Cosimo III and the Reunion of the Family Collections
Cosimo III became grand duke of Tuscany in 1670 and from 1675, at the death of his uncle Cardinal Leopoldo, he found himself the heir to an extraordinary family collection divided between Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi. Cardinal Leopoldo’s death marked the beginning of a major reorganization of the collection that contained two principal sectors of importance: the collection of self-portraits by painters and the collection of drawings. Cosimo, who venerated his uncle, directed that both parts of the collection go to the Uffizi, where they could be properly organized and there would be the opportunity for the collections to grow.
This decision allowed the grand duke to realize another project important to him: to honor the memory of the court painter Justus Sustermans who had died in 1681 and who had faithfully served the Medici since 1619. To that end, Cosimo was able to arrange a small museum of the Flemish painter’s works in what had been the cardinal’s Reception Room at the Pitti, where the overpowering canvas of “The Oath of the Florentine Senate to Ferdinando II” had been adapted to fit the exigencies created by Jacopo Chiavistelli’s work. A second stage of the reorganization of the collection was accomplished after the death of Cosimo’s eldest son, Gran Principe Ferdinando (1713), whose apartments contained his own very large collection. Cosimo, in fact, wanted to restore some works taken by his son to the Tuscan churches from which they came while others were to be sent to the Uffizi. In this way, he created space to display other paintings, particularly those from Leopoldo’s collection. Thus, works were displayed in these apartments that are still visible today in the Palatine Gallery, like Titian’s “Concerto”.
This decision allowed the grand duke to realize another project important to him: to honor the memory of the court painter Justus Sustermans who had died in 1681 and who had faithfully served the Medici since 1619. To that end, Cosimo was able to arrange a small museum of the Flemish painter’s works in what had been the cardinal’s Reception Room at the Pitti, where the overpowering canvas of “The Oath of the Florentine Senate to Ferdinando II” had been adapted to fit the exigencies created by Jacopo Chiavistelli’s work. A second stage of the reorganization of the collection was accomplished after the death of Cosimo’s eldest son, Gran Principe Ferdinando (1713), whose apartments contained his own very large collection. Cosimo, in fact, wanted to restore some works taken by his son to the Tuscan churches from which they came while others were to be sent to the Uffizi. In this way, he created space to display other paintings, particularly those from Leopoldo’s collection. Thus, works were displayed in these apartments that are still visible today in the Palatine Gallery, like Titian’s “Concerto”.
It was always Cosimo’s intention to combine the pictures he inherited from his younger brother, Francesco Maria, who died in 1715, with the Urbino collection of pictures that he inherited from his mother, Vittoria della Rovere. This collection had been kept at the Medici villa of Poggio Imperiale. As grand duke, he decorated his private Reception Room, the Saturn Room, with masterpieces by Raffael, Titian, Bronzino Barocci. These, in part, are still on display at the Pitti. He also added the masterpiece that is today the most admired and popular in the Gallery, Raffael’s “Madonna of the Seggiola.”
In the rooms on either side of his private Reception Room, Cosimo collected pictures that we still see today, including Dolci’s “Portrait of Claudia Felicita”, works by his student Mancini, Ribera’s “San Francesco” that Cosimo inherited from his uncle Mattias, and canvases of predominantly religious subjects by Sustermans and Gabbiani. There were also extraordinary small reliquaries, like, for instance, that made for the grand duke by Foggini and dedicated to the patron saints of Tuscany. It was exposed only once a year, on Good Friday, on the altar of the Chapel of the Reliquaries.
What is now the Iliad Room displayed the four great canvases by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini, a favorite of Cosimo, representing the Novissimi. These canvases gave their name to this room. The Lorraines later exiled the canvases to Siena. In the same room, Marmi designed a small chapel, like a compass, where we can imagine the grand duke at his private devotions, contemplating pictures like Dolci’s “Ecce Homo” and Foggini’s reliquary. After 1719 Cosimo’s adored daughter, Anna Maria Louisa, returned to Florence as a widow to share her father’s artistic interests.
What is now the Iliad Room displayed the four great canvases by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini, a favorite of Cosimo, representing the Novissimi. These canvases gave their name to this room. The Lorraines later exiled the canvases to Siena. In the same room, Marmi designed a small chapel, like a compass, where we can imagine the grand duke at his private devotions, contemplating pictures like Dolci’s “Ecce Homo” and Foggini’s reliquary. After 1719 Cosimo’s adored daughter, Anna Maria Louisa, returned to Florence as a widow to share her father’s artistic interests.
The production of small bronzes was reinvigorated by the commissioning of works from the best artists of the time, beginning with Foggini. Anna Maria Louisa personally commissioned a series of religious subjects which were examples of the high quality work produced at that time. At his death in 1723, it was clear that even if Cosimo III had not presided over important changes and additions to the palace, his interests in science and culture were important and prodigious. A good example is the creation of his extraordinary library at the Pitti, which gave birth to the Lorranese’s Biblioteca Palatina, and, in the 19th century, the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze.
Marco Chiarini, “Cosimo III e la reunione delle collezioni di famiglia”, Palazzo Pitti: l’arte e la storia; Nardini Editore, 2000-2003, Firenze, pp. 146-149.
Marco Chiarini, “Cosimo III e la reunione delle collezioni di famiglia”, Palazzo Pitti: l’arte e la storia; Nardini Editore, 2000-2003, Firenze, pp. 146-149.