The Apollo Room
Sala di Apollo
In Medici times this was the waiting room for "nobilità ordinaria" as they awaited an audience with the grand duke.
The decoration of the ceiling depicts the Ferdinando II being guided by Fame into the presence of Apollo. The god Apollo, shown here as the sun, points to Hercules who holds a celestial globe with symbols from the zodiac, and so indicates to the future sovereign the weight of the responsibilities of government and the necessity to be educated in the Arts. Around the central fresco and in the stucco ovals and the pendentives, we find episodes from the myth of Apollo and the Muses. In the four rectangular panels in the center of each wall, we find the representations of ancient sovereigns, examples of their respect for poetry and culture.
Ferdinando II entrusted the decoration of this room to Pietro da Cortona in 1647. The painter was responsible for the overall design of the project, including the stucco decoration, and painted the fresco in the center of the ceiling. The other frescoes were completed by his student Ciro Ferri between 1659 and 1661.
The decoration of the ceiling depicts the Ferdinando II being guided by Fame into the presence of Apollo. The god Apollo, shown here as the sun, points to Hercules who holds a celestial globe with symbols from the zodiac, and so indicates to the future sovereign the weight of the responsibilities of government and the necessity to be educated in the Arts. Around the central fresco and in the stucco ovals and the pendentives, we find episodes from the myth of Apollo and the Muses. In the four rectangular panels in the center of each wall, we find the representations of ancient sovereigns, examples of their respect for poetry and culture.
Ferdinando II entrusted the decoration of this room to Pietro da Cortona in 1647. The painter was responsible for the overall design of the project, including the stucco decoration, and painted the fresco in the center of the ceiling. The other frescoes were completed by his student Ciro Ferri between 1659 and 1661.