Medusa, circa 1596-98
Caravaggio

More than one hundred pieces of Caravaggio’s and Caravaggesque work will be on display at the Uffizi Gallery and the Palatine Gallery in the Pitti Palace during the Quattro-Centenial celebration of the artist’s life and death. Caravaggio’s work will be shown along with the work of those who influenced him as a painter and the work of those he influenced throughout his career.

For as popular as Caravaggio has become over the last decade, the museums and private collections of Florence have remained home to more Caravaggesque works than anywhere else in the world after Rome. The exhibition consists of these works as well as works acquired through numerous loans.

How did the Caravaggio’s and Caravaggesque work come to Florence?

When in Rome, Caravaggio was a frequent visitor to the Palazzo Firenze where Cardinal Del Monte was the ambassador to the city. Caravaggio would have become known to the Medici Grand Duke Ferdinand through him. The Bacchus and The Medusa were hanging in the Uffizi by the end of the 16th century. Others – only two or three – were in time purchased by the Grand Dukes who became early and staunch admirers of his work. Over the coming decades the Medici – especially Cosimo II – would continue to collect the work of both Caravaggio and the work of his many followers.

Caravaggio and the Caravaggesques
Exhibition Dates: May 22nd – October 17th 2010
The Uffizi Gallery and The Palatine Gallery at the Pitti Palace
Florence

Tucked between the Arno and the Piazza della Signoria, you will find one of the most famous museums in the world, the Uffizi Gallery.

The Uffizi occupies the top floor of the large, horseshoe-shaped building that was built by Giorgio Vasari between the years of 1560 and 1580. It was originally built to house the administrative offices of the Tuscan State. The collection of the gallery was begun by Grand-Duke Francesco I and then built upon by various members of the illustrious Medici family, who were great patrons of the arts, collectors and commissioners of paintings, sculpture, architecture, poetry, and other works of art. The collection was rearranged and enlarged by the Lorraine Grand-Dukes, who succeeded the Medici, and finally, the collection as it is today is maintained by the Italian State.

The collection on display includes Primitive and Renaissance paintings that comprise several masterpieces, including works by Giotto, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio. The gallery also holds work by German, Dutch and Flemish masters who are represented with paintings by Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens.

One of many of my favorite pieces in this museum is the Doni Tondo, by Michelangelo. When I saw it for the first time, it was just sitting alone in one of the last rooms in the gallery on an easel. Like it was waiting for me to come look at it.