Ufizzi Galleria

Ufizzi Galleria, photo courtesy of Wikipedia CC

Built in 1581 under request of Grand Duke Franciso de’ Medici, son of Cosimo I, the Uffizi Galleria was originally designed by Giorgio Vasari. In 1560, work was began to create the horseshoe-shaped building that reaches from the Ponte Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria, to and along the Arno River. The building was originally intended for offices and to host bureaucratic meetings for various magistrates, but evolved into a sort of museum, housing the Medici’s many art pieces (2).  Once Vasari had died, building and extension work continued, with each successive member of the Medici clan adding to the increasingly rich treasure trove of the family's art collection.

The façades of the Uffizi bordering the courtyard are decorated with niches containing statues of important historical figures and has been described as the focal point of both the architecture and sculpture of the Uffizi. Some argue that Vasari’s use of the triumphal arch motif for the façade may reflect a modification for dramatic effect of Bartolommeo Ammannati’s apparently unsolicited suggestion, embodied in a drawing in the Biblioteca Riccardiana, to repeat the arch as a structural and decorative motif along the ground level of the lateral wings. It is suggested that the building was actually meant to be two separate facing buildings as indicated in Domenico Poggini’s foundation medal of 1561 (1). Conceived by Cosimo I Medici, the project to arrange the Gallery on the 3rd floor of this large building, was realized by his son Francesco I. Later Cosimo III had the Gallery made larger in order to house the works inherited from his uncle Cardinal Leopold. With the extinction of the Medici dynasty, the last of the family, Anna Maria Ludovica, who died in 1737, arranged that all the art treasures gathered by the powerful dynasty forever remain at the disposal of the Florentines and of the visitors of the entire world.

King's Walkway

Vasari Corridor seen from inside Ufizzi, photo courtesy of Wikipedia CC

                Architect of the Ufizzi Giorgio Vasari built a secret corridor, the King’s Walkway now known as the Vasarian Corridor, after the original construction of the offices.  Commissioned by Cosimo I of the Medici family, the secret passageway connects from the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti across the Arno river.  The Vasarian Corridor runs atop the Ufizzi and over the shops of the Ponte Vecchio, passing through the church of Santa Felicita (so the Medici could pause for mass in secret), before ending at the Boboli Gardens of the Palazzo Pitti.  The purpose for this corridor was to allow the Medici family and other important figures to pass safely throughout the city.  The Medici understood that they went unloved by many Florentine citizens at certain periods throughout their reign, and wanted to protect themselves from assassination attempts from rival families.  The corridor stretches a huge length of Florence’s antic district, and is today a vastly private passageway, holding some of the Ufizzi’s most prized paintings.

Vasari Corridor connecting from Palazzo Vecchio to Ufizzi, photo courtesy of WCC

FAST FACTS: Ufizzi History

• Built in 1581 under request of Grand Duke Franciso de’ Medici, son of Cosimo I
• Original design was by Giorgio Vasari.
• In 1560, work was began to create the horseshoe-shaped building that reaches from the Ponte Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria, to and along the river Arno
• Built rapidly despite minor difficulties and major social events taking place in he area.
• Originally intended for offices and to host bureaucratic meetings for various magistrates.
• Once construction of the Uffizi was complete, Cosimo I had Vasari, his favorite architect, create a passageway connecting the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti, running atop the Ponte Vecchio which is just down river from the Uffizi Gallery.
• In 1584, the Octagonal Platform was built by Vasari’s successor Buontalenti.  It consists of a weathercock connecting to an inside pointer alluding to the air element.  The sky vault and red upholstery allude to the water and fire elements.
• On the other side of the building were the labs of smaller limbs, the foundry (or pharmacy) and over the loggia of the lanzi there was a hanging garden.
• The project to arrange the Gallery on the 3rd floor of this large building, conceived by Cosimo I Medici, was realized by his son Francesco I
• Later Cosimo III had the Gallery made larger in order to house the works inherited from his uncle Cardinal Leopold.
• With the extinction of the Medici dynasty, the last of the family, Anna Maria Ludovica, who died in 1737, with the so called "family-pact" held in Vienna in 1737, arranged that all the art treasures gathered by the powerful dynasty forever remain at the disposal of the Florentines and of the visitors of the entire world.
• The Lorraines, successors of the Medici, enriched the Gallery and built the beautiful room of Niobe to house the marble group called Niobe and her children struck by Apollo and Diana. After the expulsion of the Lorraine (1859), the Gallery passed under the State and was completely reorganized according to modern criteria.

http://www.uffizi.com/history-uffizi-gallery.asp

http://www.virtualuffizi.com/uffizi/thegallery.htm

The Processes of Sculpting

Michelangelo's David, photo courtesy
of Wikipedia CC

           There are three processes for creating sculptural pieces, all utilized during the Renaissance in Florence.  Each process is significantly different from the other; but all can create sculptures in the round.

            Michelangelo’s 17 foot tall David, sculpted between 1501-1504, was created using the subtractive process of carving marble.  Michelangelo characteristically used only one block of marble – in this case Carrara marble – to carve his sculptures.  David, meant to be viewed in the round, was commissioned by the Medici family and unveiled in 1504; and was placed in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.  Currently residing in the Musei Accadaemia, the sculpture was a monument to the wealth and power of Florence during the Medici rein. 

Donatello's David, photo courtesy of
Wikipedia CC

            Eighty years prior, Donatello used the casting process to create his own David for the Medici family.  Circa 1430-1440, the Donatello David was made through a hollowed molding process of wax or clay, in which molten bronze was placed and hardened.  This statue, originally placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici in Florence (currently in the Musei Bargello), was the first free-standing bronze statue of the Renaissance and is also viewed in the round.

The Virgin of the Lillies, photo courtesy of Wikipedia CC

            Modeled sculpture in Florence is more difficult to find – sculptors of the Renaissance built large statues out of bronze or marble.  However, small models or decorative pieces can be found, made out of such popular materials as terracotta.  Circa 1500-1550, the Workshop of Della Robbia family in Florence created a decorative “tondo”, or medallion out of glazed terracotta.  Entitled The Virgin of the Lillies, this piece is meant to hang on a wall.  An additive process, modeling basically takes a pliable material and builds it into

a three dimensional form.  This process allows the artist to rework the material in case of error, but can also leave little evidence of the artist’s fingerprints.  

Out the Window

The Printing Room

           The earliest printmaking printmaking process, known as woodcut, appeared in China in the ninth century and made it’s way to Europe around the year 1400.  Originally used for stamping designs on fabrics, textiles, or playing cards, it consists of carving an image in a wood block, covering the stamp with ink, and smoothing a sheet of paper over the image.  Edvard Munch’s 1896 woodcut print Anxiety exemplifies the linear properties of woodcut.  Because the etching itself appears as negative space, it can be difficult to create incredible detail, as Munch’s print shows.

            Etching, from the intaglio family of printmaking, was developed in the early 16^th century.  Edward Hopper’s American Landscape from 1920 displays linear the linear aspects of this technique, like with woodcut.  Etched prints are made with embossed metal plates, and thus allow for more detail than woodcut, as exemplified in Hopper’s print.

            Lithography, invented in 1798 by German actor/writer Aloyes Senefelder, became widely used with color prints in the 1890s.  Because it is one of the most direct print making mediums, it was a popular resource.  Vija Clemins 1970 print, Untitled, demonstrates the strength in detail allowed by this medium, as the image is transferred directly from a drawing on limestone to a paper by lithographic press.  Clemin’s print looks as if it could be a photograph because the process allows for such heightened detail.

            Screenprinting, used most popularly during the 1930s by American artists, is a form of stenciling.  Roy Lichtenstien uses this technique over a screen of Benday dots – a yellow brushstroke with black outlines – for his 1965 print, Brushstroke.  The stencil work is evident and distinctive.  Like woodcut, this medium creates defined positive and negative space; but it does allow for great detail if done delicately and repeatedly on one work.  Lichtenstien’s print clearly exemplifies the freedom from linear mediums, such as woodcut and etching, that screenprinting allows – as well as its eye-catching nature.

Marvelous Mediums

Tablernacle of the Linen Workers Guild,
1433-35, photo courtesy of WCC

Tempera, fresco and oil create significantly differing stylistic effects due to the nature of the paint and what they are painted on.  During the Italian Renaissance, all three mediums were used frequently.

            Tempera consists of colored pigment with a water soluble binder, usually egg yolk.  It is permanent and fast drying, often used in the making of alter pieces.  Fra Angelico’s Tabernacle of the Linen Workers Guild exemplifies the possibilities with fresco on wood panel.  Painted between 1433 and 1435, it is an early Renaissance altar piece depicting the popular image of Mary and Jesus, sitting between the Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.  The painting shows influence from both the new Renaissance techniques and traditional International Gothic style.  The lack of perspective and accurate proportion, use of heavy gold, and slightly elongated face of Mary all hail from this latter style. The depiction of baby Jesus – looking more like a miniature adult then realistic baby – comes from this artistic period as well.  However, the depth in shading of the drapery creates a three dimensionality that is purely Renaissance.

         

  

An Angel Appears to Zacharias in the Temple, 1485-90, photo courtesy of WCC

Fresco, or mural painting on lime plaster, was a technique utilized decades before the start of the Renaissance.  Domenico Ghirlandio’s 1485-90 fresco cycles of the life of Saint John the Baptist in the presbiterio of Santa Maria Novella exemplify how fresco painting transformed during the High Renaissance.  The fresco, An Angel Appears to Zacharias in the Temple, embodies a three dimensionality from accurate perspective and depth; and a realism from accurate proportion and sharp detail.  Ghirlandio and his workshop create trompe-l'oeil in the decorative background of the temple, adding in every aspect as much realism as possible.

Madonna and Child, 1520,
photo courtesy of WCC
(The only photo I could find)

           

  Lastly, oil painting heightens both drama and realism with the advantage of slow drying, saturated pigments which can be blended easily.  The 1520 High Renaissance painting Madonna and Child with Saints Augustine, Tobias and the Archangel Raphael by Giovanni Antonio Sogliani provides a wonderful example of the freedom of this medium.  Giovanni’s painting seems rather influenced by the Italian Renaissance painter Raphael, with soft lines and beautiful facial detailing; as well as in the colors and movement of the drapery and the certain heightened effect of light hitting his figures.  The medium allows for a dramatic chiaroscuro effect and thus greater physical depth.