Free publication on www.friendsoftheuffizigallery.org Polistampa - Firenze JOURNAL OF THE FRIENDS OF THE UFFIZI GALLERY No. 80 - April 2021 Collecting: An Altruistic Passion The most recent donations to the Uffizi Galleries: paintings, drawings and graphic arts testify to the passion of learned collectors and their bonds to the city of Florence his very sad 2020 left its mark on the TUffizi in a sort of anti-climax of glob- al appreciation, thanks to social networks that made the museum more visited than ever, albeit virtually. At the same time, momentous donations were made to the Galleries. These included the collection of Carlo Del Bravo, introduced by Loren- zo Gnocchi in this same issue, that was listed by the prestigious English periodi- cal, Apollo, as one of the most important “acquisitions of the year”. The joy of celebrating together these gestures of generosity stems from a num- ber of motivations, one of the most mov- ing being the bond created between the donors and their city. For example, Bino Sanminiatelli’s collection of over 250 drawings, left by his daughter Carla to the Department of Prints and Draw- ings, completes the spiritual and mate- rial heritage of the writer-artist within the network of civic institutions that house his testimony (the Gabinetto Vieusseux, the Alessandro Bonsanti Contemporary Eike D. Schmidt (continue on page 2) Rosso Fiorentino, Infant Saint John the Baptist, circa 1520, Del Bravo Collection. IL GIORNALE degli UFFIZI 1 Archive, and the Primo Conti the early Settecento (see the ar- Foundation). These folios re- ticle by Laura Donati in the pre- count half a century of Floren- vious issue of the Journal of the tine intellectual life, together Uffizi, December 2020). Imag- with other testimonies of the ining the research, the passion, artistic ferment of those years. the energy, and the means Pi- And what years they were! They neider dedicated to this effort were the years of Futurism (to over the decades, the donation which Sanminiatelli adhered), of his entire collection to the of the avant-garde, and the Department of Prints and Draw- years of the “return to order” ings assumes a significance that and periodicals like Solaria; reaches the sublime. It is the years in which the city force- material and spiritual offer of fully established itself within the a part of himself, a donation- European political and cultural confession, so to speak (Carlo Drawings by Bino Sanminiatelli, donated to the Uffizi Galleries. debate. If with the Sanminiatelli Pineider, I am sure, will approve donation we share in an his- of this somewhat bold declara- umpteenth gesture of generosi- studies for the frescoes of the torical context fundamental to tion), that opens a window on ty on the part of the Friends of Basilica della Santissima An- the history of Florence, the Pi- the sophisticated intellectual the Uffizi, undertaken with the nunziata by Baldassarre France- neider donation can be consid- interests of an outstanding Flo- usual spontaneous rapidity of schini, also known as “Il Volter- ered the testimony of the love rentine businessman. The fruit our friends from beyond the rano”. These extremely impor- of a “son” for his city, without of these interests are now at the Seas. During their annual re- tant additions to the collection the need to remind our readers disposition of the community union in January, held at the are fundamental tesserae of that the donor’s family founded of specialists on Italian draw- same time as the famous “Mas- Florentine artistic history, as in the famous Florentine brand ings and graphic arts, and not ters Drawings Week” in New the case of Volterrano, and an name of luxury items of writing only. With the process of digi- York that attracts collectors enrichment of the graphic cor- materials and leather goods. talization of the collections un- from around the world, the pus of Foggini, court artist to His gift to the Uffizi, which I derway, Pineider’s efforts will Friends of the Uffizi successfully Cosimo III de’ Medici. Thanks do not hesitate to define as as- soon be accessible on a global bid for and purchased a draw- again to our American friends, tounding in quantity and qual- level and his precious collection ing of a horse by the famous Flo- in the hope that soon they will ity, offers a panorama of early shared universally. rentine Baroque artist, Giovan- be able to come and personally Italian graphic art with as many I would like to conclude this ni Battista Foggini (that once admire their gifts. as 107 drawings and etchings review of the donations made to belonged to Jacqueline Kenne- dating from the Cinquecento to the Galleries in 2020 citing an dy), along with two preparatory Eike D. Schmidt A Gift of Beauty Art historian Carlo Del Bravo’s entire collection has been left to the Uffizi. Sculptures, paintings, drawings, and artisan creations from the age of humanism to contemporary art. he entire as- search and comprehension of sculptors active between the Tsembly of works art; in particular, art that corre- two World Wars, and figurative of art that Carlo sponded to his idea of beauty as artists his own contemporaries Del Bravo collected spiritual and good, the same de- who were alien to the destruc- throughout his lifetime, scribed by Plato in the Symposium tive influences of the avant- which he wished to do- where it is held to be the initial garde. It is precisely these three nate in its entirety to a pub- step in a process of ascension categories of art works that lic institution that could towards what Del Bravo called constitute the main axis of the guarantee its unity, is the “that quiet, that liberty”, finali- collection. Despite the great fruit of his immense ties of human existence. variety in technique (sculp- curiosity in the re- It was precisely his search tures, paintings, graphic arts, for these truly humanist forms and artisan creations in wood of art that, from the 1960s on, and alabaster) and chronology Bruno Innocenti, opened the way to the rediscov- (from the age of humanism to Ildebrando Mazzanti, ery of artists forgotten by the contemporary art), the collec- 1934-35, Del Bravo critics: nineteenth century Ital- tion finds itstrait d’union in the Collection. ian and French “academics”, concept of that benign and in- 2 IL GIORNALE degli UFFIZI The Study of Carlo Del Bravo. spirational beauty mentioned troduction, I will limit myself to with an ensemble of images of by the architect Lorenzo Papi in above. that part of the collection that in both grand and more mitigated his youth and entitled The Sea, To give an idea of the harmo- Del Bravo’s home was kept on his beauty that elevated him to that with its travertine marble top in- ny that the significance of works desk and on the wall facing it in quiet and freedom of thought nec- cised with blue waves in stucco, so diverse creates while staying his study. There, he contemplat- essary for his studies. To begin, invited Del Bravo to expand his within the limits of this brief in- ed and entered into dialogue the large desk/table, designed mind over those allusive spaces. Jacopo Vignali, A Young Flautist, circa 1650, Del Bravo Collection. Rodolfo Meli, Peter’s Face, 2016, Del Bravo Collection. IL GIORNALE degli UFFIZI 3 Giovanni Colacicchi, Portrait of Carlo Del Bravo, 1981, Del Bravo Collection. There he sat with before him, on left, the transparent volumes of Roman Dionysus, the Asclepius by the table top, the powerful and softened geometry of a few ala- Tribolo (dating to the 1540s), beautiful human half of a varia- baster vases by Omero Cerone, and a little fifteenth century tion of Bourdelle’s Centaur from the artisan from Volterra, served angel, interpreted the 1910, made of plaster painted as a serene and well-propor- contemplative status of black, falling back over its beast- tioned contemplative balcony. the gods, all absorbed in ly counterpart, offering itself as Then, atop the low bookshelves tranquil meditation, their the initial step in the ascent to- along the wall in front of him, eyes gazing beyond the con- wards higher thoughts. On the were four marble busts. Three, a tingency. The fourth, Ildebrando 4 IL GIORNALE degli UFFIZI Mazzanti, dating 1934-35, by and ’93, Primavera (Spring) and Bruno Innocenti, warmed the La piscina (The Swimming Pool). heart with that brisk turn of On the right, was another youth his gaze towards the left, in the with deep black searching eyes guise of the good pupil. With and an athletic nude torso paint- this figure began the sequence ed by the American painter Per- of images on the wall: first, the kins in 1937, early in his career candid beauty of a painted and, on his left, the visage of a study by Carolus-Duran, the virtuous and composed aco- Ecce Homo, the nude torso, lumi- lyte painted by Charles-Camille nous and powerful against the Chazal in 1867. blackened background; then, Amidst all of these figures, portraits of youths, painted by were three paintings of grand, nineteenth century masters like vigorous roses by Renzo Dotti, Silvestro Lega, Antonio Ciseri, also the author of many nudes Egisto Sarri, Giuseppe Bezzuoli, within the collection and Del Amos Cassioli, many with inter- Bravo’s life-long friend. To con- rogating eyes, desirous to know, clude this review, on the just like the students of the mas- Tribolo, Head ter seated before them. Togeth- of Asclepius er they gathered like a garland Del Bravo Collection. around the visage of their “big brother”, a youth portrayed by Rodolfo Meli, a beauty, larger than life, with eyes raised to the sky, also seen behind him.