More Florence

The last post concentrated on the Museo Bargello and its statuary.  I visited a few other museums while in Florence, and how could one not?  I hadn't been to the Uffizi Galleries in a very long time, so I had to see these.  The Uffizi Galleries are made up of Gli Uffizi (the galleries one usually thinks of as "the Uffizi"), Corridoio Vasariano (the hallway that is at the top of the Ponte Vecchio, but is closed for renovation at this time), Palazzo Pitti, and the Giardino di Boboli.

One aside before we continue.  After visiting these museums, all of which were houses of wealthy bankers (e.g., Medici) or merchants, or nobility, I was often exhausted.  There are a LOT of stairs.  Today, there is the occasional elevator.  But not in 15th and 16th centuries.  The Piano Nobile is usually the first floor above ground level, so most of the important rooms in these palaces were at least one or two floors up.  And a floor is not your usual 9 or 10 foot high ceiling; these floors are more like 10 meters or more (think 3+ floors in today's terms).

Monumental Staircase in the Pitti Palace

Now say you're the Grand Duke of Florence; you've gone out for a morning of riding and now have returned home.  You've got to climb up a lot of stairs to get to first floor and another lot of stairs to get to the second.  Personally, all those stairs would be a huge incentive for me never to leave home!  I got real tired of climbing up and down all these stairs within the first few days in Florence (at the Bargello, the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace, etc.).

Halfway up the hill in Boboli Gardens

There are some respites in all this for those poor nobles. The Boboli Gardens are built on a hillside with a challenging set of paths and stairs to reach to top.  But if you notice the paths are a series of very deep stairs with not much rise.  I've seen this also in France (e.g., Chambord).  These paths are built for horses.

Boboli Gardens footpath or horse trail?

So the nobles didn't walk up these paths, but rode a horse up.  The stairs may have been for show, or to walk down, but (except for the groundskeepers) I wonder how much use they actually got?  In Chambord, this was taken to the next level--designed by Leonardo for Francis I, two large spiral, double helix, staircases rise the entire height of the palace.  These stairs are also very deep with a shallow rise.  The conclusion is that Francis I rode his horse up these stairs (ramps, really) to whatever level in the palace he was going.  Et voilá, no more climbing stairs.  Too bad Leonardo didn't do the same for the Medici.

So now to Gli Uffizi.  Where to begin?  The Byzantine iconography? The Botticelli?  The myriad of other famous painters? The architecture of the building itself?

I took the approach of looking for things that were unusual or anomalous or otherwise piqued my interest.  So here's an observation after looking at innumerable paintings of the Annunciation (you know, the part where the angel Gabriel tells Mary that somehow mysteriously, she's with child).  After looking at dozens of these, it appears that there is always a decisive physical separation between Gabriel and Mary.

Annunciation, Botticelli, Uffizi, 1481

In this Botticelli, it's almost as if the figures are minor elements in a painting that otherwise looks mostly about the interior and exterior of the house with two columns and an archway separating Gabriel and Mary.

Annunciation, Neri de Bicci, Santa Maria Novella, 1455

Fresco, Annunciation, Pietro di Miniato, Santa Maria Novella, active circa 1430

And these two where there is a wall between Gabriel and Mary (both from the Church of Santa Maria Novella).

Annunciation, Leonardo da Vinci, Uffizi, 1472-1475

In this Leonardo, there is again a physical separation in space and with the reading desk interposed.  It's as if Gabriel cannot approach Mary.  Perhaps a position of respect?  Other than being an Annunciation, look at the way Leonardo shaped the hands and posture.  There was an exhibit on Leonard at the church of Santa Maria Novella that went into how Leonardo's study of botany affected his painting.  Look at the detail of the lawn between the desk and Gabriel.

Detail from Annunciation, Leonardo da Vinci, Uffizi

Other studies, particular his research into the muscle structure around the mouth and eyes affected his painting of the Mona Lisa (or La Giaconda, if you prefer).

Mirrored saying of Leonardo, Exhibit at Santa Maria Novella

And then there's another Botticelli in which the physical separation isn't as distinct, there is the door frame.  But the gestures imply something--a warding off or a hesitant reaching out? Gabriel looks at Mary, but Mary looks down.  A sign of: no, I don't want this, but also, yes, I accept?  This is one of the few Annunciations that I really like as a painting.  The circular form comprising Mary's leaning body and the Gabriel's kneeling one.  The tension between the two.  The implicit dichotomy in Mary's posture--should I accept or not?  Even the notion that Mary might have a choice.

Annunciation, Botticelli, Uffizi, 1489-1490

But the question I had is why is this separation there?  Was there some notion that the angel and the human should not share the same space?  Was it a convention that came about when altar diptychs and triptychs were popular (and where the panels enforced a physical separation)?  And why did Botticelli's later version change so much from the earlier?  Ah well; perhaps some art historian knows the answer....

As I looked at more and more religious paintings in a concentrated period, I had to wonder what masterpieces pre-Renaissance artists might have produced if the wealth and influence of the Church had not defined their oeuvre in terms of biblical settings?  There are some non-religious examples, but mostly portraiture or allegory.

Well, I didn't show you much of the Uffizi.  You'll just have to visit this museum yourself (it took me two trips at half a day each).  I did have fun looking for commonalities among the art works, figuring out if they held true, what the exceptions are, and above all, why? Or when in Italy, perchè?