Pontormo was one of the most original mannerist artists working in sixteenth-century Florence. This sheet is remarkable as a record of Pontormo’s unusual method of sketching a live model as he moved through a succession of poses. On the left, the artist superimposed in black chalk the various positions on top of each other, whereas on the right, the figure’s pose is fixed in red chalk but the repeated lines around his form create an aura that suggests movement and a psychological presence. |
Drawings by Michelangelo and His Contemporaries from the Uffizi |
Known as the first chronicler of the lives of Renaissance artists, Vasari had a prominent career as artist to both the Medici court in Florence and the papal court in Rome. This drawing comes from one of the most important commissions of Vasari’s career: Pope Julius III hired him to With Bronzino and Vasari, Salviati was a leading Florentine mannerist painter. One of Salviati’s great graphic masterpieces, this drawing belongs to a group of designs for a series of tapestries commissioned for a Florentine noble palace and depicting the seasons and the Ages of Man. This design for the Age of Gold depicts the first representatives of the human race. Their masterfully drafted nude bodies surrounded by peaceful and abundant nature are a sign of their innocence. Although the tapestries no longer exist, this highly finished and detailed drawing gives some sense of their luxurious quality.
An important figure in the transition between mannerism and the baroque period at the end of the sixteenth century, Santi di Tito emphasized in his works a narrative clarity and simplicity of expression. This preparatory drawing is for a fresco in a chapel dedicated to St. Luke, the patron saint of the arts, in the church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence. Intended as an allegorical representation of architecture, its subject employs the story of Solomon directing the building of the temple, presented in a straightforward composition that directs the viewer’s eye to the main figures elegantly highlighted in brilliant white.
Known as the first chronicler of the lives of Renaissance artists, Vasari had a prominent career as artist to both the Medici court in Florence and the papal court in Rome. This drawing comes from one of the most important commissions of Vasari’s career: Pope Julius III hired him to oversee the design and construction of his family’s funerary chapel in Rome, a project supervised by Michelangelo. Probably a study for the figure of John the Evangelist, this drawing displays Vasari’s exceptional ability to conjure a figure in his mind and transfer it flawlessly to paper. |
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The Morgan Library & Museum Michelangelo, Vasari, and Their Contemporaries: surveys the work of renowned masters who defined Florentine draftsmanship. The exhibition focuses on works by artists who participated in a major campaign of redecorating the famed Palazzo Vecchio, one of the most impressive buildings in Renaissance Florence and the focal point of artistic activity throughout the sixteenth century. Under the auspices of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, (1519-74), this former town hall was transformed by leading artists of the time into a palatial residence and an icon of Medici Florence. The artist-historian Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) acted as mastermind and creative director of the complex and varied decorations for the palazzo, choosing as his collaborators the most talented painters in Florence. The exhibition demonstrates how drawing functioned not only as a means of planning the elaborate paintings, frescoes, and tapestries needed for the refurbishment of the palazzo, but also as a tool that facilitated the creative process for Vasari and his contemporaries. Palazzo Vecchio was built as the government headquarters of Florence during the 13th and 14th centuries. After Duke Cosimo I came to power in 1537 through tense political machinations, the young ruler established his authority and significantly expanded Florentine territories and influence. A strong personality with a clear vision for his dukedom, Cosimo I moved his family from the traditional Medici residence to Palazzo Vecchio as a calculated gesture to confirm his identification with the state. Cosimo I employed the arts as a means of demonstrating his absolute power. His decision to completely renovate and expand the palazzo was designed to exalt his status as sovereign against an extraordinarily prestigious backdrop. Historically, only the most respected artists and intellectuals had been involved with the palazzo’s alterations, and Cosimo’s campaign was no exception. Florence’s leading painters, sculptors, and architects were called upon to demonstrate their talents in the redecoration of the city’s historical and symbolic center, simultaneously glorifying their ruler as well as their own artistic endeavors. The exhibition is divided into three sections highlighting the artists who shaped the nature of Italian Renaissance drawing and contributed to the palazzo’s decorations under Duke Cosimo I. The first section showcases artists who preceded Vasari’s intervention in the palazzo and served as artistic examples for subsequent generations. Michelangelo (1475-1564), who had already sculpted his masterpiece, the statue of David, for the palazzo and competed with Leonardo in the decoration of the palazzo’s main hall, was one of the preeminent models for Vasari and his collaborators. His black-chalk masterpiece, the Bust of a Woman, one of the so-called Divine Heads, exerted a tremendous influence on Florentine draftsmanship, and his sheet with studies of legs exemplifies his perfect anatomical constructions. Andrea del Sarto (1486-1531), a guiding force in the history of Italian Renaissance art, also figures prominently in the exhibition with a red chalk Study of a Male Model, preparatory for his painting of the Madonna of the Stairs from the 1520s, and with a rare compositional study of high drama and emotional intensity, the Lamentation of Christ. Mannerist masters Pontormo (1494-1557), Rosso Fiorentino (1494-1540), Salviati (1510-1563), and Bronzino (1503-1572) are represented by exquisite examples of their graphic work. Pontormo’s vibrant study of Seated Male Figures records his method of studying a live model’s movements to exceptional effect, and Rosso’s masterful yet personal approach to drawing is evident in his Virgin and Child with Four Saints, presumably a study for an altarpiece, as well as in the arresting Female Nude with Arm Raised, a dispassionate representation of the female form that brazenly counters the established contemporary norm for beauty. Also on view are Bronzino’s meticulously rendered preparatory study for one of the nearly life-size figures that adorn the private chapel of Cosimo I’s wife Eleonora of Toledo (1522-1562) in Palazzo Vecchio, and Salviati’s great graphic masterpiece, a tapestry design of The Age of Gold. The second section of the exhibition focuses on Vasari’s own drawings as well as those of his collaborators in the various rooms of the palazzo, in particular the magnificent Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred). Under Vasari’s direction, artists such as Allori, Buontalenti, Stradanus, Santi di Tito, and Naldini collaborated on expansive painted scenes commemorating the duke’s military exploits as well as the Medici’s illustrious ancestors. Among Vasari’s drawings on view is an exceptional compositional study of The Siege of Milan for the Room of Leo X and a design for the Salone dei Cinquecento. The final portion of the exhibition will showcase drawings by painters of the celebrated Studiolo of Francesco I de’Medici, Cosimo’s heir. Included are studies by late mannerist artists such as Macchietti (1535-1592), Maso da San Friano (1531-1571) and Poppi (1544-1597). The exhibition is organized by special arrangement with the Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale fiorentino and the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi and was conceived by Annamaria Petrioli Tofani, former director of the Uffizi. It will only be shown in New York and is curated by Rhoda Eitel-Porter, Charles W. Engelhard Curator and department head of Drawings and Prints, The Morgan Library & Museum. Michelangelo, Vasari, and Their Contemporaries: Drawings from the Uffizi is made possible by The Alice Tully Foundation. Major support was provided by the Estate of Alex Gordon, with additional assistance from the Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation and the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Michelangelo, Vasari, and Their Contemporaries: Drawings from the Uffizi is accompanied by a catalogue written by Annamaria Petrioli Tofani with contributions by Rhoda Eitel-Porter. |
Trained by Bronzino and deeply familiar with Michelangelo’s sculpture, Allori was often commissioned to supply designs for the ducal tapestry workshop. This detailed representation of a crowd paying homage to Bacchus is the only preparatory drawing that survives from a series intended as models for tapestries with scenes from Bacchus’s life. Finely executed in a wide variety of techniques, this is a typical example of the increasing interest in exuberant decoration that characterized Florentine draftsmanship of the later sixteenth century. |
