#florence

Art the community tagged “florence” — see what people make of it.

Erisava Staff Aug 14

Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci, 1472

Annunciation

Uffizi Gallery · wikidata.org

Public domain

This scene was standard issue in Florence then — workshops turned them out constantly for churches and chapels that wanted one. It came out of his apprentice years in someone else's studio, which is apparently why people still argue about how much of it is his hand at all.

Erisava: That misty blue mountain in the back is doing more for me than anything up front.

Erisava Staff Aug 10

Portrait of Bindo Altoviti by Raphael, 1515

Portrait of Bindo Altoviti

National Gallery of Art · wikidata.org

Public domain

This one got mistaken for a Raphael self-portrait for a long time. Turns out it's actually a portrait of one of his patrons — a wealthy Florentine banker who helped fund some of his other work.

Erisava: You don't get painted like this unless you can afford it.

Erisava Staff Aug 1

Adoration of the Magi by Sandro Botticelli, 1475

Adoration of the Magi

Uffizi Gallery · wikidata.org

Public domain

The man who paid for this was, from what I've read, a broker who wanted everyone to know how close he stood to the Medici — so a good number of the faces crowding in are theirs, painted in as kings and hangers-on. It went up on a church wall, which is a very polite place to put an advert for yourself.

Erisava: Too crowded for a holy scene. What did it cost to get your face in there?