The Uffizi has acquired seven works, including four paintings, two sculptures and one drawing (donated) at the Florence Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato, which will run until October 2.
Some of the selected paintings are seventeenth-century works: ‘Portrait of a Victorious Young Man on Envy’ by Pietro Paolini, ‘Allegoria pictura poesis’ by Francesco Cairo, and Felice Cerruti Bauduc’s self-portrait ― ‘Atelier with the painter in the act of painting the Battle of Sommacampagna’.
There is also the ivory bust of Cosimo III de Medici, made by Jean-Baptiste Basset in 1696, the 1925 painting ‘Viaggio tragico’ by Ferruccio Ferrazzi, and the sculptural group with the Pietà (1950) by Giacomo Manzù.
A gift from antiquarian Enrico Frascione of a drawing by Venetian painter Carletto Caliari, ‘Giovinetta con cane’, a preparatory sketch for a painting held in the Louvre, will also join the Uffizi collection.
Director of the Uffizi Eike Schmidt explained:
“Thanks to the extraordinary commitment of my colleagues, the Uffizi has had a great recovery this summer, registering our highest number of visitors ever in July and August.
“With the revenue generated, the Uffizi Galleries are able to extend their role in the process of conservation, benefitting the community, by initiating the procedures for the purchase of some of the most significant works offered at the Biennale this year.”
For the Secretary General of the Florence International Antiques Biennale, Fabrizio Moretti:
“The fact that the Biennale, as in past editions, has been a breeding ground of works for the Uffizi, confirms the museum quality of the exhibition and the excellence of the art dealers exhibiting there, to whom my warm thanks go out.”
