The Uffizi Gallery - Firenze

11th November

Uffizi Gallery - Firenze

Went to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence after a brief stop to admire the view again from Piazzale Michelangelo. It was gorgeous in the morning sun as the mist was gently lifting over the city. After a quick coffee, on the run (Italian style) I was in amongst the man works of art. As I had got in there early there were not too many people and I was able to walk amongst the masterpieces almost at will. Later it did become pretty crowded in the main attraction rooms, such a the Leonardo and Michelangelo rooms but visiting away from peak season was a definite advantage.
The museum is separated into numerous rooms which act as a sort of timeline for art in the region. The collection was started by the powerful Medici family who controlled the Florentine city-state and patronised many works of art during the Renaissance. The Uffizi was left to the city by the Medici family on condition that it never leave Florence.
The gallery is one of the most important in the world and so is packed with masterpieces and really interesting pictures and sculptures. My highlights included the Leonardo Room with Leonardo Da Vinci's unfinished "Adoration of the Magi" which shows just how good a draughtsman he was. It looks like it has just been sketched up in black paint, but each stroke is singularly precise, nothing is wayward and the shift from background detail to the ghostly, unfinished foreground is very revealing about how he built up his paintings. It line's up alongside his famous "Annunciation" which apparently was criticised for seemingly poor proportions of the antagonists, however it seems that if you view the painting by crouching to the right of it the proportions seem spot on. This was because the painting was to be hung to the left of a church altar and was not meant to be viewed straight on which shows Leonardo's amazing skill with proportion. Also in this room was a painting by Leonardo's teacher Verrocchio - "Baptism of Christ" which shows how artists collaborated on works. One of the angels in the picture was painted by a young Leonardo and it is believed the second angel was painted by another artist working under Verrocchio. Michelangelo's Doni Tondo was the only piece by the artist at the Uffizi, but it's colour and vibrancy dominated the room. Interestingly, it is believed the Greek statue Lacoon was found whilst, or before, Michelangelo produced this work of art as one of the figures in the background is posed in the same way as one of the sons from the statue. Even the Masters aren't afraid to take inspiration (wholesale) from elsewhere. The Rapael room showed works by the artist trying his hand at differrent styles, inspired by the likes of Leonardo, Michelangelo and the new-fangled "Flemish-style" which was popular for a time. Again he was open to influence but it showed his true skill in the way he was ablt to adapt to these new styles and produce amazing works of art.
There was an exhibition on the way out to Caravaggio and the artist's that he has inspired with his dark brooding styles. One of his pieces was an ornamental shield painted with the severed head of Medusa for one of the Medici Dukes.

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take any photos (every so often the room echoed to "Nooooo Fooootooooo!!" in a weird gravelly, other-worldy voice) so here's a picture of the Duomo instead.