Tribuna of the Uffizi (painting)
| The Tribuna of the Uffizi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Johann Zoffany |
| Year | 1772–78 |
| Medium | Oil painting |
| Dimensions | 123.5 cm × 155.0 cm (48.6 in × 61.0 in) |
| Location | Royal Collection, Windsor Castle |
The Tribuna of the Uffizi (1772–1778) by Johan Zoffany is a painting of the north-east section of the Tribuna room in the Uffizi in Florence, Italy. The painting is part of the United Kingdom's Royal Collection.
Production
Johan Zoffany was a German-born painter who had become successful in London. One of his principal patrons was the Royal family. 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 III ever visited Italy in person.) The agreed price was high and Zoffany was paid £300.[1] Felton Hervey, who had a large art collection and who knew the Royal family, met Zoffany in Florence. He was included in a prominent position in the painting by December 1772.[2] Zoffany was still working on the painting late in 1777; he only finally returned to England in 1779.[1] By this time Hervey had died.[2]
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, and Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet, 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,[3] 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.
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Paintings
| Zoffany's | Original | Author and title | Where | Current location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | Annibale Carracci, Venus with a Satyr and Cupids | Left wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Guido Reni, Charity | Left wall | Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence |
 |  | Raphael, Madonna della seggiola | Left wall | Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence |
 |  | Correggio, Madonna and Child | Left wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Justus Sustermans, Portrait of Galileo Galilei | Left wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | After Rembrandt?, possibly a copy of the Holy Family with Saint Anne in the Louvre | Left wall | Unidentified |
 |  | Titian's workshop, Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine | Central wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Raphael and workshop, St John the Baptist | Central wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Guido Reni, Madonna | Central wall | private collection? |
 |  | Raphael, Madonna del cardellino | Central wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Rubens, The Consequences of War | Central wall | Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence |
 |  | Franciabigio (formerly attributed to Raphael), Madonna del Pozzo | Central wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 | ? | Central wall between the legs of the Satyr | Unidentified | |
 |  | Hans Holbein, Portrait of Sir Richard Southwell | Central wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Raphael, Portrait of Perugino | Central wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Perugino's workshop (Niccolò Soggi?), Madonna with Child, Saint Elizabeth and Saint John | Central wall | Uffizi, Florence, still in the Tribuna |
 |  | Guido Reni, Cleopatra | Right wall | Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence |
 |  | Rubens, The Four Philosophers | Right wall | Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence |
 |  | Raphael, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi | Right wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Pietro da Cortona, Abraham and Hagar | Right wall | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
 |  | Bartolomeo Manfredi, Tribute to Caesar | Right wall | Uffizi, Florence |
 |  | Cristofano Allori, Hospitality of Saint Julian | Right wall | Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence |
 | ? | Right wall right of the Wrestlers | Unidentified | |
 | Roman Charity? | Right wall | Unidentified | |
 | ? | Right wall behind the Venus | Unidentified | |
 | ? (a golden frame behind the man in red at the very right) | Right wall | ||
 |  | Raphael, Niccolini-Cowper Madonna[nb 1] | Lower part | National Gallery of Art, Washington |
 | Guercino's workshop, Samian Sibyl | Lower part | Deposits of the Pitti Palace, Florence | |
 |  | Titian, Venus of Urbino | Lower part | Uffizi, Florence |
Sculptures and other
Today Medici's Ancient Roman statues are mostly in the main corridors of the Uffizi Gallery, except those which are still in the Tribuna, and except the smaller busts and statuettes (some antique, some pseudo-antique), owned by the National Archaeological Museum and permanently displayed at Villa Corsini a Castello, near Florence. Many of those painted by Zoffany are still to be identified, though. Other antiquities (Etruscan, Egyptian, Greek) are mostly in the National Archaeological Museum. Some very few Renaissance pieces from the Tribuna are now in the Bargello Museum.
| Zoffany's | Original | Author and title | Where | Current location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | Bust of a young woman, so-called Plautilla | Left shelf | Uffizi Gallery, Florence |
 |  | Bust of the so-called Geta | Left shelf | Uffizi Gallery, Florence |
 |  | Bust of female | Left shelf | Museo degli Argenti, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Roman bust of a Julio-Claudian woman, so-called Livia (?) | Left shelf | Villa Corsini a Castello, Florence |
 | .jpg) | Ancient Roman bust of Augustus | Left shelf | Museo degli Argenti, Florence |
 |  | Bust of Agrippina Minor | Left shelf | Uffizi Gallery |
 |  | Bust of Augustus | Left shelf | Museo degli Argenti, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Roman art, Venus of Aphrodisias | Left shelf | Villa Corsini a Castello, Florence |
 |  | Bust of a man in antique style | Left shelf | Museo degli Argenti, Florence |
 | Seated man (?) | Central shelf | ||
 |  | Ancient Roman Seated God | Central shelf | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 | Bust of Annius Verus | Central shelf | Uffizi Gallery | |
 | Hardstone footed cup | Central shelf | ||
 |  | Bust of a boy, so-called young Nero | Central shelf | Uffizi Gallery, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Roman small bust of an Augustus (?) | Central shelf | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Bust of Zeus-Serapis | Central shelf | Villa Corsini a Castello, Florence |
 | Bronze statuette | Central shelf | ||
 | Bust of a man (?) | Central shelf | ||
 |  | Cupid with the bow | Central shelf | Uffizi Gallery, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Roman bronze statuette of Heracles | Right shelf | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 | Bust of a man (?) | Right shelf | ||
 | Canopic jar (?) | Right shelf | ||
 |  | Bust of Nerva | Right shelf | Museo degli Argenti, Florence |
 |  | Bertoldo di Giovanni, Putto playing the lute | Right shelf | Bargello, Florence |
 | _01.JPG) | Ancient Roman statuette of Satyr | Right shelf | Villa Corsini a Castello, Florence |
 | %2C_concordia_seduta%2C_150_dc_ca.JPG) | Seated Concordia | Right shelf | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Roman bust of a Young Satyr | Right shelf | Villa Corsini a Castello, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Roman art after Lysippus, Heracles and the Nemean Lion | Right shelf | Hermitage, St. Petersburg? |
 |  | Seated Tyche of Anthioch | Right shelf | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 | Bust of Bacchus (?) | Right shelf | ||
 |  | Ancient Roman art, Cupid and Psyche | Center | Uffizi, Florence |
 | _-_n._2944_-_Il_fauno_danzante._Firenze.jpg) | Ancient Roman art, Dancing Faun | Center | Uffizi, Florence, still in the Tribuna |
 | _and_Jacopo_Ligozzi%2C_tavolo_ottagonale_con_intarsi_in_pietre_dure.jpg) | Jacopo Antelli (Monicca) and Jacopo Ligozzi, Octagonal table with Pietre Dure mosaics | Center | Uffizi, Florence, still in the Tribuna |
 |  | Ancient Roman art, Baby Hercules strangling the snake | Center | Uffizi, Florence, still in the Tribuna |
 |  | Ancient Roman art, The Two Wrestlers | Center | Uffizi, Florence, still in the Tribuna |
 |  | Cleomenes, Medici Venus | Center | Uffizi, Florence, still in the Tribuna |
 |  | Baltimore Painter, Apulian krater with Amazonomachy | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 | %2C_IV_sec_a.c.JPG) | Etruscan bronze helmet with "button" on top | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Roman art, Arrotino | Lower part | Uffizi, Florence, still in the Tribuna |
 |  | Etruscan (with 17th-century implements), Chimera of Arezzo | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Andrea Briosco workshop, Lucerna in the shape of a Twisting Man | Lower part | Bargello, Florence |
 | _02.JPG) | Plate (missorium) of F. Ardaburius Aspar', Roman, c.. 434 AD | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Bust of the so-called Cicero | Lower part | Uffizi Gallery |
 |  | Florentine pseudo-antique art, second half of the 16th century, Bronze head of Antinous | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 | Bronze lucerna (?) | Lower part | ||
 |  | Etruscan krater in bucchero | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Etruscan oinochoe in bucchero | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Etruscan situla in bucchero | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 | Bronze statuette | Lower part | ||
 |  | Ancient Greek art, Livorno Torso | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Ancient Egyptian art, Cube statue of Ptahmose | Lower part | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
 |  | Etruscan funerary urn probably Volterra production | Lower part, under the Venus of Urbino | National Archaeological Museum, Florence |
Persons shown
All of the connoisseurs, diplomats and visitors to Florence portrayed are identifiable, making the painting a combination of the British 18th-century conversation piece or informal group portrait genre, with that of the predominantly Flemish 17th-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."[4]
The first group of people is around the Niccolini Madonna. From left, standing up, there are George, 3rd earl of Cowper, Sir John Dick baronet of Braid, Other Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth, and Johann Zoffany, the painter itself, followed on the other side of the painting by Mr. Stevenson and his companion George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth, while is sitting on a chair Charles Loraine Smith and behind him, bended, Richard Edgcumbe, later 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.
Two more connoisseurs are near the Satiro. The first is reported to be Joseph Leeson, 2nd Earl of Milltown, even if his portrait does not match in age and resemblance those in the National Gallery of Ireland by Pompeo Batoni, and Valentine Knightley of Fawsley.
Further to the center of the painting Pietro Bastianelli, curator of the Uffizi Gallery, shows the Venus of Urbino di Titian to John Gordon,[nb 2] Thomas Patch (probably the man touching the Venus), Sir John Taylor and Sir Horace Mann. The sitting man, looking back towards, is the Hon. Felton Hervey.
The group around the Medici Venus include John Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea, Mr. Wilbraham (one of the sons of Roger Wilbraham of Natwich), Mr. Watts, Mr. Doughty and, on the orther side, Thomas Wilbraham (the second son) and James Bruce.
Footnotes
- ↑ This painting was owned by Zoffany at the moment: this explains its prominence.
- ↑ Described in contemporary Italian newspapers as "Mr. Gordon, an English official".[5]John Chambers wrote in 1829 that Rev. William Gordon of Saxlingham possessed several paintings "collected by John Gordon, who figured in Zoffany's picture of the Gallery of Florence".[5][6]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uffizi Tribuna (Zoffany). |
Sources
- "The Tribuna of the Uffizi". Royal Collection.
; text adapted from
- Shawe-Taylor, Desmond (2009). The Conversation Piece: Scenes of Fashionable Life. London: Royal Collection Publications. ISBN 1905686072.
- Pressly, William L. (March 1987). "Genius Unveiled: The Self-Portraits of Johan Zoffany". The Art Bulletin. 69 (1): 88–101. doi:10.1080/00043079.1987.10788404. ISSN 0004-3079.
- Nicholls, John Anthony (2006). Das Galeriebild im 18. Jahrhundert und Johann Zoffanys "Tribuna" (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis) (in German). Bonn University.
- Diagram with key to works and people, reproduced in Farber, Allen (Spring 2014). "The Gentlemanly Hang: Johann Zoffany, The Tribuna of the Uffizi, 1772-78". ARTH 200 Assignments: Authoritative and Disciplined Discussions of Masterpieces. SUNY Oneonta.
Citations
- 1 2 Royal Collection from Shawe-Taylor 2009
- 1 2 "The Hon. Felton Hervey (1712-1775)". National Trust Collections. National Trust. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ↑ Farber 2014
- ↑ Lewis, W.S., ed. (1967). "To MANN, Friday 12 November 1779". The Yale edition of Horace Walpole's correspondence. 24. Yale: Lewis Walpole Library. pp. 526–7. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- 1 2 Cited in Nicholls 2006, p.152
- ↑ Chambers, John (1829). "Hundred of Henstead". A General History of the County of Norfolk, Intended to Convey All the Information of a Norfolk Tour. II. Norwich: John Stacy. pp. 759–760. Retrieved 15 April 2017.