A Month in Bella Italia

[Flutterby]

Lovely pics Lis, and some interesting info.

[Lisbeth]

At least the "Renzi" whispering was revealed

[Pumbaa]

WoW Flutterby,

what a beautiful city and you took so many incredible shots - I simply must go

[Flutterby]

Yes, Pumbaa, you must go!!

[Flutterby]

The next day we visited the Uffizi Gallery which is a prominent art museum located next to the Palazzo Vecchio and the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence. One of the most important Italian museums, and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best known in the world, and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian Renaissance.

After the ruling house of Medici died out, their art collections were gifted to the city of Florence by Anna Maria Luisa, the last Medici heiress. The Uffizi is one of the first modern museums. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, and in 1765 it was officially opened to the public, formally becoming a museum in 1865. The building of the Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, "offices". The top floor was made into a gallery for the family and their guests and included their collection of Roman sculptures.

The Uffizi is laid out in a U-shape with an internal courtyard (cortile) which is open to the Arno River at its far end. The cortile is so long and narrow that architectural historians treat it as the first regularized streetscape of Europe.

A view of the Uffizi from the other side of the Arno River. The central arch opens on to the courtyard and the two side arches run under the gallery on the upper floors.

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The gallery is made up of two long corridors with windows overlooking the courtyard on the inner side of the U. A series of smaller rooms branch off on the outer side of the U, which hold all the artworks.

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There were just way too many beautiful artworks to even begin to show here, so I'll just show my favourite ones.

The star of the Uffizi has to be Botticelli's Birth of Venus. It was probably painted in the mid 1480s and depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown.

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Another of Botticelli's masterpieces is the Primavera (Spring). 138 different plant species have been identified in this painting!! I had never seen this painting before, but I just loved it!!! Unfortunately, seeing them on a screen does not do the paintings justice!

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These two paintings are among the most famous paintings in the world, and icons of the Italian Renaissance. As depictions of subjects from classical mythology on a very large scale, they were virtually unprecedented in Western art since classical antiquity, as was the size and prominence of a nude female figure in the Birth.

The Annunciation has been attributed to a young Leonardo da Vinci and his master Andrea del Verrocchio, dating from circa 1472–1475. It depicts the angel Gabriel, sent by God, to announce to Mary that she would miraculously conceive and give birth to the Son of God. This painting tricks the eyes...wherever you stand, Mary's knees will always point towards you!

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The Doni Tondo (also known as the Holy Family) is the only finished panel painting by Michelangelo that survives. A precursor to the Sistine Chapel, which he probably began after completing this work, it offers the chance to see Michelangelo’s mastery of bodily form and fabric. The Doni Tondo portrays the Holy Family (the child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) in the foreground, along with John the Baptist in the middle-ground. The painting is in the form of a tondo, meaning 'round' in Italian and is still in its original frame.

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Venus of Urbino by Titian is considered to be one of the most alluring women in the history of art. Its frank and shameless eroticism was shocking for its time. Many, including the writer Mark Twain, see the painting as an obscenity, a pornographic blot in Titian’s faultless career, whilst many others admire the mastery of flesh Titian achieves.

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I didn't particulary like this painting - Madonna with the Long Neck - but I liked the Brat's story that goes along with it. He studied this painting at school. The artist was Parmigianino but the Brat's art teacher always mispronounced his name and called him Parmigiano instead (as is in the cheese)!

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The Brat and I both loved this painting...Medusa by Caravaggio...perhaps our favourite in the gallery! "As well as a gripping study of one of mythology’s most compelling characters, this round-canvas work is an exciting exploration of form from one the great radicals of his time. Representing both the Medusa herself, whose head could turn humans into stone, and the mirrored shield that finally defeated her, the work is a fascinating exploration of opposites and the nature of art as well as a gripping image in its own right."

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And the last one I will bore you with is The Playing Putto (or Musical Angel). This is an oil painting by Rosso Fiorentino which depicts an angel that is playing a big lute, and is actually a fragment of a lost altarpiece.

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[Richprins]

Very interesting, especially the round ones!

Wonder what frames are used for the others?

And security must be very tight there, Flutts?

Mark Twain was quite naughty himself - so pot/kettle!

The Twain line: “There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”

[Lisbeth]

What a beautiful building I never saw it from that side, I must go back. I missed so much because of my stupid back

I perfectly agree with you on The paintings by Botticelli, they are superb and only he could have painted them. He has a style which is unmistakable

The figures in the painting by Mr. Parmigiano look as if they have been pulled in order to get longer

I also love Medusa

[Lisbeth]

The Ospedale degli Innocenti 'Hospital of the Innocents', also known in old Tuscan dialect as the Spedale degli Innocenti) is a historic building in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, who received the commission in 1419 from the Arte della Seta. It was originally a children's orphanage. It is regarded as a notable example of early Italian Renaissance architecture. The hospital, which features a nine bay loggia facing the Piazza SS. Annunziata, was built and managed by the "Arte della Seta" or Silk Guild of Florence. That guild was one of the wealthiest in the city and, like most guilds, took upon itself philanthropic duties.

History of the Hospital Rather interesting

From the outside

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One of the inside cloisters

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For those times to have an orphanage was something unique.

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'Madonna and Child with an Angel' by Sandro Botticelli

'Adoration by the Magi' by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

[Flutterby]

Very interesting, especially the round ones!

Wonder what frames are used for the others?

And security must be very tight there, Flutts?

Mark Twain was quite naughty himself - so pot/kettle!

The Twain line: “There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”

There are security guards in all the room but they are quite discreet. I thought the same thing about Twain.

Lis,thanks for posting these pics.... very interesting. We never went to the orphanage.

[Flutterby]

Forgot to post this pic. This was taken from inside the gallery of the courtyard and a view of the Palazzo Vecchio and Il Duomo (and an unsightly crane).

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