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JOURNAL OF THE FRIENDS OF THE UFFIZI GALLERY No. 79 - December 2020 The Uffizi Galleries Celebrate Dante

Exhibitions, loans and initiatives to commemorate the seventh centenary of the death of the Great Poet in 2021

reparations are feverishly underway for the P2021 national celebration of the seventh centenary of the death of Dante Alighieri. This is the fourth celebration of Dante in the history of Italy. The first was in 1865, for the 600-year commemoration of his birth. The newly born Italian state thus celebrated, also on the basis of the common language promoted by the Great Poet, national unity that was still in the making with Florence declared as capital on February 3 of that same year. This first Dantesque anniversary left to Florence the monumental statue of the poet by Enrico Pazzi from Ravenna, inaugurated in Piazza Santa Croce on May 14 by King Vittorio Emanuele II. In 1921, for the sixth centenary of Dante’s death, the nation, which was then just emerging from the sufferings of the First World War, once again united around the figure of Dante. With a patriotic spirit no less heartfelt than that of the preceding celebration, com- memorative expositions also took place in Rome as well as Modena where an exhibition was held at the Estense Library. In 1965, the celebrations were even more numerous with a grand national exhibit in Rome, and others in Ravenna, Verona, Perugia, and, of course, Florence. The Florentine “Exhibition of Codices and Editions of Dante”, at the National Central Library, was followed the next year by the small “Exhibition of Dantesque Codices” at the Medicean Laurentian Library, which in 1921 had been the seat of the Florentine “Dantesque Exhibition”. As can be seen in this excursus, until now the Uffizi Galleries have never been involved in the

Eike D. Schmidt (continued on page 2)

Andrea del Castagno, Portrait of Dante, fresco detached in 1847 as part of the cycle of “Illustrious Men and Women” from the villa Carducci at Legnaia, Uffizi Galleries.

IL GIORNALE degli UFFIZI 1 the territory and the city of Flor- 88 illustrations of the Divine ence itself. It will be a Dantesque Comedy by Federico Zuccari will symphony involving numerous be made accessible for the first institutions and locations. time in high definition online, In fact, the Uffizi Galleries providing the public with an have partnered with the Museums instrument for study and re- of San Domenico in Forlì – one of search during the Dantesque Alighieri’s stops during his years year. And on March 25, Dantedì of exile – to create the biggest (Dante Day), the first Lectura exhibit ever seen, dedicated to Dantis at the Uffizi will take the impact the Great Poet had place. Professor Paolo Procac- on the visual arts over the course cioli will inaugurate this new of the last seven hundred years, series, also broadcast in stream- with a selection of works that no ing on our Facebook page, with single institution could have ob- a lecture on the subject for which tained. To involve as many “places he is celebrated as a maximum of Dante” as possible in 2021, we authority, that is, Florentine Re- will loan paintings to Ravenna, to naissance Commentaries on the Castagno d’Andrea, to Poppi, to Divine Comedy. Among other Rome, and naturally to Florence initiatives, the Uffizi will host with, in particular, contributions what is perhaps the most original to the exhibit on Dante and the and surely the most current ex- nineteenth century to be held at hibit, a grand display of works the Bargello. Continuing our fruit- dedicated to Dante by the great ful collaboration with the Galileo contemporary artist from Turin, Museum, successfully begun in Giuseppe Penone. The showing 2019 in the name of Leonardo also includes creations Penone with the exhibit on the entire made expressly for the Dan- Cristofano dell’Altissimo, Portrait of Dante, painted for the series dedicated to Illustrious Codex Leicester, we have once tesque seventh centenary, as well Men, commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici, Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of Statues and again united our forces to orga- as others from his most recent Paintings. nize the first exposition of all time production, inspired by the “al- on Dante and Science, a theme bero che vive de la cima” (the commemorative celebrations for well beyond the commemorative particularly dear to Dantesque tree that draws its sustenance Alighieri, despite the fact that the year to which, nonetheless, we scholars during the Renaissance. from above), mentioned in museums harbor an extraordinary will dedicate all due solemnity, But our efforts do not stop Paradiso (XVIII, v. 29). collection of works related to the and, with an unedited approach, there. From the Uffizi Depart- poet. For this reason, we began, “create a network” throughout ment of Prints and Drawings, Eike D. Schmidt some time ago, studies and prepa- rations for a series of initiatives for the 2021 centenary. Already last year, the frescoed Portrait of Dante, from the cycle of “Illustrious Men and Women” by Andrea del Castagno, was transferred to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure for res- toration, the first in over a century. This work, detached together with the entire cycle from the walls of villa Carducci at Legnaia in 1847, is perhaps the most famous and surely the most penetrating life- size image of the poet. Like an an- cient statue, the full-length figure stands erect, flanked, in a towering triad, by the images of Petrarch and Boccaccio. The restoration of Andrea del Castagno’s Dante, financed by the Friends of the Uffizi Gallery, is just the first step in a project programmed over the next few years that will involve all of the figures in the series. Once complete, the entire cycle will be put on public display within the Uffizi. Thus, we have created the opportunity to extend our efforts Giovanni Mochi, Dante Alighieri presenting Giotto to Guido da Polenta, Uffizi Galleries, Palazzo Pitti, Gallery of Modern Art.

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Rediscovering San Pier Scheraggio The restoration of the San Pier Scheraggio was built a transparent glass pavement, the his brown habit, tied at the waist remnants of the Romanesque in the eleventh century, contem- remains of the church brought with a rope, and the signs of the church Vasari incorporated porary and twin to San Miniato al to light during the archeological stigmata on his hands. When the Monte, similar in the division of excavations carried out by the Su- Uffizi was constructed in the XVI into the building of the Uffizi the naves and the raised presbytery. perintendence of Archeology, Fine century and the church reduced Etymologically, the term apparently Arts and Landscape: the original to the central nave alone, the col- he recovery of the third nave derives from an adjacent stream cocciopesto (amalgam of terracotta umns were incorporated into the T(side nave) of the church of that served for the “schiaraggio” fragments and lime) pavement brickwork of the divisionary walls. San Pier Scheraggio is the latest (whitening) of cloth, given the nu- of the Romanesque church; the In order to make the contem- in a series of interventions pro- merous “fulloniche”, factories for polychrome mural paintings imi- porary interventions distinct and grammed by the executive man- the washing of cloth, in the area. tating curtains of draping cloth, evident, only modern materials, agement of the Galleries (others The church pre-existed Palazzo della proof that the walls of Romanesque such as glass and iron, were ad- underway include: the new halls Signoria and, also for this reason, the churches were multicolored (in opted in the reconstruction pro- for sixteenth century painting on opposite side-nave to the north of contradiction to the stereotyped cess. Particular care was given to the second floor of the east wing; the building was demolished in the idea of a Middle Age built totally out lighting, with the light sources il- the public restrooms midway down fifteenth century, to create a wider of stone); the ancient passageway luminating the rediscovered parts the steps leading from the Gallery space between the church and the that once led from the church to the of the building hidden beneath to the second floor; and the resto- Palace (now via della Ninna). cloistered cemetery; the fifteenth the pavement. For the overall il- ration of the Hall of Geographic In Medieval times, San Pier century pavement of rectangular lumination of the chamber, in the Maps). Having finally brought to Scheraggio additionally served a civ- terracotta tiles laid in a “herring will to conserve the 1940s pavilion light the Romanesque church, and ic function as the meeting place for bone” pattern; and the eighteenth ceiling (Architect Engineer Lando unveiled its suggestive stratigraphy the Priors of the Florentine Repub- century brick vaults. Other paint- Bartoli, 1914-2002), the lights have (this was the proposal and aspira- lic. In fact, the Prior Dante Alighieri ings, dating to the XIV century, are been reinserted into the positions tion of the lamented archeologist, spoke there in 1300. After Vasari visible on the columns that once originally planned. Analogously, Riccardo Francovich, 1946-2007), incorporated the church within divided the side nave of the Roman- the wooden lined elevator cabins, visitors now have the opportunity the Uffizi, religious rites continued esque church from its wider central styled in the same period, have to explore the pre-existent area until it was deconsecrated during nave. These were decorated with been accordingly maintained and of the city’s historic center as it the period of the Lorraine. Now, votive frescoes representing saints restored. was prior to Vasari’s construction before going up to the Gallery, visi- within painted niches. Among them of the Uffizi. tors to the Uffizi can view, beneath is Francis of Assisi, recognizable for Antonio Godoli

The restored hall of San Pier Scheraggio after archeological excavations. Visible on the left is the fresco representing Saint Francis of Assisi.

IL GIORNALE degli UFFIZI 3 The Collection of a Lifetime The Pineider Collection has been donated to the Department of Prints and Drawings. Eighty-two drawings and twenty-five etchings, the fruit of untiring research

o search the art market Tfor drawings to one-day donate them to the State, re- storing them to the collectivity. This was the mission Carlo Pin- eider carried out over the span of forty years with the gusto of one who knew how to appreci- ate materials, techniques, and the quality of draftsmanship in the folios that time and again Baccio del Bianco, A Young Fisherman came his way in the shops of seen from Behind. antique dealers and auction houses. Now he has gifted the errano, Giovanni Battista Tem- Uffizi Department of Prints pesti, Giovanni Domenico Fer- and Drawings with the fruit retti, Cosimo Ulivelli, Vincenzo of his untiring pursuit, an en- Meucci, to name just a few, and dowment that enriches even from Veneto, Palma il Giovane, further “the most prestigious Domenico Campagnola, Battista institution for the conservation School of Palma il Giovane, Crowning of Thorns. Franco, Marcantonio Bassetti, Francesco Fontebasso. Emilia is of graphic art in my city and in also well represented with works, the world”, in the words of the among others, by Giuseppe Maria collector himself. The collec- tion, now available to schol- ars, is composed of eighty-two From Pineider a drawings by various artists ac- tive between the sixteenth and maxi-donation the nineteenth centuries and twenty-five acquaforte etchings to the Uffizi by Simone Cantarini, a per- sonal passion of Pineider, a re- Galleries of 107 fined connoisseur who defines his donation, with sincere but drawings and unjustified modesty, “a small rare acquaforte collection without pretense”. The works, all in a fine state etchings of conservation, represent vari- ous Italian schools, with a great- er emphasis on artists from the The Director Eike Schmidt: regions of Tuscany and Veneto. “Our immense gratitude for Tuscan masters include Baccio one of the most important del Bianco, Cesare Dandini, Volt- donations to the museum in Giovanni Mauro della Rovere, Saints the course of a century” Leonard and Roche.

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Florentine School of the XV-XVI century, Study of a Dog. Palma il Giovane, Portrait of His Wife.

by Domenico Campagnola and Valerio Spada, to be studied in quality, than for adherence to a relation to their production of specific genre. engravings. There are also sheets Fortunately, Pineider’s dona- with several studies on the same tion is not an isolated case. The page, useful in investigating the Department of Prints and Drawings various stages of an artist’s creative has increasingly become the re- process. cipient of donations and purchas- The techniques of execution es of works of art. Nonetheless, each and the materials adopted are time, it is a pleasant surprise. Our many: red and black chalk, pen thanks go to Carlo Pineider and to and ink, brush with ink washes, the other generous donators – the charcoal, watercolor, white lead Amici degli Uffizi on many occa- highlighting, on an assortment sions – who through their acts of of papers of the most varied types. tutelage have chosen to enrich the Finding a common denominator Florentine museum, saving frag- in the selection of the works is ments of our cultural patrimony not an easy task. They appear to from the risk of dispersion. Battista Franco, Nativity of the Virgin. have been chosen more for their evocative potential and artistic Laura Donati

Giovanni Bilivert, The Eucharistic Miracle of the Blessed Cadamosto.

Mitelli and Giuseppe Marchesi, as a probable prelude to one of his is Lombardy with two folios by the sensual female figures on canvas hand of Giovanni Mauro della Ro- – to more highly refined studies, vere, among other masters. There such as the small and precious are also works of uncertain attribu- folio by Battista Franco. The lat- tion but of such high quality that ter, a preparatory drawing for a they certainly will stimulate future decorative cycle within the apse studies and research. of the Cathedral of Urbino that The drawings are of varying seems to have never taken place, typologies: from sketches record- remains the only surviving testi- ing the initial idea of a pictorial mony of the project. Various pen creation – for example, the red drawings are complete works in chalk sketch by Cesare Dandini, themselves, such as the landscapes Cesare Dandini, Female Figure.

IL GIORNALE degli UFFIZI 5 All of the Empire’s Women An exhibit at the The representation of female Uffizi explores the public role protagonists was not always posi- of matrons in Roman society tive, however, especially in the case of some members of the imperial family, such as Agrip- pina Minor and Domizia Longina “Empresses, Matrons, Freed- whose images dominate the first women. Faces and Secrets of Ro- section of the exhibit dedicated man Women” is the title of the to negative exempla. While the exhibit curated by Novella Lapini two women’s temporary fall into under the direction of Fabrizio disfavor depended on their direct Paolucci. It was inaugurated in involvement in political struggles, November in the Sala Detti and the nature of the crimes for which the Sala del Camino, adjacent the they were accused (murder by Department of Prints and Draw- poison and adultery) led from ings of the Uffizi, and is part of the public sphere directly back to a series of initiatives related to the domestic realm, traditionally gender, topics to which the Uffizi reserved for matrons in Rome. Galleries have given ample expo- Accusations that are effectively sure in most recent years. condensed in the damnation The exhibit is divided into carved on the back of a funerary three sections that well illustrate monument of a young girl, Junia the evolution of female represen- Procula. Junia’s mother, Atte - tation and the public role held first a slave and then freed by her by matrons during the first two husband to marry him - earned centuries of the empire, thanks herself one of the rare cases of a to the Galleries’ vast patrimony private damnatio memoriae, mod- and works on loan from two other eled after the official exemplars illustrious Florentine institutions, reserved for members of the im- the National Museum of Arche- perial household. ology and the National Central In this first section, like the Library. one that follows dedicated in- stead to positive exempla, the sculptures reproducing the like- nesses of empresses and aristo- cratic matrons are continually put in dialogue with altars eter- Altar front in honor of Junia Procula, Flavian Age (69-96 A.D.) Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of nalizing the memory of women Statues and Paintings. of diverse social extraction. The comparisons demonstrate how century could be praised with the Plotina, wife of Trajan; and so, female representation found its same adjective – sanctissima – that the hairstyle made popular by point of reference in the fig- Pliny the Younger used to honor the Empress in turn, was re- ure-symbols of the impe- echoed in the portraits of women rial family, who offered, of varied social status, as can be from the age of Augus- seen in the comparison of the tus on, a model to be portrait bust of Junia Procula, emulated morally, daughter of an ex-slave, with that and by reflection, sty- of Domizia Longina, or in the listically. Thus, a similarity between the effigy of freedwoman of the II Vibia Sabina, wife of Hadrian, and the splendid funerary sculp- Small Bust of Antonia Minor. Head and ture of a matron, her contempo- portion of the torso in chalcedony, Roman art (circa 37-42 A.D.); gilded silver drapery Aureo in honor of Agrippina Minor, and horn base by a Granducal workshop, reverse of the coin minted at the time end of the XVI century. Uffizi Galleries, of her marriage to emperor Claudius Palazzo Pitti, Treasury of the Grand (50-54 A.D.). Florence, National Museum Dukes. of Archeology.

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“Empresses, Matrons, Freedwomen. Faces and Secrets of Roman Women”

Curated by Novella Lapini Exhibition Director Fabrizio Paolucci Catalogue Sillabe Editors

View of the Exhibit. Uffizi Galleries rary, recently acquired by the Sala Detti and Sala Galleries. The public role held del Camino of the by exponents of the imperial fam- Department of ily, although often contrasting as in the cases of Agrippina and Prints and Domizia, nonetheless was offi- Drawings cially sanctioned by the conces- sion of the title of Augusta, also 3 November 2020 providing wealthy matrons of the time with a model of inspiration. 14 February 2021 The last section of the exhibit is dedicated to this theme, enriched

In the foreground, Portrait of an Unknown Lady (circa 128-130 A.D.) mounted on a modern draped bust. Uffizi Galleries, Department of Prints and Drawings, Sala del Camino.

by a display of aurei coined by the ing the sacredness of the title of Roman mint to celebrate the most priestess of the first divae, the illustrious representatives of the prestige of being a municipal domus Augusta and refined gems patron, or the simple designation that contributed to its lasting im- of benefactress. So the dedica- age. Imitating the prerogatives tions and the statues honoring granted to members of the impe- them testify, as can be seen, for rial family, aristocratic women example, in the splendid portrait consolidated a position of rank on display dating from the age of within their cities by appropriat- Hadrian. These statues and ded- ications came to fill public spaces of honor previously destined only to their male counterparts, mak- Female portrait from the Age of Hadrian mounted on a modern bust, purchased ing manifest the new prospects in December 2019 by the Galleries of participation in public life ac- and here on exhibit for the first time. cessible to matrons. Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of Statues and Paintings. Novella Lapini

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Life at the Uffizi ASSOCIAZIONE

President Board of Directors n The Emotion tic testing undertaken during the of Science work’s restoration, the results of Contessa Maria Vittoria Colonna Rimbotti President which confirm, without a shadow Vice-President - Emanuele Guerra Contessa Maria Vittoria Colonna Rimbotti On exhibit in Italy for the first of doubt, that the figures of the two Vice-Presidents - Michael J. Bracci, Executive Directors - Patrizia Asproni, time, the work entitled “An Experi- cardinals flanking the Pope were Ginevra Cerrina Feroni, Andrea Del Re, Emanuele Guerra ment on a Bird in the Air Pump” (1768) not added in a second moment, but Fabrizio Guidi Bruscoli, Executive Director - Lisa Marie Browne by the English painter Joseph Wright are instead by the hand of Raphael Mario Marinesi (Treasurer), Elisabetta Puccioni (Secretary), Legal Counsel - Howard J. Freedman Oliva Scaramuzzi, Eike D. Schmidt, Catterina Seia Treasurer - Bruce Crawford Auditors- Francesco Corsi, Secretary - Barbara Chamberlain Enrico Fazzini, Corrado Galli Directors - Diana M. Bell, Susan D. McGregor, Alternate Auditors - Alberto Conti, Madeleine Parker, Diann G. Scaravilli Valerio Pandolfi Honorary Members Veronica Atkins Secretariat - Tania Dyer, Bruna Robbiani c/o UnipolSai, Eike D. Schmidt, Uffizi Galleries Director via L.Magnifico 1, 50129 Firenze. Tel. +39 055 4794422 - Fax +39 055 4792005 [email protected] Advisory Board

Chairman - Diann G. Scaravilli Welcome Desk - Giuliana Dini Galleria delle Statue e delle Pitture degli Vice Chairman - Daniela Di Lorenzo Uffizi,Entrance 2 - Tel. +39 055 285610 [email protected] Advisors - Linda Civerchia Balent, Francine Birbragher-Rozencwaig, Joseph Wright of Derby, , 1768, London, National An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump triannual publication Scott Diament, Bradley van Hoek, Gallery. Gordon A. Lewis Jr., Laney Lewis, of the Amici degli Uffizi Irvin M. Lippman, Ellen Stirn Mavec, Meredith A. Townsend, of Derby, is the star of the show “Art himself. The exhibit “Raphael and Editor-in-chief Linda J. Tufo and Science” curated by Alessandra the Return of the Medici Pope: Res- Maria Vittoria Colonna Rimbotti Griffo, underway at the Uffizi until toration and Discovery”, curated Honorary Members Editorial board H.R.H Princess Maria Pia di Savoia January 24. by Eike Schmidt and Marco Ciatti, President de Bourbon-Parma, This indisputable masterpiece Director of the Opificio delle Pietre Eike D. Schmidt Contessa Chiara Miari Fulcis Ferragamo from the National Gallery of London Dure in Florence, documents the depicts the experiment as it takes complex restoration process that Uffizi Coordinator Friends of the Uffizi Gallery Andrea Acampa 205 Worth Avenue Suite 201 place in a household in the English effectively has allowed the “weave” of Palm Beach, Florida 33480 countryside. The onlookers are a the masterpiece created by Raphael Managing Editor Tel.: 561.289.4090 group of adults and children whose to be integrally retraced. Maria Novella Batini Fax: 561.391.1597 facial expressions betray a mix of [email protected] Contributors for this issue horror and curiosity, all magnificent- n Uffizi Closed but Laura Donati, Antonio Godoli, ly illuminated by a lantern and the Open Novella Lapini, Eike D. Schmidt HOW TO JOIN moon amidst striking contrasts and Translator THE FRIENDS OF THE an indubitable power of suggestion. The Uffizi Galleries have under- Josephine Rogers Mariotti UFFIZI GALLERY In the exhibit, the painting is put taken many new initiatives for art into dialogue with other works that lovers in response to the pandemic Assistant Editor Membership dues are integral Bruna Robbiani illustrate the study of candlelight il- emergency. To name two: the new to the mission of Friends lumination and also with a precious social project “Uffizi On Air”, visible Graphic design and layout of the Uffizi Gallery and object from the Royal Apartments every Tuesday and Friday at 1:00 p.m. Edizioni Polistampa - Firenze because the organization Via Livorno 8/32 - 50142 Firenze, Italy. of Palazzo Pitti, a “Mantel Clock in on the Galleries’ Facebook page, Tel. +39 055 737871 is a 501(c)(3) they are tax the Shape of a Cage” that clearly offers live explanatory videos on Fax +39 055 7378760 deductible. evokes the birdcage seen in Wright works of art conducted by the Gal- For any questions about of Derby’s experiment. leries’ specialists who also are avail- memberships, donations, able to answer any questions viewers corporate sponsorships, n  Sponsor of the Association The Return of “Pope might have; the Galleries’ website Amici degli Uffizi with their planned giving or in-kind Leo X” also features “Francesco Brother of contribution: donations, please call at the Universe – Life and Cult of Saint 561-289-4090 The famous work by Raphael, Francis”, an online exhibit (“hypervi- UnipolSai or email the Portrait of Leo X with Two Car- sion”) coordinated by Monica Alder- Assicurazioni S.p.a. Bologna [email protected] dinals, is now on public display in otti, dedicated to crucial moments or visit Palazzo Pitti to celebrate its return in the life of the Saint, with works https://www.friendsoftheuffizi from the exhibit at the Scuderie del from the Uffizi reproduced in high gallery.org/memberships/ Quirinale in Rome. The exhibit also definition accompanied by explana- focuses on the results of diagnos- tory commentaries.

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