The "Studiolo" of Francesco I in Palazzo Vecchio
The construction of the "Studiolo" from 1570 to 1575, to a design by court architect and painter Giorgio Vasari with the assistance of the scholar Vincenzo Borghini, was commissioned by Francesco de' Medici who had taken over from his father Cosimo I in 1564 as regent of the Duchy of Tuscany.
This small study was part of the duke's private apartments and was accessible only from his bedroom, which was situated on the opposite side to the doorway now leading into the Salone dei Cinquecento (this doorway did not exist until the 19th century). The study's location and structure are both typical of this kind of room, which was a common feature of princely courts from the Middle Ages on and was generally set aside not only for study but also to house the smallest and most precious family heirlooms, shown only to select visitors.
Francesco I had it built specifically to keep "certain of his things" there, and the "little room", as it was then called, was designed to resemble "a wardrobe of items rare and precious both in their value and in their art such as jewels, medals, engraved stones, worked crystal and vases, mechanical devices and such like, not too large, placed in their own cabinets, each of its own kind". These cabinets are built into the thickness of the masonry along the lower register of the four walls behind oval paintings which, with their frames, act as the cabinets' doors. Borghini's programme provided for each side of the "Studiolo" to be devoted to one of the four natural elements, with the cabinets on each wall housing those items deemed to belong to the relevant category. For instance, carved bones or engraved stones would be classified under the heading "earth", liquors, glass and forged metals under "fire", crystal under "air" and pearls under the heading "water".
The decoration of the doors, and of the upper register in slate slabs alternating with bronze statues in niches, reflected the cabinets' contents with scenes from the Bible, with mythological and historical scenes, or with allegories and genre scenes all alluding to the nature of the items within.
Thus the entire iconographical program of the "Studiolo" is devoted to celebrating the kinship between Art and Nature in accordance with the personal interests of Francesco I, who is remembered not so much for his good government as for his passionate interest in the sciences and for the perseverance with which he personally engaged in the practice of alchemy, for his study of "occult" phenomena, and for various other experimental activities ranging from fusing glass to seeking the formula for producing porcelain.
The heart of the iconographic programme coincides with the fresco decoration on the vault. This depicts a cosmogramme, with the personification of Nature in its center holding out a precious stone to Prometheus, who represents Art in his capacity as the inventor of gems and rings. Set around this centerpiece are allegories of the four elements (earth, water, air and fire), of the four qualities (cold, damp, hot, dry), of the four humors of man (melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguine and choleric), and of the four seasons (in the lunettes, alongside portraits of Francesco's parents).
This room's special charm owes a great deal both to the originality of the program and to the unique combination of the work of fully thirty-one different artists, almost all of whom were members of Florence's Accademia del Disegno. The artists were commissioned to translate the program into paint in competition with one another, a peculiarity which has made the "Studiolo" a unique compendium of Florentine late Mannerist art, with works by some of the most famous painters and sculptors of the period, including Vasari himself, Alessandro Allori, Giovanni Stradano, Bartolomeo Ammannati and Giambologna.
This small study was part of the duke's private apartments and was accessible only from his bedroom, which was situated on the opposite side to the doorway now leading into the Salone dei Cinquecento (this doorway did not exist until the 19th century). The study's location and structure are both typical of this kind of room, which was a common feature of princely courts from the Middle Ages on and was generally set aside not only for study but also to house the smallest and most precious family heirlooms, shown only to select visitors.
Francesco I had it built specifically to keep "certain of his things" there, and the "little room", as it was then called, was designed to resemble "a wardrobe of items rare and precious both in their value and in their art such as jewels, medals, engraved stones, worked crystal and vases, mechanical devices and such like, not too large, placed in their own cabinets, each of its own kind". These cabinets are built into the thickness of the masonry along the lower register of the four walls behind oval paintings which, with their frames, act as the cabinets' doors. Borghini's programme provided for each side of the "Studiolo" to be devoted to one of the four natural elements, with the cabinets on each wall housing those items deemed to belong to the relevant category. For instance, carved bones or engraved stones would be classified under the heading "earth", liquors, glass and forged metals under "fire", crystal under "air" and pearls under the heading "water".
The decoration of the doors, and of the upper register in slate slabs alternating with bronze statues in niches, reflected the cabinets' contents with scenes from the Bible, with mythological and historical scenes, or with allegories and genre scenes all alluding to the nature of the items within.
Thus the entire iconographical program of the "Studiolo" is devoted to celebrating the kinship between Art and Nature in accordance with the personal interests of Francesco I, who is remembered not so much for his good government as for his passionate interest in the sciences and for the perseverance with which he personally engaged in the practice of alchemy, for his study of "occult" phenomena, and for various other experimental activities ranging from fusing glass to seeking the formula for producing porcelain.
The heart of the iconographic programme coincides with the fresco decoration on the vault. This depicts a cosmogramme, with the personification of Nature in its center holding out a precious stone to Prometheus, who represents Art in his capacity as the inventor of gems and rings. Set around this centerpiece are allegories of the four elements (earth, water, air and fire), of the four qualities (cold, damp, hot, dry), of the four humors of man (melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguine and choleric), and of the four seasons (in the lunettes, alongside portraits of Francesco's parents).
This room's special charm owes a great deal both to the originality of the program and to the unique combination of the work of fully thirty-one different artists, almost all of whom were members of Florence's Accademia del Disegno. The artists were commissioned to translate the program into paint in competition with one another, a peculiarity which has made the "Studiolo" a unique compendium of Florentine late Mannerist art, with works by some of the most famous painters and sculptors of the period, including Vasari himself, Alessandro Allori, Giovanni Stradano, Bartolomeo Ammannati and Giambologna.
1. A. Allori, Portrait of Cosimo I
2. D. Poggini, Plutone 3. J. Zucchi, La Miniera 4. B. Ammannati, Opi 5. B. Traballesi, Danae e la Poggia d'Oro 6. A. Del Minga, Duecallone e Pirra 7. S. Marsili, Atlanta e Ippomene 8. S. Lorenzi, Anfitrite 9. G. Vasari, Perseo e Andromenda 10. S. Di Tito, Il Passagio del Mar Rosso 11. G. B. Naldini, La Pesca della Balena 12. S. di Titio, Fetonte 13. M. Cavalori, Il Lanificio 14. A. Allori, La Pesca delle Perle 15. V. Dante, Venere 16. F. Poppi, Alessandro dona Capaspe e Apelle 17. C. Portelli, Nettuno e Anfitrite 18. M. Cavalori, Lavinia all'Ara 19. g. Stadano, Ullise, Mercurio, e Circe 20. G. B. Naldini, L'Allegoria del Sogni 21. A. Allori, Il Banchetto di Cleopatra 22. F. del Coscia, Giuno receve il cinto di Venere |
23. A. Allori, Ritratto di Eleonora di Toldeo
24. G. Bandini, Giunone 25. M. San Friano, La Ricerca del Diamonte 26. E. Candido, Borea 27. G. M. Butteri, la Scoperta di Vetro 28. M. da San Friano, Dadalo e Icaro 29. Giambologna, Apollo 30. G. Macchietti, I Bagni Termali 31. J. Coppi, L'invenzione della Povere di Sparo 32. G. B. Butteri, La Vetreria 33. A. Fei, La Bottega dell'Orefice 34. G. Stradano, La Bottege dell'Alchimista 35. F. Poppi, La Fonderia dei Bornzi 36. V. de'Rossi, Vulcano 37. G. Fedini, L'Anello di Policrate 38. G. Macchietti, La ringiovanisce Esone 39. L. della Sciorina, Ercole e il Drago di lle Esperidi 40. S. di Tito, La Scoperta della Porpora 41. N. Betti, Il Saccheggio di Corinto 42. D. Buti, Apollo consegna Escolapio a Chirone 43. J. Coppi, Alessandro Offre Stoffe Macedoni alle donne di Dario 44. V. Casini, La Fucina di Vulcano |