Museum Evaluation 1: The Uffizi Gallery

(I wrote this for my art class, thought i would share it with you guys)

 I choose to visit the Uffizi gallery (for about the 8^th time this trip) and from the Uffizi I decided to write about my favorite piece with it: Filippo Lippi’s “Madonna with child and two angels”. The Uffizi each and every time is a true treat to visit, the amount of priceless art that is held within this single museum astounds me. It seems that no matter where I look I see something that could hold my attention for hours on end. Everyone has heard of the Uffizi gallery, so walking into it—especially for free—is an incredible experience. This definitely prepares my mind to reach a critical mode, yet I also try to maintain the emotional side of my mind, so that I can feel as well as critique. The entire museum is designed to  have the oldest pieces near the front, and the older ones towards the back; a progression of art from pre-renaissance to post-mannerism. Names stand out throughout the gallery, such as Cimabue, Daddi, Botticelli, Van Eyke, Michelangelo, and Da Vinci; all are names that strike a cord in any person that has even a minor appreciation or knowledge of art. There are many beautiful pieces within the museum, most specifically of all is Michelangelo’s “Holy Family”, Botticelli’s “Primavera” and also his “Birth Of Venus”. But my favorite piece, a piece often given ample amounts of credit, is Lippi’s “Madonna with child and two angels”.

            (1) Lippi’s piece is from the early renaissance period, a period that emphasizes both beauty and realism. There was a very distinct difference between the two, and at this time they had not really been combined yet; there were those like Lippi and Botticelli who wholly grasped what it meant to create a beautiful piece. They purposefully disregarded some realistic factors to create a more attractive work of art, and they succeeded in that without doubt. Others, such as Van Eyke, focused solely on realism, loosing in the process much of the beauty. Lippi’s however is the exact opposite. Painted in 1465, it is a beautiful piece far ahead of its time. It captures the serenity of the catholic church at the period, the idea of what the Madonna was suppose to look like. It is Mary done better than ever before (with the possible exception of Fra Angelica and his many annunciations). (2) Lippi was orphaned at a very young age, and soon after put into a monastery to become a monk (hence the title Fra Filippo Lippi), he left the church when he was 17 and soon later distinguished himself as a painter. It creates a funny sense of sympathy, even though he was known as sexually…rampant. He really did have an awful, semi pathetic life with the one exception of his painting. (3) When he lusted after a girl, and was unable to woo her, he would paint her into his commissions. This is seen in his “Madonna with child and two angels” where the beautiful Lucrezia Buti (a woman training to be a nun) was denied to him, yet he still was given permission to paint her into the piece. Eventually he captured her heart, and convinced her to elope with him away from Prato, never to return. (4) It most definitely reminds me of home, my mother used to have a small framed picture of this work. I grew up looking at it, always impressed by the majesty of the Madonna. It reminds me of my childhood, of the beauty of some women, of possibly the beauty of a girl I may meet and fall in love with shortly. It evokes strong, uplifting, yet humbling emotions with in me. Which is partially by design, the viewer was suppose to be at awe of the beauty of Madonna, yet also inspired that she was your personal Saint, a gateway between yourself and God. (5) Made from tempera, as oil painting had not made it this far south yet, it has a very soft and almost flat look. Most of the colors are subtle and meant not to distract from the face of Mary. The most striking aspect of the painting, however, is the intricacy of the veil of the Madonna. Barely visible, it flows and flutters down from her head past her shoulder emphasizing the curves of her face, shoulder, and neck.