Uffizi

Ignazio Enrico Hugford (1703-1778) was a painter of English origin who was trained under Anton Domenico Gabbiani. As art dealer and connoisseur, he was among the most important collectors of works on paper in eighteenth-century Florence and had prolific and wide-ranging contacts throughout Europe. He was in close touch with Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri, and his correspondents also included Pierre Jean Mariette and Giovanni Gaetano Bottari. Among the over three thousand drawings bequeathed to his heirs and acquired in 1779 for the Uffizi by its director Giuseppe Pelli Bencivenni, one hundred and five sheets were attributed to artists of non-Italian schools. The attentive descriptions of Pelli’s inventory, the characteristic framing applied by Hugford and his inscriptions on some of the sheets have made it possible to identify almost all of these drawings, now in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi. Research has also revealed Hugford’s talent as connoisseur, his interest in certain artists, and how Northern European drawings were regarded in the Florence of his time. This group includes sheets attributed to the Germans Dürer and Holbein, the Flemings Spranger and Lucas van Leyden, the French Callot and La Fage, and the Portuguese Francisco Vieira. Although many of these attributions are no longer acceptable, the identification of individual drawings has made it possible to confirm their authorship, and in some cases to suggest new attributions.

L’Oriente per noi occidentali è sempre stato qualcosa di magico, affascinante e misterioso. Ce lo immaginiamo come nelle favole persiane, che da secoli vengono tramandate: sultani, lampade incantate, fatali spose, marinai avventurosi. Ma se davvero si vuol provare a comprendere il mondo orientale, arabo soprattutto, bisogna guardare all’arte.

WONDER WOMEN: SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA, LAVINIA FONTANA AND ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE SELF-PORTRAIT PAINTING BY FEMALE ARTISTS

by Rosa Lena Reed Robinson

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts in Art History at
Studio Art Centers International
Florence, Italy

2017


This  thesis is focused on the self-portrait painting practice by three female artists from the Renaissance and the Baroque periods: Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Chapter I introduces the self-portrait as it developed specific to the Renaissance and in relation to a Greco-Roman classical ideal. The chapter focuses on Renaissance concepts of art and the very role of the artist. Chapter II studies the numerous self-portraits of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first great Renaissance female artist to have an international career. The artist’s self-portraits both became a foundation for those of later female artists and self-consciously expressed the new elite status achieved by this Lombard artist of noble lineage who worked as court portraitist for the Spanish monarchy. Chapter III examines the self-portraits and innovative identity self-portraiture of Lavinia Fontana of Bologna. It is demonstrated how her two early self-portraits built on the precedent established by Sofonisba, and yet, are of somewhat greater iconographic complexity. While in her maturity the artist developed self-portraiture into the identity self-portrait through the subject of Judith and Holofernes. Within her treatments of the theme in some examples she put herself into the figure of Judith and in others into Judith’s maid Abra. Lavinia Fontana’s final masterpiece, the improbable painting Minerva Dressing done at the end of her extensive career was likewise arguably an identity self-portrait. Minerva Dressing constitutes the first female fully nude figure painted by a female artist. Chapter IV focuses on Artemisia Gentileschi. This thesis designates the artist’s Pommersfelden Susanna and the Elders as both Artemisia’s first exact self-portrait and the first female full-length nude self-portrait painted by a female artist. The work is also an identity self-portrait. This chapter continues with a discussion of both versions of Artemisia’s infamous Judith and Holofernes (Capodimonte/Uffizi). Both works are arguably exact self-portrait paintings and identity self-portraits. Artemisia’s Allegory of Painting in London, often referred to as a self-portrait in scholarship, is suggested a perhaps better understood as an ideal identity self-portrait rather than a literal self-representation. The Allegory of Painting is considered together with other attributed self-portraits and portraits of the artist. A major theme in Chapter IV is the transition from literal self-representation to allegorical and ideal portrayal of the self. This thesis suggests that, as the artist’s career advanced, Artemisia Gentileschi did continue to paint both the exact and the ideal self-portrait. Finally, in the Conclusion, the legacy of the self-portraits of the Wonder Women, to adopt a phrase from Giorgio Vasari, is considered in reference to future female artists such as Elisabetta Sirani, Angelica Kauffmann, Elisabeth Vigée Le-Brun and Paula Modersohn-Becker.

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Il presente lavoro oscilla tra i due poli estremi della straordinaria parabola artistica di Luca Signorelli, in quanto a un primo capitolo incentrato sul tema della formazione e degli esordi, dal tirocinio pierfrancescano fin quasi alle soglie della maturità (lo "Stendardo di Fabriano" a Brera), segue un capitolo dedicato a uno dei filoni più rilevanti e prolifici della produzione signorelliana, quello della "Sacra Conversazione", considerata lungo l'intero arco della carriera del pittore: dalla "Pala Vagnucci" di Perugia, l'opera della primissima maturità, alla "Pala del Calcinaio" di Cortona, un lavoro incompiuto ed ereditato da Francesco Signorelli, nipote, allievo e collaboratore di Luca.

La selezione delle opere su cui concentrare i nostri sforzi è stata effettuata in vista e preparazione della mostra umbra del 2012, considerando fondamentalmente tre fattori: primo, l'occasione unica e irripetibile di vedere riunite e affiancate, in prestito da collezioni italiane e straniere, tutte le opere che la critica passata e recente ha discusso come possibili lavori primo-signorelliani di impronta pierfrancescana; secondo, la necessità di proseguire e approfondire, specie sul versante della ricerca archivistica, i nostri studi (inaugurati dalla tesi di laurea discussa nel 2003 e pubblicati nel 2008) dedicati alla prima opera sicura del catalogo di Luca, la "Pala Vagnucci" di Perugia, che avrebbe costituito il perno centrale e il polo d'attrazione della suddetta mostra, una volta uscita dalla consueta collocazione nel Museo Capitolare del duomo cittadino; infine, il proposito di rivalutare (specie nel loro valore storico e iconografico) alcuni tardi dipinti – ascrivibili alla bottega di Signorelli e realizzati per località minori dell'Umbria – che, sino a oggi, hanno goduto di una fortuna critica pressoché inesistente: come è accaduto anche alla "Pala della Concezione", situata nell'immediata periferia di Cortona, qui prescelta per il fortissimo rapporto che la lega al capolavoro perugino, in quanto dovuta alla committenza della medesima famiglia cortonese.

Per il trecentesimo anno dalla morte di Ferdinando de’ Medici, la Galleria degli Uffizi ha deciso di omaggiarne la figura con una mostra dal titolo Il Gran Principe Ferdinando de’ Medici (1663-1713). Collezionista e mecenate, aperta dal 26 giugno al 3 novembre 2013.

Marszałkowska Dzielnica Mieszkaniowa, wielka inwestycja budowlana w śródmieściu południowym Warszawy, miała być eksperymentem wprowadzającym doktrynę realizmu socjalistycznego do stołecznego i krajowego budownictwa. Podstawowy projekt wykonano od marca do maja 1950 r., później wielokrotnie go zmieniano, aby ostatecznie zrealizować tylko część planów na l. 1950-1955. Chociaż ideologiczne założenia mówiły przede wszystkim o nadaniu architekturze „narodowej formy” to jednak dopuszczały także krytyczne wyzyskanie dziedzictwa europejskiego. Fragment „wąskiej” ul. Marszałkowskiej między głównym placem MDM (dziś Konstytucji) a placem Zbawiciela nosił w pracowni projektowej MDM warsztatową nazwę „Uffizi” odwołującą się do florenckiej Galerii Uffizi. Zadaniem rozważań podjętych w artykule, jest stwierdzenie czy wspomniana nazwa była tylko żartobliwym określeniem, czy też śladem prawdziwej inspiracji projektantów MDM-u słynną uliczką-dziedzińcem Uffizi. Analiza wybranych elementów doktryny realizmu socjalistycznego, czyli: koncepcji urbanistycznej MDM, kontekstu funkcjonalnego w jakim znajduje się „wąska” Marszałkowska, wartości, które projektanci chcieli nadać kolejnym wnętrzom miejskim, stosunku architektów do znanych dzieł architektury i urbanistyki Europy skłania do wniosku, że podstawowa zasada urbanistyczna „wąskiej” Marszałkowskiej miała wykorzystywać florencki wzorzec.

Marszałkowska Residential District (MDM), a big investment project in southern downtown of Warsaw, was conceived as an experiment of incorporating the doctrine of socialist realism in the cityscape of the capital city and the rest of the country. The preliminary design was drafted between March and May 1950 and underwent several modifications afterwards. Eventually, only part of the project planned for the years 1950-1955 was implemented. Although the ideological assumptions underlying the construction focused on giving the architecture a “national form”, at the same time they allowed for a critical exploitation of the European heritage. The “narrow” part of Marszłkowska Street, stretching from its main square – Plac MDM
(currently renamed Plac Konstytucji, Constitution Square) to Plac Zbawiciela (The Saviour’s Square), while still at the design office, was given a working name “Uffizi”, a direct reference to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It is the object of the present article to establish whether the above mentioned name was merely a humorous hint or a proof of true inspiration that the designers of Marszałkowska Residential District drew from the famous courtyard street Uffizi. The analysis of such factors as chosen elements of the socialist realism doctrine, MDM’s planning concept, the functional context of the “narrow” Marszałkowska Street, values that the designers wanted to see expressed in urban interiors, the architects’ attitude towards European architecture and urban planning masterpieces, leads to the conclusion that it was the authors’ intention to base the principles of the design of the “narrow” Marszałkowska Street on the Florentine model.

A due anni di distanza dall’uscita del primo volume di saggi Spogliando modelli e alzando lumi, Gianni Papi pubblica una seconda raccolta di contributi (tredici inediti e sei già usciti in altre lingue o in ambiti ristretti), relativi alle sue ricerche su Caravaggio e l’ambiente caravaggesco a Roma e a Napoli. Anche il titolo (anche in questa occasione una citazione dalla biografia del Merisi scritta dal Bellori), evoca un’ideale continuità con il precedente volume. Papi torna a discutere e a riaffermare l’autografia caravaggesca della versione dell’Ecce Homo conservata presso il Santuario del Bambino Gesù di Praga ad Arenzano, da collocare nel periodo siciliano del Merisi. Il cuore del volume è costituito da un blocco di ben sei interventi che vertono sulla fase giovanile di Ribera. Fra gli altri temi trattati si segnala la presentazione di nuovi dipinti di Bartolomeo Manfredi, di Nicolas Tournier, di Giuseppe Vermiglio, di Pietro Paolini, di Giovanni Ricca, di Pietro Ricchi. Un spazio ulteriorehanno gli artisti olandesi: Gerrit van Honthorst – di cui si discute dopo la mostra monografica degli Uffizi del 2015 – e David de Haen, al cui catalogo vengono operate importanti aggiunte.

For 5 years I have been researching the iconography of Jan Zamoyski, the Chancellor and Grand Hetman of the Crown. This issue only on the surface seems to have genuinely Polish concern, restricted only to our country. Jan Zamoyski’s iconography may serve as a good example of how globalization mentioned in the title of this Forum influences scientific research.
At present, I am researching the enigmatic history of Zamoyski’s portrait from the Florentine Uffizi Art Gallery, which falls into humanistic fashion of creating European „degli uomini famosi” portrait galleries. Polish scientists tried to reveal the author of the portrait and uncover the history of its creation. It was suggested, that it was painted in vivo in 1600 by J. Szwankowski, or by K. Bystrzycki on the commission of the Archduke Ferdinand II of Tirol for his collection of portraits in the Ambras castle located near Innsbruck. None of the suggestions was duly documented. The Zamoyski’s portrait in the Florentine inventory catalogue published in 1979 was assigned to Cristofano dell’ Altissimo, Italian painter-copyist. It was classified in a set of images from the Gioviana gallery (a series of copies from the collection of Paolo Giovio from Como’s paintings). In Poland, this thesis was never thoroughly examined. In 1998, this painting underwent preservation work. When I was granted scholarship in Italy, I managed to get direct access to those preservation notes. What stemmed from the scans made on the spot was that under the original text at the upper title line in the portrait: “IOANNES ZAMOISKI.1600” new words were uncovered, namely: “GĪO • ZAMOISHI • GRAN.CANCELLE|RE DEL REGNIO DI POLONIA”, which made scientists question the date and circumstances of the piece of art’s creation. Two years ago I have restarted discussion on former theses.
However, in the Internet resources I have found a digital copy of the file comprising objects from Como dating back to 1596; it constitutes a piece of evidence that Zamoyski’s portrait, which Altissimo could use as an original for his copy, did not belong to this collection. In order to check the thesis that this portrait comes from the Ferdinand II of Tirol’s collection, I have come into electronic mail contact with the management of the Ambras castle. Further query resulted from this correspondence. To solve this case I contacted, also vie e-mail, the museum in Vienna where objects from the Ambras castle were to be found at certain time of history. Unfortunately, the scanned books sent by the museum providing description of the exhibits related to the Grand Hetman do not constitute any hard evidence for the fact that Zamoyski’s portrait had ever constituted part of the Ferdinand’s collection.
On the basis of the up-to-date research, the most probable thesis in my opinion is that Altissimo is the author of this painting (due to numerous similarities to other work of this author), the very original has Tirol’s origins (Zamoyski’s portrait from the J. Schrenck catalogue) and that the time of the painting’s creation is between 1581 and 1605. Although I have not provided answer for these intriguing questions, I managed to facilitate access to the source materials, which allow to present a spectrum of problems crucial for historical analysis of this piece of art. I hope that procuring unique materials via Internet auctions or by other electronic means from people working on such issues in Poland and abroad will contribute to comprehensive solution of this portrait mystery.

The article concerns the Renaissance portrait of Polish Chancellor and Hetman Jan Zamoyski (1542-1605) from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (the Giovio Collection). It discusses the origins of the image, the technique and technology of its artistic realization and a surprising discovery that is the outcome of the last conservation in 1998. The painting from the Uffizi Gallery is one of the most important portraits in the iconography of Jan Zamoyski.