Palazzo Pitti

Coordinates: 43°45′55″N 11°15′00″E / 43.7652°N 11.2501°E / 43.7652; 11.2501
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
King Victor Emmanuel II
between 1865 and 1871, when Florence was the capital of Italy

The Palazzo Pitti (Italian:

palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti,[1]
an ambitious Florentine banker.

The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions.

In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a power base by

Victor Emmanuel III
in 1919.

The palazzo is now the largest museum complex in Florence. The principal palazzo block, often in a building of this design known as the corps de logis, is 32,000 square metres.[2] It is divided into several principal galleries or museums detailed below.

History

Early history

Virtual reconstruction of the fifteenth-century façade of Palazzo Pitti. Reconstruction by Adriano Marinazzo (2014).[1]
Luca Pitti (1398–1472) began work on the palazzo in 1458.
Bronzino
.

The construction of this severe and forbidding

De Re Aedificatoria.[5]

Though impressive, the original palazzo would have been no rival to the Florentine Medici residences in terms of either size or content. Whoever the architect of the Palazzo Pitti was, he was moving against the contemporary flow of fashion. The rusticated stonework gives the palazzo a severe and powerful atmosphere, reinforced by the three-times-repeated series of seven arch-headed apertures, reminiscent of a Roman aqueduct. The Roman-style architecture appealed to the Florentine love of the new style all'antica. This original design has withstood the test of time: the repetitive formula of the façade was continued during the subsequent additions to the palazzo, and its influence can be seen in numerous 16th-century imitations and 19th-century revivals.[5] Work stopped after Pitti suffered financial losses following the death of Cosimo de' Medici in 1464. Luca Pitti died in 1472 with the building unfinished.[6]

The Medici

A lunette painted in 1599 by Giusto Utens, depicts the palazzo before its extensions, with the amphitheatre and the Boboli Gardens behind. The red stone excavated from the site was used in extensions to the palazzo.

The building was sold in 1549 to

Francesco I and his wife Johanna of Austria that the palazzo was occupied on a permanent basis and became home to the Medicis' art collection.[8]

Land on the Boboli hill at the rear of the palazzo was acquired in order to create a large formal park and gardens, today known as the

Bartolommeo Ammanati. The original design of the gardens centred on an amphitheatre, behind the corps de logis of the palazzo.[5] The first play recorded as performed there was Andria by Terence in 1476. It was followed by many classically inspired plays of Florentine playwrights such as Giovan Battista Cini. Performed for the amusement of the cultivated Medici court, they featured elaborate sets designed by the court architect Baldassarre Lanci.[9]

The cortile and extensions

19th-century architectural drawing and plan of the Palazzo Pitti

With the garden project well in hand, Ammanati turned his attentions to creating a large courtyard immediately behind the principal façade, to link the palazzo to its new garden. This courtyard has heavy-banded channelled rustication that has been widely copied, notably for the Parisian palais of

Francesco Susini, and completed in 1641.[10]

In 1616, a competition was held to design extensions to the principal urban façade by three bays at either end.

cour d'honneur that was copied in France. Sporadic lesser additions and alterations were made for many years thereafter under other rulers and architects.[11]

To one side of the Gardens is the bizarre grotto designed by Bernardo Buontalenti. The lower façade was begun by Vasari but the architecture of the upper storey is subverted by "dripping" pumice stalactites with the Medici coat of arms at the centre. The interior is similarly poised between architecture and nature; the first chamber has copies of Michelangelo's four unfinished slaves emerging from the corners which seem to carry the vault with an open oculus at its centre and painted as a rustic bower with animals, figures and vegetation. Figures, animals and trees made of stucco and rough pumice adorn the lower walls. A short passage leads to a small second chamber and to a third which has a central fountain with Giambologna's Venus in the centre of the basin, peering fearfully over her shoulder at the four satyrs spitting jets of water at her from the edge.[12]

Houses of Lorraine and Savoy

The palazzo remained the principal Medici residence until the

Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine, in the person of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.[13] The Austrian tenancy was briefly interrupted by Napoleon, who used the palazzo during his period of control over Italy.[14]

When Tuscany passed from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to the

Risorgimento, when Florence was briefly the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II resided in the palazzo until 1871. His grandson, Victor Emmanuel III, presented the palazzo to the nation in 1919.[4] The palazzo and other buildings in the Boboli Gardens were then divided into five separate art galleries and a museum, housing not only many of its original contents, but priceless artefacts from many other collections acquired by the state. The 140 rooms open to the public are part of an interior, which is in large part a later product than the original portion of the structure, mostly created in two phases, one in the 17th century and the other in the early 18th century. Some earlier interiors remain, and there are still later additions such as the Throne Room. In 2005 the surprise discovery of forgotten 18th-century bathrooms in the palazzo revealed remarkable examples of contemporary plumbing very similar in style to the bathrooms of the 21st century.[15]

Palatine Gallery

Cornice of the Jupiter Room, showing lunette frescoes and stucco work by Pietro da Cortona

The Palatine Gallery, the main gallery of Palazzo Pitti, contains a large ensemble of

The character of the gallery is still that of a private collection, and the works of art are displayed and hung much as they would have been in the grand rooms for which they were intended rather than following a chronological sequence, or arranged according to school of art.

The finest rooms were decorated by Pietro da Cortona in the high baroque style. Initially Cortona frescoed a small room on the piano nobile called the Sala della Stufa with a series depicting the Four Ages of Man which were very well received; the Age of Gold and Age of Silver were painted in 1637, followed in 1641 by the Age of Bronze and Age of Iron. They are regarded among his masterpieces. The artist was subsequently asked to fresco the grand ducal reception rooms; a suite of five rooms at the front of the palazzo. In these five Planetary Rooms, the hierarchical sequence of the deities is based on Ptolomeic cosmology; Venus, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter (the Medici Throne room) and Saturn, but minus Mercury and the Moon which should have come before Venus. These highly ornate ceilings with frescoes and elaborate stucco work essentially celebrate the Medici lineage and the bestowal of virtuous leadership.[17] Cortona left Florence in 1647, and his pupil and collaborator, Ciro Ferri, completed the cycle by the 1660s. They were to inspire the later Planet Rooms at Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles, designed by Charles Le Brun.

The collection was first opened to the public in the late 18th century, albeit rather reluctantly, by Grand Duke Leopold I, Tuscany's first enlightened ruler, keen to obtain popularity after the demise of the Medici.[10]

Rooms of Palatine Gallery

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her hand servant with the head of Holofernes, 1613–1618
Close-up of Canova's Venere Italica (1810) as seen in Room of Venus

The Palatine Gallery has 28 rooms, among them:[18]

The Royal Apartments include 14 rooms. Their decoration was changed to Empire style by the Savoy monarchs, but there are still some rooms maintaining decorations and furniture from the age of the Medici.

The Green Room, was frescoed by Castagnoli in early 19th Century. It exhibits an intarsia cabinet from the 17th century and a collection of gilded bronzes; the throne room was decorated for King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and is characterized by the red brocade on the walls and by the Japanese and Chinese vases (17th–18th century).

The Blue Room contains collected furniture (17th–18th century) and the portraits of members of the Medici family painted by Sustermans (1597–1681).

Principal works of art

Other galleries

Royal Apartments

This is a suite of 14 rooms, formerly used by the Medici family, and lived in by their successors.

Giusto Sustermans.[19] In contrast to the great salons containing the Palatine collection, some of these rooms are much smaller and more intimate, and, while still grand and gilded, are more suited to day-to-day living requirements. Period furnishings include four-poster beds and other necessary furnishings not found elsewhere in the palazzo. The Kings of Italy last used the Palazzo Pitti in the 1920s.[20]
By that time it had already been converted to a museum, but a suite of rooms in the Meridian wing (now the Gallery of Modern Art) was reserved for them when visiting Florence officially.

Gallery of Modern Art

Mary Stuart at Crookstone, by Giovanni Fattori, in the Gallery of Modern Art at the Palazzo Pitti

This gallery originates from the remodeling of the Florentine academy in 1748, when a gallery of Modern Art was established.

Palazzo della Crocetta [it
], which became the first home of the newly formed "Modern Art Museum".

Following the

Risorgimento and the expulsion of the Grand Ducal family from the palazzo, all the Grand Ducal modern art works were brought together under one roof in the newly titled "Modern gallery of the Academy".[21] The collection continued to expand, particularly so under the patronage of Victor Emmanuel II. However it was not until 1922 that this gallery was moved to the Palazzo Pitti where it was complemented by further modern works of art in the ownership of both the state and the municipality of Florence. The collection was housed in apartments recently vacated by members of the Italian Royal family.[22]
The gallery was first opened to public viewing in 1928.

Today, further enlarged and spread over 30 rooms, this large collection includes works by artists of the Macchiaioli movement and other modern Italian schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[23] The pictures by the Macchiaioli artists are of particular note, as this school of 19th-century Tuscan painters led by Giovanni Fattori were early pioneers and the founders of the impressionist movement.[24] The title "gallery of modern art" to some may sound incorrect, as the art in the gallery covers the period from the 18th to the early 20th century. No examples of later art are included in the collection since in Italy, "modern art" refers to the period before World War II; what has followed is generally known as "contemporary art" (arte contemporanea). In Tuscany this art can be found at the Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci at Prato, a city about 15 km (9 mi) from Florence.

Treasury of the Grand Dukes

The Treasury of the Grand Dukes (Tesoro dei Granduchi), formerly called the Silver Museum (Museo degli Argenti), contains a collection of priceless silver, cameos, and works in semi-precious gemstones, many of the latter from the collection of Lorenzo de' Medici, including his collection of ancient vases, many with delicate silver gilt mounts added for display purposes in the 15th century. These rooms, formerly part of the private royal apartments, are decorated with 17th-century frescoes, the most splendid being by Giovanni da San Giovanni, from 1635 to 1636. The Silver Museum also contains a fine collection of German gold and silver artefacts purchased by Grand Duke Ferdinand III after his return from exile in 1815, following the French occupation.[25]

Porcelain Museum

porcelain museum

First opened in 1973, this museum is housed in the Casino del Cavaliere in the Boboli Gardens.

biscuit figurines
.

Costume Gallery

Situated in a wing known as the "Palazzina della Meridiana [it]", this gallery contains a collection of theatrical costumes dating from the 16th century until the present. It is also the only museum in Italy detailing the history of Italian fashions.[27] One of the newer collections to the palazzo, it was founded in 1983 by Kirsten Aschengreen Piacenti; a suite of fourteen rooms, the Meridiana apartments, were completed in 1858.[28]

In addition to theatrical costumes, the gallery displays garments worn between the 18th century and the present day. Some of the exhibits are unique to the Palazzo Pitti; these include the 16th-century funeral clothes of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, and his wife Eleonora of Toledo and their son Garzia, both of whom died of

costume jewellery. The Sala Meridiana originally sponsored a functional solar meridian instrument, built into the fresco decoration by Anton Domenico Gabbiani
.

Carriages Museum

This ground floor museum exhibits carriages and other conveyances used by the Grand Ducal court mainly in the late 18th and 19th century. The extent of the exhibition prompted one visitor in the 19th century to wonder, "In the name of all that is extraordinary, how can they find room for all these carriages and horses".[29] Some of the carriages are highly decorative, being adorned not only by gilt but by painted landscapes on their panels. Those used on the grandest occasions, such as the "Carrozza d'Oro" (golden carriage), are surmounted by gilt crowns which would have indicated the rank and station of the carriage's occupants. Other carriages on view are those used by the King of the Two Sicilies, and Archbishops and other Florentine dignitaries.

The Palazzo today

Today, transformed from royal palace to museum, the Palazzo is in the hands of the Italian state. Once under the "Polo Museale Fiorentino", an institution which administers twenty museums, from 2015 it is a department of the Uffizi, as a separate and independent structure within the Ministry of Cultural Properties and Activities, and has ultimate responsibility for 250,000 catalogued works of art.[30] In spite of its metamorphosis from royal residence to a state-owned public building, the palazzo, sitting on its elevated site overlooking Florence, still retains the air and atmosphere of a private collection in a grand house. This is to a great extent due to the "Amici di Palazzo Pitti" (Friends of the Palazzo Pitti), an organisation of volunteers and patrons founded in 1996, which raises funds and makes suggestions for the ongoing maintenance of the palazzo and the collections, and for the continuing improvement of their visual display.[31]

  • A modern view of the Palazzo Pitti
    A modern view of the Palazzo Pitti
  • Southern façade of Palazzo Pitti facing the Boboli amphitheatre and obelisk
    Southern façade of Palazzo Pitti facing the Boboli amphitheatre and obelisk

Pastiche

The Königsbau wing ('King's building / den') of the Munich Residenz, the former royal palace in the capital of Bavaria, was modelled after the Palazzo Pitti.

Citations

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Chiarini, Gloria. "Pitti Palace". The Florence Art Guide. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  3. ^ The Iconographic Encyclopedia of the Arts and Sciences. Iconographic Pub. Co., 1888. p. 239.
  4. ^ a b c d Masson, p. 172
  5. ^ a b c Dynes, p. 67
  6. ^ Chiarini, p. 12
  7. ^ Chiarini, p. 20
  8. ^ Dynes, p. 70–71, 74
  9. ^ a b Dynes p. 69
  10. ^ Chiarini, pp. 13–14
  11. ^ L.H. Heydenreich, Luwig & Lotz Wolfgang (1974), Architecture in Italy 1400–1600, Pelican History of Art
  12. ^ Masson, p. 144
  13. ^ Levey, p. 451.
  14. ^ Chiarini, pp. 11–19
  15. ^ a b Polo Museale Fiorentino (2007). "The Palatine Gallery and Royal Apartments". Polo Museale Fiorentino. Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit Culturali. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  16. ^ Campbell, Malcolm (1977). Pietro da Cortona at the Pitti Palace. A Study of the Planetary Rooms and Related Projects. Princeton University Press. p. 78.
  17. ^ Palatine Gallery Rooms
  18. ^ Perlove, Shelley. "An Unpublished Medici Gamepiece by Justus Sustermans". The Burlington Magazine; 131, 1035, 1989. pp. 411–414
  19. ^ Levey, p. 416.
  20. ^ a b Chiarini, p. 77
  21. ^ Chiarini, p. 78
  22. ^ Polo Museale Fiorentino (2007). "The Gallery of Modern Art". Polo Museale Fiorentino. Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit Culturali. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  23. ^ Polo Museale Fiorentino (2007). "The "museo degli Argenti" (The Medici Treasury)". Polo Museale Fiorentino. Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit Culturali. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  24. ^ Polo Museale Fiorentino (2007). "The Porcelain museum". Polo Museale Fiorentino. Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit Culturali. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  25. ^ Polo Museale Fiorentino (2007). "The Costume Gallery". Polo Museale Fiorentino. Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit Culturali. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  26. JSTOR 881642
    .
  27. ^ "The Parterre of fiction, poetry, history [&c.]". Oxford University, 1836. p. 144.
  28. ^ Polo Museale Fiorentino (2007). "Welcome". Polo Museale Fiorentino. Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit Culturali. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  29. ^ "About us". Amici di Palazzo Pitti. Archived from the original on 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-01-12.

General references

Further reading

  • Gurrieri, Francesco; Patrizia Fabbri (1996). Palaces of Florence. Stefano Giraldi, photography. Rizzoli. pp. 66–77.
  • Marinazzo, Adriano (2014). Palazzo Pitti: dalla 'casa vecchia' alla reggia granducale, in Bollettino della Società di Studi Storici Fiorentini, vol. 22, Firenze, Emmebi Edizioni Firenze, pp. 299–306.

External links

43°45′55″N 11°15′00″E / 43.7652°N 11.2501°E / 43.7652; 11.2501