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We have waited in lines, and now we are in the Uffizi.
If I ever knew that it has a large collection of Greek and Roman sculpture, I forgot.
The info with this piece says the identity of the subject is not known. Despite the label on the piece.
"While there are no true portraits of Caesar in the Gallery there are instead various private portraits bearing a strong resemblance to this dictator."
This is an ancient portrait, with a much more modern drapery. I like the use of the multi-colored stone to indicate a fancy wrap.
The info says "Portrait of an elderly woman 98-117 AD Greek Antique head on modern bust."
I'll take exception to "elderly"! She certainly doesn't look any older than I do, and at 60-ish I am hardly "elderly".........
Here's how some of the ancient sculpture is displayed.
Same as the previous, but since I focused on the wall/ceiling, not the windows, the exposure is totally different, and we can see the color.
After the ancient sculpture, there are a lot of Medicis. Hardly surprising; this is their town, and this building houses their art collection...... (All of the quotes in this post about the Medicis are from Wikipedia.)
Leopoldo de' Medici "(6 November 1617 – 16 November 1675) was an Italian cardinal, scholar, patron of the arts and Governor of Siena. He was the brother of Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany."
Poor man. What a profile! His lower jaw is so big (relative to the upper) that he can't close his mouth without effort.
Gian Gastone de' Medici "(Giovanni Battista Gastone; 24 May 1671 – 9 July 1737) was the seventh and last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany."
Wow. I wasn't aware of Medicis who looked like this.......
Or this: "Ferdinando II de' Medici (14 July 1610 – 23 May 1670) was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest child of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49 year rule was punctuated by the terminations of the remaining operations of the Medici Bank, and the beginning of Tuscany's long economic decline."
Well then.
Now *this* is what I think of as a "looking like a Medici".... "Lorenzo de' Medici (1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492) was an Italian statesman and de facto[1] ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (Lorenzo il Magnifico) by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets."
Somehow I suspect il Magnifico would not have approved of that astonishingly curly wig.....
Maria Maddalena of Austria "(Maria Magdalena; 7 October 1589 – 1 November 1631) was Grand Duchess of Tuscany from the acession of her husband (Cosimo de'Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany) in 1609 until his death in 1621."
At least they don't say "portrait taken when she was elderly"!
Marie de' Medici "(French: Marie de Médicis; 26 April 1575 – 4 July 1642) was Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France." Here she is, marrying Henry.
Catherine de' Medici "(Italian: Caterina de' Medici, 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589), daughter of Lorenzo II de' Medici and of Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne was Queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II of France." Again, shown marrying a Henry.
(Begin Digression(s!) ...
I think the contrast in interpersonal dynamics, as portrayed in these two paintings, is interesting.
Maria looks him in the eye, and appears interested and maybe even
glad. Catherine, on the other hand, can't even lift her eyes to his
face. Reading what Wikipedia has to say about HenryII -- he and Catherine
were 14 when they were married, and even then he was involved with
Diane de Poitiers, an older woman who was his mistress for most of his
life. According to Wikipedia, Diane told Henry he had to beget heirs
with Catherine, but apparently that was her only role in his life.
I hope she found things to do that were engaging and interesting.
Oooh -- I went and read Wikipedia on the subject of Chenonceau, the chateau my daughter and I visited when we were in the Loire Valley in 2010. I remembered that Diane de Poitiers was associated with Chenonceau.... Catherine was apparently no wilting flower -- " Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle, but
ownership remained with the crown until 1555, when years of delicate
legal maneuvers finally yielded possession to her. However, after King
Henry II died in 1559, his strong-willed widow and regent Catherine de' Medici forced Diane to exchange it for the Château Chaumont.[4] Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favorite residence, adding a new series of gardens."
Then I had to go read about Maria.... She was 25 when she married Henry IV, and he was 47. Wikipedia describes her as having "limited intelligence" and says that Cardinal Richelieu gained prominence in French politics on her watch..... It also says that she build the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris. We walked on its grounds, but did not go inside, in 2010.
My oh my, so many interesting things to learn about.... I wondered about the relationship between Henri II and Henri IV. I read Wikipedia on the French succession, and discovered that there were several monarchs in between them (though the time span was not that great), and they were only tenuously related.
End of Digression.)
And now we put the camera away, to comply with the (stupid) rule against pics.
I cannot show you anything that this very extensive museum has in its enormous and majorly important collection of Renaissance painting.
Disallow tripods and flashes, by all means, but forbidding people to take snapshots is merely annoying and has no benefit for a museum. It's high time to take a 21st century view of this, and stop with the stupid prohibition, already. Sheesh.
Looking out the window at the Arno. At first I thought there was an enormous line of people in front of those buildings, neatly waiting for ... who knows what. Then I realized it is an enormous line of parked motorcycles.........
Closeup of a house on the hill.
If you click through to Wikipedia's page on the Uffizi, you'll see a pic that shows this narrow space between wings of the building from the other end, and also a pic that shows a view down one of the long galleries on either side of this open space. There are rooms off the galleries, with the Botticellis (Venus on the half shell) and the Raphaels (Madonna of the Goldfinch) and the fra Filippo Lippis (Madonna and Child) (and, and, and, and....).................... This is a huge museum, with a huge number of important works.......................
Here is the Ponte Vecchio, which, according to Wikipedia, has always had shops along its length. There has been a bridge here for about 2000 years (but not this one, which dates from the 14th century).
You can see a lot more briges, behind the Ponte Vecchio in the image above. Wikipedia says that all the bridges in Florence were destroyed by the Germans in WWII, except the Ponte Vecchio, which was left unharmed -- allegedly at the express instruction of Hitler.
Those incrustations on the bridge look tenuous to me. Not sure I'd feel very safe in there.....
There is a cafe on top of the end of one of the Uffizi's wings, at the Piazza della Signoria end. Here is the Palazzo Vecchio from up there.
We can see the Duomo from here, too.
Sort of.
The bathrooms at the Uffizi are in the basement. They are excavating here, as they are under the library in Bologna.....
Here's a part of this complex we are allowed to photograph..... This is the style of painting one sees on the walls and ceilings the long skinny galleries upstairs. Upstairs there are portraits of groups of painters, groups of architects, groups of musicians -- famous people of all kinds. You could take your exercise, walking up and down the length of those rooms, for a very long time before you became familiar with all the names and faces......
It's high time for lunch. We are back in the Piazza della Signoria, glancing at Neptune, on our way to find something to eat before we head for the Accademia to visit David.
In order to facilitate chronological traversal of these posts, here is a link to the next post.
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Friday, April 12, 2013
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