Pitti Palace

Sunday we decided to visit the Palazzo Pitti on the south side of the Arno River. We had conflicting information from several websites -- it was supposed to be free on the first Sunday of winter months (it wasn't), it wouldn't open until 1:30, it would open at 8;15. Dan decided to go on over there in the morning to see. He texted me that it was indeed open and I walked over. It was about a mile from our apartment. It is an enormous palace which is now a museum. We walked through room after room (maybe 30-40?) full of art. It was overwhelming. The desire to show off the family wealth and power seemed the primary purpose.

In 1550 Cosimo I de’ Medici chose the Palazzo Pitti as the new Grand Ducal residence, the symbol of the Medici’s power over Tuscany. It also housed the Court of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine from 1737 and the Kings of Italy from 1865. The first owner, Florentine banker Luca Pitti, started its construction in the mid-1400s. The famous Boboli Gardens are connected to the palace and much larger. We decided to pass on touring them.

The very first room we went into displayed the over-the-top style of the entire palace.

Many of the ceilings were painted; this was one of the most interesting and beautiful.

A small family chapel was also lovely.

I believe this portrait is by Titian, but I can't confirm.

Some of the rooms were dedicated to sculptures.

This enormous vase was in one of the rooms with many paintings.

This was one of my favorite paintings. It is by Filippo Lippi in the mid-15h century. Below the picture is the text describing it from the official Pitti Palace website.

This painting, one of the most original works on a holy theme from the early Renaissance, shows the Virgin Mary in the foreground. The Virgin is seated on the throne with the Child on her knees, in the act of removing seeds from a pomegranate that she holds out to him, a symbol of fertility and a premonition of the Passion. Behind the traditional Virgin and Child group, inside a palace are depictions of two episodes of the life of St Anne, Mary’s mother. On the right side, Anne’s meeting with her husband, Joachim, is depicted on a staircase. On the left side, the birth of the Virgin is shown, with Anne in a bed, surrounded by women to look after her and the newborn, as well as bring gifts. This is a truthful portrayal of daily life for women in the wealthier classes of the 15th century. The different sizes of the figures (with  Joachim and Anne being the smallest in the episode showing their meeting, middle-sized for the persons present at the birth of Mary and largest in the depiction of Mary and the Child in the foreground) measure as well as the spatial depth, the temporal distance between the three moments. Filippo Lippi is able to harmonise the single parts of the story, narrated with extraordinary synthesis and unified by the architectural structure with its Renaissance flavour. The circular shape was often used for holy paintings to be hung in the home during the 15th century, in addition to the fact that the subjects depicted are quite fit for a family environment.