132. Another Swoon at the Accademia Gallery

My last post was all about Michelangelo's David, however the Accademia Gallery also features many other works from Florentine artists from the early 14th century through to the 19th century ... here are just a few that I swooned over ... 

Unfinished works by Michelangelo 

Pieta 

Slave 

Slave

Saint Matthew

Slave

Rape of the Sabines 
Michelangelo - 1582
This is a plaster model made by Michelangelo - 
the real Rape of the Sabines will feature in a future blog post.

... detail ...

Madonna Enthroned with Child
Alessandro Allori - oil on wood -1575

Annunciation 
Alessandro Allori - oil on wood - 1578

Saints Stephen, James and Peter
Domenico Ghirlandaio - oil on wood - 1493

Madonna and Child
Franciabigio - oil on wood - 1508

Dispute over the Immaculate Conception
Giovanni Antonio Sogliani - oil on wood - 1521

Allegorical Figure
Francesco Morandini - oil on wood - 1575

Madonna and Child
Francesco de' Rossi - oil on wood - 1545

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On the first floor of the Galleria is a stunning collection of Late-Gothic religious panels ( polyptychs ) from suppressed churches, monasteries and convents in and around Florence ... the panels date from the 13th and 14th centuries and the medium in all is tempera on wood ...

Coronation of the Virgin - 
Simone di Lapo - 1372

Madonna and Child with Four Saints
Maestro Del - 1416

Virgin of Heavenly Humility

Mariotto di Nardo - 1495

Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
Bicci di Lorenzo - 1423

Enthroned Madonna and Child with Saints
Lippo d'Andrea - 1430

 Repentant Magdalene

Maestro della Maddalena - 1280

The Pentecost
Andrea Orcagna - 1365

Annunciation
Mariotto di Nardo - 1350

Modonna with Child and Saints and Angels
Cenni di Francesco - 1375

Vision of Saint Bernard - Matteo di Pacino - 1375

Saint Michael the Archangel
Matteo di Pacino - 1360

Saint Jerome 
Francesco di Michele - 1390

Madonna and Child and Saints
Lorenzo Monaco - 1375

Saint Catherine and Saint Caius Pope
Piero di Giovanni - 1370

Annunciation and Saints - Lorenzo Monaco - 1420

... detail ...

Annunciation - Maestro della Madonna Straus - 1380

... detail ...

... detail ...

Saints Peter and Paul
Pero di Giovanni - 1370

Saint Yves - Administering Justice
Maestro di Sant'ivo - 1405

Madonna and Child and Two Angels
Andrea di Giusto Manzini - 1435

Stories of the Virgin - Mariotto di Cristofano - 1457

Madonna and Child
Gherardo di Jacopo - 1410

Virgin of Humility and an Angel
Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci - 1360

My visit to this wonderful Galleria dell'accademia left me quite excited but totally exhausted   ... !!! ...

131. ... David ...

Today started off with a very early rise and a bus into the centre of Florence to join the queue at the Galleria dell'accademia - doors open at 8:15 and I am about 50 from the front !!! ... The Gallery houses Florentine artworks from the 15th and 16th centuries ...

... a very unimposing street facade 

belies the glorious treasures within ...
and just look at the length of that queue ...

... however the Galleria's main attraction is the mighty David ...

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni ( … better known to us all as just Michelangelo ). 

 

David is over 5 metres tall, weighs just on 6 tons and is carved in a solid piece of marble from the Fantiscritti quarries in Miseglia, the central of three small valleys in Carrara. The statue represents the Bliblical hero David – the boy who slew the mighty Goliath with his simple slingshot - and saved the Israelites from the conquering Philistines ...… 

 

He is depicted here looking tense and confident probably after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but before the battle has actually taken place, a moment between conscious choice and action. His brow is drawn, his neck tense and the veins bulge out of his lowered right hand. The twist of his body effectively conveys to the viewer the feeling that he is in motion. 

 

Originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral ( ... see previous blog post ... ), the statue was placed instead in a public square, outside the Palazzo della Signoria - the seat of civic government in Florence - and it was unveiled on 8 September 1504. Because of the nature of the hero that it represented, it soon came to symbolize the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic, an independent city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici family. The eyes of David, with a warning glare, were turned towards Rome.

 

 

The completed statue took four days to be moved the half mile from Michelangelo's workshop into the Piazza della Signoria where it stood for over 300 years. It was moved into the safer surrounds of the Galleria dell‘accademia in 1873. 

 

In 1991, a man attacked the statue with a hammer he had concealed beneath his jacket, in the process damaging the toes of the left foot, before being restrained. Today, visitors to the Museum have to go through airport-like security scans before being allowed in … 

In 2010, a dispute over the ownership of David arose when, based on a legal review of historical documents, the Italian Culture Ministry claimed ownership of the statue in opposition to the city of Florence, where it has always been located  - and as far as I know that dispute is on-going ... !!! 

 

Michelangelo’s David has become one of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture, becoming a symbol of both strength and youthful human beauty. The proportions of the David are atypical of Michelangelo's work; the figure has an unusually large head and hands ( particularly apparent in the right hand ). These enlargements may be due to the fact that the statue was originally intended to be placed on the Cathedral roofline, where the important parts of the sculpture would necessarily be accentuated in order to be visible from below.

Within half-an-hour of opening, the Galleria was packed with visitors, school students on art-excursions and the dreaded tour-groups ... the doors are open for ten hours each day,  six days a week and the queue outside is never ending - so this young man has certainly become a major attraction to millions of curious tourists and art-lovers over the decades ...  

  

 ... David surely must be the most photographed man in history ... !!! ...

 ... of course not everyone was in raptures - 

these two men were more interested in playing computer games ... !!! ...

 

So after suffering a severe bout of hyperkulturaemia ( a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art of great beauty ... ), I had to leave David to explore the rest of the museum, and tomorrow I'll take you with me ...

   

130. Museo Marino Marini

This Museum - in the former church of San Pancrazio - is dedicated to the work of Italian sculptor and painter Marino Marini ( 1901- 1980 ). The Museum houses 182 works of art  - sculptures, paintings, drawings and engravings by Marini.

 

Marino attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence from 1917 to 1920, and although he never abandoned painting, he devoted himself primarily to sculpture from about 1922, and he is probably best known for his equestrian sculptures. 

I first came across his work in Venice and find his sculptures hugely exciting and it was a joy to find a whole museum packed with his works. Although the streets of Florence were packed with pesky tourists, I had the Museum practically to myself which always delights me.

 Pomona - bronze - 1945

 Cavaliere - bronze - 1947

 Cavaliere - bronze - 1949

 Giovinetta - bronze - 1938

   Il Grido - bronze - 1962

 

 Cavaliere - bronze - 1953

 Miracolo - bronze - 1952

 Composizione-Miracolo - bronze - 1956

 Miracolo - bronze - 1959

 

 Guerriero - polychrome plaster - 1959

 

 Prigioniero ( reclining ) - bronze - 1943

Cavallo - polychrome plaster - 1942

 Giccolieri - #1 and #2 - oils on canvas - 1954

Cavaliere - patinated plaster - 1947

Cavaliere - bronze - 1947

 

 Arcangelo - plaster - 1943

 

 Le Tre Grazie - bronze tile - 1943

 Compozione - bronze tile - 1943

 Nuotatore - wood - 1932

 Ragazza Seduta - terracotta - 1930

 Nudo Femminile - polychrome terracotta - 1932

 Anita - terracotta - 1943

 Cavallo - polychrome plaster - 1952

Figura Seduta - bronze - 1944

And after losing myself in these wonderful artworks it was back out into the crowded laneways of Florence to find a quiet cafe for a shot of caffeine before heading back home to the suburbs.