The Studiolo is a hallway filled with paintings and artworks located in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy. Historically, it was commissioned during the reign of one of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, Francesco I de’ Medici. The Studiolo is, in fact, one of the more complex works of art created during its time because it was completed not just by a single artist. The small room that was the Studiolo was filled with a collection of artworks created by different famous painters and artists. Originally, there were around 20 cabinets (although in reality, these cabinets were just arches) in the Studiolo, each of which contained one or a few artworks. Originally, there were 34 paintings arranged in unique patterns. The most distinguishable part of the Studiolo would be the center of the vaulted room where a mural (i.e. an image) of Prometheus while he was receiving various jewels was portrayed. The most important thing about this central piece of work would be its message. It invigorates the concept that suggests that there is a complex interplay between divide, nature, and human entities, something which artistic and scientific personalities have been so obsessed about during that time.
The sense of depth and space was complex, so much so that it would be impossible to explain it using a uniform set of adjectives. It was a collection of artworks from different artists after all so naturally, it would have a unique interplay of themes, messages, and symbolisms. Despite being filled with works of art from various artists and painters, the setting up of the barrel-vaulted room that was the Studiolo was supervised by Giorgio Vasari, Giovanni Adriani, and Vincenzo Borghini. They made sure that the room would be able to sustain its purpose which was to serve as a place where the head of the monarch could play with their artistic thoughts, tinker with rare pieces of artistic collections, among other highly valuable and esthetically pleasing items catalogued (live) in the room.
In order to create an artistic sense of space and depth, the Studiolo’s designers made the artworks’ arrangement in accordance with a pattern. This creation of a pattern was essentially consistent with Alberti, Rykwert and Leach’s (154-64), Evans’ (55-91), and Rabb’s (41-90) suggestion about arworks and artistic collections. It is important to note, though that the observations made in this paper are merely speculative and are not based on any generally accepted theory, classical arts or architectural principles.
The pattern of arrangement that was observed suggests that the artworks placed side by side with each other were at least related in some way. For example, The Diamond Mines painting by Tommaso d’Antonio Manzuoli was located above the painting Fall of Icarus by Maso de Sanfriano. Both of the paintings featured human entities living their everyday lives. In the Diamond Mines, people who one can presume to be diamond miners were portrayed doing their everyday job; in the Fall of Icarus, there were also people engaging in trade (e.g. the livestock herder) and other livelihood activities. The difference, however, was that in the latter, there were divide beings flying in the sky. It can be remembered that the central theme of the Studiolo was the complex interplay between natural, divine, and human entities and or beings. So far, the arrangement of these two artworks in the Studiolo follows and confirms that speculative pattern.
Another observable relationship between the artworks included in the collection was the non-coincidental placement of Giovanni Battista Naldini’s painting of the House of the Dreams adjacent to the prince’s bedroom. Because of this, it can be said that the Studiolo’s designer did not only consider the central theme of the art collection in the establishment of their target sense of depth and space, they also considered the functionality of the paintings and their placement.
When it comes to the question on which artworks included in the Studiolo were novel creations, the safest answer would be all of them. The Studiolo was made for the members of a royal family to enjoy. It would not make sense to put in subpar works of art from unknown artists and painters because that could be considered as an insult to the personas of the people that would visit the room. Moreover, the design supervisors of the Studiolo, with their meticulous tastes, simply would not allow a non-novel work of art to be included in the collection.
Another important but taken for granted message or objective of the creation of the Studiolo would be its purpose in portraying the Grand Duke’s intellectual ambitions. Francesco I de’ Medici was a man that was deeply fascinated by art, alchemy, and science. The variety of paintings and artworks that his assigned designers support this notion; there were artworks that focused on nature, science, and pure art. It, in a way, consisted of various characteristics of Florentine Mannerism, a style of European art that emerged during his time.
Historians would suggest that the Studiolo was used by the Grand Duke as a place to think quietly, tinker, and seclude himself from his wife, children, and other people whom he may viewed as disturbances to his inquisitive mind.
In summary, the speculative observations made in this paper regarding the arrangement of the artworks in the Studiolo (among other aspects of it) suggest that it was a room made to portray the interplay between divine, nature, and human entities and or beings—as evidenced by the placement of Prometheus and his jewels in the central fresco. So far, the sequence of the artworks supports this theory on how the designers planned and executed their strategy on creating a unique sense of depth and space. They also considered the function of the rooms adjacent to the paintings in their arrangement.
Works Cited
Alberti, L., et al. "On the Art of Building in Ten Books." The MIT Press (1991): 01-470.
Evans, R. "Figures, Doors, and Passages." London Architectural Association (1997): 55-91.
Rabb, T. "The Last Days of the Renaiissance and the March to Modernity." New York Basic Books (2006): 41-90.
