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Newly restored works at the Academy Gallery From Puccio di Simone to Giottino
[Susan Glasspool]
What you may not realise is that this Gallery also contains many fine paintings, in particular by the school of Giotto, sculptures, casts and tapestries, including the Adimari Cassone, probably carried out by Masaccio’s brother, Giovanni di Ser Giovanni, a Madonna and Child attributed to Botticelli, and works by Perugino and others.
The gallery itself was founded in 1784 by Pietro Leopoldo, one of the most illuminated of the Lorraine Grand Dukes, when he united all the art schools in Florence into a single Academy, completed by a gallery of paintings by old masters. It was and still is housed in the former Hospital of San Matteo and the convent of San Niccoló. The Academy of Music (now the Cherubini Conservatory) and the restoration laboratory (the Opificio delle Pietre Dure) date from the same period. The entire block between Piazza San Marco, Via Ricasoli, Via degli Alfani and Piazza SS. Annunziata formed a real citadel of the arts. The small but extremely rich exhibition of seven paintings on wood now on show at the Gallery is definitely not to be the missed. It is yet another example of the Board of Museums’ protection and restoration of art works, which has made Florence a focal point for restoration worldwide.
The show is centred around Puccio di Simone, who during his lifetime was one of the most important painters active in Florence in the 14th century. The restored polyptych is particularly interesting for, although it bears Puccio’s signature, the figure of the Madonna had been painted over by a later artist, probably in the 19th century. Art critics and the public can at last compare the restored painting with Puccio’s only other signed work, the Madonna and Child from the Artaud de Montor collection in Paris, and place him as originating from the sphere of Bernardo Daddi (school of Giotto). The exhibition is completed by three other works by Puccio di Simone, one still being studied before its long awaited restoration, the small but very precious triptych (incomplete) on wood and the beautiful detached fresco of the Madonna and Saints are by Giotto, known as Giottino, the great-grandson of Giotto di Bondone.
Puccio di Simone
& Giottino
Academy Gallery - Via Ricasoli 58
Info: tel. 055.2654321
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 8.15am-6.50pm.
Closed on Mondays.
Entrance: Euro 6,50/3,25
Until January 29th 2006.
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