Ferdinando III and Leopoldo II as a Collectors
Further important acquisitions were made by the last two grand dukes from Lorraine, Ferdinando III and Leopoldo II, for the private grand-ducal gallery that opened its doors to the public in 1834. From the end of the eighteenth-century until after Ferdinando III's Restoration (1815), many works were added to the collection, including works by Raphael (Madonna of the Grand Duke and the portraits of Agnolo and Maddalena Doni), landscapes by Salvator Rosa, Gaspard Dughet, and Jacob van Ruisdael (one for the Pitti, one for the Uffizi), two masterpieces by the Dutch Rachel Ruysch (Pitti), and marine paintings by Ludorf Backhuysen, Hendrick Dubbels, and other minor Flemish and Dutch artists. One particularly significant addition to the Dutch segment of the collection was the great landscape painting by Hercules Seghers, which came to the Uffizi by way of a bequest in 1834.
It is interesting to note that Ferdinando III had evidently recognized the weakness of the French section of the collection, which consisted almost entirely of dynastic portraits from the Medici inheritance. He thus sought to integrate with these portraits works by Nicolas Poussin, Charles Le Brun, Phillipe de Champaigne, Louis Le Nain, Laurent de la Hyre, Simon Vouet, François Mignard, François Boucher, Antoine Watteau, and other painters of high caliber. Unfortunately, he met with less than satisfactory results, as many of the attributions turned out to be wrong, and the works themselves were of only secondary importance. Ferdinando next pursued, along with other Lorraines, a policy of obtaining important panels from convents and churches to complete the collections in the gallery of the Accademia, with particular emphasis on works by sixteenth-century Florentine painters. Today, these later examples are still admired in the Uffizi, the Pitti, and the Accademia.
It is interesting to note that Ferdinando III had evidently recognized the weakness of the French section of the collection, which consisted almost entirely of dynastic portraits from the Medici inheritance. He thus sought to integrate with these portraits works by Nicolas Poussin, Charles Le Brun, Phillipe de Champaigne, Louis Le Nain, Laurent de la Hyre, Simon Vouet, François Mignard, François Boucher, Antoine Watteau, and other painters of high caliber. Unfortunately, he met with less than satisfactory results, as many of the attributions turned out to be wrong, and the works themselves were of only secondary importance. Ferdinando next pursued, along with other Lorraines, a policy of obtaining important panels from convents and churches to complete the collections in the gallery of the Accademia, with particular emphasis on works by sixteenth-century Florentine painters. Today, these later examples are still admired in the Uffizi, the Pitti, and the Accademia.
Some works acquired by Ferdinando III and Leopoldo II
Raphael, Madonna del Granduca, Pitti
The provenance and patrons of this work are unknown; Ferdinando III acquired it in 1800 from a Florentine merchant. It was likely produced around 1506. Recent study has revealed that there is a window and landscape hidden by the dark background. (Gregori, op. cit., p. 166.)
Raphael, Portraits of Agnolo Doni and Maddelena Strozzi Doni, Pitti
Agnolo Doni, who belonged to a wealthy family of merchants, married Maddela Strozzi in 1504; their portraits by Raphael, recorded by Vasari, date from around 1506. The portraits were acquired in 1826 by Leopoldo II from the Doni estate.(Gregori, op. cit., p. 168.)
Marco Chiarini, "From Palace to Museum: The History of the Florentine Galleries"; Paintings from the Uffizi & Palatine Galleries, Boston, 1994, pp. 16-17.