World famous museum created by the Medici. Uffizi Gallery, Florence - description of the museum

". Jewels of the famous Florentine dynasty are brought from the best museums of the “cradle of the Renaissance”.

This family was nicknamed the "godfathers of the Renaissance" for a reason. Coming from the common people, they had almost unlimited power over their native Florence, put relatives on the papal throne and even reached the throne of France. For those who have at hand the richest bank in Europe, nothing is impossible. But just as decisively, they counted florins for patronage and sponsorship of geniuses. Passionate collectors, the Medici left their native city with one of the greatest collections of painting and sculpture - the Uffizi. Not to mention the countless pieces of arts and crafts that eventually scattered throughout the Florentine museums. Part of this collection - cameos and vases, coins and medals, objects made of crystal, bronze and ivory, collected over the centuries - has now been brought to Moscow.

All exhibits of the exhibition are arranged in chronological order, so that a meaningful story is obtained - not so much about things, but about the people behind them. About the rise and fall of the family and the tastes of its extraordinary representatives, whose portraits are presented here. Moreover, this plot begins without overclocking - immediately from the collection of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492), the most charismatic of the Medici.

Passion for art was in his blood: even his grandfather Lorenzo, banker and politician Cosimo the Elder, generously donated to the construction of palaces, libraries, churches. Under him, Florence entered its golden age, the reign of Lorenzo was its culmination. The nickname Magnificent was just a polite form of address, but it suited Lorenzo perfectly. An ugly man with a crooked nose, thin hair, an earthy complexion, as he looks at us from portraits, Lorenzo was disarmingly smart and charming, wrote good poetry himself and sensed talent in others a mile away. Not without reason, during the years of his reign, Botticelli and Michelangelo lived in the Palazzo Medici almost on family rights. Curiously, with such a close friendship with artists, what was most dear to him was not the pictorial or sculptural part of his rich collection, but the collection of stones.

The interest of the first Medici in things “in antique taste”, including jewelry stones and gems, is understandable. Here and the Renaissance love for everything connected with antiquity, and the desire to join the glory of ancient Rome. The Medici themselves could not boast of blue blood: they descended from the court physician of Charlemagne. But they ruled the Florentine Republic and, if only for this reason, considered themselves the successors of the legendary leaders of the Roman Republic.

"Treasury of Me. Source: “Treasury of Me.

On one of the “antique” cameos brought to Moscow, there is an image carved from carnelian carnelian Savonarola, a fanatical Dominican monk who predicted the decline of the Medici family and actually ruled the city after the death of Lorenzo. This cameo was one of the most valuable items in the collection of the next great Medici - Cosimo I (1519-1574). By the time Cosimo was called to power, memories of the dark time of Savonarola's reign and its terrible end, when the preacher was first hanged, then burned, and the ashes thrown from the Ponte Vecchio bridge for fidelity, had faded. The stern profile of Cosimo himself, who was the first of the Medicis to become the official ruler of Florence and ruled the city with an iron fist, can be seen on the cameo, where he is depicted with his wife Eleanor of Toledo.

During the reign of Cosimo's son, Grand Duke Francesco I (1541-1587), the Medici collection was replenished with vases in the form of animals and birds and other bizarre products made of semi-precious stones - "pietre dure". Mineralogy was the Grand Duke's passion - as were other natural sciences. In the Palazzo Vecchio, where by that time the Medici had moved to live, and now you can see the Studiola Francesco I - a gloomy room where he retired for alchemical experiments, and at the same time kept a collection of minerals. At the initiative of the Grand Duke, workshops appeared in the city that produced lovely little things from rock crystal, vessels from semiprecious stones, and even porcelain. These workshops gained worldwide fame during the reign of Francesco's younger brother, Ferdinand I (1549-1609), when they mastered the production of Florentine mosaics - “paintings” from precious stone species. The exhibition presents a portrait of a handsome gentleman in a frill, made in this laborious technique. This is Ferdinand I himself - a wise politician, an opera lover. And at the same time, as scientists recently found out, the poisoner of his brother Francesco, who poured arsenic on him.

No matter how much time you take to visit Florence, it will never be enough. There are more than 80 museums in Florence alone. Millions of tourists visit the city every year, and, alas, it is impossible to avoid crowds during the season. At the same time, every minute lost in line for the next attraction increases the score of missed opportunities. And if you happen to be in Florence, say, in June, then there will be many such missed opportunities.

The Italians took this fact into account, and developed a system that allows you to buy tickets in museums in Florence online. In this article we will talk about the most interesting of the city's museums, where you can buy tickets via the Internet.

Uffizi Gallery

Founded in the second half of the 16th century, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is considered one of the most important fine art museums in Europe. The basis of the museum was a collection of paintings, transferred to the Gallery by the Medici family, who ruled Florence for many years.

Among its exhibits are works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Caravaggio and others. Along with Italian masters, the Uffizi Gallery presents the best paintings by famous French, Spanish, German, Dutch and other artists, as well as samples of the art of the Antique era.

The Uffizi Gallery has self-portraits of Russian artists

A kind of zest Uffizi Galleries considered a unique collection of self-portraits of famous artists. It is noteworthy that the idea to collect self-portraits of masters of the brush belongs to Cardinal Leopold of the Medici, the famous offspring of the Medici family, who lived in the 17th century.

Bargello Museum

Built in the 13th century, the current Bargello Museum (MuseodelBargello) was originally a fortified castle and served as a town hall. During the reign of the Medici family, Bargello Castle became a prison, and prisoners sentenced to death were executed in its courtyard.

Later, the building housed the city police. And only in 1865 the Castle was turned into National Bargello Museum, the exhibits of which were the works of Italian sculptors of the Renaissance (XIV-XVII centuries).

In the famous sculptural collection of the Museum, the first masterpiece of Michelangelo is the statue of the god of wine Bacchus and the marble bust of Brutus, who killed the Roman emperor Caesar. A bronze statue of the Etruscan god "Amur-Atis" and "David", who defeated the mighty Goliath, are the creations of the hands of Donatello, Mercury - the Florentine mannerist sculptor Giambologna, etc.

For some time, the building of the Bargello Museum housed the city police.

The Bargello National Museum also has other, no less interesting exhibits. Among them - a collection of ancient weapons, armor, Arabic carpets, jewelry, majolica, ivory and medals from the collection of the Medici family.

Chapel of the Podesta, located on the territory of the Bargello Museum, also deserves special attention. This is the place where the last hours of those sentenced to death passed. Its walls are painted with paintings depicting Paradise, Hell and scenes from the lives of the Saints, made by the masters of the Italian school of painting, founded by Giotto di Bondone at the beginning of the 14th century.

Academy Gallery

Founded in the 16th century with the support of the Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I - the successor of the Medici family - Academy of Fine Arts in Florence became the first academy of painting in Europe.

The Art Gallery (Galleriadell'Accademia), created at the Academy in 1784, originally served as a visual aid for students of art schools subordinate to the Academy. Here, novice artists learned the secrets of painting, examining the works of the great masters of the past.

In the Accademia Gallery you can also see the original statue of David by Michelangelo.

Today, the largest collection of paintings and sculptures of the 15th-16th centuries in Florence is collected. Among its exhibits are world-famous works by Michelangelo - "David" and "Prisoners", "The Rape of the Sabine Women" by Giambologna and others. The pearl of the collections is rightfully the painting by Sandro Botticelli - "Madonna by the Sea".

Also in the Academy Gallery is a unique collection of tapestries and tabernacles - richly decorated structures designed to store objects of religious worship.

Palazzo Pitti

Palazzo Pitti (PalazzoPitti) - The Royal Palace of the XVI century, which served as the residence of the Medici family, and then the dynasty of Lorraine dukes and Italian kings. Today the Palazzo is one of the largest museum complexes and the most significant sights of Florence.

Palazzo Pitti includes the Palatine Gallery, the Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Silver Museum, the Porcelain Museum, the Jewelery Museum, the Carriage Museum and the Costume Gallery - the largest collection in Italy dedicated to the history of fashion.

Palazzo Pitti was the residence of the royal families of Florence

Palatine Gallery, decorated in the Baroque style, is a unique collection of works of art. Among its exhibits are 11 paintings by Raphael, famous paintings by Botticelli, Titian, masterpieces by Caravaggio, Van Dyck, Rubens and others.

Museums are a kind of treasury of items made of gold and silver, precious stones, ivory, etc. There is also a unique collection of ancient Roman amphorae and vases from Byzantium and Venice.

Palazzo Vecchio

One of the most famous buildings in Florence is Palazzo Vecchio(PalazzoVecchio), built in the XIII century for administrative purposes. At first, priors sat here, later - seniors, and after them - the Florentine dukes.

Today the Palace also performs administrative functions - it serves as the town hall. Florentines, like many centuries ago, continue to check the time by the clock of the Palazzo Vecchio, installed on a 94-meter tower by a Bavarian master in 1665.

The excursion program in the Palazzo begins with the patio, made in the style of the early Renaissance.

The halls of the Palazzo Vecchio are decorated with golden ceilings and frescoes.

The salon of five hundred, once intended for meetings, is decorated with allegorical frescoes by Vasari and sculptural compositions by Michelangelo and Giambologna.

One of the most visited in the world. Here you will find many masterpieces from the most famous Italian masters, whose works we remember from school textbooks. One of the oldest and most popular museums in the world, you will find the world's finest collection of Italian Renaissance paintings.

The main problem with museums in Florence is the insane queues. Quite a few sites offer to buy tickets online in advance, but this will of course be with a surcharge (the surcharge is between 5 and 10€ per ticket).

Save?

1st Sunday of every month- all public museums in Italy free for visiting! Including the Uffizi Gallery, the Accademia Gallery, etc. You can’t book tickets for these days, visiting museums is on a first-come, first-served basis (very long queue, sometimes). Unless you have Firenze Card.

Tickets to museums in Florence:

You can book online, avoiding long queues at the box office, but it will be more expensive.

Prices are as of September 2016.

: € 8,00
: € 8,00
: € 8,50
: € 8,00
Musée Bargello:€ 8,00
Museum of San Marco:€ 4,00
Archaeological Museum:€ 4,00
: € 7.00 including Costume Museum, Silver Museum and Porcelain Museum)
Palazzo Strozzi:€ 12,00
: from 18 € (museum + archaeological site + towers) to 10 € (museum only)
: 5 € (with Duomo, bell tower, Baptistery - 15 €)
Museo di Orsanmichele: is free
Cappella Brancacci: 6 €
Museo Stefano Bardini: 6 €
Museo Novecento: 8.50 €
Forte di Belvedere: is free
Fondazione Salvatore Romano: 4 €
€ 6,00

Addresses of museums in Florence:

: Piazzale degli Uffizi - Firenze
: Via Ricasoli, 60 - Firenze
: c/o Palazzo Pitti, Piazza Pitti, 1 - Firenze
: Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6 - Firenze
Musée Bargello: Via del Proconsolo, 4 - Firenze
Museum of San Marco: Piazza San Marco, 1
Archaeological Museum: Piazza Santissima Annunziata - Firenze
: Piazza de' Pitti, 1 - Firenze
Palazzo Strozzi: Piazza Strozzi - Firenze
: Piazza della Signoria - Firenze
Ponte Vecchio - Firenze
: Piazza Duomo - Firenze
Orsanmichele Museum: Via dell'Arte della Lana, 3
Cappella Brancacci: Piazza del Carmine 14
Museo Stefano Bardini: Via dei Renai, 37
Museo Novecento: Piazza Santa Maria Novella, 10
Forte di Belvedere: via San Leonardo, 1
Fondazione Salvatore Romano: P.zza S.Spirito 29
Museo di Palazzo Davanzati - Museo dell'Antica Casa Fiorentina: via Porta Rossa, 13

Museums of Florence on the city map:

Museums that are fully covered by the Firenze Card:

As I already said, before visiting the gastronomic exhibition, the girls and I visited the Medici-Riccardi Palace.
It is located on Cavour Street (formerly known as Via Larga - "Broad Street").

The text in italics is from Henry Morton's Walks in Italy.

Massive palaces of bankers, especially after dark, look very impressive. At night, they seem to move closer to each other, whispering, probably, about the royal bankruptcy. Like all buildings that deal with money, they look wary.

The Medici Palace gave birth to Italian palazzos. It was the first palace built in the Renaissance style. The fashion for this style spread to all the big and small cities of Italy, after which it stepped over the Alps and burst into the cities of Europe. Roughly processed stones or the so-called rustics of the lower floor, reminiscent of the fortress walls of Etruscan cities, have become an indispensable element of the architectural design of rich mansions, government offices and clubs around the world. The Medici Palace is still very attractive, although its area has grown compared to what it was during the life of the rulers.

On March 28, 1659, the Marquis Gabriello Riccardi signed a contract to acquire the Medici Palace, becoming the owner of the Palazzo and three other nearby buildings owned by the Medici.
Marquis Riccardi immediately set about rebuilding the Palace and expanding it.
He adhered to two main principles: the exterior of the building should be preserved in the Renaissance style, while the interior decoration was revised in the Baroque style, which then became fashionable.
In 1814, the Riccardi sold the palace to the family of Lauren, the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
In 1874, the building was acquired by the Province of Florence and opened here the Prefecture of the city.

Cosimo the Elder built this massive building in 1440, and for several hundred years all the older Medici lived there, until, during the reign of Piero the Unfortunate, they were driven out of there, and all the treasures that could be carried away were plundered by the mob. The old banker rejected Brunelleschi's project: he considered that the building was too elegant, and therefore would cause envy. They say that Brunelleschi was offended, or maybe angry and broke his model into small pieces, but Michelozzo, Cosimo's favorite, presented a project that the banker liked. So on the corner of one of the busiest streets - Via Cavour - the first Renaissance mansion appeared. Other architects looked up to this building: if they built a palace for another banker that surpassed the luxury of Cosimo's house, they would immediately say that this banker was too conceited.

There is no exact explanation of the meaning of the Medici coat of arms. One of the versions refers to the manuscript of Cosimo Baroncelli of the XV-XVI centuries, which is stored in the library of the Medici Palace. The legend tells that the Medici family is connected with Charlemagne. A certain Averardo de Medici, commander of the army of Charlemagne, expelled the Lombards from Tuscany and with them the giant Mugello. In hand-to-hand combat with a monstrous giant, Averardo defended himself with a shield. Mugello struck the shield with his club, with iron balls attached to it. Thus, the traces of these balls on the shield became the coat of arms of the famous family. And the area where later the Medici had their first lands is called Mugello.

After the crushing power of the facade, getting into the courtyard, you feel an unprecedented lightness, which is given to the building by three orders, as if flying up.

The inner courtyard is also called the "Courtyard with columns" or "Courtyard of Michelozzo".
The harmony of the architectural design of the courtyard creates an effect of symmetry, which is not here.
The first order is a covered arched gallery with columns decorated with Corinthian capitals, a frieze with medallions, Medici coats of arms and mythological scenes (Bertoldo di Giovanni), with festoons decorated with monochrome graffito (Maso di Bartolomeo 1452).
According to the second order, there are windows separated by a column, repeating the windows of the outer facade of the building.
The third order is an arched gallery with Ionic columns, currently glazed.

Soooo, not Eurydice yet, but Orpheus will be soon.

On the southern wall of the courtyard, on a monumental stone cartouche, there is an inscription of 1715. The inscription glorifies the history of the Palace, the greatness of the Medici and does not disregard the Marquis Riccardi with their grandiose contribution to the renovation of the building.
On the walls are also exhibits from the archaeological collection of Riccardi: busts, heads, fragments of reliefs and Roman sarcophagi.

Under the arches of the first order there is a sculpture "Orpheus pacifying Cerberus by singing" (Baccio Bandinelli, 1515). The statue rises on an exquisite pedestal with the emblems and coats of arms of the Medici (Benedetto da Rovenzzano).

The garden here is regular: geometric flower beds, paths with a mosaic pattern, and in the old days there were trimmed bushes and trees - in the form of dogs, deer and elephants. In the center stood Judith by Donatello. Now she is on the steps of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Now there are tubs of citrus fruits and... we.

We left the Magi Chapel for the last.

"We were in no hurry to get down to what interested us most. No, we weren't in a hurry at all! We felt like gourmets. We didn't pounce on food. We inhaled the aromas, we rolled our eyes and smacked, we rubbed our hands, walking around, we looking forward to…" *

First we visited the exhibition of the jeweler Iznav Oruam. She was in the gallery adjoining the garden.

Then we moved on to an exhibition of art objects from private collections. It was called "Le stanze dei tesori".
I didn’t get all the photographs, but there was furniture, and armor, and clay products, and paintings by Fattori, De Chirico.

Arturo Martini "The Sailor's Wife" 1930.

Agnolo di Cosimo (nickname - Bronzino) Portrait of Laura Battiferri 1555-1560.
Yes, this is the same Bronzino that I wrote about, about his verse about panzanella.

Only then did we go up to the second floor and admire the interior decoration.

If you go to the palace, hoping to see the personal belongings of the Medici there, you will be disappointed: even the traces left on the marble steps are not related not only to the older, but also to the younger Medici, since the entire palace was rebuilt when in In the 17th century, the building was bought by the Marchioness Riccardi. All Italian palaces are designed for a large family, but the buildings do not seem so huge when you remember that six or seven sons settled in them with their wives, children and servants.

Hall of Charles VIII.
In 1494, Italy was occupied by the troops of King Charles VIII. Florence, led by Piero di Gino Capponi, stubbornly resisted the French. Threatened by a French attack, Capponi replied to ransom requests: "If you blow the trumpets, we will ring the bells." It happened in this hall, and the phrase went down in history.

Well done Piero! I would have said the same!

The premises of the second, front, floor are richly decorated: the walls are lined with marble, the gilded ceilings are decorated with moldings, the floors are covered with marble tiles, the windows and doors have relief frames, the furniture and doors are inlaid with mosaics made of wood of different colors.

In his old age, Cosimo grieved because his family was small. Son and grandson died; a sick heir, Piero Gout, and two grandchildren remained in the house. They heard him sigh somehow as they carried him in an armchair, smashed with gout, through the palace: “Too big a house for such a small family!”

Giordano Gallery or Gallery of Mirrors, it is also on the first floor.
The room is decorated with a frescoed vault made by Luca Giordano between 1682 and 1685.
Frescoes to the Neapolitan artist were ordered by the grandson of the Marquis Gabriello Riccardi - Francesco. The frescoes depict allegorical figures.

Loriana admires the ceiling frescoes.

In the central part of the vault is the main composition "The Triumph of the Medici on the Clouds of Olympus".

You can see better here.
Jupiter is at the top of the cloudy Olympus, and around it are characters who can be recognized as members of the Medici family.
The central figure with a lion at his feet is the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de Medici.
On either side of him are his sons: Gian Gastone (left) and Ferdinando de Medici (right), both on white horses.
Below, in red clothes - Francesco Maria de Medici - brother of Cosimo III.
Above, on both sides of the god, you can see two characters, above whose heads the stars are burning.
These stars symbolize the moons of Jupiter discovered by Galleleo Gallelei, which he dedicated to the Medici family. He called them the Medician stars (Stellae Medicae lat.)

Mirror (find Lena!)

Before reaching the Chapel of the Magi, we met another pleasant vision: "Madonna and Child" by Filippo Lippi. (1460-1469)

Fra Filippo himself was a controversial character.
He was born in Florence c. 1406.
In 1421 he became a monk and lived in a Carmelite monastery in Florence until 1431.
In 1442 Filippo became a priest at San Chirico near Florence.
In 1455 Filippo Lippi was convicted of forgery and resigned his seat in San Chirico.
Appointed in 1456 as a chaplain in a convent in Prato, he fled with one of the nuns, Lucrezia Buti, who bore him two children: Filippino in 1457 and Alexandra in 1465. Later, after receiving special permission from the pope, Filippo and Lucrezia got married. Despite the scandalous behavior, Filippo enjoyed the patronage of the Medici family and received orders from them throughout his creative life.
Filippo Lippi died in Spoleto in 1469.

On the reverse side is a sketch of a male head, presumably the head of Gerolomo (I did not get a photo).
It is impossible to remain indifferent to this embodiment of maternal tenderness and light warmth.

Finally, holding our breath, we went into the chapel of the Magi. This is a small room, consisting of two rooms. It felt like we were in a fairy tale box. The procession of the Magi moved slowly: some young men and old men looked at us from the walls, while others went about their business and paid no attention to us. Only the soft tapping of hooves was let into the silence of this intimate chapel. There was a smell of laurel and white rose hips.
Being there, you fall out of reality for a while. Faces - so distant and, at the same time, so close; they can still be seen on the Florentine streets today. Only the clothes are different. I want to consider everything, capture every detail in my memory.

The chapel remained as the Medicis knew it. I sat down on a seat on the kliros, admiring Gozzoli's fresco "Three Kings on the Road to Bethlehem." You will see a reproduction of this fresco in almost every book devoted to Italian painting. The same barbarian as the one who made the door in Leonard's "Last Supper" cut a window and a door in this fresco as well.

Each of the three kings has its own tuple. These detachments are built according to the scheme used in Florence during games and jousting.
The whole procession of the Magi is divided into three groups, each of which has its own dominant color in clothing: white for Caspar, green for Balthazar and red for Melchior.
According to the knightly code, each squad has 12 people.
Messer is a signor on a horse (in this case, a king).
Three mounted pages ride ahead, it is their duty to announce the arrival of the signor.
Two knights: one with a sword (the symbol of power lo spartharius), and the second bears the gifts of messer.
Six pages on foot with light weapons (bows, crossbows, spears), they walk in pairs and escort the Messer.

On the altar since 1929, is the "Adoration of the Child" by one of the students of Filippo Lippi. This is a copy from the work of Lippi himself, which is now in the Berlin-Dahlem art gallery.

I think that this is the most beautiful procession against the backdrop of the Italian landscape. Three kings are heading to Tuscany Bethlehem. So they came out of the gates of bright cities and, having descended from the mountain peak along the serpentine road, together with the retinues they pass through forests with conical trees, and the road goes further and further, runs up to a humpbacked bridge, slowly passes through a meadow, goes past vineyards and cypresses. The landscape seems to be taken from a fairy tale. It is hard to believe that anyone here can be unhappy.
Travelers ride in reverent silence. Neither the singing of the trumpet nor the gentle sound of the flute breaks it. The saddles are covered with red velvet, the riders hold embroidered bridles, and the horses are decorated with gold. One of the riders, descending from the mountain, lets the horse gallop when he sees a deer; another is chasing a leopard. The falcon that has just killed a hare stands almost under the hooves of the horses, and the duck swims in the stream, not paying attention to the hunters.

One of the three kings, a white-bearded old man in crimson clothes, rides a spotted mule.
(Melchior)

The other king is a middle-aged man with a chestnut beard. Over the crown he put on a hat with ostrich feathers. He saddled a white stallion.
(Balthazar)

The third is a fair-haired young man in a luxurious golden robe, the spurs are also gilded. His horse is proud of its rider.
(Caspar)

In the picture, people do not see smiles, but the Tuscan landscape, smiling, looks at serious pilgrims who are making their way to Bethlehem.

The guide told a legend, recently debunked, that the fresco commemorated the congress in Florence, and the young king was Lorenzo the Magnificent. I didn't really believe it before. Why would the Medici family perpetuate a theological dispute that never ended? Cosimo financed it out of friendship for the needy pope, prudently taking the city of Sansepolcro as collateral! It seems that bankers, accustomed to writing off bad debts, would be glad to forget about that infamous convention, and not see it every day in their own chapel. And the guide continued to talk about what a magnificent sight it was - a meeting of representatives of the Greek and Latin churches. Gottsoli probably witnessed this event and captured it on his fresco. In fact, there was nothing magnificent there, and the inhabitants of Ferrara, the city where this convention began, were very disappointed by the sight of Greek bishops in black and purple cassocks and monks in shabby gray cassocks. Their own Latin bishops and abbots looked much more picturesque. When the congress moved to Florence, the solemn ceremony was spoiled by rain. Emperor John VIII rode under an umbrella through the wet streets.

The guide, however, insisted on a magnificent sight. He said that the old king was Patriarch Joseph; a middle-aged man is an emperor; and the young man is Lorenzo the Magnificent. With a portrait of a young king on a large lampshade, I lived for twenty years, and I had enough time to ask myself the question: could a person who saw the death mask of Lorenzo imagine that the rough face of the Medici with wide nostrils could at least something, even in the most tender childhood, to resemble a blond youth from a fresco?

In 1960, I read with pleasure that, while thinking about the story that connected Gozzoli's fresco with the congress in Florence, E. Gombrich drew attention to the French guidebook, published in 1888, "Guide to Florence." “Wishing to revive the events of a foggy past and give them credibility,” writes Mr. Gombrich, “tourists and even historians seized on this interpretation, not paying attention to its complete improbability.”
The author further reports that Gozzoli borrowed all these groups, including the three kings, from the famous painting by Gentile de Fabriano, painted on the same subject. This picture can be seen in the Uffizi. In the painting, dated 1423 - twenty-six years before Lorenzo's birth - you will see a handsome young king, the king from the fresco of Gozzo-li. Gozzoli was obviously fascinated by this figure.

He painted it again in Pisa on a fresco, unfortunately destroyed. Gozzoli, by the way, is not the only artist who copied the graceful youth. I think I will not be mistaken if I say that I recognized him, like the king of middle age, in the charming fresco of Fra Angelico, painted on the walls of the cell of St. Mark, the one where Cosimo the Elder prayed.

Has it occurred to anyone that the "Adoration of the Magi" might have been Ko-Zimo's favorite religious theme? This can be understood: who, if not he, gave the church so much gold and incense? The fresco painted by Botticelli depicts Cosimo himself. He is presented in the guise of one of the kneeling kings. The fresco was painted a few years after the death of Cosimo for the altar of the church of Santa Maria Novella.

1. Lorenzo Medici
2. Angelo Poliziano
3. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
4. Customer painting Gaspare Lamy
5. Cosimo Medici
6. Pierrot "Gout"
7. Giovanni Medici
8 Giuliano Medici
9. Filippo Strozzi
10. Giovanni Agriropulo
11. Sandro Botticelli
12. Lorenzo Tornabuoni

The guide finished the story, and I regretted that I did not have the decisiveness of a person who, out of love for the truth, forgets about embarrassment and publicly objects to someone.

Now a little about the characters depicted in the frescoes. (Based on research by art historians).

1 - Cosimo the Elder de Medici
2 - Piero Podagric de Medici, the harness of his white horse is decorated with family emblems and the motto "Semper" (always).
3 - Carlo di Cosimo de Medici
4 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza
5 - Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta
6 - Cosimino di Giovanni di Cosimo di Medici (?) was already in poor health at the age of six and died soon after, in November 1459.
7 - Lorenzo di Piero de Medici, nickname - Magnificent
8 - Giuliano di Piero de' Medici
9 - Gentile Becky, Lorenzo and Giuliano's mentor
10 - Giuliano di Piero de Medici (?)
11 - Giovanni di Francesco Tornabuoni (?), uncle of Lorenzo and Giuliano, brother of their mother Lucrezia, representative of the Medici bank in Rome
12 - Giovanni di Cosimo de Medici (?)
13 - Benozzo Gozzoli
14 - Pope Pio II Piccolomini

Does the central character in a blue headdress remind you of Putin?

Benozzo Gozzoli, on his cap it says Opus Benotii(work by Benozzo).

15. Benozzo Gozzoli (?) second self-portrait
16. Neri di Gino Capponi (?) diplomat, historical writer, supporter of Cosimo de Medici
17. Bernardo Giugni (?) Personal friend of Cosimo, a prominent figure in the Florentine Republic.
18. Francesco Sacetti (?) in 1447, director of the branches of the Medici bank in Geneva and Leon, raises his hand with open fingers, which at that time meant 5000.
19. Agnolo Tani (?) in 1450-1465 director of the branch of the Medici bank in Bruges.
20. Dietisalvi Neroni (?) at that time an associate of the Medici, later became a sworn enemy and participated in a conspiracy against Pierrot.
21. Roberto di Niccolo Martelli (?) Director of the Medici bank in Rome from 1439-1464.
22. Benozzo Gozzoli (?) third self-portrait.
23.Luca Pitti (?) In 1458, a gonfaloniere, appointed to this position by order of Cosimo, later went over to the side of the enemies of the Medici and participated in a conspiracy against Piero Gout.

The palace is open to visitors every day except Wednesday. The ticket costs 7 euros.

One-pillar chamber of the Patriarchal Palace

On May 20, 2011, a unique exposition called "The Treasury of the Medici" will open in the One-Pillar Chamber of the Patriarchal Palace. For the first time at an exhibition in Russia, masterpieces from the collection of the famous Florentine dynasty will be presented. Over time, the magnificent Medici collection was dispersed among various museums in Florence - most of it is now kept in the Silver Museum of the Palazzo Pitti, as well as in the Bargello National Museum, the Palatine Gallery, the National Archaeological Museum, the Uffizi Gallery and the Florentine Mosaic Museum (“Opificio delle pietre dure ”). All of them have come together in an impressive exhibition project of the Kremlin Museums to give the Russian audience the most complete picture of the splendor and splendor of the Medici court. Never before has our country hosted exhibitions of such a level dedicated to Italian arts and crafts. The current exposition is part of the program "Royal and Imperial Treasuries in the Kremlin", carried out by the Moscow Kremlin Museums since 2004, and is dedicated to the year of the Russian language and Russian culture in Italy and the year of the Italian language and Italian culture in Russia.

Representatives of the Medici dynasty ruled Florence from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The ascent of the family to the heights of power began with Cosimo the Elder, who managed to subjugate the entire city without even being recognized as its official head. The reign of Cosimo, and later - his grandson Lorenzo, nicknamed the Magnificent, became the "golden age" of Florence, which turned into one of the main centers of the Italian Renaissance. The power of the Medici was briefly interrupted after the death of Lorenzo, but already in the first decade of the 16th century the dynasty returned to its lost positions. With the help of Emperor Charles V, the Medici received the title of grand duke and continued to rule Florence (and later all of Tuscany) in this capacity for the next two hundred years. Only in the 17th century their authority began to weaken, and the accidental death of Gian Gastone, who left no heirs, the last representative of the family, cut off the dynastic line.

The Medici collection began under Giovanni di Bicci, father of Cosimo the Elder. The passion for collecting was inherited by all subsequent generations. Unable to boast of a high origin (according to legend, they descended from the court physician of Charlemagne), the Medici realized that the possession of exquisite and valuable things strengthens their status, demonstrating the education and culture of the owners and, as a result, contributes to the strengthening of political power. The Medici treasury includes crystal goblets, the most valuable antique vessels and cameos, coins and medals, precious vases, ivory objects with the finest carvings, small bronze sculptures, fancy shell sculptures, nautilus goblets in a precious frame, and all kinds of jewelry. This world-famous collection became a model for subsequent rulers-collectors, a kind of "proto-museum" and a prototype of future European cabinets of curiosities.

Visitors to the exhibition at the Kremlin Museums will be able to see the best items, carefully selected from the collection of Florentine rulers, to follow the formation and development of the collection. The exposition will be deployed in chronological order, representing the collecting interests of the Medici, starting with Lorenzo the Magnificent and ending with Anna Maria Luisa, who transferred her family treasures to Florence on the condition that they never leave the city. The objects shown in the exhibition associated with specific representatives of the dynasty are not only important as works of art, but are valuable historical evidence that allows one to penetrate into the character of their owners and better understand the historical environment in which they lived.

Thus, the first Medici preferred ancient monuments (or things “in antique taste”), which was very typical of the Renaissance as a whole. Representatives of the Italian ruling families wanted to see themselves as the successors of the Roman Republic, and the Medici were no exception. An important part of the exhibition will be a collection of gems. Visitors will see magnificent works of glyptics created in the ancient era, as well as cameos made on the basis of ancient models, with portraits of Florentine rulers who dreamed of being immortalized in accordance with the ancient Roman cult of famous men. One of the most interesting and unexpected monuments of this series is the portrait of Savonarola, a fanatical monk who preached in Florence at the end of the 15th century. After the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, for some time he actually concentrated power over the city in his hands, but was subsequently executed. The cameo with the image of Savonarola, carved from carnelian by the famous master Giovanni delle Corniole (also called Carnelian), was kept in the collection of Cosimo I among the most valuable items. Of no less interest are gems with mythological images and scenes from Roman history - such as, for example, "The Fall of Phaethon" or "The Sacrifice of Mucius Scaevola". Another unique exhibit is associated with the influence of ancient mythology - a seal with a relief image of Hercules (considered the founder of Florence), one of the most significant symbols of the power of the Medici family.

Under the sons of Cosimo I, Francesco and Ferdinando, the collection was replenished with magnificent samples of "pietra dure" - products made of semiprecious stones, including vases of bizarre shapes in the form of various animals and birds. Grand Duke Francesco organized a manufactory, where the best Italian and foreign craftsmen worked, producing inimitable items from rock crystal, vessels from semiprecious stones and even porcelain. Subsequently, these disparate workshops were united under one roof of the Uffizi Gallery, reaching their peak during the reign of Ferdinand I and becoming the center of production of the so-called Florentine mosaic. Moscow viewers will be able to see magnificent examples of works in this technique - real stone paintings, including a portrait of Ferdinand I himself.

The Medici of the 17th century no longer resembled their glorious ancestors, being engaged not so much in the affairs of state and culture as in their own amusements, but the passion for collecting remained unchanged. Under Cosimo II, the next Duke of Florence, and his sons, in addition to traditional cameos, medals, vases and figurines, a large number of ivory works appeared in the family collection - from elegant figurines (for example, the figurine of the beloved dog of Mary Magdalene of Austria, the wife of Cosimo II, admiring the subtlety of execution ) to complex religious compositions.

Jewels associated with the name of the last representative of the Medici family, Anna Maria Louise, deserve special attention. Pendants and jewelry made of baroque pearls, gold, enamels and precious stones are real miniature sculptures, among which there are episodes from the commedia dell'arte, ancient mythology, figures of animals and birds. One of these sculptures is a golden cradle, inside of which is fixed a large baroque pearl depicting a duvet, from under which a baby's head is visible. This was a symbolic gift to Anna Maria Louise from her husband with the wish for the birth of a son and heir (a dream that never came true).

All items belonging to different representatives of the powerful dynasty will be displayed next to the portraits of the Medici family, not only the immediate rulers of Florence, but also their famous relatives - including Pope Leo X and the French queens Catherine and Maria Medici.

Simultaneously with the exposition in Moscow, the Palazzo Pitti will host the Treasury of the Kremlin exhibition. Thus, the Italian audience will also have the opportunity to get acquainted with the best exhibits stored in the collection of the Armory. Such an exchange of masterpieces will undoubtedly contribute to the rapprochement of our cultures.