Florence’s Epiphany Gift: ‘I Mai Visti’

The official end of the Christmas season comes with Epiphany, January 6, a legal holiday that is characterized by special events and openings in Florence.

Each year the Uffizi museum, with the support of the Friends of the Uffizi Association, celebrates the holiday season with an exhibition of master works from their collections in storage called “I Mai Visti,” or the “Never Seen.”

This year’s gift to visitors and Florentines is the Uffizi’s never-before-seen collection, the largest in the Western world, of Russian icons, now on display in the Sala delle Reali Poste on the ground floor, just across the square from the main entrance.

The show will be on view until February 1, 2015 from 10 am – 5 pm, closed Monday; no admission is charged.  Free guided tours will be available in English on January 4 and 6 at 3 pm; and in Italian on the same days every 20 minutes from 2 to 4 pm.   A minimum 5 euro donation is requested, which will go towards the funding of a restoration of a work at the Uffizi.  To reserve a tour, contact regalatiunrestauro@mercurio-italy.org.

Free workshops for children are also being held on every Saturday during January at 10:30 am. To book a workshop email cristinabonavia@gmail.com.

The small–scale works, 81 in total, glitter with precious metals, complemented by the warm colors of crimson and dusty brown.  What is surprising is the variety of sacred subject, going beyond the expected iconic Madonna and Child image.  There is a parade of angels and saints – Michael the Archangel, St. Catherine of Alessandria, St. John the Baptist – surrounded by the precursor of cartoon frames depicting episodes from their lives. Not only is there St. George killing the dragon, but a local saint, Demetrius of Thessaloniki, in the same pose, is subduing a czar on horseback in lieu of the fabled beast, its significance evident to the viewer.

For Orthodox Christians the icon, derived from the Greek world “eikon” (image), is considered not simply a painting, but a visual manifestation of the spirit of God designed to create a bond between the human world and the divine.  The icon maker is considered similar to a priest who prays with paint rather than with words.  Icons are always two dimensional, with the third dimension provided by meditation.

Most of the works in the Uffizi collection date from the 18th century, probably arriving in Florence through the Russian orthodox community in Livorno.

It is probable that the Czarina Catherine the Great herself had a hand in donating a number of the icons to the Medici Grand Dukes, as thank you gifts for the permission granted by the Medici to the Russian orthodox community to erect their church in Livorno.  The Orthodox Church served both the permanent Russian community in the port city and also the Russian fleet, which used the port of Livorno during the Russo-Turkish wars between 1768 and 1774.

The icons shown in the ‘Never Seen’ represent stories and images from of the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary, with numerous examples of favorite Russian saints, prophets and archangels.  Although the realism and modeling of the figures indicate that we are not looking at medieval art, the technique used is exactly the same as that followed by master icon artists for centuries, which directly derives from Byzantine art.

Carefully prepared small wood panels are first covered with many coats of gesso and rabbit skin glue, which is sanded and polished to a satin smooth surface.  Then, the background of 22-carat gold is applied leaf by leaf, and the colors used are earth and mineral pigments in egg tempera medium, with a final varnish coating of natural resin.

Some of the icons have their precious and rare original covers (called “basma”) in hammered silver, with decorations in enamel and gold leaf.  One visitor was reminded of the color palette used by medieval Sienese painters, but with “more jewel-like colors.” Indeed, the icons shine with brilliant reds, blacks, and greens and the enamel, silver and gold accents resonate with holiday spirit.

MUSEUMS

Thanks to the long weekend, January 3 – 6, several state-run museums normally closed on Monday will remain accessible to visitors: the Uffizi and the Accademia (until 6:50 pm) in addition to San Marco, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and the Archeological Museum (until 2 pm) as well as Orsanmichele (through 5 pm).  The Pitti Palace museums, Boboli Gardens, Bargello and the Medici Chapels, however, remain closed on January 5.  All of Florence’s civic museums will be open:  Museum of Palazzo Vecchio (9 am – midnight), the Museum of Santa Maria Novella (1 – 5 pm), the Novecento Museum of Modern Art (10 am – 6 pm), Brancacci Chapel (10 am – 5 pm); the Fondazione Salvatore Romano (10 am – 4 pm) and the Bardini Museum (11 am – 5 pm).

Nearly every single one of the city’s 70+ museums can be visited on January 6, with the addition of Santa Maria Novella (1 – 5 pm).  The Bargello National Sculpture Museum will have extended hours, until 5 pm. (elizabeth wicks/additional reporting by rosanna cirigliano)