Uffizi museum Galleria degli Uffizi I
The Uffizi: the building, the origin of the museum, and the collection
Bronzino ‘Portrait of Cosimo I de’ Medici in armour’ 1545
In 1537, the Republic of Florence came to an end. Cosimo I de Medici became the ruler of Florence. The great bell, an important symbol of the Republic of Florence, was removed from the campanile of the Vecchio and demonstratively destroyed as early as 1530. However, it would take another seven years before Cosimo I fully seized power. In 1559, the archrival Siena was conquered and annexed. From 1569 onwards, Cosimo became the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Medici ruled their Grand Duchy until 1737.
Cosimo wanted to have full control as an absolute ruler. For this, Florence needed a centrally managed administration under the watchful eye of the Medici. As early as 1546, there were plans to bring all administrative, judicial, and guild offices, which were scattered throughout the city, under one roof. Naturally, such a building had to be located in a central place in Florence, preferably between the Arno and the Piazza della Signoria where the Palazzo Vecchio is situated. The problem was that there was an entire city district there with houses, shops, an old Romanesque church (the San Piero Scheraggio), and the Zecca where the florin was minted. A large part of the houses and land was owned by the Arte della Seta: the guild of silk merchants. Despite fierce protests, they were forced to sell their land. Moreover, they had to pay more taxes to contribute to the construction of the Uffizi [lit: office].
A number of smaller homeowners were also affected by the construction. When the Torre de’ Girolami, which was located by the Arno, was demolished, pieces of masonry fell onto a nearby house, partially destroying it and completely ruining the wine stock and the kitchen. Vasari listened to the complaints of the owner, a retired army captain, but admitted that unfortunately, he could do nothing. Source: Eva Borsook, ‘Stergids Florence,’ Agon B.V., Amsterdam, 1993 blz. 237
Giuseppe Zocchi ‘Piazza della Signoria’ and Uffizi
Vasari was commissioned to design a building for the offices. In 1559, after the demolition of the houses, construction began, and by 1565 almost all parts of the ‘great office’ were already in use. When Vasari and Cosimo I died in 1574, work was still being done on the upper floor. The building was completed in 1580.
The old Romanesque church and the Zecca were incorporated into the new complex. In Via della Nina, part of the arches of San Piero Scheraggio can still be seen, and near the museum’s ticket office, a part of the church’s interior is visible. After 1960, another part of this church was excavated. Here hang frescoes by Andrea del Castagno depicting famous men and women (visible here at the Web Gallery of Art and Wikipedia).
Jacopo Zucchi ‘Portrait of Vasari’ 1566 – 1568
Vasari faced the tricky problem of the sandy soil sloping towards the Arno. In his biography, he lamented, ‘Never before have I had to carry out a more difficult and dangerous assignment than this one.’ A good foundation in the soft ground was absolutely necessary. Vasari wrote: ‘part of the foundations lie in the river and part of the building floats in the air.’ Another problem was that Vasari, in one respect, chose a classical approach. Vasari adhered to Alberti’s advice: use columns with an architrave (never arches), as seen in the façade of Palazzo Rucellai. The open loggia has the structure of a colonnade (click here at Wikipedia for the construction term: colonnade). No arches, but an architrave supported by two columns. Such a construction is naturally not strong and cannot bear the load of the entire façade in the long run. Thus, the columns of Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel façade have also been replaced.
Vasari’s solution was simple: it had to look like a colonnade, but arches were built behind the narrow architrave. Arches can absorb and divert the pressure of a façade much better. Today, this can still be seen at the entrance where one of these arches has been exposed. To give the building more strength, cement with chains and anchors was also used.
View from Loggia dei Lanzi and the remains of San Pier Scheraggio on Via della Nina
The building was designed for various magistrates. Each received their own office, easily accessible via the open loggia. Some original doors of some guild houses were incorporated into the Uffizi.
Vasari not only considered the function of the building but also the public space and the immediate surroundings. The building had to impress and at the same time serve as a backdrop for public festivities. During carnival, the loggia on the square was opened for a masked parade, but for the rest of the year, this space was occupied by vendors, as it still is today (source: Borsook, E., ‘Stergids Florence’, Amsterdam, Agon, 1988 238-239). The upper floor was planned as an open loggia, allowing a good view of the festivities in the square.
Piazza Uffizi View towards the Arno Aerial
G. Vasi after G. Zocchio ‘Palazzo degli Uffizi’ Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
By placing two identical palaces opposite each other, a public space was created, forming a long and narrow square. The long lines of the cornices in the façades quickly draw your eye to the Arno or Piazza della Signoria. Walking from Piazza della Signoria towards the Arno, the square functions as a street. You then have a beautiful view through the open loggia of the short wing of the Uffizi. You see the hills on the other side of the Arno. Coming from the Arno, you see the campanile of Palazzo Vecchio framed by the arch in the middle of the south wing.
This also draws the eye to the statues of David (Michelangelo) and Hercules and Cacus (Bandinelli). To achieve this, Vasari deviated from the existing street pattern. The short side of Loggia dei Lanzi and the façade of the Zecca are not aligned with the wings of Palazzo degli Uffizi. The south wing deviates from the other two. To get a nice view of the other side of the Arno, Vasari used a motif that Bramante and later Palladio used: the so-called serliana. This name is derived from the architect and theorist Serlio, by whom this building motif became well-known. Wikipedia describes it as follows: ‘A serliana consists of a round arch that transitions into an entablature on both sides, supported by pairs of columns. This creates a large opening with smaller ones on either side.’
The facades of the Uffizi appear neutral, and the overall design is flat and linear. The strongly projecting roof edge, the string courses, and cornices that run along the three facades create a strong unity, making it seem as if we are dealing with a single street wall. The two identical facades not only have an impressive length but also appear as high walls. This latter effect is achieved, among other things, by a mezzanine floor. However, this floor is an illusion because, in reality, it belongs to the loggia. The windows provide light to the loggia. Despite this, the facades are not monotonous due to the alternation of pillars with columns and triangular with segmental pediments above the windows. The clear division of the facade does not match what lies behind it. This is because old structures, such as the Mint and the old Romanesque church, have been incorporated into the new complex.
Giambologna ‘Cosimo I de’ Medici’ Zoom in Zoom out Facade Uffizi
The overhanging roof edge is not only visually pleasing because it continues over the facades but is also an absolute necessity for preserving the facades. Vasari constructed the facades with pietra serena. Normally, the hard stone type, pietra forte, was used for exterior facades. The not-so-hard pietra serena was mainly used in interiors or inner courtyards. To this day, this type of stone has held up well under the protective roof edge.
Vasari was a great admirer of Michelangelo. In his book, he devoted no less than 115 pages to the life of this artist. In his design for the façade, he was inspired by Michelangelo’s architecture. In the reading room of the Laurenziana library (click here to read more about this), Michelangelo used a skeletal supporting structure between which he placed thin walls . This is also seen in Vasari’s Uffizi. The mezzanine windows, some of which are blind, are separated by consoles that resemble volutes. Michelangelo had done this earlier in the reading room of his library. The variation in the pediments above the windows on the piano nobile of the Uffizi is also based on the ricetto. The windows of the Uffizi are surrounded by blue-gray pietra serena frames that Michelangelo had earlier applied in his new sacristy (San Lorenzo). Despite these similarities, there are essential differences between Michelangelo’s architecture and Vasari’s. Vasari is and remains a painter. His Uffizi façades are flat and strongly linear, while Michelangelo, as a sculptor, used heavy sculptural forms as in the ricetto of the Laurenziana.
Giovanni Boccacio The Uffizi Niccolò Machiavelli
The niches in the pillars are made for statues of famous people. This program started in the sixteenth century. For the arch by the south façade, Giambologna created a statue of Cosimo I. Not only did the Palazzo degli Uffizi have to radiate power, but also the Uffizi itself. Cosimo holds the scepter in his right hand, symbolizing his power as a sovereign. The two reclining statues at his feet were made by Vincenzo Danti. They represent ‘severity’ and ‘justice’ as true qualities of Cosimo. It was only in the nineteenth century that the statues of important Florentines, including Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante Alighieri and Machiavelli, were made and placed in the niches (the statues can be viewed on Wikipedia here).
The Porta delle Suppliche The door Zoom out
After Vasari’s death in 1574, the architects Buontalenti and Alfonso Parigi took over the work. Buontalenti designed a special door: the Porta delle Suppliche, or the petition door (west wings at the corner of Via Lambertesca). Above the door, we see Cosimo I again, looking like a true ruler. The Porta delle Suppliche from 1577 is probably the most famous from Buontalenti’s architectural oeuvre. Next to the door, on the right, there is a corresponding slot where the petition could be deposited.
Behind the bust of Cosimo de Medici, the duke, there is a peephole with bars. Buontalenti adjusted his design accordingly. The door with the framing consists of three parts: a rather flat frame around the door, an aedicula that clearly stands out from the wall, and finally a peculiar pediment at the top. Since the peephole had to be left open, he could not place a segment-shaped pediment above the door. Buontalenti cleverly solved this by splitting the pediment in two and turning each part around. A pedestal with Cosimo’s portrait was then placed in the middle, allowing the peephole to still be used.
Buontalenti ‘The Porta delle Suppliche’ zoom in
Cosimo sternly looks down from above at the visitor who drops their petition into the mailbox. Although pigeons have a bit less respect for Cosimo’s bust. The broken and reversed pediment set a trend in Florence. In the façade of San Firenze, we see this motif return twice.
Continuation Florence day 6: Uffizi museum Galleria degli Uffizi II