NEW TREASURES

Donato Mascagni, Il Conte Ugolino

Acquisitions that feel they belong, as great artworks return after many years forgotten, to take their places in one of the world’s top mu created. These are really important purchases - made possible by the efforts of Gallery Director Eike Schmidt, tireless in his search for masterpieces with links to Florence, and by generous donations from the Amici degli the Renaissance has been a part of the Florentine DNA, more than anywhere else on earth, and which have been considerably stepped up over the past year. We begin the long list of wonders in reverse, with the most recent donation, in July this year: a small jewel that was thought to be lost, Ascension of Christ by the Florentine Mannerist painter Tommaso Manzuoli, known as Maso da San Friano, which resurfaced from a private collection in northern Italy and was bought by the work was a model for an altarpiece for the chapel of the Florentine church of Santa Maria del Carmine, which remained un altarpiece was completed by the young Giovanni Battista Naldini (Fiesole 1537 - 1591), but was lost in a for the model, made by Maso himself, are now preserved in the The perplexed expression, the tense neck, the untidy strands of hair framing a perfectly oval Greek face: these are the distinctive traits of the exquisite sculpture which since June has graced the The marble bust

opere, dopo anni di oblio, riprendono posto in uno dei musei rettore delle Gallerie Eike Schmidt, instancabile nella ricerca di luogo al mondo e che in questo ultimo anno hanno assunto un passo sempre più deciso. GREAT ARTWORKS

TO TAKE THEIR datata lo scorso luglio: un piccolo gioiello ritenuto perduto, l’Ascensione di Cristo

PLACES IN ONE Tommaso Manzuoli detto Maso da San Friano, rieOF THE WORLD’S

TOP MUSEUMS - corso di un’accesa asta. L’opera, modello

THE UFFIZI - per la pala d’altare destinata alla cappella

IN THE CITY Carmine, rimase però incompiuta a causa della morte prematura di Maso. A com-

WHERE THEY pletarla fu il più giovane Giovanni Battista Naldini (Fiesole 1537 - 1591), ma andò di-

WERE CREATED strutta in un incendio che devastò la chiesa nel 1771. I disegni preparatori per il mo L’espressione accigliata, il collo teso, le ciocche dei capelli scomposte, ad incorniciare un perfetto ovale alla greca: sono i tratti busto in marmo risalente alla seconda metà del I sec. a.C e

From left Leonello Spada and Rudolf Levy

dates back to the second half of the 1st century BC and the dynamic and powerful set of the head and the aesthetic sensibility in the light and shade of the surfaces accentuate the expressiveness of the face: all are inspired by the portraits of the Hellenistic dynasties in Ancient Egypt and Syria. May saw the arrival of a rare marble piece by the 19th-century Tuscan sculptor Giacomo Giovanni Papini. It is known as Bust of a Gentlewoman, and is signed and dated G G Papini 1875. Acquired by the Italian government for the permanent collection at the Gallery of collection was enriched by remarkable 17th-century painting, King Solomon Offering Incense to an Idol by the Florentine artist Bartolomeo Salvestrini. The painting was gifted to the museum by is dedicated to the memory of Daniela Salvadori Guidi Bruscoli, marking the 80th anniversary of her death. The subject is the Bible story in which the ageing Solomon surrounds himself with a great many foreign wives, for whom he builds temples the resulting estrangement from the Lord, brings harsh divine punishment upon Solomon: his kingdom is split into two parts. This explains the inscription on the canvas: “Mulieres apostatare faciunt sapientes” (“Women lead even wise men to deviate from the path”); it is signed and dated 1626 by the painter himself. German-Jewish painter Rudolf Levy, painted the portrait of a young woman, Fiamma: painted in Florence and purchased by

bra che accentuano la mimica del volto: sono tutti elementi ispirati ai ritratti dei dinasti ellenistici dell’Egitto e della Siria. re ottocentesco toscano Giacomo Giovanni Papini. Si tratta del Busto di Gentildonna, G G Papini 1875. La THE PRACTICE OF È arrivato in primavera n ARTS PATRONAGE dipinto del Seicento: Salomone incensa gli idoli BarTHAT SINCE THE tolomeo Salvestrini. L’opera, donata al RENAISSANCE HAS scoli, è dedicata alla memoria di Daniela

BEEN A PART OF Salvadori Guidi Bruscoli, in occasione degli ottanta anni dalla sua nascita. Il soggetto THE FLORENTINE è l’episodio biblico in cui si narra come Salomone da vecchio si circondò di uno DNA, MORE THAN stuolo di mogli straniere, per le quali co ANYWHERE ELSE idolatria, e il conseguente allontanamento dal Signore, portarono a Salomone una

ON EARTH del suo regno in due parti. Così si spiega tes” ti”), siglata e datata 1626 dal pittore stesso. Rudolf Levy, grande pittore ebreo tedesco del Novecento, ap Fiamma: acquistata dal museo, mostra sull’artista in programma per il 2023.

Sicilian Countryside on a Rainy Day by Francesco Lojacono

in an exhibition of Levy’s work scheduled for 2023. from the American , the transatlantic Coinciding the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri is the arrival of Count Ugolino, painted by Fra’ Arsenio Mascagni in the early 17th century. The canvas is linked with one of the most famous episodes of the Divine Comedy, described in Canto 33 of the Inferno. The protagonist is Count Ugolino Della Gherardesca, found guilty of betraying his country. The other donated works are The Liberation of Saint Peter from Prison, painted in 1621 by Leonello Spada, accompanied by an angel who appears to radiate light, and Sicilian Countryside on a Rainy Day by Francesco Lojacono. Last September saw a last-minute rescue: a large canvas depicting Saint Paul, painted from a cartoon by one of the 16th century’s most talented and versatile artists, Pellegrino Tibaldi, was about to leave Italy; today it is part of the collection Lastly only in terms of time: to mark American Independence painting long believed lost in the United States. The Witch of Endor evokes the ghost of Samuel before Saul was painted in 1841 by the Romantic artist Giuseppe Sabatelli, who was born in Milan but moved to Florence at a very young age, teaching painting technique at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts from 1839. , il ramo oltreoceano degli Il Conte Ugolino opera di degli episodi più celebri della Divina Commedia, descritto nel XXXIII canto dell’Inferno. Ne è protagonista il conte Ugolino Della Gherardesca, colpevole di tradimento della patria. Fan San Pietro liberato dal carcere, opera del 1620 di Leonello Spada, dove

“THE WORKS accompagnato da un angelo che sembra emanare luce, e l’ottocentesco Campagna

FILL GAPS IN siciliana in un giorno di pioggia di sco Lojacono. FranceTHE MUSEUM’S “Le tre opere colmano lacune nelle colCOLLECTIONS”, Schimdt.

DIRECTOR Risale a settembre scorso un salvataggio -

SCHIMDT rante San Paolo Pellegrino Tibaldi, uno dei maggiori e più

CONFIRMS versatili artisti del Cinquecento, stava per Ultimo solo in ordine di tempo: in occa tocentesco ritenuto perduto da molto tempo negli Stati Uniti. Si tratta de La maga di Endor evoca davanti a Saul lo spettro di Giuseppe Sabatelli, Dal 1839 Giuseppe Sabatelli insegna tecnica pittorica all’Acca