Since
1924, the Gallery has been arranged on the second
floor of the palace and extends as far as the
rooms on the facade used by the Medici for the
palace library and the side wings used for children
and retainers. It was founded in 1914 and initially
comprised works of art brought in from the Academy
of Fine Arts. Today it has a very special juridical
nature due to a convention signed by the Italian
State and the Municipal Administration of Florence.
The thirty rooms of the Gallery have recently
been reorganized, according to chronological criteria,
over a period of time going from Neoclassicism
(the age of Peter Leopold) to the 1920’s.
The rooms on the second floor have been restored,
but the decoration, upholstering and furniture
of the Lorraine period have been maintained.
The itinerary begins with both Neoclassic works
like the Oath of the Saxons to Napoleon by Pietro
Benvenuti and romantic works like the grandiose
Entry of Charles VIII by Giuseppe Bezzuoli or
The two Foscari by Francesco Hayez. There are
also many fine sculptures of the same period like
Calliope of Antonio Canova, Psyche by Pietro Tenerani
and the famous Abel by Giovanni Duprè.
The collection includes a vast assortment of paintings
based on historical subjects that document one
of most significant aspects of the first half
of the 19th century culture. These comprise works
by Sabatelli, Pollastrini or by Stefano Ussi with
his famous Expulsion of the Duke of Athens. Yet
the paintings that most characterise the Gallery
are those of the Macchiaioli, the famous Tuscan
artists of the mid-19th century that set out the
premise for a wide-scale innovation at a national
level. This section comprises important works
by Giovanni Fattori, like the Rotonda Palmieri,
the Battle of Magenta, the "Staffato",
and a rich series of landscapes and scenes of
life in the Maremma (the Market in Maremma, the
Ox cart, the Salto delle pecore). Many of the
works of these artists displayed in the Gallery
belong to the collection of Diego Martelli, a
critic and friend of the Macchiaioli who left
their paintings to the museum at the end of the
last century.
There are also many paintings by Silvestro Lega
and Telemaco Signorini with views and interior
scenes, while Giovanni Boldini is represented
with a series of his rapid and elegant portraits.
The sculptures of this section include the works
by Adriano Cecioni, who lucidly translated and
experimented the tonal ideas prevalent to whom
the touch was so important.
In addition to the above-mentioned collections
belonging to the early and late 19th century,
the Museum also displays a lavish collection of
19th century works that will be arranged in the
so-called “Mezzanino degli Occhi”
(Mezzanine of the Eyes, the “eyes”
being windows in the shape of a circle).
