Botticelli's Firenze

Walk through the opening of the square door in the first long corridor of the Uffizi Gallery leaving behind room number nine, the Pollaiolo Room. Pass the stony, unsmiling museum employees who police the rooms. “Non fotografia!” They shout at the occasional bold tourist who dares produce a camera around the historic art collection. Move forward into the heard of tour groups, guides, and school children all vying for a spot against the rope-lined walls of the room labeled 10-14 on the free gallery map. This chamber is known as the Botticelli room because it houses a cornucopia of works painted by the renowned Florentine.
An English speaking tour guide shepherds a flock of visitors over to prodigious rectangular painting on the wall left of the entrance. “Here we have the Birth of Venus a piece finished by Sandro Botticelli in the year 1486.” The tour guide explains while flashing a red laser in the vicinity of the art. Four figures people the pastel ocean landscape. The dominate figure is a nude woman who appears almost as a sculpture perched delicately on a flowering clam shell. Venus modestly veils her nudity with a handful of flaxen hair as she gazes off into the distance. In the right hand corner of the painting a tangled husband and wife, Zephyrus and Chloris, blow Venus into the receptive arms of the motherly nymph on shore.
“The painting illustrates a pagan myth, but it is a blur of paganism and Christianity. The Venus is in a pose that is typically reserved for the Virgin Mary, and the god of wind could easily be transformed into a Christian angel. Also the cloak bearing nymph is positioned similarly to images of St. John the Baptist.” The tour guide continues educating while illuminating the painted figures in red light. Thrusting, forceful tourists shove closer to the moat of metal fence. “Scuzi! Scuzi!” Butchering the Italian phrase, an American dressed in khaki shorts and a tourist t-shirt rams between a gaggle of European school children and an Asian couple. The man is part of the bumping mob aiming for the perfect view of the Birth of Venus. The obnoxious sightseer withdraws a digital camera. He is able to fire off one quick flash before the Uffizi guards begin their chorus accompanied by shaking fingers and sign pointing. The camera is re-holstered and slipped away.
The tour guide having concluded the speech on the Birth of Venus and allowing a moment of reflection in front of the painting plunges a sign containing the tour company logo high above her head. “We are now going to move as a group the the left side of this painting. Stay close and try not to get lost in the crowds.” The group shuffles along the wall until the guide pauses in front of a circular frame of gold painted wood. The extravagant frame of craved roses incases a painting of Madonna and child. The maiden mother, who is dressed in the symbolic cardinal and navy, dips the tip of a pen in ink preparing to compose more of the canticle of the Magnificat while the baby playfully sits in her lap holding a pomegranate. The Virgin and child are in the company of five angelic boys. Three of the boys assist and oversee the scripture; while the taller two lower a crown on to the scarf bound head of the regal Mary.
The guide allows a few stragglers to rejoin the mass before beginning her speech. “Madonna of the Magnificat, completed in 1481, is a quintessential example of a Botticelli Madonna, but the painting has the unique twist. All of the figures have the appearance of being reflected in a convex mirror.” She accounts the style and history of the painting to the group. The family of Piero de’ Medici, a lord who ruled in Florence, is believed to be portrayed. A notable member of the family, Lorenzo de’ Medici, is the young boy holding the ink pot. Lorenzo, who was later to be nicknamed Lorenzo the Magnificent, became a political celebrity and connoisseur of Renaissance art in his later life.
Again the sign is a deacon in the congested room. The mob is herded to a space on the white wall lined in pictures that is directly facing the entrance of the room. The center of the wall is dominated by flowery scene of white, red. green, and orange. Pregnant women with flowing gold hair dance around in a forest of daisies and orange groves. A man dressed in a red robe stands to the left side with his bow raised. On the right side a woman is being chased by a blue figure, but the focal point of the painting is in the center. A regal woman in the red and blue of the Virgin Mary is haloed in a crown of blue sky and foliage. The woman stands back gracefully admiring the events that surround her.
“La Primavera is another one of Botticelli’s famous pieces completed in 1482. This is another brilliant mix of pagan and Christian symbolism. The history of the painting is known, but it is believed to have been commission by a member of the Medici family to celebrate either a birth or a wedding. It is also thought that the inspiration for the painting came from an ancient Greek poem which served as a similar inspiration for the Birth of Venus.” The guide went on to describe some of the symbolism and representations in the painting.
Many of the characters present in the painting are the same as in the Birth of Venus. Chloris and Zephyrus are again present at the side of Venus, who is the central figure. New to this scene is the god, Mercury, the three graces, and baby cupid. Many of the painted figures are modeled after members of the Medici family. The extricate forest is suitable for the prosperous family. “Botticelli depicted over 500 specific plants and flowers in the backdrop of the painting.” The guide lectures. “Take a few minutes to take pleasure in the details and the overall effect of the painting and then follow me.”
The group follows the guide to the wall opposite the Birth of Venus. On this wall by the blocked door to the corridor the cicerone halts in front of a smaller painting that is predominately teeming with Christian symbolism. Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi places the Virgin Mary and her baby in the ruins of an ancient building while the Florentine elite crowd around to revere the gifted child. “This painting was commission by Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama, a banker in Florence who was well connected to the Medici family. The banker and many of the Medici clan are portrayed in the painting. Botticelli is also thought to have painted his self portrait. He is the figure in the beige cloak on the right.” More lecture on the history of the painting.
Giorgio Vasari, an art historian from the 1500s, commented on the painting in his book, Lives. “The beauty of the heads in this scene is indescribable, their attitudes all different, some full-face, some in profile, some three-quarters, some bent down, and in various other ways, while the expressions of the attendants, both young and old, are greatly varied, displaying the artist's perfect mastery of his profession. Sandro further clearly shows the distinction between the suites of each of the kings. It is a marvellous work in colour, design and composition.”
The flock of tourists, clearly becoming antsy and bored, glance at the painting for a few moments before fidgeting and chatting. “So what do you want to get for lunch after this? There was a cafe outside. I am not really in the mood for anymore pasta. How about a sandwich?” A middle aged woman with teased hair and a fanny pack interrogates her balding husband. Sensing the restlessness of the group, the guide hastens the tourists along to the next painting.
Along the same wall as the Adoration of the Magi, the guide paused in front of a portrait of a young man with flowing brown hair that is topped by a red cap. The man displays a coin or medal in his hands. “This is thought to be the portrait of Botticelli’s brother although the exact identity of the man is unknown. He is holding a coin with the face of Cosimo the Elder. Lets continue on to the next painting.” The guide leads the group to the last unseen wall in the room.
Another tour group huddles in front of the painting the tour guide intends to show. “I will just go ahead and talk to you while we wait to see the Cestello Annunciation. This painting was completed in 1490 and was commissioned by the convent of Cestello. It is still in its original frame which has a Latin quote reading, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee” under the frame.” The group is able to move closer to the wall and see the painting. The red and blue clad Virgin swoons towards the elegant angle at her feet. In the background a window opens up onto a few of Botticelli’s holy Florence.
“Well that is everything for this room. Lets make our way into room 15, the Leonardo room, where we will look at some of the artwork left in Florence by da Vinci.” The guide waves the sign above her head and begins to stroll toward the exit. A few of the visitors take one last look back into the room full of Botticelli’s masterpieces before disappearing into the next room of the museum.