At the Uffizi to experience the b-side visibility

: Jacopo Palma Il Vecchio (Serina 1480 – Venezia 1528) Recto: “Portrait of woman” 1515 ca. Oil on canvas. Galleria degli Uffizi

: Jacopo Palma Il Vecchio (Serina 1480 – Venezia 1528); Verso: Self-portrait (?) 1515 ca. Oil on canvas. Galleria degli Uffizi

: Maestro Dei Ritratti Baroncelli (Holland, Flanders sec. XV) Recto: Portrait of Pierantonio Baroncelli and Maria Bonciani. Galleria degli Uffizi

: Maestro Dei Ritratti Baroncelli (Holland, Flanders sec. XV) Verso: Annunciation 1489 ca. Oil on canvas. Galleria degli Uffizi

: Peruzzi Baldassarre (Ancaiano 1481 – Roma 1536) Portrait of card. Pietro Accolti, Recto, oil on canvas. Galleria degli Uffizi

: Peruzzi Baldassarre (Ancaiano 1481 – Roma 1536) Portrait of card. Pietro Accolti, Verso, oil on canvas. Galleria degli Uffizi

: School of Bronzino, Recto: Portrait of Francesco I de’ Medici or Piero de’ Medici, sec. XVI (1560 ca.), oil on tin, Galleria degli Uffizi

: School of Bronzino, Verso of the Portrait of Francesco I de’ Medici or Piero de’ Medici, sec. XVI (1560 ca.), oil on tin, Galleria degli Uffizi

It is a fact that the b-side often helps to understand the a side. It happens to contemporary artworks as well as to the antiques. Hidden on the back, some signs, phrases, designs or real paintings could shed some light on the actual life of a piece. A number of important examples are now on display (until February 2) at the Uffizi Gallery, in the Sala delle Reali Poste. The exhibition, entitled “Dietrofront. The hidden side of the collections”, consists of paintings, antique marbles, ceramics, and objects showing both the recto and verso.

«With this selection of works» said Giovanna Giusti, a curator of the exhibition and director of the nineteenth century and contemporary art at the Uffizi, «the curious visitor will be involved, with two-sided visibility, even in the world reserved for insiders, so that together paintings, sculptures and furniture of the highest quality, even mysterious numbers crossed out, once deciphered, will reveal their important contribution in clarifying the path to the collector of the works».

December 15, 2017