November 2nd was our third visit to the Uffizi since retiring. I've looked at my previous Uffizi posts and found very little. The "NO FOTOS!" policy precluded anything much, since the museum in those days fairly swarmed with guards anxious to exert their authority (when not busy texting friends, family, watching YouTube, etc.). This visit was different, of course, and I got the pix I always wanted of so many favorites. In posting now, I'll try for some moderation, but there will be several Uffizi posts this year.
It was the anniversary of Luther's 95 Theses, and the great museum did a special exhibit of its Reformation-era holdings from the north, mostly Cranach and Durer. Cranach and Durer! Two of our favorite non-Italian artists! So I'll begin with them before going to the museum's chronological beginnings, the Duccios, Cimabues, and Giottos.
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Cranach's Madonna, Bambino, and San Giovanni,
so to speak; awful lighting, glass, and glare;
nonetheless... |
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Show me a more insightful and sympathetic representation
of the Madonna, anywhere |
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| A Cranach Adam and Eve |
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| Original Sin, woodcut |
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Durer Adam and Eve engraving...Durer was
the first to figure out there was money in
doing prints for the masses rather than one-off
paintings for bishops and princes |
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| Rules of civility were suspended during the Reformation |
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Cranach's portraits of Luther and Katharina von Bora, Mrs.
Luther |
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| The lack of civility got worse as things moved ahead |
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There are many things you can't do at the Uffizi, but you can
take pix! |
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| And so we are off, on a relatively uncrowded day |
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