Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
made all the more vivid by depiction of the couple riding chariots driven by the
humanistic virtues of faith, charity, hope, and modesty (for her), and prudence,
temperance, fortitude, and justice (for him).
In
Room 8,
highlights are the works of Filippo Lippi from the 1440s. After
you examine the
Novitiate Altarpiece
(important for its use of perspective) and the
Coronation of the Virgin
(to me, the bright colors look a lot like a 1970s “Love”
stamp), spend some time in front of his most famous work,
Madonna with Child
and Two Angels,
from 1465. In the celebrity scandal of the time, the woman who
modeled for the picture was said to be Filippo's lover—a nun--and the child
looking toward the viewer the product of their union. The background, with dis-
tant mountains on one side and water on the other, frames the portrait of a
woman's face, was shamelessly stolen by Leonardo da Vinci 40 years later for his
Mona Lisa.
Rooms 10 to 14
are devoted to Botticelli and are among the most popular in
the museum. His
Birth of Venus
(also known as
Venus on the Half Shell
), from
1484, hangs in Room 10 like a highway billboard you've seen a thousand times. In
its original, the colors seem lighter than they do in reproductions, and, in fact, look
more like a pastel-chalk interpretation of the classical theme (though the painting
was actually done with tempera mixed with egg yolk). Venus' pose is taken from
classical statues of the time, while the zephyr wind blowing her to shore, and the
muse welcoming her, are from Ovid's
Metamorphosis.
On the opposite wall is
Botticelli's 1482
Primavera
and its bold colors are a stark contrast to the filmy
Venus.
Also be sure to look at his
Adoration of the Magi,
which contains a self-por-
trait of the artist (he's the one in yellow) on the far right side of the canvas.
Leonardo da Vinci's
Annunciation
anchors
Room 15.
In this painting, his abil-
ity to orchestrate the viewer's focus is masterful: The line down the middle of the
brick corner of the house draws your glance to Mary's delicate fingers, which
themselves point along the top of a stone wall to the angel's two raised fingers.
Those, in turn, draw attention to the mountain in the center of the two parallel
trees dividing Mary from the angel, representing the gulf between the worldly and
the spiritual.
Crossing from the east to the west side of the Uffizi, don't be in such a rush
that you fail to appreciate the view of the Arno River to the south side, and the
plaza to your right. The columns and roadway between the buildings look like a
study in perspective of one of the early-Renaissance paintings.
Once on the west side, stop and look at Michelangelo's 1507
Holy Family
in
Room 25.
The twisting shapes of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus recall those in the
Sistine Chapel in Rome for their sculpted nature and the bright colors of their
folded, hanging clothes.
Room 26
has a number of Raphaels, including the often-copied
Madonna of
the Goldfinch,
again with the da Vinci/Boticelli landscape in the background. The
reds in the recently restored
Pope Leo X
portrait are particularly vibrant.
Titian's
Venus of Urbino
is found in
Room 28.
It's no coincidence that the edge
of the curtain, the angle of her hand and leg, and the line splitting floor and bed
all intersect in the forbidden part of her body. The domestic scene on the right
half of the painting, with the sleeping dog, and the little girl gathering clothes,
provides an interesting contrast to the open sexuality of the left.
