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Italiano English Deutsch KHI from A to Z OPAC Digital photo library Links Contact Newsletter Sitemap Intranet Disclaimer Construction Work		The Casa Zuccari, which has been in the possession of Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence since 1987, lies on the corner of the former Via del Mandorlo (the present-day Via Giuseppe Giusti) and the Via dell’Orto dei Servi (the present-day Via Gino Capponi). The gardens of the Capponi and Della Gherardesca palaces, which are located in the direct vicinity of the property and are partly owned by the Institute, are indicative of the fact that, although this area of the city lay a mere 300 metres from the cathedral in the 16th century, it was, nevertheless, located outside the former city walls and was thus a more rural than urban quarter. Cinquecento Renaissance artists including Perugino, Pontormo and Giambologna were just some of the so-called artistic quarter’s illustrious inhabitants, and the chapel of the St. Lucas Guild in the basilica of SS. Annunziata was the seat of the Accademia until 1784. The Casa Zuccari's exterior façades ensure that it stands out within its contemporary urban environment. The imposing corner pillars, crowned by the Zuccari and Medici coats of arms, are complemented by the windows with their sandstone trim, which serve to underscore the structure's Late Renaissance style. (ill. 1) This building enjoyed its true heyday, simultaneously receiving its final appellation, after Federico Zuccari (1540/1-1609), painter and art theoretician, purchased the property from the heirs of Andrea del Sarto (1486-1531), the "pittore senza errori", or "faultless painter", in the words of Giorgio Vasari, who had owned the house since 1520. At the time, Federico Zuccari was both a successful and a famous artist. He had inherited the studio of his brother, Taddeo, and had already received commissions from the Netherlands, Britain, Rome and Venice. In Florence, he acceded to a doubly difficult legacy: not only was he entrusted with the completion of the frescoes begun by Giorgio Vasari in the cathedral dome, but the house he had purchased had been the property of the renowned Andrea del Sarto. Aware of the weight of this legacy, and always anxious to maintain a high profile, Zuccaro had an additional studio built on the estate, which he furnished with an elaborate art-theoretical, self-representative façade. (ill. 2) The architectonic ornament, made from "pietra grezza" ("raw stone") and bricks, constituted an unusual ensemble by Florentine standards, extolling contemporary, Roman façade décor. The lower register contains a series of reliefs (today replaced by copies), illustrating the "strumenti" of the three arts - architecture, painting and sculpture. The enormous, vertical recesses in the bricks on the upper register betray Zuccaro's original intention to create a fresco there. The image should have been flanked by sculptures, as the in-built niches imply. However, these plans were never completed. Federico Zuccari made only minimal changes to the property itself. The building's original structure, consisting of an arcade loggia with two upper rows of windows, can still be discerned from the garden side. Nevertheless, Zuccaro's "private residence" concurrently took the form of an artist's house geared towards personal prestige and a strong social presence. The fresco in the Garden Room on the ground floor, which was created in 1577, certainly attests to this. (ill. 3) It is almost certain that the artist originally planned to adorn the entire house with similar works, as would later be the case in his subsequent residence in Rome. The frescoed "sala terrena" (literally, "ground-floor room") could be reached either directly, via the present-day Via Giusti, or indirectly, via the columned vestibule which Zuccaro had built, on the side of the present-day Via Capponi, and was conceived as a ballroom leading out to the garden. The south wall suggests a spatial deepening in order to link this longitudinal room with the quadratic outline of the vaulting above, creating the effect of utter symmetry between the existing interior architecture and the fresco design in the process. With this, the painting compensates for the relatively small space by doing justice to this room's prestigious function. The fresco takes as its main motifs the themes of time and the laws of nature. Chronos, enthroned on the zodiac wheel and suspended between heaven and earth, is in the centre. (ill. 4) Ill. 4: Chronos, as depicted in Zuccari's ceiling fresco The old man is flanked by personifications of the past and the future, which appear in the background, namely a lean figure looking into a mirror, and a putto holding a mirror, which he offers to the observer. As the "ruler of birth and decay", "Father Time" is surrounded by pictures of the four seasons. A rhythmic transfer between cleansing and rebirth, abundance, decadence and the subsequent destruction of nature and human existence underlies the images’ conception. The scenes of birth and decay are flanked by personifications of the seasons and times of day, which are embedded in cartouches. (ill. 5-8) Ill. 5: Spring, as depicted in Zuccari's ceiling fresco Ill. 6: Summer, as depicted in Zuccari’s ceiling fresco Ill. 7: Autumn, as depicted in Zuccari’s ceiling fresco Ill. 8: Winter, as depicted in Zuccari's ceiling fresco The nearer the images are to the figure of Chronos, the more intense they become, creating a magnetic pull towards the eternally-dominant dynamism of time. The illustrations gracing the room's arch areas include a hunt as part of the spring motifs, bacchanalian events representing autumn, and, finally, a wintry "domestic scene" featuring the artist, Federico Zuccaro. (ill. 9) Ill. 9: "Domestic scene", as depicted in Zuccari’s ceiling fresco The large-scale hunting scene attests to Zuccaro's interest in landscape painting, with this example clearly inspired by Dutch art. The host is naturally not alluding to his ostensible affiliation to the aristocracy in the illustration of the "caccia al cervo" (stag hunt), a sport in which only the prince and his minions in what was then the Grand Duchy of Tuscany were allowed to indulge, and is, instead, paying homage to his client. However, Federico certainly presents himself in a lordly manner in the so-called "domestic scene", appearing as an upper middle class citizen and a successful artist and teacher. He depicts himself dining with his wife, waited upon by the servants. His students sit on the threshold of the room, and practice draughtsmanship. The still unfinished studio can be seen behind them. Here, observers are confronted by a clever reflection, as the actual studio building is behind them as they gaze at the scene before them. The fresco depicts a specific constructional phase. Thus this scene constitutes a concrete point in time in the magnetic pull of the cycle of nature. It marks the here and now for contemporary witnesses, and a past moment for future observers. Federico Zuccaro left Florence in 1579. His commissions led him back to Rome, and some years later, to the Escorial in Spain. Ultimately, Rome would become his true home, where he became the founder and first principe of the Accademia di Luca in 1593. However, Zuccaro did not sell the house in Florence to Giovanbattista Paggi until 1602, who, in later years, commissioned another fresco in the upper storey, exactly above the "sala terrena". The building was sold several times, and used as a "casa d'artista". Its final residents in this capacity were Carlo Dolce (1616-1686) and Baldassare Franceschini, gen. Il Volterrano. The Casa Zuccari was purchased from the Conti Acquarone by the Deutsche Bank AG in 1987, and entrusted to the Society for the Promotion of Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence in1988. The restoration works were completed in 2004. Literature: Casa Zuccari, Bauten der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, München 2006. Cristina Acidini Luchinat: Taddeo e Federico Zuccari. Fratelli pittori del Cinquecento, Milano 1998-99. Die Casa Zuccari in Florenz, hrsg. von der Deutschen Bank aus Anlass der Übergabe der Casa Zuccari, Frankfurt a.M. 1989. Barbara Stoltz: "Pegasus" und "Gevatter Zeit". Zwei Deckenfresken in der florentinischen Casa Zuccari (unveröffentlichtes Manuskript).   Ill. 1: Medici coat of arms on the Casa Zuccari Ill. 2: Federico Zuccari's studio in the Via del mandorlo (the present-day Via Giuseppe Giusti) Ill. 3: Fresco by Federico Zuccari in the Casa Zuccari's "sala terrena" Movie of Casa Zuccari   Print this page