Our highlights of the Uffizi

Can you think of a single word to describe some fantastic Italian art?  Some might pick “Uffizi”!  The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is the home to works by Italy’s greatest artists – Michaelangelo,  Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael just to name a few.

We each took it upon ourselves to share our thoughts on the pieces in the collection that we found the most interesting.

Mikhaila’s Thoughts on Lippi’s Madonna with Child and Two Angels

This beautiful painting by Filippo Lippi is of the Madonna with Baby Jesus and two angels.  The Madonna has a lovely calm face and pearls entwined in her hair.  There is a rumour that the Madonna has the face of a nun named Lucrezia Buti who the painter was in love with.  The background is very interesting because at first glance, it looks as though the scene is taking place outdoors.  In reality, the subjects are in front of a painting.  The face of the Madonna reminds me of the Virgin Mother’s in Michelangelo’s “La Pieta”.  They both have the same serene, ageless faces.  My favourite part about this painting is how the artist uses people from his life in his paintings as an eternal reminder of that person.

Zoe’s Thoughts on The Musical Cherub

My favourite painting in the Uffizi Gallery is The Musical Cherub by Rosso Fiorentino.  This is a painting of a cherub sitting on some steps playing the lute.  It is believed the painting is a small part of a large altar piece with the Virgin and Saints, but today there are no other traces of the rest of the panels.  Using reflectography during restoration work, researchers discovered that there was a partial signature in the bottom right corner which is the signature of Rosso Fiorentino, as well as the date it was painted-1521.

I really enjoyed how the angel looked peaceful and innocent, and it reminded me of a little statue of an angel my Oma gave to Mikhaila and I.

Katina’s Thoughts on Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus

This painting by Botticelli is one of my favourites and immediately caught my eye when we walked into the room.  The colours are soft like a frescoe and very much in contrast to some of the heavier colour palettes in the rest of the collection.  The painting is the story about the goddess as she is blown to the shores by the God of Wind Zephyrus and Aura.  Waiting for her, on perhaps the island of Cyprus, is possibly Hora of Spring or one of the three Graces.

Automatically, I thought of the Venus di Milo in the Louvre, a sculpture we saw a few months ago.  It’s interesting to see how the same goddess of love can inspire both painters and sculptures.  This painting is absolutely beautiful and one of my favourites by Botticelli.  I wish I was like Medici and could have it in my private collection!

The Madonna of the Long Neck

Madonna of the Long Neck

Unfinished painting – you can see through the saint, and there is a foot with no body attached!

This piece was completed by Parmigiano sometime between 1554-59, and is a panel of oil on wood.  It shows the virgin Mary with the baby Jesus sleeping on her lap with angels at her side.  The neck on the Madonna is obviously longernthan you might expect, though the painting still looks attractive.

What I found particularly interesting was that the piece is in fact unfinished and was found in the artist’s studio after is death at age 37.  In the bottom right of the piece you can see the figure of St. Jerome holding a scroll.  Upon further inspection I could see that St. Jerome was partially transparent.  To his right you can see the beginning of another saint which was to be painted…but all you can see is the foot and ankel!

There were so many beautiful pieces in the Uffizi that it was difficult to pick out just one favourite.  Hopefully this gives you a taste of what you can see at the Uffizi.