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Tribuna of the Uffizi (painting)
Encyclopedia
The Tribuna of the Uffizi (1772–8) by Johann Zoffany
is a painting of the north-east section of the Tribuna
room in the Uffizi
in Florence
, Italy
.
ever visited Italy in person.) Still working on the painting late in 1777, he only finally returned to England in 1779.
. The agreed price was high and he was paid £300 a year.
(1706-86), such as having seven paintings, including Raphael’s Madonna della Sedia, temporarily brought in from the Pitti Palace so that he could paint them in situ in the Tribuna. In thanks Zoffany included a portrait of Cowper looking at his recent acquisition, Raphael's Niccolini-Cowper Madonna
(Cowper hoped to sell it on to George III - it is now in the Washington National Gallery of Art
), with Zoffany holding it (to the left of the Dancing Faun).
The unframed Samian Sibyl on the floor was acquired for the Medici collection in 1777 - it was a workshop copy of the pendant to Guercino’s Libyan Sibyl, recently bought by George III, and may be intended as a compliment to him.
Johann Zoffany
Johan Zoffany, Zoffani or Zauffelij was a German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England...
is a painting of the north-east section of the Tribuna
Tribuna of the Uffizi
The Tribuna of the Uffizi is an octagonal room in the Uffizi gallery, Florence, Italy. Designed by Bernardo Buontalenti for Francesco I de' Medici in the late 1580s, the most important antiquities and High Renaissance and Bolognese paintings from the Medici collection were and still are displayed...
room in the Uffizi
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery , is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.-History:...
in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Production
In the summer of 1772 Zoffany left London for Florence with a commission from Queen Charlotte to paint ‘the Florence Gallery’. (Neither she nor her husband George IIIGeorge III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
ever visited Italy in person.) Still working on the painting late in 1777, he only finally returned to England in 1779.
History
Johann Zoffany was a German born painter who had become a successful in London. One of his principal patrons was the Royal family. Queen Charlotte had sent Zoffany to Florence where he had agreed to paint the Tribuna of the UffiziTribuna of the Uffizi
The Tribuna of the Uffizi is an octagonal room in the Uffizi gallery, Florence, Italy. Designed by Bernardo Buontalenti for Francesco I de' Medici in the late 1580s, the most important antiquities and High Renaissance and Bolognese paintings from the Medici collection were and still are displayed...
. The agreed price was high and he was paid £300 a year.
Artworks shown
Zoffany has varied the arrangement of the artworks and introduced others from elsewhere in the Medici collection. He gained special privileges, with the help of George, 3rd Earl Cowper (1738-80), and Sir Horace Mann, 1st BaronetSir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet
Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet KB , diplomat, was a long standing British resident in Florence.-Biography:...
(1706-86), such as having seven paintings, including Raphael’s Madonna della Sedia, temporarily brought in from the Pitti Palace so that he could paint them in situ in the Tribuna. In thanks Zoffany included a portrait of Cowper looking at his recent acquisition, Raphael's Niccolini-Cowper Madonna
Niccolini-Cowper Madonna
The Niccolini-Cowper Madonna, also known as the Large Cowper Madonna, is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, depicting Mary and Child, against a blue sky.-The painting:...
(Cowper hoped to sell it on to George III - it is now in the Washington National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
), with Zoffany holding it (to the left of the Dancing Faun).
The unframed Samian Sibyl on the floor was acquired for the Medici collection in 1777 - it was a workshop copy of the pendant to Guercino’s Libyan Sibyl, recently bought by George III, and may be intended as a compliment to him.
List
- ArrotinoArrotinoThe Arrotino , or formerly the Scythian, thought to be a figure from a group representing the Flaying of Marsyas is a Hellenistic-Roman sculpture of a man crouching to sharpen a knife on a whetstone.The sculpture was excavated in the early sixteenth century, for it is recognizable in an inventory...
, bottom left (sculpture) - Chimera of ArezzoChimera of ArezzoThe bronze "Chimera of Arezzo" is one of the best known examples of the art of the Etruscans. It was found in Arezzo, an ancient Etruscan and Roman city in Tuscany, in 1553 and was quickly claimed for the collection of the Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I, who placed it publicly in the...
, bottom left (sculpture) - Cupid and Psyche, far left (sculpture)
- Dancing Faun, left of back wall (sculpture)
- CarracciAnnibale CarracciAnnibale Carracci was an Italian Baroque painter.-Early career:Annibale Carracci was born in Bologna, and in all likelihood first apprenticed within his family...
, Venus and Satyr, top left of left wall - RaphaelRaphaelRaffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, Madonna della seggiolaMadonna della seggiolaThe Madonna della seggiola or Madonna della sedia is a Madonna painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael, dating to c. 1513-1514 and housed in the Palazzo Pitti collection in Florence...
, left of left wall - Raphael, Madonna del cardellinoMadonna del cardellinoThe Madonna del cardellino or Madonna of the Goldfinch is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael, from c. 1505-1506. A 10-year restoration process was completed in 2008, after which the painting was returned to its home at the Uffizi in Florence...
, left of back wall - Raphael, St John the Baptist, middle of back wall
- Raphael, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' RossiPortrait of Leo X (Raphael)The Portrait of Pope Leo X with two Cardinals is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, circa 1518-1519. It is housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence....
, top right of right wall - Raphael, Portrait of Perugino, middle-right of back wall
- ReniReni-People:* Guido Reni , Italian Baroque painter* Alan Wren , nicknamed Reni, drummer for The Stone Roses* Reni Mimura, a Japanese pop singer who is known for using cosplay in her performances....
, Charity, top right of left wall - Reni, Madonna, top right of back wall
- Reni, Cleopatra, top left of right wall
- Correggio, Madonna and Child, middle of left wall
- Justus SustermansJustus SustermansJustus Sustermans , also known as Giusto Sustermans, was a Flemish painter in the Baroque style. He was born in Antwerp and died in Florence....
, Galileo, right of left wall - School of Titian, Madonna and Child with St Catherine, top left of back wall
- FranciabigioFranciabigioFranciabigio was an Italian painter of the Florentine Renaissance. His true name may have been Francesco di Cristofano, however he also is referred to as either Marcantonio Franciabigio or Francia Bigio....
(formerly attributed to Raphael), Madonna del Pozzo, bottom right of back wall - Baby Hercules strangling two serpents, middle of back wall (sculpture)
- Holbein, Sir Richard Southwell, middle-left of back wall
- Holy Family, now attributed to Niccolò SoggiNiccolò SoggiNiccolò Soggi was an Italian painter, born in Monte San Savino in the Province of Arezzo, Italy.He was a pupil of Pietro Perugino, and was in Rome during the pontificate of Pope Leo X. Soggi then moved to Prato, where Baldo Magini was his principal patron...
, bottom right of back wall - Rubens, The Consequences of War, 1638, middle of back wall
- Rubens, Justus Lipsius with his Pupils, middle of right wall
- The Two Wrestlers (sculpture), right of back wall
- Pietro da CortonaPietro da CortonaPietro da Cortona, by the name of Pietro Berrettini, born Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, was the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and also one of the key architects in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important decorator...
, Abraham and Hagar, left of right wall - School of Caravaggio, Tribute Money, middle of right wall
- Cristofano AlloriCristofano AlloriCristofano Allori was an Italian portrait painter of the late Florentine Mannerist school. Allori was born at Florence and received his first lessons in painting from his father, Alessandro Allori, but becoming dissatisfied with the hard anatomical drawing and cold coloring of the latter, he...
, Miracle of St Julian, right of right wall - Squatting Egyptian figure (18th Dynasty), middle of room (sculpture)
- Medici Venus, far right (sculpture)
- TitianTitianTiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, Venus of UrbinoVenus of UrbinoThe Venus of Urbino is a 1538 oil painting by the Italian master Titian. It depicts a nude young woman, identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous surroundings of a Renaissance palace. It hangs in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence. The figure's pose is based...
, front right, resting on an ancient cinerary urn - Workshop of Guercino, Sibyl, bottom middle floor
Persons shown
All the connoisseurs, diplomats and visitors to Florence portrayed are identifiable, making the painting a combination of the British eighteenth-century conversation piece or informal group portrait genre, with that of the predominantly Flemish seventeenth-century tradition of gallery views and wunderkammers. However, this inclusion of so many recognisable portraits led to criticism at the time by Zoffany's royal patrons, and by Horace Walpole, who called it ‘a flock of travelling boys, and one does not know nor care whom’.) .Sources
- Royal Collection
- A key to the people shown
- William L. Pressly, Genius Unveiled: The Self-Portraits of Johan Zoffany, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 69, No. 1. (Mar., 1987), pp. 88–101.
- Desmond Shawe-Taylor, The Conversation Piece: Scenes of Fashionable Life (2009)
