Gli Uffizi: Studi e Ricerche 32 Originali e copie (Originals and copies) Fortuna delle repliche fra Cinque e Seicento (Fortune of replicas between the Sixteenth and the Seventeenth Centuries)

The Uffizi Gallery and the Palatine Gallery at the Pitti Palace, which has recently been incorporated into the Uffizi Galleries, possess numerous copies and replicas of old masters both in their display rooms and storage areas. In collaboration with Japanese and Italian scholars, I conducted a three-year survey sponsored by the JSPS grants-in-aid (2011‐2013 academic years) of approximately 230 paintings, all of which are deemed painted reproductions or originals by old masters that were copied later on. At the same time, we attempted to locate related historical documents in the National Archive of Florence and the Galleries’ reference rooms, and succeeded in transcribing documents concerning 46 works.
 
As is often the case with other sovereign or princely collections, such copies were gathered partly on purpose and partly by chance by the Tuscan grand dukes and their families. They did so in the course of collecting the works of old masters to establish an ambitious and unique collection or a universal museum according to the principles of the Enlightenment. Particular attention was paid to cases of so-called spoliazione (divestment), a meticulously planned way of legally obtaining famous altarpieces by old masters from churches or monastic orders, while replacing them with good copies in situ.
 
As a goal of such a survey, the present Italian book was published in the series of Uffizi Gallery research monographs: “Gli Uffizi. Studi e Ricerche” n. 32, funded by the Galleries, from the Florentine publishing house Centro Di della Edifimi in 2017. The book contains articles consisting of three chapters and the documents in the appendix.
 
Indeed, during the time of the Tuscan Grand Duchy from the sixteenth to seventeenth century, many more copies were commissioned and collected. In a sense the book shows just the tip of the iceberg of what were gathered as painted copies in the Grand Duchy. In particular, the documents compiled in the appendix show not only the provenance of the copies, but also types of painted reproductions and ways of collecting them through the archival survey and transcription of materials. Thus they constitute important scientific materials. In particular, they can show us some interesting features concerning members of the Medici family, including the imprint left by its women on their collections. As Francesca de Luca writes in the “Presentazione”, the investigation of the Uffizi Galleries’ collections conducted by this particular point of view allows us to reconstruct a more complete history of their acquisitions. The version translated into Japanese was also published from the Sangensha Publishing Inc. in 2019.
 

(Written by OSANO Shigetoshi, Project Professor (and Director), Center for Research on Counseling and Support Services / 2019)