Exploring the Path of Del Sarto, Pontormo, and Rosso Fiorentino
Below is an essay written by Beth Fagan, a member of Friends of Florence's Council of Academic Advisors and a 2015 June Program participant.
Traveling with Friends of Florence: Discovering Michelangelo’s Legacy
Private visits to the world’s most famous works of art. Meals that set your mouth afire with amazing tastes. Spectacular palazzi and hosts who are as interesting as they are gracious. Two intrepid professors named Bill. Our charmingly brilliant hostess Simonetta and her feisty sister, Renée. New friendships forged. Watching dedicated Florentine restorers bring back masterpieces to life. Yes, it was another Friends of Florence trip!
With each Friends of Florence trip, and this is my third, we undertake an adventure in learning to expand our appreciation for times past. Our guides, the indefatigable professors Bill Cook, historian extraordinaire and emeritus from SUNY Geneseo, and the enthusiastic Bill Wallace, renowned Michelangelo scholar and distinguished art historian from Washington University, inspired us with love for the period. As usual, Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda, president of Friends of Florence, planned an intimate and exclusive experience for the group, with private viewings and magical evenings.
Hence we met in the beautiful city of Florence to trace Michelangelo’s legacy, and discover how his work forever changed artistic values and tastes.
Michelangelo’s giant figure of Dusk, Crepuscolo, stared down at us from atop his sarcophagus as we silently entered the Medici Chapel. It was after official closing, and we were his last visitors of the day. Night, with her highly polished surface demurely shone like the moon from across the chapel. Then, Wallace began to weave his magic, opening our eyes to these inspiring tombs, carved five hundred years earlier by Michelangelo.
We changed for dinner, and the first of our culinary extravaganzas started at Buca Lapi in the Antinori wine cellar.
Friday dawned hot but clear. We started with supper – The Last Supper – by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the San Marco complex. As Cook pointed out, this was the refectory for guests of the monastery who contemplated their supper before Christ. A 15-minute bus ride and we descended at a hidden gem, Andrea del Sarto’s Last Supper in the refectory of San Salvi. Michelangelo had completed his Sistine Ceiling in 1512, and we already could see its influence on del Sarto’s colors and figures.
Then to the Badia at Passignano to see a Friends of Florence renovation in progress. White-haired with twinkling eyes, the Badia’s lively prior escorted us into the refectory. A blast of cold damp air came from the dark hall. Scaffold covered one end. Brother and sister restoration team, Andrea and Ilaria Cellini, took us up the scaffold to see up-close Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper, one of his first commissions. The fresco had been badly damaged, pigment coming away from the surface and aggressive repainting in many places. Ilaria spoke about the work with such love and admiration, you could tell she was honored to be part of the process of saving it.
Lunch at the Antinori vineyard, where the cool crisp Vermentino rolled across your tongue, and each course danced with freshness and flavor.
Pontormo Awaits: After carefully checking our identity cards against their list, an officer of the Carabinieri escorted our group of 15 across the cortile behind the Santa Maria Novella complex, through another cortile, and finally up the stairs into a small dark chapel, Cappella dei Papi, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515 during his stay in Florence. Lights came on and Veronica showed us her veil. The extraordinary fresco by Pontormo took your breath away. Our Carabinieri guide admitted he’d worked there 20 years and never seen the chapel, as its key was held in a sealed envelope in a locked box in his superior’s office.
Escaping the Carabinieri, we crossed the Arno for a private visit to Santa Felicità and its gated Capponi Chapel with Pontormo’s Deposition. “Secondo me,” it’s the most beautiful painting in Florence. Here, Pontormo owes much to Michelangelo and the Sistine Ceiling for his colors, the serpentine twisting of his figures, and overall composition. Interestingly, even Michelangelo called Pontormo the best painter of the time. Our private visit to the Bargello followed. As the clock struck 8, it was time for wine and hors d’oeuvres on the rooftop of the Gondi Palace looking across Florence with Marchese and Marchesa Gondi. In their early sixties, he runs the family’s wine-making operations and she handles their organic olive oil production.
Late afternoon the next day found us in Rome, climbing Bernini’s Vatican Palace staircase behind the Bronze Doors. The charming Director of Conservation Marco Pratelli led us for an after-hours visit to the Pauline and Sistine Chapels. Wallace made the Pauline frescos come alive for us, as St. Peter glowered and St. Paul followed our movements in the chapel. We crossed the frescoed hallway to the Sistine Chapel, where Cook regaled us with its history and religious significance. And then, magic. A choir entered the chapel and began to sing. Music floated up to heaven.
Sunday morning dawned cool and clear. Our bus took us in search of more Pontormo. From his frescos in the hilltop Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano to the stunning Visitation of the Madonna and Elizabeth in the little church at Carmignano, we were evermore enthralled. Pontormo is the master of inventive colors and combinations – as pale pinks and oranges jumped at us from his panel!
We lunched at the inestimable trattoria Da Delfina, where food just keeps coming. Afterwards, Friends of Florence Board Member Claudio Caprotti and his lovely companion Lorena warmly welcomed us into their lovingly restored, elegant Galluzzo home.
Even on our last day, the wonders continued. Entry to the forever closed Chiostro dello Scalzo to see the grisaille frescos of Andrea del Sarto was followed by a visit to the Cloister of the Vows at SS Annunziata to see restoration progress made possible by the Friends of Florence funding. For those of us who have been visiting SS Annunziata for 40 years, it’s a revelation to see these truly beautiful frescos by Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and others emerge from the black soot of time. Lead Restorer Gioia Germani spoke with such pride as she described the many challenges faced daily in restoring these masterworks. We could have stayed for hours, but our private visit to the Uffizi awaited, followed by a walk along the Vasari Corridor, before lunch hosted by Simonetta and her charming husband Conte Momi Brandolini d’Adda.
Finally, our last supper held beneath the challenging gaze of David. “Such a wonder!” to quote Wallace, who was quoting chroniclers of the day. Plus, it’s always a treat to visit the Galleria Academia, home to Michelangelo’s slaves twisting in their marble prisons and countless seicento artworks restored through grants by Friends of Florence.
Let me end with a heartfelt "Thank You" to Friends of Florence. The artwork you are saving is priceless. The restorers you have hired are not only expert but so very respectful of the works they restore. Your funding model is brilliant as it directly pays those restoring artworks, thus ensuring funds are spent to complete conservation, not enrich governments or institutions. Your officers and faculty volunteer their time, again ensuring funds go toward conservation. You, Friends of Florence, have set an admirable standard with a noble purpose, helping to ensure our children and grandchildren will be able to appreciate the art of Florence for centuries to come.
Please click here to download an article by Carlo Migliavacca (in Italian) about Friends of Florence that appears in the current issue of the Italian magazine Bell'Italia.
