Articles
News from Florence

- Bernardo Daddi's 'Maestà' in Orsanmichele, of which one of the paintings newly acquired by the Accademia is a copy.
For anyone taking advantage of the relevant calm in Florence this month (when the queue outside the Accademia, the city’s most famous gallery, is usually minimal—though it is still always worth booking your visit online) there is a fascinating little exhibition now running (until 5 May)..
What brings these eight paintings and single piece of sculpture together is the fact that they have all been added to the Gallery’s holdings during the tenure of the new director, Cecilie Hollberg, in other words, over the last three years.
The early paintings are all gold-ground and each has a story to tell about its provenance and connection to other works in the Gallery’s collection. Some were in storage elsewhere in Florence, others were exported illegally and have been recovered by the police, others have been purchased. They are beautifully exhibited in a little room and there is something almost touching about them, given that they have been retrieved from oblivion, carefully dusted off and restored, and put in their historical context. None of them is of the first importance but all of them add something to the glorious history of art in Florence.
The obscurity of some pieces is underlined by the attribution of two of the works, one to the ‘Master of 1416’ and the other to the ‘Master of 1419’. The former is a copy of Bernardo Daddi’s famous Maestà in Orsanmichele, painted some 60 years earlier, showing that the Florentines of the early 15th century still considered it one of the most beautiful works in the city. The latter unidentified ‘Master’ is named after a work now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Cleveland, Ohio. The painting by him here, The Most Holy Trinity (La Santissima Trinità), shows God the Father enthroned holding an image of Christ on the Cross, with the dove of the Holy Spirit flying down towards it. The Gallery possesses another (more important) painting of the same subject, the central panel of a triptych by Nardo di Cione. The composition is very similar, but in Nardo’s work God the Father is sitting on a beautiful red-black-and-gold cloth and the Dove perches in the centre of Christ’s halo.
The Madonna of Heavenly Humility (she is seated on clouds rather than on the ground, hence the neat title) is attributed to a Master named after the Bracciolini Chapel in the church of San Francesco in Pistoia. The Child is rather oversize, but this work was considered important enough to be confiscated by the state (after it was illegally exported from Italy to Switzerland in 2003) in order to preserve it in its Tuscan context.
There are also two doors of a tabernacle known once to have been in the Corsini Palace (which still contains the most important private collection in Florence, albeit closed to the public). They are by the prolific painter Mariotto di Nardo (son of Nardo di Cione) and are of exceptional interest for their decoration in gilded pastiglia, which forms leafy frames all around a scene of the Annunciation and figures of four saints. In another work by Mariotto in the exhibition, the Coronation of the Virgin with Angels, the painter has characteristically included lots more angels in the background depicted in gold.
The newly acquired piece of sculpture is a portrait bust of Giovanni Battista Niccolini, signed in 1827 by Lorenzo Bartolini, the most important sculptor of his time. The sitter, Niccolini, was a playwright, born in Pisa in 1782 and who died in Florence in 1862. The bust will be displayed beside the original plaster cast Bartolini made for it, which together with numerous other works from his studio was already owned by the Gallery. The bust was purchased by the newly-established Friends of the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, who are giving welcome support to its activities.
After the magnificent exhibition on the 14th-century fabric industry, held here early in 2018 (reviewed here), it seems that the museum’s policy (since it certainly has no need to increase its visitor numbers), at least for the time being, will be to hold small, choice exhibitions such as this one, which do not demand huge expenditure (the cost of the entrance ticket will not be increased during these shows).
I was interested to note that in the gallery with Michelangelo’s Slaves and his St Matthew (which leads up to the tribune with the colossal David), the label on the Pietà from Palestrina has at last been changed and its attribution to Michelangelo given as ‘very doubtful’ and still an ‘open subject’ (in fact the latest edition of the Blue Guide Florence chose to ignore it). At the same time, though, a fascinating suggestion has been made on the notice: that this could be a tribute to Michelangelo by the great Baroque sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. One of the tasks of the Blue Guides is to ensure the information provided is up-to-date.
by Alta Macadam, author of Blue Guide Florence.
Reader reviews
"They really are the best... 
"It really makes every other guide book on the market look like an article in a magazine." Reader reviews and comment from Amazon »
New app
Italy Food by Blue Guides
A new version of our popular Italy Food app is available. We now have LITE (limited to only around 500 words) and PRO (2,500+ words) versions.
Centenary
History of the Blue Guides
Launched 1918, the Blue Guides are the oldest brand in British travel publishing "edited with a careful appreciation of the changed conditions, both material and moral, arising from the War"
History resources: Rome
Popes and Emperors
Pilgrim's Rome | 20 key dates in Roman history | 10 Top Popes | a Handful of Roman Emperors
Art news
Roman silver now on display
The magnificent hoard known as the Seuso Treasure can now be seen at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest.
Latest Articles
Latest
- News from Florence
- Gellért 100
- Unsung Hero
- The Corvina Library
- Modernists and Mavericks
- Dracula: An International Perspective
- Lorenzo Lotto: Portraits
- Leonardo's Leicester Codex
- A tale of two Camparis
- Best restaurants in Brescia
- Budapest Art Nouveau
- Transylvanian Book Festival
- Flawless ... and 100 years old
- Extreme dairy farming in Sauris
- Islamic Art in Florence
- The Seuso Roman silver: on display at last
- The Wonders of Pontormo
- Builders of Budapest
- Crowded Times
- Good news from Florence
- The Heartwarming Middle Ages
- Waves of Art Nouveau
- Bookshops in Budapest
- Budapest at the Biennale
- Living with Leonardo
- The Zeugma Mosaics Saga
- News from Syracuse
- Raphael in Bergamo
- Titian in Brescia
- Comments and Updates on Blue Guide Budapest
- Heroism on the Danube
- The 'Romanesque Hall' in Budapest
- Dürer in Milan
- Re-interpreting the Trojan Horse
- Charles I: King and Collector
- Fleming and Honour Remembered
- Pictures from Lake Maggiore
- A late Art Nouveau treasure in Budapest
- Anna: Female destinies in Transylvania
- What’s on in Florence
- Art Within Limits
- A Time in Rome
- Diana Athill, 'A Florence Diary'
- Season’s Greetings
- Christmas with the Gonzaga
- Aegean Turkey: Troy to Bodrum
- Collectors in Florence
- European rail changes 2018
- A people who changed history
- Return to 'A Room with a View'
- Italian island food
- The Scythians at the British Museum
- Rogues' Gallery by Philip Hook
- Ferragamo's Return
- Silence of the looms
- Grammar and Grace
- The Seuso Saga
- Giuliano da Sangallo
- The Black Fields of Kula
- Leonardo's "Adoration of the Magi" restored
- Venice before Easter
- Selectivity at the Uffizi
- Guide to the Via Francigena
- What Ariosto could see
- News from Florence: Giovanni dal Ponte
- More than just the David
- The formidable Empress Matilda
- Life, Art and Kenneth Clark
- Hedonist's travel, Hungarian wine
- Remarkable Manuscripts
- Abstract Expressionism at the RA
- Comments on Hungarian Wine: A Tasting Trip to the New Old...
- Transylvania Launched
- Which 50 Sites of Antiquity?
- A Treasure in Cagli
- The Transylvanian Book Festival
- Comments on Travels in Transylvania: The Greater Târnava...
- Roman Brixia
- The new Museo degli Innocenti
- Wine guide wins prize
- Jesters at the Court of the Medici
- Budapest, Freedom and the Olympics
- The Roman Forum Reconstructed
- Bernini's Beloved
- Blue Guide Paris on Amazon
- The Imperial Ramp in the Roman Forum
- Sabbioneta, Cryptic City
- Secret delights of Florence: the Bellini private museum
- Cutting-edge mosque design in Albania
- St Francis in Florence
- To Austria’s Lake District by rail
- Pilgrimage pathways to and from Rome
- Five major London museums
- Napoleon and Paris: Dreams of a capital
- Whither Tate Britain?
- The many lives of Nasreddin Hoca
- Lesley Blanch: On the Wilder Shores of Love
- The Middle Ages on the Road
- Hellenistic bronzes in Florence
- Europe by rail - an introduction
- Frescoes in a convent of a closed order of nuns
- Michelin starred Paris
- A Michelangelo discovery?
- Jan Morris: Ciao, Carpaccio: An Infatuation
- The Venus de Milo fights back
- Winter in Florence: a new look at Donatello
- Tea (or coffee) with the Sultan
- Artwork of the Month: January. Medieval stained glass
- Which? ranks Blue Guides #2
- Giacomo Leopardi: A poet in film
- Sassoferrato and the Aion Mosaic
- The Aventine and Turner in Rome
- Artwork of the Month: December
- Rendez-vous with Art
- Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age
- Giovanni Battista Moroni
- London The Information Capital
- Changes to European rail services for 2015
- Comments on Blue Guide London
- Egypt, Greece, & Rome
- The Medici Villas of Tuscany and Tourism
- Artwork of the Month: November. Reason, Unreason and the...
- The first collectors of 'Primitives'
- From Pompeii: The Afterlife of a Roman Town
- Artwork of the Month: October. The Arch of Constantine
- Sorting out the Uffizi
- Waging war with a view
- Dull London? Surely a mistake
- Artwork of the month: September. Watercolour of the Great...
- Italian Venice: A History
- A tale of three museums
- Rissëu
- All Aboard the Cheese Train
- National Gallery London to allow photography
- Artwork of the Month: August. Bust of Augustus Caesar from...
- Sacred Splendours: reliquaries of Florence's pious grand...
- Book Review. Helena Attlee: The Land where Lemons Grow
- Holiday reading
- Artwork of the Month: July. The Phaistos Disc
- Budapest to Vienna and Salzburg by Railjet
- Marvellous and Macabre: the art of Jacopo Ligozzi
- David Esterly - The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of...
- Artwork of the month: June, Pordenone's Noli me Tangere
- Budapest to Serbia by EuroCity Avala
- Saving the Great Bear: Trieste's floating crane
- News from Florence
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Baccio Bandinelli: a rehabilitation
- Artwork of the month: May. "Flora", Pompeii
- Travelling around Britain in style
- In praise of plague cakes
- Princesses from the Trabzon Empire
- Artwork of the month: April. The Seuso Silver
- Uffizi selfies come to Budapest
- Florentine Mannerists at Palazzo Strozzi
- Rome: seasonal stations
- Sustainable living in Bolzano
- Artwork of the month: March. Murillo's Flower Girl
- Tastes change
- Francesco Laurana's serene beauty
- Being Mithridates
- Florence and Buda: two cities of learning
- Thoughts on Rome
- Copyrighting Heritage
- Food is the new Florence
- A Grumpy Visit to Westminster Abbey
- The Honey Of Hybla
- So what is the Turkish Van?
- The Pike: by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
- Smoothly off the buffers
- Under Another Sky
- 'Art under Attack' at Tate Britain
- Comments on Smoothly from Harrow
- Renaissance art from Florence to Paris and back
- Comments on Blue Guide Venice
- Hepworth's "Winged Figure": 50th anniversary
- Tying the Knot in Urfa
- Venice and the Politcs of Washing
- Comments on Staten Island: A Blue Guide Travel Monograph
- Comments on Short Guide to London 1953
- Turin restored and rejuvenated
- A palatial art museum in Trieste
- The cloisters of Santa Maria Novella
- The wonderful Palazzo Grimani, Venice
- Pope Benedict: an unorthodox farewell
- Obscure St Valentine and his famous Feast Day
- Burano in February
- The St Agnes lambs
- Leonardo’s “Adoration of the Magi” in restoration
- Cathedral picks: Exeter
- The real Patrick Leigh Fermor?
- The joy of Giambattista Tiepolo
- Leonardo’s “Battle of Anghiari”
- In praise of Venice’s water transport system
- The Red Rooms at the Uffizi
- The Blue Rooms at the Uffizi
- A trip to the Port of Trajan, outside Rome
- Pour l’honneur de la France
- An early-morning visit to Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, Rome
- Church of SS Luca e Martina reopens above Roman Forum
- How the tide turned at the Milvian Bridge
- A compelling reason to visit Trapani province
- St Augustine and his mother at Ostia
- Visiting St Paul’s in London
- Hadrian, Antinoüs and the Christian Fathers
- Earliest-known image of a martyrdom
- Can’t face the Vatican crowds? Try San Lorenzo
- Turin, Pisa and mathematics
- Ideal cities are all around us. It’s simply a matter of...
- On Canaletto and Guardi and Venetian Light
- Mithraism: a Roman Mystery Religion
- Random Musings on Pontormo and Vermeer
- The Amphitheatre of Londinium
- Edward Lear and Crete
- A handful of favourite things to see in Sicily
- The mystery of the veiled virgins
- Venice without the crowds
- Cividale del Friuli and the Lombards
- The Trouble with Snake Goddesses
- The tragedy of Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico
- Oranges, lemons and relic cults: an escape from the queues...
- City Picks: Verona
- Hitherto unknown language discovered in east Anatolia
- Painting of the Day
- Museo Barracco: a little-visited gem
- Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome
- Staten Island: Upcoming Exhibition …
- International Gothic at the Uffizi
- Celebrating Santa Rosalia, patron of Palermo
- Delhi Ghost Trail
- Comments on Pilgrim's Rome: A Blue Guide Travel Monograph
- The Roman Villa at Balácapuszta (Baláca, Nemesvámos,...
- The Bard of….Messina? Was Shakespeare Sicilian?
- Rereading Ruskin
- Sicily’s emblem: the Trinacria
- Luca Signorelli on exhibition in Umbria
- The Tribuna of the Uffizi reopens
- The Venice equivalent of the anonymous Tweet?
- Comments on Blue Guide Sicily
- Sicilian Holiday Reading
- Attila the Hun and the Foundation of Venice
- Death in Venice cocktail a hit
- The Gentry: Stories of the English
- 381 years ago this June
- Brooklyn Bridge: a New York landmark
- A Venetian Update
- Sixth-century church to reopen
- Roman Aquileia
- Springtime in Friuli
- Northern Italy dining and accommodation recommendations
- Al Dente: Madness, Beauty & the Food of Rome
- A celebration of Lucca
- Romantic music in a Baroque setting
- Blue Guide India Delhi Launch
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life
- The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution
- Comments on Blue Guide India
- The Roman Forum
- Whispering City: Rome and its Histories
- The 15th-century Health Museum at Edirne
- City of Fortune, How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire
- Books about Istanbul
- Comments on Blue Guide Istanbul
- Comments on Blue Guide Florence
- Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor
- Comments on The Venice Lido: a Blue Guide Travel Monograph
- Comments on Blue Guide Literary Companions: Rome, London,...
- Comments on Blue Guide Italy Food Companion
- The 54th Venice Biennale stars Tintoretto
- Holy Bones, Holy Dust
- RECOMMENDED PLACES TO STAY AND EAT ON CRETE
- Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity
- Full Circle: How the Classical World Came Back to Us
- Comments on Blue Guide Turkey
- Comments on Blue Guide Rome
- Comments on Blue Guide Hay-on-Wye
- Comments on Blue Guide Greece the Aegean Islands
- Comments on Blue Guide Crete
- Comments on Sites of Antiquity: from Ancient Egypt to the...
- Comments on Blue Guide Tuscany
- Familiar face
- Comments on Blue Guide Concise Italy
- Comments on Blue Guide Paris
- Comments on Blue Guide New York
- Comments on Blue Guide Central Italy
- Comments on Blue Guide Southwest France
- Blue Guide Northern Italy
- Comments on Blue Guide The Marche & San Marino
- Comments on Blue Guide Museums and Galleries of London
- A day trip to Ostia Antica from Rome - highly recommended
- Comments on Blue Guide Southern Italy
- Comments on Blue Guide Concise Rome
- A day trip from Venice up the Brenta Canal
- A day trip to Murano from Venice
- Pietrasanta, Pisa: in search of Stagi
- Reading list for Venice
- Reading list for Florence and Tuscany
- The Best Credit / Debit Card for Travel
- Ruskin on Venice
- Reading list for Rome
- Comments on Blue Guide Greece the Mainland
TRAVEL GUIDES AND INDEPENDENT ADVICE
"guide books in the grand tradition of thoroughness and objectivity" Georgia Review;
"the Blue Guides still hold the cultural high ground" Sunday Times;
"a gold standard for accuracy and depth" Daily Telegraph.
Blue Guides on Twitter
Tweets by @blueguidesBlue Guides on Instagram
Blue Guides on Facebook
The Blue Guides website does not use cookies, we do not gather data about you or follow your browsing history.