Cosimo III as a Collector
Cardinal Leopoldo de'Medici, it seems, conveyed his passion for the artists of the Low Countries to Cosimo III, son of Ferdinando II and nephew of the cardinal. Cosimo III added to his uncle’s collection works by the celebrated naval painter Willem van de Velde the Elder and probably the self-portrait by Rembrandt. On his father’s death in 1670 Cosimo became grand duke and inherited his father’s collection that was augmented by the collections of Leopoldo (upon his death in 1675), Cardinal Giovan Carlo, and Mattias. Giovan Carlo’s collection, apart from a few works kept for their importance, was sold to pay off debts.
Cosimo was a significant collector of Northern paintings, especially ones by contemporary artists. His acquisitions, made during his journeys across northeastern Europe before his succession to the grand-ducal throne, were fundamental to the expansion of the family’s collection of Northern and Flemish paintings. He also acquired works by German artists such as Johann Carl Loth and Daniel Seiter when they happened to be in Florence.
The collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings in the Uffizi and Pitti galleries ranges over a variety of periods and derives from the Medici passion for collecting small-scale works by the “fine painters” of Leiden, the Hague, and Antwerp. A favorite artist was Frans van Mieris the Elder, whose work the grand duke continued to seek out even after he stopped traveling and from whom he commissioned three self-portraits (two in miniature). Medici tastes seem, however, to have precluded the representation in Florentine collections of those artists considered to be masters of the “Golden Age” in the Netherlands: including Rembrandt, Franz Hals, Jan Steen, Van Goyen, and Ruisdael. Two paintings by Ruisdael came to Florence at a later date. The collections nonetheless comprise a broad selection of the genres considered typical of seventeenth century Dutch art, including city views, landscapes, intimate scenes (for which Cosimo had a decided preference), and still-lives. Other examples were added later from the great collection of Johan Wilhelm van der Pfalz, the palatine elector of Dusseldorf, who sent Cosimo and his son Ferdinando several Dutch and Flemish works after his marriage to Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici. Rubens, Van Dyke, and Jordaens, for their part, do appear in the Florentine collections; from the middle of the seventeen century their works were often given as gifts to the grand duke or to Cardinal Leopoldo, who acquired the Four Philosophers and the Three Graces by Rubens and the Portrait of Cardinal Guido Benitvoglio, Van Dyke’s Italian masterpiece (all now in the Pitti). However, Cosimo III likewise did not pass up the opportunity to obtain two great canvases for an iconographical project begun but never completed by Rubens, a pictorial cycle depicting the life of Henry IV of France, commissioned by Maria de’Medici for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris (today in the Uffizi).
Cosimo was a significant collector of Northern paintings, especially ones by contemporary artists. His acquisitions, made during his journeys across northeastern Europe before his succession to the grand-ducal throne, were fundamental to the expansion of the family’s collection of Northern and Flemish paintings. He also acquired works by German artists such as Johann Carl Loth and Daniel Seiter when they happened to be in Florence.
The collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings in the Uffizi and Pitti galleries ranges over a variety of periods and derives from the Medici passion for collecting small-scale works by the “fine painters” of Leiden, the Hague, and Antwerp. A favorite artist was Frans van Mieris the Elder, whose work the grand duke continued to seek out even after he stopped traveling and from whom he commissioned three self-portraits (two in miniature). Medici tastes seem, however, to have precluded the representation in Florentine collections of those artists considered to be masters of the “Golden Age” in the Netherlands: including Rembrandt, Franz Hals, Jan Steen, Van Goyen, and Ruisdael. Two paintings by Ruisdael came to Florence at a later date. The collections nonetheless comprise a broad selection of the genres considered typical of seventeenth century Dutch art, including city views, landscapes, intimate scenes (for which Cosimo had a decided preference), and still-lives. Other examples were added later from the great collection of Johan Wilhelm van der Pfalz, the palatine elector of Dusseldorf, who sent Cosimo and his son Ferdinando several Dutch and Flemish works after his marriage to Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici. Rubens, Van Dyke, and Jordaens, for their part, do appear in the Florentine collections; from the middle of the seventeen century their works were often given as gifts to the grand duke or to Cardinal Leopoldo, who acquired the Four Philosophers and the Three Graces by Rubens and the Portrait of Cardinal Guido Benitvoglio, Van Dyke’s Italian masterpiece (all now in the Pitti). However, Cosimo III likewise did not pass up the opportunity to obtain two great canvases for an iconographical project begun but never completed by Rubens, a pictorial cycle depicting the life of Henry IV of France, commissioned by Maria de’Medici for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris (today in the Uffizi).
Cosimo also encouraged the patronage of small bronze sculptures and the development of decorative arts in the court workshops, under the expert supervision of highly skilled cabinetmakers, mostly foreigners, chosen for their specializations. Concerned about the direction that Florentine art was taking, he founded an academy in Rome under the direction of Ciro Ferri, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona, to instruct some of the most promising young Florentine artists: here were trained Anton Domenico Gabbiani, Giovan Battista Foggini, and others whose works may be found in the Medici collections.
Their interest in historical figures and European dynasties led the Medici to collect portraits of monarchs, princes, generals, and famous men and women of their own day. These portraits were housed in a gallery that remains today an important but little-known component of the Florentine patrimony. Likenesses of the Stuarts and of noblewomen and generals of the court of Charles II of England (painted by Peter Lely) were thus brought to Florence, as were pictures of admirals, generals, and leaders of troops that still hang in the galleries. Then, too, Cosimo continued to augment the collection of self-portraits begun by his uncle Leopoldo, adding works by the most famous contemporary European painters even as he kept an eye on the artists of the past and on the most promising young Florentines.
The favorite artists of the Low Countries are almost exhaustively represented in the collections. The grand duke kept his most highly prized paintings and sculptures in the Tribune and delighted in the increasing fame of the collection displayed in the Uffizi. At the same time, other works were scattered throughout the various family palaces – beginning with the Pitti – and villas spread over the grand duke’s territories, all of which served as storehouses for the immense family collection. Cosimo sought to reorganize these holdings in the most rational fashion possible. For example, after the death of Leopoldo, the self-portraits, drawings, and prints were sent to the Uffizi, where they could be exhibited more publicly. The Venetian paintings, with those from Bologna, Flanders, and the Netherlands, were temporarily placed on various floors of Palazzo Pitti, where they began to fill the piano nobile apartment that later became the residence of the princely heir, Ferdinando, Il Gran Principe.
Their interest in historical figures and European dynasties led the Medici to collect portraits of monarchs, princes, generals, and famous men and women of their own day. These portraits were housed in a gallery that remains today an important but little-known component of the Florentine patrimony. Likenesses of the Stuarts and of noblewomen and generals of the court of Charles II of England (painted by Peter Lely) were thus brought to Florence, as were pictures of admirals, generals, and leaders of troops that still hang in the galleries. Then, too, Cosimo continued to augment the collection of self-portraits begun by his uncle Leopoldo, adding works by the most famous contemporary European painters even as he kept an eye on the artists of the past and on the most promising young Florentines.
The favorite artists of the Low Countries are almost exhaustively represented in the collections. The grand duke kept his most highly prized paintings and sculptures in the Tribune and delighted in the increasing fame of the collection displayed in the Uffizi. At the same time, other works were scattered throughout the various family palaces – beginning with the Pitti – and villas spread over the grand duke’s territories, all of which served as storehouses for the immense family collection. Cosimo sought to reorganize these holdings in the most rational fashion possible. For example, after the death of Leopoldo, the self-portraits, drawings, and prints were sent to the Uffizi, where they could be exhibited more publicly. The Venetian paintings, with those from Bologna, Flanders, and the Netherlands, were temporarily placed on various floors of Palazzo Pitti, where they began to fill the piano nobile apartment that later became the residence of the princely heir, Ferdinando, Il Gran Principe.
Some Works Acquired by Cosimo III
Pieter Paul Rubens, The Four Philosophers, Pitti
The figures portrayed in this work are, from the left, the artist, his brother Philip, and the philosophers and humanists Justus Lipsius and Jan Woverius. Of unknown provenance, the painting dates from around 1611-12. Documented as being in the Pitti Palace from the end of the seventeenth-century, it was commandeered by the French in 1799 and returned in 1815. (Gregori, op. cit., p. 513.)
Pieter Paul Rubens, The Triumphal Entry of Henry IV into Paris, Uffizi
This painting and its pendant were acquired in 1686 by Cosimo III, who hung them in Palazzo Pitti. In 1773 they were moved to the Uffizi. (Gregori, op. cit., p. 517.)
Frans Van Mieris, The Painter and his Family, Pitti
Signed and dated 1675, this picture was acquired by Cosimo III during a trip to the low countries. (Gregori, op. cit., p. 548.)
Marco Chiarini, "From Palace to Museum: The History of the Florentine Galleries"; Paintings from the Uffizi & Pitti Galleries, Boston, 1994, pp. 13-14.