for a few hours taking it all in. On this trip however, we had gone through the Rick Steves' tour in a virtual state using the IPad and now we were ready to do it for real.  I was surprised when John took the IPad, and led on like "taking the Bull by the Horns!"

        I taught him some Italian words that would help us get by if we needed help:

               please - per favore    and  where  - dove (with the accent on the e)

       So off we went to start the tour of Medieval painting described by Rick as "medieval times when art was as flat as the world!"  The first room is filled with large paintings used as altar pieces.  Artist gravitated to the church which was the only place that would fund artist for their work.  Artist filled the alter pieces with many pictures of the life of Christ as a way of informing the non-literate people about the great events in the bible.  It was like a Power Point lecture when the priest would give a sermon, he would refer to an event by just pointing to the painting that would explain what happened.  Many of the paintings are almost generic, placing the subject in the middle and balanced on each side. The aim was symbolic rather than realistic. The face of the Madonna was plain and there are angels on both sides placed there like wall paper.  The Madonna is seen with a halo, and she  holds the baby Jesus in her left arm.  In this room there are three alter paintings that show a similar format but the third one by Giotto attempts a bit more perspective by placing the angels in the front of the pedestal and the prophets behind.  Mary is more realistic also showing the roundness of her breast and the folds of her tunic.

Madonna and Child by Duccio circa 1300

Madonna Enthroned by Cimabue circa 1300

 more of a Byzantine style

 

Madonna by Giotto 1310

       When we came to the next painting, we had to go to room three.  We looked around the room to find it.  We searched all around and found it on the other side of the room.  By then the recorded speech on the IPad had already passed knowledge of the picture. So we waited until we were directly in front of the painting and started where the information began.  Since we didn't want to use ear phones, we let the sound up as high as it would go, so we could both hear it.  By the end of the explanation, we had a group of people listening in.  They were all curious about the download, and we had to explain how they could get the app on their of IPhone.  This time we stopped the app so we would be ready for the next entry.

This Simone Martini painting is an example of teaching work depicting the angel informing Mary that she will become the mother of Christ. She doesn't seem too excited about the whole thing.  Though Mary does not have a halo, the symbolism of the dove as the Holy Spirit and a vase of lilies to show Mary's purity are all that is necessary.  This is enough to get the message across.

The Annunciation by Simone Martini  1333

     We looked at other paintings in the room all done in gold backgrounds with similar messages about the life of Christ.  We then were sent to the next room, and we had to remember to stop the audio while we looked at the painting on the IPad and tried to find the similar one on the wall.  When we finally found it we rejoiced and stood right in front being careful not to butt people out of the way.  Then we turned on the audio again.
       The Adoration of the Magi bu Gentile da Fabriamo was amazingly rich in detail.  The focus was off center, but balanced with the three Magi's in beautiful, rich, clothing in the center. Their retinue of horses and their support staff and finely dressed people follow to come and greet the baby Jesus born in a cow's stable.  This piece also attempts to bring three dimension with the background of the castle.  In the background we see the Magi's departure, some what in a time lapse sequence. The picture is busy with detail that lets your eye wander all around finding interesting living beings all about.  This is an example of the Gothic style popular in the 1400s with the aristocratic class. Notice also the decorative frame around the painting and how it adds to the richness of the painting.

Adoration of the Magi by Gentile da Fabriano  in 1423

          We are directed to the next phase of our viewing by entering into the Early Renaissance paintings two doors down.  John spots a pretty docent sitting by the door and shows her the IPad picture of the next painting we are to see.

     "Per favore, dove this?" and he shows her the picture.  She answers in English, "Two doors down to your left."  OK ,so we go out of the room into the hall and look for the second door down.  On our way we see lots of students in the hall with paper and pencils all writing things into their note books as they look at statues and write things down from the plaques.  This group of students were all speaking French and comparing notes.

      We find the room and look for the large paintings of a battle scene. The 1400 graphic arts began to use the element of perspective to create more realism in pictures. The two most characteristic features of perspective are that objects are drawn smaller in the background and foreshortening when an object is often not scaled evenly. This distortion for instance occurs when a circle often appears as an ellipse and a square can appear as a trapezoid when seen from a distance. In showing perspective there is usually a vanishing point on the horizon where ever that may be placed on the canvas. It is like looking at railroad tracks showing parallel lines coming together at a point on the horizon.

       Perspective was not a new concept for it was Euclid, the father of geometry, that introduced perspective in his writings of the Elements on 500 B.C. It was not until the resurgence of the Greek and Roman culture in the Renaissance that perspective in painting became more important as it defined realism more clearly.

       In Uccello's painting it looks like he was trying to achieve the notion of perspective, but it is obvious that he was not quite clear as to how to approach this element to give clarity to his painting.  For instance, he does not show a vanishing point and the spears are all pretty much the same size.  Some semblance of foreshortening is apparent with the sizes of horses, but some of the men and rabbits are much too large to seem far away.

Battle of San Romano by Uccello  in 1450

        After gazing at the battle field and looking at large rabbits, we were sent to the next room looking for the painting of the Virgin Mary by Fellipo Lippi.  John in full possession of the IPad sped along like someone on a treasure hunt. This is exactly how he would like to go to a museum.  As for me, I would have like to look at other paintings in the room to see if I could see any signs of perspective.

       We were in the hall again and noticed a whole row of students writing in their notebooks comparing notes.  This group sounded like they were from Germany!

Madonna and Child by Fellipo Lippi 1465

       This Madonna does not have a halo in this picture, but she does not need one because she is absolutely beautiful!  Beauty is a Renaissance concept and showing it in the Virgin Mary is the optimum of beauty.  Fra Fellipo was a friar who lived with a nun who bore him many children.  His quest in life was to find the most beautiful women that he could paint as the Virgin Mary.  Lovely ladies passed by his studio on a regular basis to sit as his subjects. His children in his paintings were also very cute!

        I had to keep up with John as he sped out the room once more,  looking for a painting by Pillaiuolo.  He disappeared into the next room and looked at all the walls and could not find it.  So John went back to find the cute docent and asked her.  She said that it was not on the wall, but behind a glass box in the center of the room.  So we went back and finally found this little painting that you could put on your bedside table.... well actually you would not want to wake up in the morning to see it starring you in the eye!

       It is a picture of Hercules attacking the Hydra from the labors of Hercules.

     

Hercules Attacking the Hydra by Antonio del Pillaiuolo 1475

Hercules and Anaeus By Antonio del Pollaiuolo 1475

       These paintings took us by surprise after seeing the lovely Virgin Mary.  What we were most impressed with was the paintings of the human bodies with all the anatomical muscles bulging out.  Rick Steves talked about the fact that the Catholic Church would not let artist or doctors dissect the human body. It was a desecration of the body, the temple of the soul.  But artist such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci. Pollaiuolo and others found ways to get cadavers and dissect them to learn how the muscles actually work and form the human body.
      Next we entered into the Botticeli room to see the flowering of the Florentine Renaissance. It was the year 1485 and life in Florence was full of optomism with a flourishing middle class. Society was primarily democratic and could speak about their ideas in public.  They were a secular society powered through trade and supported by a banking system that promoted business.  It was a republic that was not dependent on the church.  They looked to ideas from the Golden Age of Greece and the strength of ancient Rome.
     The leading figure in this society was Lorenzo de Medici the head of the largest banking house in Florence.  Their family made their money in textiles and now in banking. He was also an athlete, handsome, charismatic, intelligent and a  poet as well.  One of his favorite pastimes was to gather his friends together to discuss great ideas. These were the artists, writers, philosophers, architects and politicians of the day.  Among this group you would find Sandro Botticelli and a teenager by the name of Michelangelo that became part of his family.  They felt that they had the world in the palm of their hand.  They looked upon Beauty as part of God's creation and emphasizing it in every way became their aspiration.

Primavera by Botticelli circa 1478

       The focus for the Florentines was on Venus and the natural world.  Primavera by Botticelli takes us back to the age of the Golden Age of Greece and Rome.  The focus of this painting is the coming of Spring. The setting is a citrus grove.  The orange is a symbol of all that is good, and this setting makes this fragrant grove one of the gifts from God.  On the right we see the winds that bring the warm weather ushering in Flora sprouting blossoms as she throws petals and seeds. To the left are the thee graces and Mercury dancing. The graces may symbolize three kinds of love, Beauty, Love of People, and Sexual love, essential to propagation of man. In the center is Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love.  Just above her head is cupid getting ready to let his arrow fly.
       This is the Renaissance, Venus is in along side of Madonna.  Celebrating the naked body a form of glorifying the beauty of God's creation, things of the flesh are not looked upon as sin emphasizing the innocence and joy.

Adoration of the Magi by Botticelli

         As we moved over to the next painting, we see the Madonna again in the adoration of the Magi, but we are told that Botticelli placed some of his favorite friends in the picture!  Lorenzo the Magnificent is in the far left standing in a contraposto  stance and the fellow in the far right in the yellow robe is Botticelli himself!
       Now we were ready to see the most awesome Botticelli painting, The birth of Venus!  We had to work our way into the center so we could be right in front of the painting.  As usual we had to wait until a group of students wrote into their notebooks and then scurried off to find the next painting on their scavenger list. 
       The Greek myth tells us that Aphrodite was born from the sea and came to shore riding on a sea shell. Now I am sure she would be riding a surfboard! Her pose is the same as that of classical Greek statues with an "S" curve and one hand over the breast.  The use of the aquamarine pastel colors offers a soft and airy likeness with the wind blowing her lovely red hair and the flowers being blown by the wind gods as they float to the sea. The maid on the right unfurling the cloth adds to the flowing movement in the picture. Botticelli is proclaiming the beauty of the human body as an example of  God's creation on earth.

Birth of Venus by Botticelli circa 1485

        We scoot over to the next painting which again is in the same room.  It is a more somber scene showing that nothing last forever.  The economy was faltered and Lorenzo has died at a young age.  In this time of uncertainly in came the monk Savonarola.  He preached damnation to all those who idolized wealth and the pagan spirit of the Greek and Romans.  He prompted people to save their souls by getting rid of their wealth.  He presided over a huge bonfire in the Piazza della Signoria where people would throw their lovely clothes, books, paintings scultpuresl, and gold jewelry.  He wanted to have society return to the Dark Ages.
        In his painting, "Slander," Botticelli shows the stately arches of Renaissance architecture but beneath them are a common group of people that look like beggars and executioners who have taken the law into their own hands.  The spirit of truth in the far left seems to be looking up and exclaiming how could this be happening to humanity? Many Renaissance believers left and went north to other places in Europe and Florence was never the same.  Eventually, the Medici organized an insurrection and Savonarola met his due and was burned to death in his own bonfire.

Slander by Botticelli circa 1495

       We now were done with Botticelli and had to leave the room to find works by Leonardo da Vinci.  We went next door, and we were back to the Virgin Mary.  Leonardo was a true Rennaisanace man. He was an architect, scientist, engineer, musician, and painter.  He often worked on projects to satisfy himself so some of his projects never got done.  The Annunciation is complete as we see the stage being set for Mary as she sits in surprise while an angel appears and bows down to her.  Leonardo balances his painting using colors of brilliant red and royal blue of the clothing.  He also shows that he knows about perspective. If you look at the bricks on the side wall you can see that would converge at a focal point if extended to the horizon.  The realism depicted by this subtle point of perspective gives the painting a balance of form.

Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci 1475

        The Adoration of the Magi is an unfinished work by Leonardo.  If you look closely you will find that it is quite agitated.  He never finished this commissoned work and left it when he went to Milan.

              Along side was a painting by Leonardo's teacher, Verocchio.  Leonardo painted the angel in the far left when he was only fourteen.  It is said that when Verocchio found out that a kid painted and angel better he could, he never painted again!

  

Baptism of Christ by Verocchio

Wow we had finished all the pictures we had hoped to see on one side of the U building.  Walked onto the hall at the bottom of the U to see the sculptures of the Greek and Roman era.  These were the ones that gave inspiration to the Florentines.   The first sculpture was called Venus de Medici.  This was the model that gave form to Botticelli's Venus. Notice the S curve and the position of the arm.

Venus de Medici First century BC

The counterpart is Doryphorosmy by Polycleitos standing in a contraposto stance like the David.

Doryphorosmy by Polycleitos fist centruy BC

Apolino  circa first century BC

The next group of statues were from the Helenistic Greek era.  They show great emotion showing situations of great strife, longing, and anger.

       John was getting pretty tired and I thought he would simply say that we were done until he saw the pictures of Adam and Eve.  So we ventured forth into the second section of the Uffizi .

     When the Monk chased everyone out of Florence, many went north and their ideas were met with enthusiasm.  Adam and Eve are painted nude by painter Albert Durer.  He traveled to Venice and enjoyed the paintings displaying the muscular features of the human body.  He came home to his studio and painted his Adam with a muscular body and Eve with full breasts and round tummy in all innocence.

       The following painting is also done by a German named Lucas Cranach.  He paints his Adam and Eve in a more sultry fashion as Eve presents her apple with half closed eyes and Adam contemplates the offering stretching,  being very macho.

Adam and Eve by Albert Durer of Germany1507

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Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach 1528

        Another painting by the German artist Lucas Cranach was German Monk Martin Luther who was causing quite a rumble in his neck of the woods because he thought the Holy Roman Emperor was not living the "christian" life. He was the first "born again Christian" being excommunicated after accusing the Catholic Church of corruption. So he was on the run as a hunted outlaw.  He preached to the peasants and caused them to riot against the Holy Roman Empire.  To make the teachings of the bible known to Germans, he translated the holy book from Latin into German.  He also wrote hymns and held meetings with other reformists.  Cranach paints Luther in his forties which would be about retiring age then.  He settled down by donning the wardrobe of the common man, buying a house, and marrying a nun. 

Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach 1523

Katharina Von Bora , wife of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach

   

        Catherine von Boren was 26 years of age when she left the convent and chose him as a husband. In 1525 Martin, 46 and Katie 26 were married.  They had six children and adopted eleven more.  Martin turned over his paycheck to Katie who also ran the family farm.  They had loud gatherings of friends in their home discussing their favorite topic: the corruption of the Catholic Church. 

Hallway full of sculptures and frescoes on the ceiling.

       We were then led out to the sculpture gallery once again.  From the beginning Uffizi Gallery  housed many sculptured pieces from the Greek and Roman collection.  These sculptures were the most important objects to view in the eighteen and nineteenth century.  Young people would flock to the Uffizi Gallery to look upon these sculptures for inspiration.  European aristocrats made sure the coming to the Uffizi was part of the education of their children.  Today we see the same is true for all classes of people as the whole room is flooded with young people admiring the sculptures and writing important information in their notebooks.

         Entering  the first room on the other side of the gallery we see paintings by great artist of the high Renaissance.  The fist one that catches our eye is the round painting by Michelangelo.

The Holy Family by Michelangelo circa 1506

        This is a painting done by a sculptor with a brush.  Michelangelo set up three statues and put clothes on them.  In the background are nudes like the ones we just saw out in the hall representing the pagan life.  The Holy Family in the foreground represents the coming of Christianity.  Mary takes on a whole different pose in this painting.  She is seen like a hardworking mother showing a muscular arm as she turns to gather a rambunctious baby Jesus.   He places his figures in odd angles so you could see the tension of muscles and interesting body poses.  Michelangelo used brilliant colors in the folds of the clothing. Michelangelo left Florence and did most of his work in Rome called for by the Pope to help adorn the Vatican.  The Sistine Chapel is an example of the use of brilliant colors.

         We had to look for the next painting by Raphael. we searched everywhere and could not find it.  We asked one of the docents, and she said that it was downstairs on the first floor because it was going to be restored.  We were warned by Rich Steves that sometimes paintings are moved to different rooms.  So we took to the stairs to find the painting of Madonna of the Goldfinch.  We were told that all the Raphael paintings were not available as they were sent out for restoration.  So we just sat on the stairs and enjoyed Rick Steves commentary of how Raphael brought down the Virgin Mary to a garden setting by the woods.  The pose is arranged in a pyramid with the babies below and Mary at the top. There is also a sense of balance on both sides of the painting which is pleasing to the eye.  She is seen with baby Jesus and John the baptist as they play with a small goldfinch. It is a natural looking piece showing perspective with the mountain in the background.  He also used brilliant reds and blues in the foreground and soft pastel colors in background scene as a framework.

Madonna of the Goldfinch by Rafael circa 1506

        We still had two more paintings to go and time seemed to be running out.  Luckily our two last paintings were on the ground floor also getting ready to go for restoration.  The first one was another Madonna painting called  Madonna with the Long Neck by "Parmigianino" or the little one from Parma.  His real name was Francesco Mazzola.  He was known for being in the Mannerist school of painting.  These artist exaggerated their subjects by elongating parts of the body.  He shows his Madonna with a long swan like neck. Although her pose is like the Venus de Medici, her fingers are super long over her breast.  She holds the baby Jesus in a stylized lengthening pose. Parmigianino went beyond realism by giving his painting a sense that the baby is sliding down a satin robe as others look up the the Madonna.

Madonna with the Long Neck by Parmigianino circa 1540

          The last painting on our list is by a Venetian artist nick named "Titian".  His painting is called Venus of Urbano.  This painting did not reminded us of the two Venus' we saw as standing figures. This Venus looked like she was in a bordello.  She seemed more like a beautiful courtesan of the time when Venice was in the height of glory.  The Venetians took the pagan spirit of the Renaissance and followed it to a level of hedonism. Set on their own island paradise, the floating city had its own code of morals. The city state was ruled by the Doge or "duke"who ruled about ethical matters with his council of ten.  Courtesans were an important part of society and this model could very likely have been one of these ladies.

Venus of Urbino by Titian circa 1538

       We were done! I took the IPad quickly and closed it down.  We checked our watches and saw that we had time to take a leisurely walk back to the Piazza Santa Croce.  We set a good pace as we followed Francesca's map back to the square. When we got there, no one was around so we went into a gelato store and got two large gelatos.  As we licked contentedly, we read the writings of Georgio Vasari on the wall.  A rough translation goes like this: ...If you can live in your state of happiness, my house is here for your benefit....  The world has reclaimed this beautiful art for you to see....

    
         Vasari is known as the Father of Art History. He was the first to write autobiographies of great artist of the Renaissance in his book, The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.  He himself was a mannerist artist who painted many works for the Medici family. He was also an architect who built the secret corridor and other great buildings.
     
       We waited until all were gathered and Francesca called out our names to make sure everyone was accounted for. Then we got on the bus and drove back to Livorno.  We were sad to leave all the history of the Florentine Renaissance behind.  We said good by to the lovely city of Florence.

John saying good-bye to Florence with a tear in  his eye....