Uffizi Tour

After a tea break, it was time to continue our tour.

The Uffizi was built in 1581 on the site of a Medieval Church. Some of the remnants can still be seen.

We passed a Roman statue of aggressive dogs used to protect the cathedral -- fighting dogs.

Up a long flight of stairs (there is the option to take an elevator), we entered a long elegant hallway with almost too much artwork to appreciate. There is a row of portraits near the high ceiling representing members of the Medici family, including Giovana Medici, the father of Cosimo.

There are statues along the walls, and more paintings. 

We went into a room with early Italian artwork, where you can study how the same theme of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus surrounded by a choir of angels evolved over the centuries from a flat, non-lifelike painting in the Middle Ages to Mary having some emotion and the angels having more personality to becoming more lifelike. 

This is an example of the insights I would not get garner on a tour by myself. I would not take the time to read all of the placards or listen to an audio version, but having a guide point them out to me suddenly makes me learn.

We entered a new room. This includes a painting of the three magi commissioned by Palla Strozzi -- the wealthiest man in Florence in the 15th century. He had 54 farms, 30 houses, and a banking industry. When he asks for a painting to be commissioned, you give him exactly what he wants.

He wanted art that included his friends in a religious painting. There are many details that are hard to see in this large painting, including the family dog is wearing a gold collar, and exotic animals (monkeys, leopards, etc.). The 1423 artwork is signed by de Fabriano. 

Next up was the 1432 Battle of San Romano, depicting a battle between Siena and Florence. The image is so lifelike, it serves as a historic document since there were no photographs in the 15th century. You can see the iron armor protecting the knights, and the expensive horse trained for battle (note the way the horse near the right is kicking its enemy). With the crowds, it was hard to get good pictures. If anything I'm writing spurs your interest, it is easy to find much better versions of the paintings.

Make note of these two portraits a man and a woman painted in profile as a tribute to the ancient Roman style. It will come up later. The man, Frederico, is painted to show his better side as he lost an eye in a jousting tournament. His wife, Batista, is very pale, showing she was wealthy enough to be able to stay indoors at all times. 

The next room had a huge, huge picture depicting the three virtues as personification of Catholic virtues. There is a lot to absorb in this picture. What stood out to me was in the picture of Justice is a globe depicting the earth -- something that would have been a new concept in the day. The young woman on the throne dictates laws to good Catholics. 

We were just around the corner from one of the museums most famous pieces of art: Botticelli's Spring.

I'm going to backtrack a moment. After I knew we were going to Italy, but before we went, I heard about Laura Morelli's video that is a preview of her book "The Last Masterpiece," which is about the looting of the Uffizi during World War II. Her video was so engaging an hour flew by without my realizing it. The video, and I presume the book, talk about the enormous efforts made to preserve artwork, including "Spring" and Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" to make sure they were not destroyed or landed in the hands of the enemy. As it became more obvious war was about to happen, these enormous works of art were hidden throughout the Italian countryside. They were separated so one bomb would not take them out. Sadly I can't remember if the video focused on "The Birth of Venus" or "The Birth of Spring," as they share many characteristics. Still, as I wandered the halls of the Uffizi I could not help but think about the logistics involved with such a project. It is unfathomable.

Note Mercury on the far left. He is putting Winter away. I'd like to invite him over to New Jersey. As I write this post, it is April 30th, it is about 55 degrees out with a cold rain. While not Winter, it certainly does not feel like Spring. Mercury, work a little harder -- please! His face is modeled after Guiliano de' Medici. The painting includes at least 138 species of plants. Flora (in red) is rumored to be his mistress, Simonetta Vespucci. It was a wedding gift to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (who also may have been the model for Mercury, with his bride being Flora).

"The Birth of Venus" is in the next room. She is landing on the beach of Cypress using a giant shell for a boat. Though naked, she is in a modest pose. Again, she has the face of Simonetta Vespucci. Today's Italian 10 cent coins bear her image. We searched until we found one in our change.

At this point we were about halfway through our tour of the Uffizi. We only saw select artwork on the top floor. After our tour we walked through the next floor. It wasn't the same without our guide.

I learned when you see a round painting it was commissioned to be part of a private collection, even if it is a religious image. This is called a rondo. They were seen inside wealthy homes. Throughout the rest of our trip, whenever we saw a circular painting we commented it was never made to be in a church. I'm sure there are exceptions to every rule. In this painting of the crowning of Mary, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's wife, Lucietra, is the model for the Virgin. The three angels are his children. It is a celebration of the Medici family.

The Maps Room is an elegant room is a high ceiling filled with artwork. The artwork had been on the walls hanging in a traditional way but in the end of the 1500s they were mounted on the ceiling. 

A highlight of the Maps Room is a mosaic that had been a table top.

The next room we could only see from the hallway. There is a long line for glimpse into the room, but there are three different doorways offering different views into the room. After the tour we double backed to look in the other angles and hear the same conversation around us ("what do you mean we can't go inside the room?"). The room was build in 1592. At one point the Queen of England (not sure which one) paid someone 300 pounds to travel to Florence to paint a copy of the room so she could see its splendor for herself. I'd love to see what the copy looked like! The things people had to do before photography.

This is the first room to ever be set up as a museum. The focal point is a sculpture of Venus, inspired by Botticelli's painting a few rooms away. The French stole Venus, but the Italians took her back. There is a copy of her in the Louvre. There are thousands of seashells from the Indian Ocean in the walls. 

As we made our way to the DaVinci Room we were entranced by views of the Arno River. Yes, the same river we would see for free throughout our trip was capturing our attention at the moment.

Back to the U-shaped Uffizi (you'll never forget that nugget of information), and the DaVinci room of his paintings. We saw his "Baptism of Christ," which he co-painted with Botticelli. I like hearing about collaborations taking place even 500 years ago. The painting is protected by bulletproof glass as a sign of the times we live in.

 The next picture is an unfinished carbon pencil sketching. When work is unfinished, it allows a glimpse into studying the technique of the artist. I learned on a later tour DaVinci covered his markings so everything is seamless. This particular piece of art of the Adoration of the Magi was recently restored. Unlike the earlier paintings from the beginning of our tour, Baby Jesus looks like a lifelike baby grasping for a shiny object. The Virgin Mary is in an outdoor garden. Prior to this, she was always depicted indoors to show how she was being protected. The scene takes place in Florence instead of in Israel.

The next room has art by Rafael and Michelangelo. By this point we were all growing antsy. The family of six were taking turns sitting down and wandering off. Still, Don and I were happy to hear we could stay. 

Remember the portraits of the husband and wife from early in the tour? Here are two more pairs of portraits done in the style of the time -- with a little bit of an angle following the style of daVinci's "Mona Lisa."

This circular painting is of note because it is the only portable work by Michelangelo. It was commissioned to celebrate a family birth. The frame is also by Michelangelo. note the naked pagans behind the holy family. The vivid colors make the painting stand out. The women in the painting are female prophets from Ancient Italy, prophetesses who predicted the birth of Jesus. In its day it cost 70 ducats. After the person who commissioned the artwork tried to negotiate the price, it went up to 100 ducats. Hopefully that taught him a lesson.

The next painting is by Raphael of the Madonna. She is seen reading a book while Jesus and John the Baptist are hanging out together. Jesus is saving the bird. It was broken up into 18 different sections and restored in 2008.

Thus ended the official tour. Don and I took a deep breath and carried on to the lower floor. We walked around another 45 minutes or so and quickly discovered without a guide, the artwork did not mean as much. We made sure to see the Medussa because Ashley told us it is one of her favorite works of art in this museum.

Here are some of the pieces we saw that we liked, but have no details to share about them.

Literally 100 rooms after we started, we were ready to exit through the gift shop!

We were hungry. We looked at the line by the famous sandwich shop All'Antico, but were not in the mood for a line. They *always* have line, and it moves quickly, but that doesn't mean we were in the mood for a line. We did return another day.

We ended up walking back to our room and adding layers. The day started off with much promise (weather-wise), but was turning colder with a greater chance of rain.

Don and I walked back up to Piazelle Michelangelo, this time Ashley joined us, taking her easier path. We returned to our favorite burger restaurant and shared the place with Ashley. Fortunately, they also offer vegetarian burgers.  Ashley had pizza, Don had pasta, and I had the vegetarian burger. We found ourselves lacking for vegetables on this trip, a problem not unique to Italy, just an indication of how we tend to eat on vacation. As we left, they plied us with a liquor. Don had Birrificio Math -- a local dark beer. 

Dinner was followed by gelato at the place next to Ponte Vecchio that often has a long line. We got ricotta with pear, dark chocolate, and special orange with chocolate. Ashley had ricotta with pear and the dark chocolate, too. They had a selfie station in the back. More gelato / ice cream parlors should have selfie stations since we often take ice cream selfies. I shared it with Cousin Laura.

We left Ashley, and headed back to our side of the Arno. Unfortunately, Ashley had a take home midterm from her walking around Florence class (yes, that is a real thing, her roommates were taking a wine tasting class that met at 9 am two days a week). The midterm was cutting into Easter weekend. 

Back in the apartment, I booked a 7:15 PM free tour of the Dark Side of Florence for the next night. We made plans to worship at the Episcopalian Church for Good Friday.