''The Tribuna of the Uffizi'' (1772–1778) by

Johan Zoffany Johan Joseph Zoffany (born Johannes Josephus Zaufallij; 13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810) was a German neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy and India. His works appear in many prominent British collections, includin ...

is a painting of the north-east section of the

Tribuna ''Tribuna'' (russian: Трибуна) is a weekly Russian newspaper that focuses largely on industry and the energy sector. History Tribunas published its first publication in July 1969. Until 1990, the newspaper titled the ''Sotsialisticheska ...

room in the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The painting is part of the United Kingdom's

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

Production

Beginning in 1764, the German-born painter Johan Zoffany received numerous commissions from the Hanoverian

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

and his consort,

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

. The queen ordered Zoffany to paint "the Florence Gallery" (the Galleria degli Uffizi), for which the artist would be paid £300.Royal Collection from Shawe-Taylor 2009 In the summer of 1772, Zoffany left London for Florence, where he met

Felton Hervey Felton Hervey (12 February 1712 – 16 August 1773) was an aristocratic English politician from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, and a member of the British royal household. He took his son and daughter on a grand tour of Italy where he met Johann ...

, an art collector and friend of the king and queen, who figures prominently in the painting. Zoffany worked on the painting through late 1777 and returned to England in 1779. By this time Hervey had died. The painting depicts the

Tribuna of the Uffizi The Tribuna of the Uffizi is an octagonal room in the Uffizi gallery, Florence, Italy. Designed by Bernardo Buontalenti for Francesco I de' Medici in 1584, the most important antiquities and High Renaissance and Bolognese paintings from the Medic ...

, an octagonal gallery designed by

Bernardo Buontalenti Bernardo Buontalenti (), byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole ( 1531 – June 1608), was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist and inventor of italian ice cream. Biography Buontalenti was born in ...

in 1584. The most important ancient and Renaissance works were displayed in this gallery in the 18th century, making it an essential highlight of the Grand Tour.

Artworks shown

Zoffany's picture is not a historical record of the works displayed in the tribuna in the 1770s. Rather, it is an epitome of the works in the Medici collections he felt to be most important. To accomplish that goal, several works from other rooms in the Uffizi and seven paintings from the Galleria Palatina in the Palazzo Pitti were transferred to the Tribuna. To accomplish this, Zoffany requested the assistance of George, 3rd Earl Cowper, who had emigrated to Florence and

Sir Horace Mann Sir Horatio (Horace) Mann, 2nd Baronet (2 February 1744 – 2 April 1814) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. He is remembered as a member of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire and a patron of Kent county ...

, who served as

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

diplomatic representative in Florence to the

Grand Dukes of Tuscany Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

. Two pictures by Raphael which Earl Cowper owned and hoped to sell to George III, and the Earl are depicted in Zoffany's painting. The unframed ''Samian Sibyl'' on the floor, acquired for the Medici collection in 1777, was a pendant to

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

's ''

Libyan Sibyl The Libyan Sibyl, named Phemonoe, was the prophetic priestess presiding over the Oracle of Zeus-Ammon (Zeus represented with the Horns of Ammon) at Siwa Oasis in the Libyan Desert. The term ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ...

'', recently bought by George III, and its inclusion may have been intended as a compliment to him.

Paintings

Sculptures and other

Many of the ancient sculptures painted by Zoffany can be identified, although few remain on their 18th century locations today. (The Medici's Roman statues stand in the main corridors of the Uffizi Gallery, except those which are still in the Tribuna. The smaller works are now in the collections of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale and the Museo Bargello in Florence).

Persons shown

The Tribuna of the Uffizi combines aspects of the British 18th-century

conversation piece A conversation piece refers to a group portrait in a domestic or landscape setting depicting persons chatting or otherwise socializing with each other.Wunderkammer and gallery views. Thus, the figures populating Zoffany’s painting are all identifiable as connoisseurs, diplomats and visitors to Florence. The inclusion of so many recognisable portraits was criticized by Zoffany's royal patrons, and by

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

, who called it "a flock of travelling boys, and one does not know nor care whom." Johan Zoffany - Tribuna of the Uffizi - people group 1.jpg Johan Zoffany - Tribuna of the Uffizi - people group 2.jpg Johan Zoffany - Tribuna of the Uffizi - people group 3.jpg Johan Zoffany - Tribuna of the Uffizi - people group 4.jpg The first group of people is centered around the Niccolini Madonna by Raphael. From left, standing up, there are the picture’s owner George, 3rd earl of Cowper, Sir John Dick, baronet of Braid,

Other Windsor, 5th Earl of Plymouth Other Hickman Windsor, 5th Earl of Plymouth FRS (30 May 1751 - 12 June 1799), styled Lord Windsor until 1771, was an English nobleman. Early life Styled Lord Windsor from birth, he was the eldest son of Other Windsor, 4th Earl of Plymouth and ...

, and

Johann Zoffany Johan Joseph Zoffany (born Johannes Josephus Zaufallij; 13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810) was a German neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy and India. His works appear in many prominent British collections, includin ...

, the painter himself, followed on the other side of the painting by Mr. Stevenson and his companion

George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth KG, PC, FRS (3 October 1755 – 10 November 1810), styled Viscount Lewisham until 1801, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1778 to 1784. Background George Legge, known from birt ...

, while is sitting on a chair

Charles Loraine Smith Charles Loraine Smith or Charles Loraine (1 April 1751 – 24 August 1835) was a sportsman, artist and politician. He inherited his family seat in Enderby, Leicestershire while still a boy. He was a keen horseman and his paintings of animals are ...

and behind him, bended, Richard Edgcumbe, later 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. Two more connoisseurs are near the ''Satiro''. The first is reported to be Joseph Leeson, 2nd Earl of Milltown, even if his portrait does not match in age and resemblance those in the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors tra ...

, and Valentine Knightley of Fawsley. Further to the center of the painting Pietro Bastianelli, curator of the Uffizi Gallery, shows the

Venus of Urbino The ''Venus of Urbino'' (also known as ''Reclining Venus'') is an oil painting by the Italian painter Titian, which seems to have been begun in 1532 or 1534, and was perhaps completed in 1534, but not sold until 1538. It depicts a nude young wom ...

di Titian to John Gordon,

Thomas Patch Thomas Patch (March 13, 1725 – April 30, 1782) was an English painter, printmaker in etching, physiognomist and art historian. He made a living from painting views of Florence and Tivoli and appears to have sold a number of painted caricatu ...

who is apparently the man touching the ''Venus'', but pointing to the figure of a male nude (believed to be a reference to Patch's homosexuality), Sir John Taylor and

. The sitting man, looking back towards, is the Hon.

. The group around the ''Medici Venus'' include John Finch, Mr. Wilbraham (one of the sons of Roger Wilbraham of Nantwich), Mr. Watts, Mr. Doughty and, on the other side, Thomas Wilbraham (the second son) and

James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and in 1770 became the first Europ ...

Footnotes

References

Sources

* ; text adapted from ** * *
Diagram with key to works and people
reproduced in

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tribuna Of The Uffizi (Painting) Paintings by Johann Zoffany 1770s paintings Paintings in the Royal Collection of the United Kingdom Uffizi Paintings of art galleries