Florence art: the Myth, the Sacred, the Portrait: paintings from the Palatine Gallery’s repositories
Sala delle Nicchie in the Palatine Gallery hosts the exhibition “The Myth, the Sacred, the Portrait: paintings of the Palatine Gallery’s repositories”. Until 22th December 2012 you’ll have the chance to visit this short anthology, designed to enable public to approach an inexhaustible and always surprising artistic heritage, the result of the lengthy collecting of the Medici and their connection with the city.
The exhibition path, divided in four sections and nineteen paintings, shows the subjects that were most common and pleasing to the collectors taste in the period between XVI and XVII century. The exhibition’s linchpin is the monumental painting of Hercules and the Hydra of Lerna by Guido Reni, originating from Cardinale Giovan Carlo’s collection in Casino Mediceo of Via della Scala. The section dedicated to Sacred Stories comprises subjects of Old and New Testaments, painted by Flemish artists like Frans Floris and Italian artists like Artemisia Gentileschi and Jacopo Ligozzi. The Portrait, as expression of bonds or as gifts, it’s the theme that closes the exhibition. The five paintings here displayed, made by Frans Pourbus the Younger and Justus Suttermans, represents scenes of the grand-ducal family history and their relevance in the European scenery.
If you’re not from Florence, but you want to retrace the history of the Medici family, and especially if you want to visit one of the most beautiful city of the world, book a room with Ars Hotels chain.