An exhibition in Bagno a Ripoli celebrates women musicians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries


With sweet strength: an exhibition in Bagno a Ripoli celebrates women in the musical landscape of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Open to the public from March 8 to May 13, 2018, the exhibition organized by the Uffizi Galleries in collaboration with the Municipality of Bagno a Ripoli"Con dolce forza. Women in the Musical Universe of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries" set up in theOratory of Santa Caterina delle Ruote in Ponte a Ema.

On display are paintings, self-portraits, engravings, documents and priceless printed volumes dedicated to women who played a major role in the field of music between the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in the Medici court.
Talented protagonists of music, which until the 17th century was the basic element of female education.



Among the works on display are the famous Self-portrait of Marietta Robusti, known as"Tintoretta," daughter of the artist of the same name; the portrait of Checca Costa and Vittoria della Rovere; the Self-portrait of Lavinia Fontana seated at the harpsichord; and that of Arcangela Paladini.

The director of the Uffizi Galleries, Eike Schmidt, said, "In the week that marks ’International Women’s Day,’ we wanted to focus a part of the events that the Uffizi Galleries, also during this year 2018, dedicate to women’s artistic creativity. An exhibition has opened at the Uffizi on Elisabetta Sirani, a painter and engraver from Bologna in the 17th century, who despite the great reputation she enjoyed during her short life, has not yet received due recognition in modern times. At the Palazzo Pitti we will open an exhibition on Maria Lai, a Sardinian artist who passed away in 2013, who in her poetics recovered ancient female occupations and prerogatives, such as weaving and baking, transfiguring them into a language updated on international artistic novelties. Today we are here to reflect on the role of women in music production. Starting from a work of art that has now become an icon, the Self-Portrait of Marietta, daughter of the great Jacopo Tintoretto, we have structured an itinerary aimed at rekindling interest in certain figures who have left an inescapable creative mark in the field of music, as is the emblematic case of the composer Francesca Caccini. This is a theme that the Municipality of Bagno a Ripoli has welcomed with enthusiasm and with all the commitment that is required by the realization of an exhibition project with important and valuable works. Exhibiting in such a prestigious place as the Oratory of Santa Caterina allows us, moreover, to strengthen the connection of the Uffizi Galleries with the territory from which the same masterpieces in the museum often come, triggering a virtuous mechanism of mutual enhancement."

Laura Donati, curator of the exhibition, added, “The different aspects of women’s actions in the world of music-singing, instrumental performance, composition, patronage-are told through a varied exhibition that includes paintings, engravings, drawings, precious printed volumes. The exhibition is also an excellent opportunity to appreciate out of the usual context original works by several great masters of seventeenth-century Florence such as Cristofano Allori, FrancescoFurini, Cesare Dandini and Stefano della Bella.”

“We are honored to welcome the Uffizi back to our Oratory,” said instead the mayor of Bagno a Ripoli, Francesco Casini. “The attention to the territory bordering the center of Florence, the willingness to get out of traditional museum venues and open up to lesser-known but equally worthy ones, is a sign of sensitivity and an intelligent cultural policy that really brings art closer to communities. For this I want to thank the Uffizi and in particular Director Schmidt, who has shown great willingness since our first meeting last summer. Together, we chose to dedicate the exhibition to female figures. We start, not surprisingly, on Women’s Day, with an exhibition and a series of collateral events that will highlight the drive of female talents in musical, cultural and other innovation, yesterday as well as today.”

For information: www.uffizi.it

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Tickets: €5.00 full; €3.50 reduced: groups (minimum 10 people), over 65, members of affiliated associations; €2.00: students and schools, families with children under 14. Free: teachers with class, companions of an organized group of minimum 10 people,journalists with professional card, children up to 6 years old, disabled people with their companions, tour guides, PS officers.

An exhibition in Bagno a Ripoli celebrates women musicians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
An exhibition in Bagno a Ripoli celebrates women musicians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries


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